JP2004106278A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

A printer is provided that prevents a rear end portion of a sheet being discharged from jumping up with a simple configuration.
As printing progresses, a rear end of a sheet of paper is released from a paper feed roller and a pressing roller, and conveyance of the sheet of paper is controlled only by a discharge unit. The leading end of the sheet 18 has reached the gentle slope 14 located at a position higher than the platen 34 by this time. When the middle portion of the paper 18 in the width direction is supported by the gentle slope 14 and the paper 18 is curved to project upward in the width direction, the portion from the leading end of the paper 18 to the contact point between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 has its own weight. This makes it difficult to bend downward in the discharge direction. Therefore, even after the rear end of the sheet 18 is released from the sheet feeding roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, the rear end of the sheet 18 is prevented from rising from the platen 34.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A printer that prints an image on leaf-shaped paper by an inkjet method or the like is widely known. In general, a printer includes a recording unit including an ink jet nozzle or the like mounted on a carriage, a transport unit that transports paper to the recording unit, a discharge unit that discharges paper from the recording unit, and a discharge unit that discharges paper from the recording unit. And a loading unit on which sheets are loaded. When the front end of the paper to be discharged by the discharge unit abuts against the rear end of the paper stacked on the stacking unit, a paper jam occurs in the discharge unit. For this reason, the stacking section is provided such that the upper surface of the end near the discharge section is located lower than the discharge section. Accordingly, the sheet being discharged by the discharge unit is curved in the discharge direction because the front end portion hangs down by its own weight.
[0003]
When the printing process for one sheet starts in the latter half, the trailing edge of the sheet is released from the transport section, and the transport of the sheet is performed only by the discharge section. Due to its own weight, it hangs down and the rear end comes up. When the trailing edge of the sheet released from the transport unit is flipped up as described above, the interval between the ink ejection nozzles of the recording unit and the sheet fluctuates, and the image quality is reduced. Further, when the trailing edge of the sheet released from the transport unit jumps up and comes into contact with an ink jet nozzle or the like, the sheet is contaminated with a coloring material such as ink.
[0004]
Patent Document 1 discloses a printer in which a sheet being discharged is curved in the width direction so that the sheet has a stiffness and a front portion of the sheet being discharged is prevented from sagging. In the printer described in Patent Document 1, the rear end of the sheet is curved in the width direction until each sheet is completely discharged, and a large number of sheets are stacked on the stacking unit. I have. That is, in the printer described in Patent Literature 1, a supporting member that supports a sheet by bending the sheet in the width direction is set near the discharge section at substantially the same height as the discharge section until each sheet is completely discharged from the discharge section. When the paper is localized and each paper is completely discharged from the discharge unit, the support member is moved from below the paper to drop the paper to the stacking unit. With this configuration, the front end of the sheet being discharged does not hit the rear end of the sheet stacked on the stacking unit, and the sheet is prevented from curving in the discharge direction.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 10-315555 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the printer described in Patent Literature 1, a driving mechanism for moving a support member that supports a sheet by curving the sheet in the width direction and a space for moving the support member are required. Therefore, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, the manufacturing cost increases due to the increase in the number of parts, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the printer.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a printer that can prevent a rear end portion of a sheet being discharged from jumping up with a simple configuration.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The printer according to claim 1, wherein a recording unit that forms an image on the surface of the sheet-shaped medium, a conveyance unit that sandwiches the sheet-shaped medium and conveys the sheet-shaped medium, and the sheet-shaped medium on which the image is formed is provided. A printer comprising: a discharge unit for nipping and discharging from the recording unit; and a loading unit on which the sheet-like medium discharged from the recording unit is loaded, wherein the loading unit has a ridge line portion of the discharge unit. A convex support portion extending in a discharge direction, wherein a part of the back surface of the sheet-shaped medium held by the discharge portion and opened from the transport portion is partially conveyed between the transport portion and the discharge portion. The front end of the sheet-shaped medium is supported at the same height or higher and the front part of the sheet-shaped medium is curved in the width direction, and the rear end of the sheet-shaped medium opened from the conveyance part and the discharge part is the conveyance part and the conveyance part. In a position where the height is lower than the transport path between the discharge sections, Characterized in that it has a support for supporting the over preparative like medium.
