JP4407566B2 - Recording device and recorded object tray used in these - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, a recording apparatus, and a recording tray used in these apparatuses. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus and a recording apparatus that perform a recording operation by transporting a sheet-shaped or plate-shaped recorded material and ejecting liquid onto the recorded material, and the liquid ejecting apparatus. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a recorded object tray that can be used in the recording apparatus.

  In many liquid ejecting apparatuses, a transport mechanism including a pair of rollers that rotate with each other is used for feeding, transporting, or discharging a recording material. Here, at least one of the rollers is a driving roller that is rotationally driven by some driving means. The rollers other than the driving roller are driven rollers that are mounted so as to freely rotate in accordance with the rotation of the driving roller or the conveyance of the recording material.

  Further, the driven roller is disposed at a position facing the driving roller with the recording material sandwiched therebetween, and is opposed to the driven roller that presses the recording material against the driving roller, and is disposed at a position different from the driving roller and is independently driven. An independent driven roller for guiding the recording material in contact with the recording material is included. The recording material is pressed against the driving roller by the counter driven roller, and is conveyed according to the rotation of the driving roller.

  Of the above-described rollers, the discharge driven roller used for discharging the recording material contacts the recording surface of the recording material to which the liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head has already adhered. For this reason, a part of undried liquid may adhere to the discharge driven roller. Further, the liquid adhering to the discharge driven roller eventually dries and solidifies, and further liquid adheres thereto. Accordingly, as the operation time of the liquid ejecting apparatus is accumulated, the liquid residue is accumulated on the transport driven roller.

  If the liquid or its residue adheres to the discharge driven roller in this way, the discharge driven when any environmental conditions such as vibrations due to the operation of the liquid ejecting apparatus or changes in printing conditions due to changes in the recording material change. In some cases, the liquid adhering to the roller or its residue may adhere to the recording surface of the recording material. Since such a phenomenon is perceived by the user as a recording failure or dirt, it is required to remove the liquid adhering to the discharge driven roller prior to the recording operation.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique related to the removal of ink attached to a discharge driven roller. According to Patent Document 1, in an ink jet recording apparatus, ink that adheres to a paper pressing roller can be removed by rotating the paper pressing roller at a low speed without performing a recording operation and bringing a cleaning member into contact with the paper pressing roller during that time. Are listed. Note that the paper pressing roller referred to in Patent Document 1 corresponds to a discharge driven roller that comes into contact with a recording surface after printing.
JP 2002-003003 A

  Incidentally, some discharge driven rollers in the liquid ejecting apparatus have a sharp contact portion. That is, for example, in an ink jet recording apparatus which is a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus, ink may be densely applied over the entire recording surface like a photographic image. When the discharge driven roller comes into contact with such a recording surface and undried ink adheres to the discharge driven roller, a conspicuous roller mark is formed on the recording surface. Therefore, there is a liquid ejecting apparatus using a so-called spur type discharge driven roller in which the contact area of the discharge driven roller with respect to the recording material is reduced in order to reduce the roller trace.

    The spur-type discharge driven roller has a sharp needle-like contact portion on its peripheral surface. However, even with such a spur-type discharge driven roller, the liquid adheres to the needle-like contact portion when it comes into contact with the undried liquid. For this reason, as the operation time accumulates, the liquid accumulates on the contact portion, and when the accumulated liquid eventually becomes large, the liquid may be transferred to the recording material side to form a clear roller mark.

  In such a case, since the spur-type discharge driven roller has a undulating circumferential surface shape including a sharp needle-like contact portion, it rotates while simply contacting the cleaning member as described in Patent Document 1. It is difficult to completely remove ink in the ink removing operation to the extent that the ink is removed.

