JP7613068B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming device equipped with a cutter that cuts sheet media.

Image forming devices are known that form images on sheet media such as paper, cloth, and labels while transporting them in the transport direction along a transport path. Some such image forming devices are equipped with a cutter that cuts the sheet media. For example, Patent Document 1 shows an image forming device that includes a roll paper storage section (storage section), an image forming section, a sheet transport section (transport mechanism) that transports the sheet media from the roll paper storage section along the transport path, and a cutter that cuts the sheet media downstream of the transport path from the image forming section. The sheet transport section (transport mechanism) includes a pair of paper feed rollers (feed rollers) that feed the sheet media from the roll paper storage section, and a registration roller and a registration pressure roller (pair of intermediate rollers) that are arranged upstream of the transport path from the image forming section.

JP 2013-86235 A

For example, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is conceivable to provide the storage section in a tray that is detachable from the housing of the image forming device. In Patent Document 1, the cutter is disposed downstream of the conveying path of the registration roller and the registration pressure roller (pair of intermediate rollers), so that after cutting by the cutter, the portion of the sheet medium where the leading edge is formed by the cut by the cutter (the portion upstream of the cutter in the conveying direction) is in a state of being nipped by the registration roller and the registration pressure roller (pair of intermediate rollers). In this state, if the tray is pulled out of the housing, a load is applied to the sheet medium, which may result in damage to the sheet medium.

The object of the present invention is to provide an image forming device that can prevent a load from being applied to sheet media when a tray having a storage section is pulled out from a housing.

The image forming device according to the present invention comprises a housing, a tray detachably attached to the housing and having a storage section capable of storing sheet-like media, an image forming section that forms an image on the sheet-like media, a transport mechanism that transports the sheet-like media from the storage section in a transport direction along a transport path, and a cutter that cuts the sheet-like media at a predetermined position on the transport path, the transport mechanism including a feed roller that sends out the sheet-like media from the storage section, and a pair of intermediate rollers that are disposed between the feed roller and the image forming section on the transport path, the pair of intermediate rollers being supported by the housing and configured to nip the sheet-like media, and the predetermined position being between the feed roller and the pair of intermediate rollers on the transport path.

According to the present invention, the cutter is configured to cut the sheet medium at a predetermined position on the transport path between the feed roller and the pair of intermediate rollers. Therefore, after cutting by the cutter, the portion of the sheet medium where the leading edge is formed by the cutter (the portion upstream of the predetermined position in the transport direction) is not nipped by the pair of intermediate rollers. This makes it possible to prevent load from being applied to the sheet medium when the tray is pulled out of the housing.

1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the printer in FIG. 1 with roll paper removed and cut paper accommodated; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cutter mechanism and a scanning mechanism included in the printer of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of region IV shown in FIG.

<Overall printer configuration>
First, the overall configuration of a printer 100 (image forming apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The up-down and front-rear directions shown in Figures 1 and 2 are the up-down and front-rear directions of the printer 100.

The printer 100 includes a housing 100a, a paper feed tray 1, a transport mechanism 3, a cutter mechanism 4, a head 5, a paper discharge tray 6, and a control unit 10. The paper feed tray 1 corresponds to the "tray" of the present invention, has a box shape that opens upward, and is detachable from the lower part of the housing 100a. The paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a by moving in a direction from rear to front relative to the housing 100a, and is attached to the housing 100a by moving in a direction from front to rear relative to the housing 100a. The paper discharge tray 6 is formed by the front side wall of the upper part of the housing 100a, and can be opened and closed relative to the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 is provided with a roll paper storage section 11 capable of storing roll paper R (see FIG. 1) and a cut paper storage section 12 capable of storing cut paper Pc (see FIG. 2). The roll paper storage section 11 corresponds to the "first storage section" of the present invention, and the cut paper storage section 12 corresponds to the "second storage section" of the present invention, and the roll paper storage section 11 and the cut paper storage section 12 together constitute the "storage section" of the present invention.

