JP7340142B2 - Conveyance device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a conveyance device that includes a suction mechanism that attracts a medium to a conveyance mechanism.

Conventionally, in printing devices such as inkjet printing devices, media are transferred to the belt by suctioning air through a number of ventilation holes provided in a belt that conveys the paper and a platen placed inside the belt. Printing devices that use suction are known.

In such a printing device, a printing device has been proposed that, when recycled paper that tends to curl is detected, opens only the shutter corresponding to the edge of the recycled paper to attract the recycled paper to the conveyor belt surface. (For example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-333448

Incidentally, in a conveyance device disposed in a printing device or the like, irregularities such as curls may occur on a medium such as paper. The unevenness of the medium is caused, for example, by variations in the amount of moisture within the medium when the medium is in a hot and humid environment. Note that the unevenness of the medium tends to be large, especially at the edges of the medium.

If the medium has unevenness, it becomes difficult to attract the medium to a conveyance mechanism such as a belt, so a stronger suction force is required than to attract a medium without unevenness to the conveyance mechanism. . If the entire medium cannot be absorbed by the conveyance mechanism, the medium will float, making jams more likely to occur. Note that in a printing device, if the medium is lifted, the medium may come into contact with the print head, possibly damaging the print head.

Furthermore, when air is sucked even in areas where there is no medium, such as when the size of the medium is small, the adsorption force of the medium to the transport mechanism becomes weak. Therefore, it is conceivable to arrange multiple shutters according to the size of the media and open only the shutters in the area where the media is located, but since media come in a variety of sizes, including irregular sizes, It is difficult to arrange the shutter according to the Therefore, depending on the size of the medium, air is sucked even in areas where there is no medium, as described above, and the adsorption force for the medium becomes weak. Note that when a plurality of shutters are arranged, it is also necessary to arrange driving means for driving each of the plurality of shutters, which complicates the structure. Further, when the conveyance device is disposed in an inkjet printing device, if air is sucked in a portion where there is no medium, the mist emitted from the inkjet head will be sucked together with the air. If this mist adheres to a conveyance mechanism such as a belt, it will eventually adhere to sheets of paper that are subsequently conveyed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a conveying device that can adjust the suction area with a simple configuration.

In one aspect, the conveyance device includes a conveyance mechanism that conveys a medium, and a suction mechanism that attracts the medium to the conveyance mechanism using suction force, and the suction mechanism is configured to move in a direction in which the medium is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism. It has a movable guide part that variably moves the width of the suction area in the orthogonal width direction.

According to the aspect, the suction area can be adjusted with a simple configuration.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an inkjet printing device in one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a control configuration of an inkjet printing apparatus in an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a suction mechanism (when conveying wide paper) in an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a suction mechanism (at the time of transporting narrow paper) in one embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a suction mechanism (at the time of conveying wide paper) in a modified example. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a suction mechanism (at the time of transporting narrow paper) in a modified example.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an inkjet printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control configuration of the inkjet printing apparatus 1. As shown in FIG.
Note that the up-down, left-right, and front-back directions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. 3 to 6, which will be described later, are based on the assumption that the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of paper S, which is an example of a medium, is the front-back direction. Although this is just one example for convenience, the up-down direction is a vertical direction, and the left-right direction and front-back direction are horizontal directions.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 includes a printing section 10, a transport mechanism 20, a suction mechanism 30, a paper feed section 40, a paper discharge section 50, a transport roller 61, a switching mechanism 62, A width detection sensor 70 is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 further includes a control section 81, a storage section 82, an operation panel section 83, a document reading section 84, and an interface section 85.

Note that the conveyance mechanism 20, suction mechanism 30, conveyance roller 61, and switching mechanism 62 shown in FIG. 1, as well as the conveyance path R1 and circulation conveyance path R2 described later, are examples of a conveyance device. However, the conveyance device may consist of only the conveyance mechanism 20 and the suction mechanism 30. Further, the conveyance device is preferably placed in a printing device such as the inkjet printing device 1, but may be placed in a device that performs processing other than printing on the paper S (for example, bookbinding). Further, the transport device may be a transport device that transports the paper S without any processing.