[0009]
In order to bend the sheet-shaped medium by bending the front part of the sheet-shaped medium in the width direction, a part of the back surface of the sheet-shaped medium may be supported at a position away from the discharge unit. According to the printer according to the first aspect, the support portion bends the front portion of the sheet-shaped medium held by the discharge portion and released from the transport portion in the width direction, and the sheet-shaped medium is released from the transport portion and the discharge portion. Then, the rear end is supported in a posture in which the height is lower than the conveyance path between the conveyance unit and the discharge unit. Therefore, in the vicinity of the discharge unit, a space for stacking a plurality of sheets can be left between the sheet discharged from the discharge unit and the upper surface of the rear end of the sheet-like medium stacked on the stacking unit. Further, the front portion of the sheet-shaped medium whose rear end is opened from the conveyance portion is supported at a height equal to or higher than the conveyance path between the conveyance portion and the discharge portion, and the sheet-shaped medium is curved in the width direction. , The rear end of the sheet-like medium is prevented from jumping up about the point of contact with the discharge section. Therefore, according to the printer of the first aspect, it is possible to prevent the rear end of the sheet-like medium being ejected from jumping up by a simple configuration in which the stacking section is provided with the convex support section.
[0010]
The support part of the printer according to claim 2 is characterized in that the support part supports an intermediate part in the width direction of the back surface of the sheet-shaped medium.
When the front part of the sheet-like medium is curved upwardly in the width direction, the sheet-like medium is more likely to be bent between the support part and the discharge part than when the front part of the sheet-like medium is curved downwardly in the width direction. This makes it difficult to bend downward in the discharge direction. Therefore, according to the printer of the second aspect, the rear end of the sheet-like medium is not easily jumped up.
[0011]
The loading section of the printer according to claim 3 includes a plurality of the support sections separated from each other.
According to the printer of the third aspect, it is possible to prevent the rear ends of a plurality of types of sheet-shaped media having different sizes from rising.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the internal structure of a printer 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The printer 1 includes a recording unit 32 including a print head 26 that forms an image on a sheet, a transport unit 40 that supplies a sheet immediately below the print head 26, and a sheet on which an image is formed immediately below the print head 26. And a stacking section 48 for stacking the discharged sheets.
[0013]
The print head 26 is mounted on a carriage 30 together with an ink tank 28. The carriage 30 is locked by a belt driven by a motor (not shown), and reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the paper plane parallel to a guide rail (not shown) as the belt rotates. The print head 26 forms an image on the paper 18 by an inkjet method in which the ink stored in the ink tank 28 is ejected from the nozzles toward the paper 18. Specifically, for example, the print head 26 contracts the volume of the ink passage from the ink tank 28 to the nozzle (not shown) by the piezoelectric element, and ejects the ink droplet from the nozzle. It should be noted that, for example, a method in which bubbles are generated in the ink passage to eject ink droplets from the nozzles may be adopted for the print head 26, and the configuration of the recording unit 32 is a design item that can be appropriately selected.
[0014]
The platen 34 is provided immediately below the print head 26 and separated from the print head 26 by a predetermined distance. The platen 34 is a plate-like member whose longitudinal axis is parallel to the movement direction axis of the carriage 30. The paper 18 is transported between the transport unit 40 and the discharge unit 20 while sliding on the upper surface of the platen 34. The recording unit described in the claims corresponds to a motor (not shown) that reciprocates the platen 34, the print head 26, the carriage 30, the ink tank 28, and the carriage 30.