  In order to solve the above problems, as a first embodiment of the present invention, a liquid ejecting unit that ejects liquid onto a recording surface of a recording material conveyed by the conveying unit and a conveying unit that conveys the recording material in the conveying direction. A liquid ejecting apparatus that includes a head and a discharge driven roller that rotates in contact with a recording surface and includes a discharge unit that discharges a recording material to which liquid is attached. A curved conveyance path and a substantially straight special path are formed for conveying an object, and a retracting means for retracting the discharge driven roller so as not to touch the recording material passing through the special path, and can be moved back and forth in the special path A recording medium tray, the recording medium tray being disposed on the same side as the holding unit for holding the recording material, and being mounted on the discharge follower roller when inserted in a special path. The discharge follower that touches and is evacuated by the evacuation means And a cleaning member wiping the liquid adhering to the over la. Thus, the discharge driven roller can be safely cleaned using the recording medium tray without exposing the discharge driven roller.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the cleaning member may have a thickness that can reach the discharge driven roller retracted by the retracting unit from the surface of the recording medium tray. Accordingly, the discharge driven roller can be cleaned by executing the recording operation using the recording medium tray without changing the operation state of the liquid ejecting apparatus.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the recording medium tray may be detachably attached to the liquid ejecting apparatus. As a result, the recording tray can be replaced with one having a cleaning member, and a cleaning function can be realized even in an existing liquid ejecting apparatus.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the cleaning member may be detachably attached to the recording medium tray. Thereby, a cleaning member can be added to an existing recording medium tray to provide a cleaning function. Moreover, the cleaning function can be maintained over a long period of time by exchanging the dirty cleaning member.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the cleaning member may be attached to a region different from the holding unit on the surface of the recording medium tray. As a result, it is possible to fulfill the function as a recording object tray with the cleaning member mounted. Further, the discharge driven roller is automatically cleaned by the recording operation on the recording material held by the holding unit.

  Further, in the liquid ejecting apparatus, the cleaning member may include a dummy recording material that can be mounted on the holding unit in place of the recording material, and a cleaning member mounted on the dummy recording material. Thereby, a cleaning function can be easily added to the existing liquid ejecting apparatus provided with the recording object tray.

  In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the holding unit may hold a disk-shaped storage medium as a recording object. Accordingly, a cleaning function can be easily added to an existing liquid ejecting apparatus including a recording tray such as a CD or a DVD.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium tray that holds a recording material and is loaded with respect to a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid onto the recording material. A holding unit that is disposed on the same side as the holding unit, and contacts the discharge driven roller that discharges the recording material in the liquid ejecting apparatus when the liquid ejecting apparatus is inserted into the liquid ejecting apparatus. And a cleaning member for wiping off the liquid. Accordingly, in the liquid ejecting apparatus corresponding to the recording object tray, the discharge driven roller can be safely cleaned without exposing the discharge driven roller.

  In the recorded object tray, the holding unit may hold a disk-shaped storage medium as the recorded object. Accordingly, a cleaning function can be easily added to a recording tray such as a CD or a DVD.

  As a third aspect of the present invention, a conveyance unit that conveys a recording material in the conveyance direction, a recording head that discharges ink to a recording surface of the recording material conveyed by the conveyance unit, and a recording surface A recording apparatus having a discharge driven roller that rotates, and a discharge unit that discharges a recording material to which ink is adhered, wherein the recording material is conveyed by the conveyance unit and the discharge unit. A path and a substantially straight special path are formed, and further comprises a retracting means for retracting the discharge driven roller so as not to touch the recorded material passing through the special path, and a recorded object tray capable of moving back and forth in the special path, The recording tray is arranged on the same side as the holding portion for holding the recording material and the holding portion, and when it is inserted into the special path, it contacts the discharge driven roller and is retracted by the retracting means. Wipe ink adhering to the discharge driven roller That and a cleaning member. Thereby, also in the recording apparatus, the discharge driven roller can be safely cleaned without exposing the discharge driven roller using the recording medium tray.

  The above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are included. It is not necessarily essential for the solution of the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an ink jet recording apparatus 10 that is one of liquid ejecting apparatuses including a recording material guide device. As shown in the figure, the ink jet recording apparatus 10 is formed so that each component can be stored in a housing 110.

  That is, a feeding device for supplying standard recording paper is stored in the cover 120 at the rear of the upper surface of the housing 110. Further, by opening the inside of the cover 130 in front of the upper surface, it is possible to access the recording material conveyance path, and the ink cartridge for recording can be replaced. Further, a discharge device for discharging the recording paper after printing is stored in the cover 150 at the lower end of the front surface. Furthermore, by opening the cover 140 located above the cover 150, it becomes possible to load a non-standard recording sheet that is not a standard recording sheet, as will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where some covers 130, 140 and 150 of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 are opened. In addition, the same reference number is attached | subjected to the same component as FIG.

  As shown in the figure, when the cover 130 on the upper surface of the housing 110 is opened, a maintenance hole 132 and a cartridge replacement hole 134 are opened. The maintenance hole 132 is wide open above the conveyance path of the recording material, and is provided so that a jammed recording material or the like can be removed by putting a hand in the housing 110 when a conveyance failure or the like occurs. It has been. On the other hand, the cartridge replacement hole 134 is formed above the home position where the carriage 170 is stopped when the recording operation is not being performed, and the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage 170 can be taken out or loaded therethrough.