The printing unit 10 has a plurality of inkjet heads 11 to 14 that eject ink onto the paper S. Note that a plurality of inkjet heads 11 to 14 are arranged as line head type inkjet heads for each color used in printing, but only a single inkjet head is arranged in the printing section 10. Good too. Since the printing section 10 prints on the paper S using a printing method other than the inkjet method in a printing device other than the inkjet printing device 1, the printing method of the printing section 10 is not limited to the inkjet method. Note that when the inkjet heads 11 to 14 eject ink, ink mist is emitted.

The transport mechanism 20 includes a transport belt 21, pulleys 22 to 25, and a platen 26.
The conveyor belt 21 is, for example, an endless belt that is stretched around pulleys 22 to 25. The conveyor belt 21 is provided with a plurality of ventilation holes through which air sucked by the suction mechanism 30 passes.

For example, one of the pulleys 22 to 25 is a drive pulley that rotates when power is transmitted from a conveyance drive means (for example, an actuator such as a motor) (not shown), and the other pulleys rotate due to the rotation of the conveyance belt 21. This is a driven pulley that rotates with the

The platen 26 is arranged below the inkjet heads 11 to 14 so as to face the inkjet heads 11 to 14 with the conveyor belt 21 in between. The platen 26 has a flat plate shape. The platen 26 is also provided with a plurality of ventilation holes through which air sucked by the suction mechanism 30 passes.

In addition, in the conveyance mechanism 20, the distance between the platen 26 (conveyance belt 21) and the inkjet heads 11 to 14 can be adjusted by suspending a platen support member (not shown) disposed below the platen 26 by a wire. It's good to have one. In that case, a plurality of ventilation holes for passing the air sucked by the suction mechanism 30 are also formed in the platen support portion. Further, the transport mechanism 20 is not limited to one that transports the paper S using the transport belt 21, but may transport the paper S using a transport member such as a roller. In that case, the paper S is attracted to the conveying member by suctioning air from the gap between the conveying members, for example.

The suction mechanism 30 includes a suction fan 31, a chamber 32, and a pair of movable guide parts 33 and 34 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and attracts the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 by suctioning air. Note that the suction force for adhering the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 is not limited to the suction force of air, as it can be obtained using, for example, electrostatic force (electrostatic attraction), magnetic force, etc., without using air. .

The suction fan 31 is arranged, for example, inside the conveyor belt 21 and sucks air downward.
The chamber 32 is arranged above the suction fan 31. The chamber 32 forms a negative pressure chamber in which air is sucked by the suction fan 31 to generate a suction effect in the ventilation hole of the conveyor belt 21 .

The movable guide parts 33 and 34 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 include guide suction parts 33a and 34a and partitions 33b and 34b, and partition the air suction area A1 and the non-suction area A2 in the chamber 32. The movable guide parts 33 and 34 are arranged in a width direction (back-and-forth direction: left and right directions in FIGS. 3 and 4 direction) to variably move the width of the suction area A1. Therefore, the non-suction area A2 is formed on both sides of the sheet S in the width direction with the suction area A1 in between. Note that the movable guide sections 33 and 34 control the drive of guide driving means (for example, an actuator such as a stepping motor) (not shown) of the movable guide sections 33 and 34 under the control of a control section 81, which will be described later. It is preferable to move to the end in the width direction of S not intermittently but continuously (steplessly). It is preferable that the movable guide parts 33 and 34 have, for example, a pinion that meshes with a rack extending in the width direction of the paper S, and that the guide driving means can move in the width direction of the paper S by rotating the pinion.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the wide paper S1 is attracted to the conveyor belt 21, one movable guide section 33 and the other movable guide section 34 are located at both ends of the wide paper S1 in the width direction (back and forth direction). .

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the narrow paper S2, which is narrower than the wide paper S1, is attracted to the conveyor belt 21, one movable guide section 33 and the other movable guide section 34 are arranged as shown in FIG. They are closer to each other than when the wide paper S1 is conveyed, and are located at both ends of the narrow paper S2 in the width direction (back and forth direction).

