JP2009179002A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A printing apparatus capable of smoothly performing borderless printing while transporting a substrate to be printed satisfactorily.
A printer includes a transport mechanism that transports sheets P, which are sheet-like prints, one by one, and an inkjet head that ejects ink onto the paper P transported by the transport mechanism. The transport mechanism 70 is arranged along the transport direction of the paper P, and has a plurality of transport belts 80 for transporting the paper P. The transport mechanism 70 includes a part of the print area by the inkjet head 22. The upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112 perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper P are formed, and a part of the conveyance belt 80 is drawn into the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112. ing.
[Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets from a print head onto a substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional printing apparatus, an ink jet printer that performs a printing process on a printing material by moving a printing head (ink jet head) that discharges ink droplets relative to the printing material such as paper is known. .
Such an ink jet printer has a belt conveyor having a belt stretched around a driving roller and an idler roller, and conveys paper by a conveying device including the belt conveyor (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

JP 59-78877 A

By the way, when borderless printing is performed on a sheet, ink droplets are also ejected to a portion protruding from the sheet. For this reason, in order to prevent the ink droplets ejected from the paper from adhering to the belt, it is necessary to let the belt escape in the print region of the head.
Here, in the above-described transport device, the belt is bent into a U-shaped groove in a side view in the entire print region by the head and accommodated in the inside so as to accommodate the ink garter used for calibrating each inkjet. With this structure, the belt is released from the ink droplets that are ejected out and ejected during borderless printing.
However, if there are many nozzle rows along the paper transport direction, the groove width of the belt escape portion will also widen, and there is a risk that the paper will not be transported smoothly by the belt, especially for paper with small dimensions in the transport direction. At the time of printing, there is a possibility that the conveyance failure of the paper may occur at the escape portion of the belt.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of smoothly performing borderless printing while favorably transporting a substrate.

  A printing apparatus according to the present invention capable of solving the above problems includes a transport mechanism that transports sheet-like printed materials one by one, and a print head that ejects ink to the printed material transported by the transport mechanism. The transport mechanism includes a plurality of transport belts arranged in the transport direction of the substrate, and transports the substrate, and the transport mechanism includes the printing device. A relief groove perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the substrate is formed in a part of a print area by the head, and a part of the conveyance belt is drawn into the relief groove.

  According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the escape groove perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the printing material is formed in a part of the printing area, and a part of the conveyance belt is drawn into the escape groove. Borderless printing can be easily performed by arranging and printing the edges in the conveyance direction of the printed material. In addition, since the escape groove is provided in a part of the printing region, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the conveyance capability of the printed material by the conveyance belt due to the provision of the escape groove as much as possible. Thereby, even if it is a to-be-printed material with a small dimension of a conveyance direction, borderless printing can be performed smoothly, conveying favorable.

In addition, it is preferable that the escape grooves are respectively formed on the upstream and downstream edges of the printing area in the printing area in the transport direction.
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the relief grooves are formed in the upstream and downstream edges in the printing region. For example, the edge on the front side in the conveyance direction of the printed material is arranged in the upstream relief groove. Printing, and printing by placing the edge on the rear side in the conveyance direction of the printing material in the relief groove on the downstream side makes it possible to easily perform borderless printing of the printing material without performing complicated control. .

Moreover, it is preferable that the said conveyance mechanism is formed with the escape groove | channel where the both-sides edge part of the to-be-printed printed material is arrange | positioned in a part of said printing area | region along the conveyance direction of the to-be-printed material.
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the relief grooves in which the both side edges of the printed material to be conveyed are formed in a part of the printing area along the conveyance direction of the printed material. Borderless printing can be easily performed.

The escape groove is preferably provided with an absorbing material that absorbs ink ejected from the print head.
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, since the absorbing material that absorbs the ink ejected from the print head is provided in the escape groove, when the borderless printing is performed on the printing material, the ink is discharged around the printing material. Excess ink can be absorbed by the absorber, and the transport mechanism can be maintained in a clean state.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of a printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, an ink jet printer will be described as an example of a printing apparatus.