  The carriage 170 during the recording operation reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the ink jet recording apparatus 10, that is, right and left in the drawing, and scans the recording material over the entire width. A recording head that ejects ink as a liquid ejecting head is mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 170, and ink is ejected downward to adhere to the recording material.

  On the other hand, the cover 150 at the lower front of the housing 110 is formed so as to function as a discharge tray of the ink jet recording apparatus 10. That is, the standard recording material supplied from the feeding device mounted inside the cover 120 is conveyed forward in the housing 110 and finally discharged to a discharge tray which is the inner surface of the cover 150. Is done.

  Further, the cover 140 disposed on the upper front surface of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 opens forward with a hinge 142 formed at the lower end thereof as an axis. In the opening thus opened, a manual tray device 200 used for loading an atypical recording material is stored.

  The manual feed tray device 200 includes a tray unit 210 that supports a recording material from below, and a guide member 220 that can slide on the tray unit 210 in the width direction of the recording material. By placing the recording material on the upper surface of the tray unit 210 and inserting it into the ink jet recording apparatus 10, it is possible to insert the recording material from a predetermined position along a predetermined charging path. Further, the position of the recording material in the width direction is also defined by appropriately moving the guide member 220 and bringing it into contact with the side of the recording material. With such a structure, it is possible to record a recording material having an arbitrary shape or size.

  Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2, the end of the disk tray 162 loaded from the manual tray apparatus 200 can be seen on the tray section 210. A part of the disk tray 162 is also visible inside the maintenance hole 132 in the cover 130. Further, here, a part of the disc-shaped optical recording medium 164 loaded on the disk tray 162 is also included. I can see it. The disc tray 162 loaded in this manner is transported below the track of the carriage 170 by a transport unit (described later) installed in the housing 110. Here, the recording operation can be performed on the optical recording medium 164 by alternately carrying the disk tray 162 and scanning the carriage 170.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the recording medium transport mechanism 20 in the ink jet recording apparatus 10 taken along a vertical plane including the arrow C shown in FIG. In the ink jet recording apparatus 10, ink is ejected from the recording head 172 mounted on the lower surface of the carriage 170, and the ink is attached to the recording paper 600 supported by the platen 400 below the ink. On the other hand, the conveyance mechanism 20 has a discharge unit disposed on the opposite side (left side in the drawing) of the platen 400 from the conveyance unit 500 disposed on one side (right side in the drawing) with the platen 400 interposed therebetween. By delivering the recording material to 300, the recording material is sequentially fed onto the platen 400 and discharged.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 10, in the conveyance unit 500, a conveyance driven roller 520 disposed on the upper side of the recording paper 600 is provided on the recording paper 600 with respect to the conveyance driving roller 510 disposed on the lower side of the recording paper 600. 600 is pressed down and pressed against the conveyance drive roller 510. Accordingly, the recording paper 600 is transported in a predetermined transport direction according to the rotation of the transport driving roller 510 that is rotationally driven.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 10, when the cover 140 is closed and the manual feed tray apparatus 200 is stored, the support member 330 is lowered from the illustrated state, and the discharge driven roller 320 is moved to the discharge drive roller 310. On the other hand, it almost contacts from above. Accordingly, also in the discharge unit 300, the recording material to which the ink ejected from the recording head 172 adheres is sandwiched between the discharge driven roller 320 and the discharge drive roller 310, and the left in the drawing in accordance with the discharge drive roller 310 driven to rotate. It is discharged towards. Further, since the recording material at this time is horizontally conveyed at the height of the upper end of the discharge driving roller 310, the recording material is discharged from the inside of the cover 150 at a position lower than the manual feed tray device 200.

  On the other hand, when the cover 140 is opened, the discharge driven roller 320 is lifted and retracted from the transport path by the retracting means that connects the cover 140 and the support member 330. Therefore, the discharge unit 300 cannot participate in the conveyance of the recording material.

  In FIG. 3, a conveyance path formed by the conveyance mechanism 20 with respect to the recording paper 600 that can be greatly bent is indicated by a dotted line. As shown in the figure, the conveyance path of the recording paper 600 is slightly lowered below the recording head 172, and the recording paper 600 is bent downward at this portion. That is, this conveyance path is curved. As a result, the recording paper 600 is less likely to bend in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface). Further, since it is supported from below by the platen 400, the interval between the recording paper 600 and the recording head 172 is kept constant.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view independently showing a disk tray 162 that enables a recording operation on an optical recording medium 164 having a shape different from that of a standard recording object. As shown in the figure, the disc tray 162 is a substantially rectangular plate shape, and has the same shape and dimensions as the regular recording material as a whole.