The guide suction parts 33a and 34a are arranged, for example, over the entire chamber 32 in the conveyance direction (rightward direction) of the paper S. The guide suction parts 33a and 34a suction air from, for example, suction holes provided at the upper ends. The guide suction parts 33a and 34a suction air through a suction path different from the other suction area A1 (the suction area by the suction fan 31). This suction path is provided with a suction fan (not shown). The guide suction parts 33a and 34a have a stronger air suction force than the other suction areas A1. Note that the air suction force by the guide suction units 33a and 34a is controlled by the control unit 81 based on paper information (medium information) such as the size, thickness, and basis weight of the paper S, or based on user settings. May be adjusted.

The partitions 33b, 34b are connected to the lower portions of the guide suction parts 33a, 34a. The partitions 33b and 34b have, for example, an L-shaped plate shape that extends over the entire chamber 32 in the transport direction (rightward direction) of the paper S, and partition the suction area A1 and the non-suction area A2 together with the guide suction parts 33a and 34a. Note that suction paths for guide suction sections 33a and 34a are provided within the partitions 33b and 34b.

The paper feed section 40 shown in FIG. 1 includes a paper feed tray 41, a scraper roller 42, and a pickup roller 43.

On the paper feed table 41, sheets S before printing are stacked.
The scraper roller 42 is a feed roller that feeds out and conveys the uppermost sheet S of the sheets S stacked on the paper feed table 41 .

The pickup roller 43 transports the paper S fed out by the scraper roller 42 to the transport path R1.

The paper ejection unit 50 includes a paper ejection tray 51 and an ejection roller 52.
Printed sheets S discharged from the inside of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 (transport path R1) are stacked on the paper discharge tray 51.

The discharge rollers 52 are a pair of rollers that discharge the paper S from the inside of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 to the paper discharge tray 51.

A plurality of pairs of conveyance rollers 61 are arranged on the conveyance path R1 within the inkjet printing apparatus 1, and convey the paper S.

The switching mechanism 62 changes the conveyance path of the paper S in the conveyance path R1 that has passed through the printing unit 10 to a circulation conveyance path R2 side for re-conveying the paper S to the printing unit 10 for double-sided printing, and a paper discharge tray 51 side. Switch to Note that in the circulation conveyance path R2, the front and back sides of the paper S are reversed.

The width detection sensor 70 is arranged on the upstream side of the printing section 10 in the transport path R1. The width detection sensor 70 is, for example, a line sensor extending in the width direction (back and forth direction) of the paper S. The width detection sensor 70 detects the width of the sheet S in the width direction (back and forth direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (right direction). Note that in the transport path R1, when the paper S is transported at the center in the width direction and the paper S is transported at one end in the width direction, the width detection sensor 70 detects the width of the paper S. In addition, it is preferable to detect the position of the sheet S in the width direction.

The control unit 81 shown in FIG. 2 includes, for example, a processor (for example, a CPU: Central Processing Unit) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit that controls the operation of each part of the inkjet printing apparatus 1. The control unit 81 preferably controls the drive of the movable guide units 33 and 34 based on the width (or width and position in the width direction) of the paper S detected by the width detection sensor 70. Note that the control unit 81 may perform drive control of the movable guide units 33 and 34 based on information about the width of the paper S obtained from the print job.

The storage unit 82 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which predetermined control programs are recorded in advance, and a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. These include RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time, and hard disk devices.

The operation panel section 83 functions as an example of an input section and a display section of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 by having operation keys for performing various operations, a display section for displaying various information, and the like.

The document reading section 84 has a scanner that reads image data from a document.
The interface unit 85 exchanges various information with external devices such as personal computers connected via a network. For example, it is preferable that the interface unit 85 be capable of receiving a print job including image data from an external device such as a personal computer.

In the present embodiment described above, the conveyance devices disposed in the inkjet printing apparatus 1 include a conveyance mechanism 20 that conveys the paper S, which is an example of a medium, and a suction mechanism that attracts the paper S to the conveyance mechanism 20 using suction force. 30. The suction mechanism 30 has movable guide parts 33 and 34. The movable guide parts 33 and 34 variably move the width of the suction area A1 in the width direction (back and forth direction) perpendicular to the direction in which the paper S is transported by the transport mechanism 20 (right direction).