The roll paper R (see FIG. 1) is a long piece of paper P (the "sheet-like medium" of the present invention) wound in a roll shape around the outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical core member Rc, and corresponds to the "roll body" of the present invention. The roll paper R is stored in the roll paper storage section 11 with its rotation axis Rx (the central axis of the core member Rc) aligned in a direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the front-to-back direction (the "scanning direction" described below, which is the width direction of the paper P).

The roll paper storage unit 11 has a recess 11x that stores the roll paper R. Two roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 that constitute the transport mechanism 3 are provided at the bottom of the recess 11x. The two roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 are rotatable about shafts 14a, 15a that extend in the scanning direction. When the roll paper R is stored in the recess 11x, the outer circumferential surface of its lower portion is supported by the two roll paper feed rollers 14, 15.

The roll paper storage section 11 further has a hole 11y that communicates with the recess 11x and extends in the vertical direction, and a groove 11z that communicates with the hole 11y and extends in the front-rear direction. Both the hole 11y and the groove 11z open to the bottom surface of the roll paper storage section 11. Paper P unwound from the roll paper R passes through the hole 11y and the groove 11z and is transported toward the head 5.

Cut paper Pc (see FIG. 2) is paper P (the "sheet-like medium" of the present invention) whose length in the transport direction A is shorter than the paper constituting the roll paper R and longer than the length from the cut paper feed roller 3a to the intermediate roller pair 3b (described later) on the transport path C. The cut paper storage section 12 is the space behind the roll paper storage section 11 in the paper feed tray 1, and can store multiple cut paper Pc stacked vertically.

In addition, when using roll paper R in the printer 100, the cut paper Pc is removed from the cut paper storage section 12 (see Figure 1), and when using cut paper Pc, the roll paper R is removed from the roll paper storage section 11 (see Figure 2).

The transport mechanism 3 is configured to transport paper P selectively from the roll paper storage section 11 and the cut paper storage section 12, and includes roll paper feed rollers 14, 15, cut paper feed roller 3a, intermediate roller pair 3b, transport roller pair 3c, paper discharge roller pair 3d, and guides 7, 9. The transport mechanism 3 transports paper P in the transport direction A from either the roll paper storage section 11 or the cut paper storage section 12 along the transport path C that passes under the head 5 from the storage section 11, 12 toward the paper discharge tray 6.

The roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 are provided at the bottom of the roll paper storage section 11. The cut paper feed roller 3a is located above the cut paper storage section 12 and is arranged on the transport path C between the roll paper storage section 11 and the head 5. The intermediate roller pair 3b is arranged on the transport path C between the cut paper feed roller 3a and the head 5. The transport roller pair 3c is arranged on the transport path C between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the head 5. The paper discharge roller pair 3d is arranged on the transport path C between the head 5 and the paper discharge tray 6.

The cut paper feed roller 3a is supported on the tip of an arm 3y. The arm 3y is supported rotatably on a support shaft 3x. The cut paper feed roller 3a can selectively take a retracted position shown in FIG. 1 or a feed position shown in FIG. 2 when an arm drive motor (not shown) is driven under the control of the control unit 10 and the arm 3y rotates about the support shaft 3x. When the cut paper feed roller 3a is in the feed position shown in FIG. 2, it is biased so as to approach the bottom surface of the paper feed tray 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the roll paper R is stored in the roll paper storage section 11 and the cut paper feed roller 3a is in the retracted position, the control section 10 drives the paper feed motor (not shown) and rotates the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15, causing the roll paper R to rotate in the direction of the arrow B, and paper P unwound from the roll paper R is fed toward the pair of intermediate rollers 3b (from front to rear).

As shown in FIG. 2, when cut paper Pc is stored in the cut paper storage section 12 and the cut paper feed roller 3a is in the feed position, the control section 10 drives the paper feed motor (not shown) and the cut paper feed roller 3a rotates, and the uppermost cut paper Pc among the multiple cut papers Pc stored in the cut paper storage section 12 is fed toward the intermediate roller pair 3b (from front to rear).