  1 is an external perspective view of the printer of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view showing the internal configuration of the printer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan sectional view showing the internal configuration of the printer shown in FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional side view of the printer showing a state where paper can be fed from the main cassette, FIG. 5 is a schematic plan sectional view of the printer showing a state where paper can be fed from the main cassette, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the print processing unit in the width direction, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the print processing unit in the paper transport direction, FIG. 9 is a side view of the print processing unit in the paper transport direction, and FIG. FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view of the conveyor belt portion.

  The printer 1 of the present embodiment is, for example, a front paper feed / rear paper discharge type ink jet printer, and, as shown in FIG. A loading port 5 is formed. As shown in FIG. 2, the subcassette loading slot 5 is detachably loaded with a subcassette 6 in which a sheet P, which is a large sheet-like printed material, is accommodated in an accommodation space S. The sub-cassette 6 is loaded in the inside of the device case 4 in the latter half portion and protrudes from the device case 4 in the first half portion.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a window portion 8 having an open / close door 7 that can be opened and closed outward is provided on the side surface (front side surface in FIG. 1) of the device case 4. In this state, the main cassette 42 can be taken in and out. As shown in FIG. 2, the main cassette 42 accommodates sheets P, which are small-sized printed materials, in a stacked state. Further, a discharge tray 9 for receiving the printed paper P is provided on the rear surface of the apparatus case 4 (right end surface in FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the apparatus case 4 is provided with a cassette installation unit 40 at the front, and a paper supply unit 10 downstream of the cassette installation unit 40 (that is, at the rear). Yes. A print processing unit 20 is provided on the downstream side of the paper supply unit 10, and a paper discharge unit 50 is further provided.

  In the cassette installation section 40, an opening / closing cover 5a that is pivotable inward is provided at the sub-cassette loading port 5. The opening / closing cover 5a is inserted into the sub-cassette loading port 5 to insert the sub-cassette 6 into the sub-cassette. 6, pivots inward to open the subcassette loading port 5, and pulls out the subcassette 6 from the subcassette loading port 5, thereby rotating to the subcassette loading port 5 side to rotate the subcassette loading port 5. Close.

The subcassette loading port 5 is provided with an open / close cover detection sensor 5b that is turned ON / OFF by opening / closing the open / close cover 5a.
In addition, a sub-cassette detection sensor 5c that is turned ON / OFF by attaching / detaching the sub-cassette 6 to / from the printer 1 is provided at a position on the front side in the loading direction in the printer 1 in which the sub-cassette 6 is loaded.

Further, a main cassette installation section 41 is provided in the apparatus case 4, and the main cassette 42 is detachably accommodated in the main cassette installation section 41.
The main cassette 42 has an accommodation space S in which small-sized paper P is stacked and accommodated therein, and a paper elevating mechanism 43 is provided in the accommodation space S. The uppermost portion of the small-sized paper P accommodated in the accommodation space S in a stacked state by the mechanism 43 is set to a predetermined height position.

The main cassette installation unit 41 includes an elevating plate 44 on which the main cassette 42 is placed. The elevating plate 44 is moved up and down by an elevating mechanism 44a.
Further, the elevating plate 44 is provided with a main cassette detection sensor 46 that is turned on and off by a pin 45 that protrudes and retracts when the main cassette 42 is attached to and detached from the main cassette installation portion 41.

  In the main cassette installation section 41, the main cassette 42 on the elevating plate 44 is fed as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 by being raised by the elevating mechanism 44a with the sub-cassette 6 removed. The paper P is disposed at the paper position, and in this state, the paper P can be fed out by the pickup roller 13.

On the contrary, when the elevating plate 44 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 44a, the main cassette 42 is disposed at the standby position deviated from the paper feeding position. In this state, the main cassette 42 is removed from the window 8 of the apparatus case 4. The main cassette 42 can be taken out. Further, the sub-cassette 6 can be loaded from the sub-cassette loading port 5 in a state where the main cassette 42 is disposed at the standby position.
The main cassette installation unit 41 includes a paper feed position detection sensor 47 that detects that the main cassette 42 is disposed at the paper feed position and a standby position detection sensor that detects that the main cassette 42 is disposed at the standby position. 48 is provided.

  The paper feeding unit 10 is provided with a pickup roller 13 supported at the front end of a frame 12 that is swingably supported in the apparatus case 4, and this pickup roller 13 is in contact with the paper P disposed below. As a result, the uppermost sheet P is fed back one by one (to the right in FIGS. 2 and 3) and sent to the print processing unit 20 on the rear side.