Therefore, by moving the movable guide parts 33 and 34 in the width direction of the paper S, the suction area A1 can be adjusted according to the size of the paper S in the width direction. Furthermore, compared to the conventional mode in which the suction area is adjusted by opening and closing a plurality of shutters, the suction area A1 can be adjusted with a simple configuration of moving the movable guide parts 33 and 34. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the suction area A1 can be adjusted with a simple configuration.

Further, when the suction mechanism 30 causes the paper S to be attracted to the transport mechanism 20 by the suction force of air, the suction force of the suction area A1 can be increased by not suctioning air from the non-suction area A2 in the chamber 32. Therefore, by increasing the attraction force of the paper S to the transport mechanism 20, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of floating due to the unevenness of the paper S. Therefore, if the conveyance device is placed in a printing device, the floating portion of the paper S may come into contact with print heads such as the inkjet heads 11 to 14, resulting in damage to the print heads or jamming. You can also prevent it from happening. In addition, since the suction area A1 can be set according to the size of the paper S in the width direction, when the conveyance device is disposed in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the mist emitted from the inkjet heads 11 to 14 is absorbed by the suction mechanism. 30 can also prevent it from being sucked in. This can also prevent mist from adhering to the transport mechanism 20 (transport belt 21) and, furthermore, from adhering to the paper S that will be transported later.

Further, in the present embodiment, the suction mechanism 30 attracts the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 using air suction force, and the movable guide sections 33 and 34 are guides having a stronger air suction force than the other suction areas A1. It includes suction parts 33a and 34a. The movable guide parts 33 and 34 variably move the width of the suction area A1 in the width direction (back and forth direction) perpendicular to the conveyance direction (right direction) of the paper S. 33a and 34a can further increase the adsorption force of the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 at the ends of the paper S in the width direction. Therefore, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of floating due to the unevenness of the paper S at the end portions of the paper S in the width direction where unevenness is likely to occur.

Further, in the present embodiment, the guide suction sections 33a and 34a suction air through a suction path different from that of the other suction area A1 (the suction area by the suction fan 31). This makes it possible to freely increase the air suction force at the ends of the paper S in the width direction without being influenced by the air suction force in the other suction area A1 (the area where air is sucked by the suction fan 31). can.

5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams showing a suction mechanism 90 in a modified example.
The suction mechanism 90 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a suction fan 91, a chamber 92, and a pair of movable guide parts 93, 94, and sucks air to move the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 (transport belt 21). ).

The suction fan 91 and chamber 92 can be similar to the suction fan 31 and chamber 32 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The movable guide parts 93 and 94 include guide suction parts 93a and 94a and partitions 93b and 94b, and partition the air suction area A1 and the non-suction area A2 in the chamber 92. The movable guide portions 93 and 94 are arranged in a width direction (back-and-forth direction: left and right directions in FIGS. 5 and 6 direction) to variably move the width of the suction area A1. Note that the movable guide sections 93 and 94 control the drive of the guide drive means (for example, an actuator such as a motor) (not shown) of the movable guide sections 93 and 94 under the control of the control section 81 described above. It is preferable to move to the end in the width direction not intermittently but continuously (stepless). It is preferable that the movable guide parts 93 and 94 have, for example, a pinion that meshes with a rack extending in the width direction of the paper S, and that the guide drive means can move in the width direction of the paper S by rotating the pinion.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the wide paper S1 is attracted to the conveyor belt 21, one movable guide section 93 and the other movable guide section 94 are located at both ends of the wide paper S1 in the width direction (back and forth direction). .

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the narrow paper S2, which is narrower than the wide paper S1, is adsorbed onto the conveyor belt 21, one movable guide 93 and the other movable guide section 94 are connected to the wide paper S2 as shown in FIG. They are closer to each other than when the paper S1 is being conveyed, and are located at both ends of the narrow paper S2 in the width direction (back and forth direction).

In this modification, the guide suction units 93a and 94a do not suction air through a suction path different from the other suction area A1 (the suction area by the suction fan 91), but instead suction air in the conveyance direction (rightward direction) of the paper S. It is provided between a plate-like member having a longitudinal direction and partitions 93b and 94b. The guide suction parts 93a and 94a are connected to the partitions 93b and 94b in a state in which the above-mentioned plate-like members are arranged diagonally so that the width in the width direction becomes narrower toward the top, thereby increasing the air suction force. is stronger than the air suction force in the other suction area A1. In this way, in order to make the air suction force of the guide suction parts 93a and 94a stronger than the air suction force in the other suction areas A1, a suction path different from that of the suction fan 31 of the above-described embodiment is provided. The present invention is not limited to the configuration using the guide suction portions 33a and 34a having the above.