  The disc tray 162 has a depressed portion 165 having a shape complementary to that of the optical recording medium 164 at the approximate center thereof. When the optical recording medium 164 is loaded in the depressed portion 165, the optical recording medium 164 can be transported and recorded using the transport mechanism 20 by being loaded into the ink jet recording apparatus 10. The disc tray 162 is a resin molded product formed by injection molding, for example, and has a rigidity that hardly deforms itself.

  Further, the disc tray 162 is provided with a cleaning member 166 in the vicinity of the front end where the depressed portion 165 is not formed. The cleaning member 166 has a width that extends over substantially the entire width of the disc tray 162.

  The depth of the depressed portion 165 is larger than the thickness of the optical recording medium 164, and the surface of the optical recording medium 164 accommodated in the depressed portion 165 is lower than the upper surface of the disk tray 162. On the other hand, the cleaning member 166 is mounted on the upper surface of the disk tray 162 on the front side in the figure, and has a width substantially equal to the entire width of the disk tray 162. Therefore, the upper surface of the cleaning member 166 itself is higher than the upper surface of the disk tray 162.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing the state of the transport mechanism 20 when the disc tray 162 shown in FIG. 4 is loaded along the upper surface of the tray portion 210 of the manual feed tray device 200 in the same cross section as FIG. In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements as those in FIG. 3, and redundant description is omitted.

  The disc tray 162 is loaded from the tray unit 210 of the manual feed tray device 200 arranged on the discharge unit 300 side. At this time, the leading end side of the disk tray 162 passes between the recording head 172 and the platen 400 and is sandwiched between the transport driving roller 510 and the transport driven roller 520.

  As already described, in the state where the manual feed tray device 200 is deployed, the discharge driven roller 320 and its support member 330 are lifted and are largely separated upward from the disk tray 162. A cleaning member 166 having a sufficient thickness mounted on the upper surface of the disk tray 162 is in contact with the discharge driven roller 320 from below.

  The disc tray 162 itself has sufficient bending rigidity and is difficult to bend greatly. For this reason, the disk tray 162 is in a state of being stretched between the tray unit 210 and the transport driving roller 510, and a linear special path is formed. Therefore, as will be described later, when the disc tray 162 is conveyed or discharged, the cleaning member 166 wipes the discharge driven roller 320 and the ink attached thereto is wiped off.

  When the disc tray 162 is sandwiched, the support member 530 of the transport driven roller 520 slightly rolls around the shaft support portion 535 to raise the transport driven roller 520. Therefore, the space between the transport driving roller 510 and the transport driven roller 520 is opened, and the disc tray 162 thicker than the recording paper 600 is sandwiched. As a result, the disk tray 162 is pressed against the transport driving roller 510 and transported according to the rotation of the transport driving roller 510.

  Further, the discharge driven roller 320 and the discharge drive roller 310 that are wide open cannot be transported with the disc tray 162 interposed therebetween. Therefore, when a recording operation is performed on the optical recording medium 164 loaded on the disc tray 162, the user himself has to push the disc tray 162 until the leading end of the disc tray 162 reaches the transport unit 500. Further, the transport and discharge of the disk tray 162 are all performed by the transport unit 500.

  The disk tray 162 loaded so as to reach the transport unit 500 is moved toward the ink jet recording apparatus 10 until the optical recording medium 164 loaded on the disk tray 162 passes just below the recording head 172 by the transport unit 500. Then, the sheet is conveyed again toward the manual tray device 200 by the conveyance unit 500 that performs the reverse operation. Recording is performed on the optical recording medium 164 by appropriately operating the recording head 172 in this process.

  In the disc tray 162 shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning member 166 is mounted in a region different from the region where the depressed portion 165 for loading the optical recording medium 164 as a recording object is formed. Therefore, by using the disc tray 162, when the recording operation is performed on the optical recording medium 164, the cleaning member 166 wipes the discharge driven roller 320 by the reciprocation of the disk tray 162 and adheres to the discharge driven roller 320. The ink that was left is automatically removed. The disk tray 162 is removed when not in use.