The intermediate roller pair 3b, the conveying roller pair 3c, and the discharge roller pair 3d each consist of two drive rollers that rotate when driven by a conveying motor (not shown). The conveying motor (not shown) is driven under the control of the control unit 10, and the intermediate roller pair 3b, the conveying roller pair 3c, and the discharge roller pair 3d rotate while nipping the paper P, thereby conveying the paper P in the conveying direction A along the conveying path C.

The intermediate roller pair 3b, the transport roller pair 3c, and the paper discharge roller pair 3d are supported by the housing 100a. On the other hand, the roll paper feed rollers 14 and 15 and the cut paper feed roller 3a are supported by the paper feed tray 1.

The conveying direction A is configured to reverse between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the conveying roller pair 3c. In this embodiment, the forward and backward components of the conveying direction A are opposite in the portion of the conveying path C from the storage section 11, 12 to the intermediate roller pair 3b and in the portion of the conveying path C from the conveying roller pair 3c to the paper output tray 6.

The guide 7 is disposed between the cut paper feed roller 3a and the pair of intermediate rollers 3b on the transport path C, and guides the paper P fed by the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 or the cut paper feed roller 3a to the pair of intermediate rollers 3b. The guide 7 is formed from the rear side wall of the paper feed tray 1, and is inclined so that it is positioned higher from front to rear. The surface of the guide 7 (the surface that defines the transport path C) is formed with fine irregularities 7x that repeat along the transport direction A. The irregularities 7x prevent double feeding (the phenomenon in which multiple cut papers Pc are transported in an overlapping state).

The guide 9 is disposed between the intermediate roller pair 3b and the transport roller pair 3c on the transport path C, and guides the paper P transported by the intermediate roller pair 3b to the transport roller pair 3c. The guide 9 is composed of a pair of path members 9a, 9b disposed on either side of the transport path C.

The cutter mechanism 4 is configured to cut the paper P (paper P unwound from the roll paper R) between the guide 7 and the pair of intermediate rollers 3b on the transport path C (predetermined position Cx), and includes a cutter 4a, a cutter unit 4b to which the cutter 4a is attached, and a holder 4c that holds the cutter unit 4b, and can be moved back and forth in the scanning direction (a direction perpendicular to the transport direction A at the predetermined position Cx) by the scanning mechanism 2 (see Figure 3).

The transport path C includes a straight portion Cs between the cut paper feed roller 3a and the pair of intermediate rollers 3b. The predetermined position Cx where the cutter mechanism 4 is located is provided in the straight portion Cs.

The cutter 4a is composed of a pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2 arranged to sandwich the conveying path C. The pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2 are each perpendicular to the conveying path C and have overlapping portions. Specifically, of the pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2, the rotary blade 4a1 is arranged downstream in the conveying direction A and the rotary blade 4a2 is arranged upstream in the conveying direction A, and the pair of rotary blades 4a1, 4a2 have overlapping portions in the conveying direction A.

The cutter unit 4b rotatably supports a pair of rotary blades 4a1 and 4a2. The holder 4c is a case-like member that holds the cutter unit 4b from the outside.

3, the scanning mechanism 2 includes a pair of pulleys 2a, 2b spaced apart from each other in the scanning direction, a belt 2c wound around the pair of pulleys 2a, 2b and having a holder 4c fixed thereto, and a cutting motor (not shown). When the cutting motor is driven under the control of the control unit 10, the belt 2c runs in the scanning direction, and the holder 4c and the cutter unit 4b held therein (i.e., the entire cutter mechanism 4 including the cutter 4a) are moved from a standby position D outside the conveying path C into the conveying path C. At this time, the rotary blades 4a1, 4a2 are rotated by the driving of the cutting motor. The paper P unwound from the roll paper R is cut in the width direction of the paper P by the cutter 4a at a predetermined position Cx.

The cutter mechanism 4 and the scanning mechanism 2 are supported by the housing 100a.