The partitions 93b and 94b have, for example, an L-shaped plate shape that spans the entire chamber 92 in the transport direction (rightward direction) of the paper S, and individually partition the suction area A1 and the non-suction area A2.

The suction mechanism 90 of this modified example described above, like the suction mechanism 30 described above, sucks the paper S to the transport mechanism 20 by suctioning air, and partitions the air suction area A1 and the non-suction area A2. It has movable guide parts 93 and 94. The movable guide parts 93 and 94 variably move the width of the suction area A1 in the width direction (back and forth direction) orthogonal to the direction in which the paper S is transported by the transport mechanism 20 (right direction).

Therefore, the conveying device including the suction mechanism 90 of this modification also provides the same effect as the conveying device including the above-described suction mechanism 30, that is, the effect of being able to adjust the suction area A1 with a simple configuration. be able to.

Also in this modification, the suction mechanism 90 attracts the paper S to the conveyance mechanism 20 using air suction force, and the movable guide sections 93 and 94 are guides having a stronger air suction force than the other suction areas A1. It includes suction parts 93a and 94a. Therefore, similarly to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of floating due to the unevenness of the paper S at the widthwise end portion of the paper S where unevenness is likely to occur.

Furthermore, in this modification, the guide suction sections 93a and 94a do not suction air through a suction path different from the other suction area A1 (the suction area by the suction fan 91) as in the above-described embodiment. Since the air is sucked through the suction path by the suction fan 91, the structure can be simplified compared to the case where a suction path different from the suction fan 91 is provided.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, but can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements within the scope of the invention at the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, all the components shown in the embodiments may be combined as appropriate. It goes without saying that various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Below, the invention described in the original claims of this application will be added.

[Additional note 1]
a transport mechanism that transports the medium;
a suction mechanism that attracts the medium to the conveyance mechanism using suction force,
The conveyance device is characterized in that the suction mechanism includes a movable guide portion that variably moves the width of the suction area in a width direction perpendicular to the direction in which the medium is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism.

[Additional note 2]
The suction mechanism causes the medium to be attracted to the transport mechanism by the suction force of air,
The conveyance device according to appendix 1, wherein the movable guide section includes a guide suction section having a stronger air suction force than the other suction regions.

[Additional note 3]
The conveying device according to appendix 2, wherein the guide suction section suctions air through a suction path different from the other suction areas.

1 Inkjet printing device 10 Printing section 11-14 Inkjet head 20 Conveyance mechanism 21 Conveyance belt 22-25 Pulley 26 Platen 30 Suction mechanism 31 Suction fan 32 Chamber 33, 34 Movable guide section 33a, 34a Guide suction section 33b, 34b Partition 40 Supply Paper section 41 Paper feed tray 42 Scraper roller 43 Pick-up roller 50 Paper discharge section 51 Paper discharge tray 52 Discharge roller 61 Conveyance roller 62 Switching mechanism 70 Width detection sensor 81 Control section 82 Storage section 83 Operation panel section 84 Original reading section 85 Interface section 90 Suction mechanism 91 Suction fan 92 Chamber 93, 94 Movable guide section 93a, 94a Guide suction section 93b, 94b Partition A1 Suction area A2 Non-suction area R1 Conveyance path R2 Circulation conveyance path S (S1, S2) Paper

Claims (1)

a transport mechanism that transports the medium;
a suction mechanism that attracts the medium to the conveyance mechanism using suction force,
The suction mechanism includes a movable guide portion that variably moves the width of the suction area in a width direction perpendicular to a direction in which the medium is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
The suction mechanism causes the medium to be attracted to the transport mechanism by the suction force of air,
The movable guide part includes a guide suction part having a stronger air suction force than other suction areas, and a partition that partitions the suction area and the non-suction area together with the guide suction part ,
The guide suction section suctions air through a suction route different from the other suction area,
The suction path of the guide suction section is provided within the partition.
A conveying device characterized by:

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