  Further, since the ink wiped from the discharge driven roller 320 adheres to the cleaning member 166, the cleaning member 166 can be detachably mounted on the disc tray 162 using a surface fastener, for example. preferable. With such a structure, the dirty cleaning member 166 can be replaced or cleaned by repeating the wiping operation. Further, the discharge driven roller 320 can be more highly cleaned by temporarily mounting the cleaning member 166 impregnated with the cleaning liquid or the like. The cleaning member 166 is preferably formed of a material having both elasticity that is easily deformed and porosity that absorbs attached ink, such as a foamed material such as rubber or resin.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a structure of a cleaning member adapter 168 as another embodiment. As shown in the figure, the cleaning member adapter 168 includes a dummy disk 167 having the same shape as the optical recording medium 164, and a cleaning member 169 mounted on the upper surface thereof. The cleaning member 169 has a width larger than the diameter of the dummy disk 167. Such a cleaning member adapter 168 can be mounted on a disc tray 162 that does not include the cleaning member 166 in place of the optical recording medium 164, and can realize a function equivalent to that of the disc tray 162 shown in FIG.

  However, in this structure, since the cleaning member adapter 168 is mounted in place of the optical recording medium 164, the recording operation to the optical recording medium 164 cannot be performed simultaneously with the cleaning of the discharge driven roller 320. Therefore, when the discharge driven roller 320 is cleaned using the cleaning member adapter 168, the ejection of ink by the recording head 172 must be stopped.

  As described above in detail, in the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention, the liquid adhering to the discharge driven roller or its residue can be removed using the recording medium tray. Therefore, it is not necessary to touch the discharge driven roller for removing the liquid. Further, since the recording operation can be performed with a clean discharge driven roller, high-quality image recording can always be performed.

  The ink jet recording apparatus has been described as an example. Specific examples of the liquid ejecting apparatus to which the present invention can be applied include a color material ejecting apparatus, an organic EL display, and an FED (surface emitting) in the production of a color filter for a liquid crystal display. Examples thereof include an electrode forming apparatus in the production of a display) and the like, a sample ejection head used for biochip production, and the like.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the above embodiment. Further, it is apparent from the scope of the claims that embodiments with such changes or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the ink jet recording apparatus 10. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the ink jet recording apparatus 10 with some covers 130, 140 and 150 opened. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transport mechanism 20 of the ink jet recording apparatus 10. The perspective view which shows the disk tray 162 independently. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a disc tray 162 is loaded in the transport mechanism 20. The figure which shows other embodiment of the cleaning member 169. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inkjet recording device, 20 conveyance mechanism, 110 housing | casing, 120, 130, 140, 150 cover, 132 maintenance hole, 134 cartridge replacement hole, 142 hinge, 162 disc tray, 164 optical recording medium, 165 depression part, 166, 169 Cleaning member, 167 Dummy disk, 168 Cleaning member adapter, 170 Carriage, 172 Recording head, 200 Manual tray device, 210 Tray unit, 215, 535 Shaft support unit, 220 Guide member, 300 Ejecting unit, 310 Ejecting drive roller, 320 Ejecting Followed roller, 330, 530 Support member, 400 Platen, 500 Conveying unit, 510 Conveying drive roller, 520 Conveying driven roller

Claims (9)

A transport unit for transporting the recording material in the transport direction;
A recording head for ejecting ink onto the recording surface of the recording material conveyed by the conveying unit;
A recording apparatus comprising: a discharge driven roller that rotates in contact with the recording surface; and a discharge unit that discharges the recording material to which the ink is attached.
The conveyance unit and the discharge unit form a curved conveyance path and a substantially straight special path along which the recording material is conveyed,
A retracting means for retracting the discharge driven roller so as not to touch the recording material passing through the special path;
A recording tray that can be moved back and forth in the special path;
The record tray is
A holding unit for holding the recording material;
Cleaning that is disposed on the same side as the holding portion and wipes off ink adhering to the discharge driven roller retracted by the retracting means when contacting the discharge driven roller when inserted into the special path A recording apparatus .
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member has a thickness that allows the cleaning member to reach the discharge driven roller retracted by the retracting unit from the surface of the recording medium tray.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording tray is detachably attached to the recording apparatus .
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is detachably attached to the recording object tray.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is attached to a region different from the holding unit on the surface of the recording object tray.
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member includes a dummy recording object that can be mounted on the holding unit in place of the recording object, and the cleaning member that is mounted on the dummy recording object .
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit holds a disk-shaped storage medium as the recording object .
A recording medium tray that holds and holds the recording material with respect to a recording apparatus that ejects ink onto the recording material,
A holding unit for holding the recording material;
The ink that is disposed on the same side as the holding portion and contacts the discharge driven roller that discharges the recording material in the recording apparatus when the recording apparatus is loaded, and adheres to the discharge driven roller. A recording material tray comprising a cleaning member for wiping off the recording material.
  The recorded object tray according to claim 8, wherein the holding unit holds a disk-shaped storage medium as the recorded object.

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