The head 5 is disposed between the pair of transport rollers 3c and the pair of discharge rollers 3d on the transport path C. The head 5 corresponds to the "image forming unit" of the present invention, and includes a plurality of nozzles (not shown) formed on the underside, and a driver IC. When the driver IC is driven under the control of the control unit 10, ink is ejected from the nozzles, and an image is formed on the paper P when the paper P transported by the transport mechanism 3 passes a position facing the underside of the head 5. The head 5 may be either a line type that ejects ink from nozzles while remaining in a fixed position, or a serial type that ejects ink from nozzles while moving in the scanning direction.

The paper P on which an image is formed by the head 5 is received in the paper output tray 6 which is open relative to the housing 100a.

The control unit 10 is connected to the paper feed motor, transport motor, cutting motor, and driver IC via an internal bus (not shown). The control unit 10 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), and RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores programs and data for the CPU to perform various controls. The RAM temporarily stores data used by the CPU when executing programs.

<Configuration and Effects of This Embodiment>
As described above, according to this embodiment, the cutter 4a is configured to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 or the cut paper feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Therefore, after cutting by the cutter 4a, the portion of the paper P where the leading edge is formed by the cut by the cutter 4a (the portion upstream of the predetermined position Cx in the transport direction) is not in a state of being nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the load on the paper P when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 has a roll paper storage section 11 (see FIG. 1). Because the paper P unwound from the roll paper R is relatively long, it often needs to be cut by the cutter 4a. In addition, when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a with the roll paper R stored in the roll paper storage section 11, a large load is applied to the paper P due to the relative movement between the part of the paper P stored in the roll paper storage section 11 and the part nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b. By applying the present invention in this case (i.e., by configuring the cutter 4a to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C), it is possible to prevent the paper P from being subjected to a load when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 has a cut paper storage section 12 (see FIG. 2). The length of the cut paper Pc stored in the cut paper storage section 12 in the transport direction A is longer than the length from the cut paper feed roller 3a to the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C. When the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a, a large load is applied to the cut paper Pc between the part of the cut paper Pc pressed by the cut paper feed roller 3a and the part of the cut paper Pc nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b. By applying the present invention to this case (i.e., by configuring the cutter 4a to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the cut paper feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C), it is possible to prevent the paper P from being loaded when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 has a roll paper storage section 11 and a cut paper storage section 12, and the transport mechanism 3 is configured to selectively transport paper P from the roll paper storage section 11 and the cut paper storage section 12 (see Figures 1 and 2). In this case, roll paper R and cut paper Pc can be selectively used.

The roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 and the cut paper feed roller 3a are supported by the paper feed tray 1. In this case, when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a, a large load is applied to the roll paper R due to the relative movement between the part of the paper P supported by the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 and the part nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b. When the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a, a large load is applied to the paper P due to the relative movement between the part of the paper P supported by the cut paper feed roller 3a and the part nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b. By applying the present invention in this case (i.e., by configuring the cutter 4a to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 or the cut paper feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C), it is possible to suppress the load on the paper P when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a.

The paper feed tray 1 can be pulled out from the housing 100a in the opposite direction to the paper P being fed out by the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 and the cut paper feed roller 3a. In this case, if the paper P is nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a, a pulling force acts on the paper P, which makes the paper P prone to damage. By applying the present invention in this case (i.e., by configuring the cutter 4a to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 or the cut paper feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C), damage to the paper P when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out from the housing 100a can be prevented.

The intermediate roller pair 3b is composed of two drive rollers that rotate when driven by a transport motor (not shown). In this case, the nipping force of the intermediate roller pair 3b on the paper P is large, and when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a, if the paper P is in a state where it is nipped by the intermediate roller pair 3b, a large load is applied to the paper P, and the paper P is likely to be damaged. By applying the present invention in this case (i.e., by configuring the cutter 4a to cut the paper P at a predetermined position Cx between the roll paper feed rollers 14, 15 or the cut paper feed roller 3a and the intermediate roller pair 3b on the transport path C), it is possible to prevent the paper P from being damaged when the paper feed tray 1 is pulled out of the housing 100a.