[0015]
A paper feed roller 38 is provided adjacent to one of the short sides of the platen 34. The transport unit 40 includes a paper feed roller 38, a press roller 36, a motor that rotates the paper feed roller 38, and the like. The transport unit 40 transports the paper 18 between the platen 34 and the print head 26 by rotating the paper feed roller 38. The paper feed roller 38 is fixed coaxially with a gear train (not shown) rotated by a motor (not shown). The pressing roller 36 is provided in parallel with the sheet feeding roller 38, and is urged in a direction approaching the sheet feeding roller 38 by an urging means (not shown) to be pressed against the surface of the sheet 18. The surface on which an image is formed, that is, the surface on which the ink ejected from the print head 26 is fixed is referred to as the surface of the paper 18. The paper 18 is held between the paper feed roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, and is conveyed in a direction approaching the discharge unit 20 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 38.
[0016]
The paper discharge roller 24 is provided adjacent to the side opposite to the transport unit 40 in the short direction of the platen 34. The discharge unit 20 includes a paper discharge roller 24, a saw-tooth disk 22, a motor for rotating the paper discharge roller 24, and the like. The discharge unit 20 discharges the paper 18 from between the platen 34 and the print head 26 by rotating the paper discharge roller 24. The paper discharge roller 24 is fixed coaxially with a gear train (not shown) that is rotated by the motor that rotates the paper supply roller 38. The saw-tooth disk 22 is provided in parallel with the paper discharge roller 24, is urged by an urging means (not shown) in a direction approaching the paper discharge roller 24, and comes into pressure contact with the surface of the paper 18. The paper 18 is held between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22, and is conveyed in a direction approaching the stacking unit 48 by rotation of the paper discharge roller 24. The paper feed path between the transport unit 40 and the discharge unit 20 is on an imaginary plane that is in contact with the paper feed roller 38, the press roller 36, the paper discharge roller 24, and the saw-tooth disk 22.
[0017]
The stacking section 48 includes a base 46 rotatably supported by the main body 42 provided with the transport section 40, the discharge section 20, and the recording section 32, and the extendable section 10 that is extendable from the base 46. The base part 46 is formed in a bag shape capable of storing the elastic part 10.
[0018]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of the printer 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the loading section 48. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the stacking unit 48 showing a state in which the paper 50 of the maximum size that can be normally printed by the printer 1 is supported by the support units 12 and 13, and FIG. FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of the stacking section 48 showing a state in which a sheet 54 smaller than the sheet 50 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is supported by the support section 12.
[0019]
The support portion 13 and the support portion 12 are formed on the upper surface of the base portion 46 of the stacking portion 48 in a convex shape long in the sheet discharging direction. The support portion 13 and the support portion 12 are separated from each other in a direction (paper width direction) perpendicular to the paper discharge direction axis. As shown in FIG. 4B, the positions of the support portions 13 and 12 in the width direction of the paper in the width direction of the relatively large fixed-size paper to be printed by the printer 1 are determined by the support portions 13 and 12. The intermediate portion in the width direction of the relatively small fixed size paper to be supported and printed by the printer 1 is set to be supported by the support portion 12 as shown in FIG. 4C. By forming a plurality of support portions on the stacking portion 48, a widthwise middle portion of a relatively large sheet is supported by the plurality of support portions, and a widthwise middle portion of a relatively small sheet is supported by a single support portion. Therefore, a plurality of types of standard paper having different paper sizes can be curved in the width direction.
[0020]
The top surfaces of the support portions 12 and 13 are formed of two flat surfaces, a steep slope 44 on which the front end of the sheet first comes into contact and a gentle slope 14. The gentle slope 14 is continuous with the end of the steep slope 44 in the sheet discharging direction. The gentle slope 14 corresponds to the ridge portion described in the claims, and the maximum slope direction axis (that is, the longitudinal direction axis) is parallel to the sheet discharge direction axis.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1, the steeply inclined surface 44 is a flat surface that is inclined so as to become higher in the sheet discharging direction. The inclination and position of the steep slope 44 are set such that the leading end of the sheet discharged from the discharge unit 20 comes into contact first, and the leading end of the sheet slides on the steep slope 44 and is guided by the gentle slope 14. The lower end of the steep slope 44 is located a predetermined distance away from the paper discharge roller 24 in the paper discharge direction, and is located at a height lower than the transport path between the transport unit 40 and the discharge unit 20. For this reason, the trailing end of the sheet released from the sheet discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 is located at a position lower than the conveyance path between the conveyance section 40 and the discharge section 20 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 42 supported. Therefore, printing can be further continued in a state where the plurality of sheets 18 are stacked on the stacking unit 48.