  The print processing unit 20 prints a desired image by ejecting ink droplets (ink droplets) while moving relative to the supplied paper P in the width direction of the paper P. 22 is provided so as to be movable along guide shafts 21 and 21 provided orthogonal to the paper feeding direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inkjet head 22 is fixed to a part of a drive belt 64 that is wound around a drive pulley 62 and a driven pulley 63 that are rotated by a drive motor 61, and the drive pulley 62 is driven. When the drive belt 64 is rotated by the motor 61 and moved, it moves along the guide shafts 21 and 21. Note that the inkjet head 22 of the present embodiment has a length of 2 inches in the paper conveyance direction in the region where the ink nozzles are formed, and is relatively large as an inkjet printer.

Also, below the inkjet head 22, a transport mechanism 70 is provided that transports the paper P, which is a substrate, while supporting it from below.
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, the transport mechanism 70 includes a suction block 72 that is a platen 71 having an upper surface as a printing reference surface and faces the inkjet head 22. The suction block 72 has a box shape with a space S1 formed therein, and a suction blower 74 for sucking out air in the space S1 is provided at the lower part.

  A plurality of tension pulleys 75 and guide pulleys 73 (see FIG. 11) are supported at intervals on the upstream end of the suction block 72 constituting the transport mechanism 70. Further, a groove portion 76 that opens upward is formed in the vicinity of the downstream side of the suction block 72 over the width direction, and a rotating shaft 78 is disposed in the groove portion 76. The same number of drive pulleys 79 as tension pulleys 75 are provided on the rotary shaft 78 at positions facing the tension pulleys 75. The drive belt 79, the tension pulley 75, and the guide pulley 73 are respectively wound around the conveyor belt 80, and the conveyor belt 80 is arranged in parallel at intervals.

  Further, in the printing area by the inkjet head 22 in the suction block 72, the upstream side lateral relief groove 111 and the downstream side lateral relief groove 112 are formed in the width direction at the upstream and downstream edges in the paper conveyance direction, respectively. Yes. In the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112, a pull-in pulley 113 is provided on the bottom side, and a guide pulley 114 is provided on each edge. Then, a conveyor belt 80 is hung on the pull-in pulley 113 and the guide pulley 114, and a part of the conveyor belt 80 is pulled into the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112.

  In addition, in the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112, an ink absorbing material 115 is disposed on the upper side of the drawing pulley 113 over the width direction of the suction block 72.

A plurality of vertical relief grooves 116 are formed in the printing area of the suction block 72 by the ink jet head 22 along the paper conveyance direction. These vertical relief grooves 116 are formed in the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove. It communicates with the groove 112. These longitudinal relief grooves 116 are arranged between the respective conveyor belts 80 at intervals in accordance with the width of the regular sheet to be printed from both ends in the width direction of the suction block 72 and one end of the suction block 72.
The ink absorbing material 115 is also disposed in the longitudinal escape grooves 116. The drive pulley 79 and the guide pulleys 73 and 114 each have teeth on the outer peripheral surface, but the tension pulley 75 and the pull-in pulley 113 are not provided with teeth.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the conveyor belt 80 is a timing belt having a plurality of teeth 80 a on the inner peripheral surface side. The teeth 80 a of the conveyor belt 80 are teeth 73 a of the guide pulley 73 and the drive pulley 79. 79a is engaged. The tension pulley 75 is elastically urged in a direction away from the drive pulley 79 (rightward in FIG. 11), whereby a predetermined tension is applied to the transport belt 80.

  A pressing roller 81 facing the guide pulley 73 is provided on the upper portion of the upstream side of the conveying belt 80. The pressing roller 81 is rotatably supported by the frame 82 and is urged toward the guide pulley 73 side.

  In addition, an upper portion on the downstream side of the conveyor belt 80 is provided between a plurality of pairs of feed rollers 83 and 84 that are arranged along the conveyor belt 80 at positions opposite to the conveyor belt 80 and spaced apart from each other. A pressing roller 85 is provided. The feed rollers 83 and 84 and the pressing roller 85 are rotatably supported by the bracket 86. The feed roller 83 is disposed immediately above the drive pulley 79, and sandwiches the paper P with the drive pulley 79 via the conveyance belt 80. The feed roller 84 is disposed on the upstream side of the feed roller 83 and prevents the paper P from being lifted before reaching the feed roller 83 on the conveyance belt 80. The pressure roller 85 is upstream of the drive pulley 79 and prevents the paper P from floating between the conveyance belts 80.