<Modification>
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various design modifications are possible within the scope of the claims.

In the above embodiment, the cutter is composed of a pair of rotary blades, but is not limited to this and may be composed of, for example, one rotary blade and one fixed blade.

In the above embodiment, the transport mechanism is configured to transport sheet-like media selectively from the roll paper storage section and the cut paper storage section, but is not limited to this. For example, the image forming device may have only one of the roll paper storage section and the cut paper storage section, and the transport mechanism may be configured to transport sheet-like media from that one.

The feed roller is not limited to being supported by the tray, but may be supported by the housing.

The intermediate roller pair is not limited to being composed of two drive rollers, but may be composed of a drive roller and a driven roller.

The tray may be removable from the housing in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in Figures 1 and 2.

The guide disposed between the feed roller and the specified position on the transport path does not need to have any irregularities formed on the surface that defines the transport path. Also, no guide needs to be provided between the feed roller and the specified position on the transport path.

In the above embodiment, the front-to-rear component of the conveying direction is reversed between the intermediate roller pair and the conveying roller pair, but the up-to-down component of the conveying direction may also be reversed.

The conveying direction does not need to be reversed between the intermediate roller pair and the conveying roller pair.

The cutter may be provided on a curved portion of the conveying path rather than on a straight portion.

The sheet-like medium is not limited to paper, but may be, for example, cloth, resin material, etc.

The image forming unit may eject a liquid other than ink (e.g., a treatment liquid that aggregates or precipitates the components in the ink). In addition, the image forming unit is not limited to a liquid ejection type, and may be a laser type, a thermal transfer type, or the like.

The present invention is not limited to printers, but can also be applied to facsimiles, copiers, multifunction machines, etc.

1 Paper feed tray (tray)
3 Conveying mechanism 3a Cut paper feeding roller (feeding roller)
3b Pair of intermediate rollers 4a Cutter 5 Head (image forming unit)
11 Roll paper storage section (storage section, first storage section)
12 Cut paper storage section (storage section, second storage section)
14, 15 Roll paper feed roller (feed roller)
100 Printer (image forming device)
100a: Housing A: Transport direction C: Transport path Cx: Predetermined position P: Paper (sheet-like medium)
R Roll paper (roll body)

Claims (7)

A housing and
a tray that is detachable from the housing and has a storage portion that can store sheet-like media;
an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet-like medium;
a conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet medium from the storage unit along a conveying path in a conveying direction;
a cutter that cuts the sheet medium at a predetermined position on the transport path;
A control unit,
The transport mechanism includes:
a feed roller for feeding the sheet medium from the storage section;
a pair of intermediate rollers disposed between the feed roller and the image forming unit in the transport path,
The intermediate roller pair is supported by the housing and configured to nip a sheet of medium,
the predetermined position is between the feed roller and the pair of intermediate rollers on the transport path,
The image forming apparatus , wherein the control unit causes the cutting unit to cut the recording medium at the predetermined position before the tray is pulled out of the housing . The image forming device according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage section includes a first storage section capable of storing a roll of sheet-like medium. The image forming device according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage section includes a second storage section capable of storing a plurality of stacked sheet-like media, each of which has a length in the transport direction longer than the length from the feed roller to the pair of intermediate rollers in the transport path. the storage section includes a first storage section capable of storing a roll of sheet-like medium, and a second storage section capable of storing a plurality of stacked sheet-like media, each of which has a length in the transport direction longer than a length from the feed roller to the pair of intermediate rollers in the transport path;
2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the transport mechanism selectively transports the sheet medium from the first storage unit and the second storage unit. The image forming device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the feed roller is supported by the tray. The image forming device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the intermediate roller pair is composed of two drive rollers that are rotated by the drive of a motor. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray can be pulled out from the housing in a direction opposite to a direction in which the sheet medium is fed out by the feed roller.

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