[0022]
The gentle slope 14 is a flat surface that is inclined so as to increase from the boundary 16 with the steep slope 44 toward the sheet discharging direction. The slope of the gentle slope 14 is smaller than the slope of the steep slope 44. The lower end of the gentle slope 14 is separated from the paper discharge roller 24 by a predetermined distance in the paper discharge direction. The height of the end of the gentle slope 14 remote from the boundary 16 is higher than the upper surface of the platen 34, in other words, higher than the transport path between the transport unit 40 and the discharge unit 20. The position and the slope of the gentle slope 14 are determined when the printer 1 prints a fixed-size sheet of the minimum size that can be normally printed when the rear end of the fixed-form sheet is released from the feed roller 38 and the press roller 36. The height of a portion that comes into contact with the front end of the standard paper is set to be higher than the upper surface of the platen 34.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 4A, it is desirable that the width of the expansion and contraction portion 10 is smaller than the width of the standard size paper 50 of the maximum size that the printer 1 can normally print. When the width of the expansion / contraction unit 10 is smaller than the width of the maximum size standard paper 50 on which the printer 1 can perform normal printing, the expansion / contraction unit 10 can function as a support unit for such a standard paper 50. . That is, when the width of the elastic portion 10 is set as such, the elastic portion 10 can bend the front portion of the sheet whose rear end is released from the feed roller 38 and the press roller 36 in the width direction. it can.
[0024]
The configuration of the printer 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Hereinafter, the operation of the printer 1 will be described.
When ink droplets are ejected from the print head 26 mounted on the reciprocating carriage 30 toward the paper 18, an image having a predetermined width extending in the paper width direction is formed on the paper 18. An image can be formed in the sheet feeding direction by conveying the sheet 18 to the discharge section side (sheet feeding direction) in the short direction of the platen 34 by the conveying section 40. As printing progresses, the paper 18 is transported to a position where the front end of the paper 18 is held between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22. The leading end of the paper 18 discharged from the contact point between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 toward the loading portion hangs down by its own weight. In a state where the sheet 18 is held between the sheet feeding roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, the sheet 18 does not rise from the platen 34 even if the leading end of the sheet 18 hangs down.
[0025]
As the printing further proceeds, before the rear end of the sheet 18 is released from the feed roller 38 and the press roller 36, the sheet 18 discharged from the contact point between the sheet discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 toward the stacking unit side. Abuts against the steep slopes 44 of the support portions 12 and 13. When the leading end of the paper 18 reaches the steep slope 44, the portion from the leading end of the paper 18 to the contact point between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 is in a floating state with no lower support. When the printing further proceeds, the steeply inclined surface 44 and the leading end of the sheet 18 come into sliding contact with each other before the trailing end of the sheet 18 is released from the feed roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, and the leading end of the sheet 18 is To reach. In this embodiment, the configuration is described in which the leading end of the sheet 18 contacts the steep slope 44 before the gentle slope 14. However, a configuration in which the leading end of the sheet 18 contacts the gentle slope 14 from the beginning is adopted. You may.
[0026]
When the leading end of the sheet 18 reaches the steep slope 44 and the gentle slope 14, the steep slope 44 and the gentle slope 14 are formed one step higher on the upper surface of the base 46 of the stacking section 48, and therefore, FIGS. As shown in ()), the middle portion in the width direction at the front of the sheet 18 is supported at a position higher than the widthwise end of the sheet 18 by the steep slope 44 or the gentle slope 14. The portion curved in the width direction by being supported by the steep slope 44 or the gentle slope 14 is from the leading end of the sheet 18 to the vicinity of the contact point between the sheet discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22. When at least the front portion of the paper 18 is curved in the width direction, the stiffness of the paper is increased, and the paper 18 is unlikely to be curved downwardly in the paper discharge direction. Further, when the paper 18 is curved upwardly in the width direction, the sheet 18 is less likely to be curved downwardly in the sheet discharge direction than when the paper 18 is curved downwardly in the width direction. That is, when the front portion of the paper 18 comes into sliding contact with the steep slope 44 or the gentle slope 14, the portion from the leading end of the paper 18 to the contact point between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 is bent downwardly by its own weight. It becomes difficult.