  A transmission pulley 91 is provided at one end of the rotary shaft 78 provided with the drive pulley 79, and a transmission belt 94 hung on the rotary pulley 93 of the transport motor 92 is hung on the transmission pulley 91. Yes. The rotary shaft 78 is provided with a disc-shaped encode plate 95 together with the transmission pulley 91, and a plurality of slits (not shown) formed along the circumferential direction in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the encode plate 95. By detecting by the detector 96, the rotational position of the rotating shaft 78 can be detected.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the upper surface of the suction block 72 is slightly lower than the conveyance surface 80 b of the sheet P at the upper surface height position of the conveyance belt 80 in the vicinity of both sides in the width direction of the conveyance belt 80. A suction surface 101 that is further away from the inkjet head 22 than the transport surface 80b is formed along the transport belt 80. A plurality of suction ports 102 that communicate with the space S1 are formed on the suction surface 101 in the transport direction. ing. An escape recess 103 is formed between suction ports 102 adjacent to each other in the width direction of the conveyor belt 80, and the escape recess 103 has a bottom surface 103 a that is further away from the inkjet head 22 than the suction surface 101. It is placed at a low position.

  In the present embodiment, since the inkjet head 22 is relatively large as described above, the interval at which the paper P is sandwiched between the upstream side and the downstream side of the inkjet head 22 (that is, the distance from the guide pulley 73 to the drive pulley 79). Is long, and the paper P tends to be lifted unless the paper P is sucked downward.

In the transport mechanism 70, when the transport motor 92 is driven, the rotational force of the rotating pulley 93 is transmitted to the transmitting pulley 91 by the transmitting belt 94, and the rotating shaft 78 rotates.
As a result, the plurality of conveyor belts 80 wound around the drive pulley 79, the tension pulley 75, and the guide pulley 73 each travel.
Then, the paper P sent between the conveying belt 80 and the pressing roller 81 is sandwiched between the conveying belt 80 and the pressing roller 81 and sent backward, and is further conveyed downstream by the conveying belt 80. A printing process is performed by the inkjet head 22.

Here, in the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, when borderless printing is performed on the paper P, first, the edge of the front of the paper P that is fed between the transport belt 80 and the pressing roller 81 in the transport direction. , Disposed in the downstream side relief groove 112. In this state, printing of the edge portion on the front side in the transport direction of the paper P is performed.
Thereafter, when printing is performed up to the vicinity of the edge on the rear side in the transport direction, the edge on the rear side in the transport direction is disposed in the upstream side relief groove 111. In this state, printing of the edge portion on the rear side in the transport direction of the paper P is performed.

Note that the edges on both sides of the paper P are arranged and printed in the longitudinal relief grooves 116 along the paper transport direction.
Thereafter, the paper P is sandwiched between the transport belt 80 and the feed rollers 83 and 84 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 9.

  Note that the paper P may be swollen and waved by the ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head 22. In the transport mechanism 70 of the present embodiment, when the air in the space S1 is sucked by the suction blower 74, the paper P is sucked downward by the suction ports 102 provided on both sides in the width direction of the transport belt 80. As a result, even if the paper P is slackened due to cockling, the paper P is drawn downward and curved on both sides in the width direction of the transport belt 80. Therefore, the sheet P is restrained from being lifted between the transport belts 80 while being transported as the transport belt 80 travels while being pressed toward the transport belt 80 from both sides of the transport belt 80 in the width direction. Problems such as contact with the head 22 are prevented.

  Further, since the suction surface 101 is a position slightly lowered with respect to the transport surface 80b, the distance between the paper P and the suction port 102 is reduced while preventing the contact with the paper P, and the suction of the suction blower 74 is reduced. The suction force for the paper P can be effectively exhibited without greatly increasing the force. Since the sheet P is inclined and curved toward the suction port 102 in the vicinity of both sides with the both ends of the conveyance belt 80 as a base point, the sheet P is placed at the center in the width direction between the conveyance belts 80. Although it is easily bent in a valley shape, the bottom surface 103a of the relief recess 103 in the middle between the conveying belts 80 is disposed at a position that is one step lower than the suction surface 101, so that the contact of the paper P is reliably prevented. Therefore, the sheet P drawn downward does not come into contact with the suction port 102 and the bottom surface 103a of the escape recess 103 to increase the conveyance resistance.