[0027]
As the printing further proceeds, the rear end of the sheet 18 is released from the sheet feeding roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, and the conveyance of the sheet 18 is controlled only by the discharge unit 20. The leading end of the sheet 18 has reached the gentle slope 14 located at a position higher than the platen 34 by this time. As described above, the middle portion of the paper 18 in the width direction is supported by the gentle slope 14, and when the paper 18 is curved to project upward in the width direction, the contact point between the paper discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22 from the leading end of the paper 18. It is difficult for the part up to the upper part to bend downward in the discharge direction by its own weight. Therefore, even after the rear end of the sheet 18 is released from the sheet feeding roller 38 and the pressing roller 36, the rear end of the sheet 18 is prevented from rising from the platen 34.
[0028]
As printing proceeds further, the rear end of the sheet 18 is released from the sheet discharge roller 24 and the saw-tooth disk 22. Then, the rear end of the sheet 18 falls below the sheet discharge roller 24 by its own weight, and is supported by the main body 42. As described above, since the rear end of the sheet 18 stacked on the stacking section 48 falls below the sheet discharging roller 24, the sheet 18 is discharged from the discharging section 20 until a large number of sheets are stacked on the stacking section 48. The leading edge of the succeeding sheet does not hit the trailing end of the sheet stacked on the stacking section 48 first.
[0029]
As described above, according to the printer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the rear end portion of the paper being discharged is formed by a simple configuration in which only a part of the upper surface of the base portion 46 of the stacking portion 48 is formed at a higher level. Can be prevented from jumping up.
[0030]
In the above-described embodiment, two support portions 12 and 13 are formed on the stacking portion 48. However, it is obvious that three or more support portions may be formed. Further, in this embodiment, the top surfaces of the support portions 12 and 13 are formed flat, but the top surfaces of the support portions 12 and 13 may be formed in an arc shape or a knife edge shape in the width direction. The parts 12 and 13 may be formed in a thin rib shape. Further, in the present embodiment, the steepness of the steep slope 44 and the gentle slope 14 is changed discontinuously at the boundary 16, but the slope of the top surfaces of the support parts 12 and 13 is continuously and gradually. A configuration that changes may be employed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a loading unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4A is a plan view of a loading unit showing a state in which a sheet of a maximum size that can be normally printed by a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is supported by a support unit, and FIG. FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view of the stacking unit showing a state in which a sheet smaller than the sheets shown in FIGS.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Printer 12, 13 Supporting part 18 Paper (sheet-like medium)
20 discharge unit 32 recording unit 40 transport unit 48 stacking unit

Claims (3)

A recording unit that forms an image on the surface of a sheet-like medium, a transport unit that clamps the sheet-like medium and transports the recording medium to the recording unit, and holds the sheet-like medium on which the image is formed and discharges the recording medium from the recording unit And a stacking unit on which the sheet-shaped medium discharged from the recording unit is stacked,
The stacking portion is a convex support portion having a ridge line portion extending in a discharge direction of the discharge portion, and has a partial width of a back surface of the sheet-shaped medium held by the discharge portion and opened from the transport portion. The sheet released from the conveyance unit and the discharge unit, supported at a height equal to or higher than the conveyance path between the conveyance unit and the discharge unit, and bending the front part of the sheet-shaped medium in the width direction. A printer, comprising: a supporting portion that supports the sheet-shaped medium in a posture in which a rear end of the sheet-shaped medium is lower than a conveying path between the conveying section and the discharging section. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the supporter supports a widthwise middle portion of a back surface of the sheet-shaped medium. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the stacking unit includes a plurality of the support units separated from each other.

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