  Further, the paper P sandwiched between the transport belt 80 and the feed rollers 83 and 84 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 9 is pressed downward between the transport belts 80 by a pressing roller 85 disposed in the middle of the transport belt 80. . As a result, the paper P on which cockling has occurred is more reliably bent downward between the conveying belts 80.

  As described above, according to the printer 1 of the present embodiment, the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112 that are orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P are formed in a part of the printing area by the inkjet head 22. Since a part of the conveyance belt 80 is drawn into the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112, the conveyance direction of the paper P into the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112. By arranging and printing the edge portion of this, borderless printing can be easily performed. In addition, since the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112 are provided in a part of the printing area, the sheet P on the transport belt 80 is provided by providing the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112. It is possible to suppress a decrease in the conveyance capacity as much as possible. Thereby, even if it is the paper P with the small dimension of a conveyance direction, borderless printing can be performed smoothly, conveying favorable.

  In particular, since the upstream side relief groove 111 and the downstream side relief groove 112 are formed at the upstream and downstream edges in the printing area of the inkjet head 22, respectively, the edge on the front side in the transport direction of the paper P is set downstream. By arranging and printing in the lateral relief groove 112 and printing by placing the edge on the rear side in the transport direction of the paper P in the upstream side relief groove 111, there is no edge of the paper P without complicated control. Printing can be performed easily.

  In addition, since the vertical relief grooves 116 in which both side edges of the paper P to be transported are arranged along the transport direction of the printing material are formed in a part of the printing area by the ink jet head 22. Borderless printing can be easily performed.

  In addition, since the upstream side relief groove 111, the downstream side relief groove 112, and the longitudinal relief groove 116 are provided with the ink absorbing material 115 that absorbs the ink ejected from the inkjet head 22, the borderless printing is performed on the paper P. When performing the above, excess ink ejected around the paper P can be absorbed by the ink absorbing material 115, and the transport mechanism 70 can be maintained in a clean state.

  In the above embodiment, the upstream side lateral relief groove 111 and the downstream side lateral relief groove 112 are formed at the upstream and downstream edges in the printing region by the inkjet head 22, respectively. However, one lateral relief groove may be provided. . In this case, borderless printing can be performed by controlling printing such that the front edge and the rear edge of the paper P in the conveyance direction are respectively disposed in one lateral relief groove.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer that is an example of an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the internal structure of the printer shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan sectional view showing an internal configuration of the printer shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of a printer showing a state where paper can be fed from a main cassette. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan sectional view of a printer showing a state where paper can be fed from a main cassette. It is a perspective view of a printing process part. It is sectional drawing of the width direction of a printing process part. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a print processing unit in a paper conveyance direction. FIG. 6 is a side view of a print processing unit in a paper transport direction. It is a top view of a conveyance belt part. It is an enlarged side view of a conveyance belt part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (printing apparatus), 22 ... Inkjet head (printing head), 70 ... Conveyance mechanism, 80 ... Conveyance belt, 111 ... Upstream side relief groove (relief groove), 112 ... Downstream side relief groove (escape groove) ), 115... Ink absorbing material (absorbing material), 116... Vertical escape groove (escape groove), P.

Claims (4)

A printing apparatus comprising: a conveyance mechanism that conveys sheet-like printed materials one by one; and a print head that discharges ink to the printed material conveyed by the conveyance mechanism,
The transport mechanism is arranged along a transport direction of the substrate, and has a plurality of transport belts for transporting the substrate.
In the transport mechanism, a relief groove perpendicular to the transport direction of the substrate is formed in a part of a print area by the print head, and a part of the transport belt is drawn into the escape groove. Characteristic printing device.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the escape groove is formed at each of upstream and downstream edges in the conveyance direction of the substrate in the printing area.   The relief mechanism is characterized in that a relief groove in which both side edges of the substrate to be conveyed are arranged in a part of the printing area along the conveyance direction of the substrate. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the escape groove is provided with an absorbing material that absorbs ink ejected from the print head.

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