JPH05147284A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To apply printing to both of roll paper and cut paper by simple constitution in an ink jet printer. CONSTITUTION:A cylindrical platen 11 also used as a roll paper receiving case is arranged in opposed relation to a printing head 12 and a roll paper driving shaft 13 rotating while supporting roll paper RP to deliver the roll paper RP from the opening 18 formed to the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen 11 is provided in the cylindrical platen 11. Further, cut paper feed guides 5, 6 supplying cut paper CP to the vicinity of the opening 18 of the cylindrical platen 11 and paper feed means 7, 8 feeding the roll paper RP delivered from the opening 18 of the cylindrical platen 11 and the cut paper CP sent from the cut paper feed guides 5, 6 along the peripheral surface opposed to the printing head 12 of the cylindrical platen 11 are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which prints on paper by ejecting ink from minute nozzles of a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional ink jet recording apparatus capable of printing on roll paper, there is known a construction in which a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the roll paper is arranged facing a print head (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 41279/1990). Publication).

[0003]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus, in order to keep the distance between the outer peripheral surface of the roll paper and the print head constant regardless of the consumption of the roll paper, the drive shaft is a spring for the print head. Urge to the side,
Since the outer peripheral surface of the roll paper is always pressed against the fixing member arranged on the front side of the print head, there is a problem that the configuration becomes complicated. In addition, this ink jet recording apparatus has a problem that it cannot be used for printing on cut paper because it is exclusively for roll paper.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having a simple structure and capable of printing on both roll paper and cut paper.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cylindrical platen which is arranged so as to face a print head and also serves as a roll paper storage case, and a roll which is arranged in the cylindrical platen. A roll paper drive shaft that supports and rotates the paper and feeds roll paper from an opening formed on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen, a cut paper supply guide that supplies cut paper to the vicinity of the opening of the cylindrical platen, and the cylinder. A roll sheet fed from the opening of the platen and a sheet conveying means for conveying the cut sheet fed from the cut sheet supply guide along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen facing the print head. Is characterized by.

[0006]

According to the above construction, when the roll paper drive shaft is rotationally driven, the roll paper supported by the roll paper drive shaft and accommodated in the cylindrical platen is opened from the opening of the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen. The paper is fed out and is conveyed along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen facing the print head by the paper conveying means, and during this period, printing is sequentially performed on the roll paper by the print head.

In the case of printing cut paper, for example, the fed roll paper is fed through the cut paper supply guide in a state where it is collected in the cylindrical platen by the reverse rotation drive of the roll paper drive shaft. Incoming cut sheets are conveyed by the sheet conveying means along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen, and the cut sheets are sequentially printed.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the outline of the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment. This ink jet recording apparatus is a serial printer, and a paper feed cassette 2 for accommodating cut sheets CP is detachably provided in the printer body 1. The cut paper CP of the paper feed cassette 2 is supplied to the paper transport path 4 by the paper feed roller 3.

The sheet conveying path 4 is provided with a registration roller 5 for guiding the supplied cut sheet CP to the platen roller 11 of the printing unit 10, a guide plate 6, and a sheet along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 11. The cut sheet CP is conveyed via a path indicated by a chain double-dashed line.

The printing section 10 is provided with a platen roller 11 and a platen roller 11 arranged so as to face the platen roller 11.
The print head 12 is configured to print by ejecting ink droplets from minute nozzles onto a sheet passing along the outer peripheral surface of the.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the outline of the printing unit 10. The platen roller 11 is a hollow cylinder made of a member having a small friction coefficient, and a roll paper drive shaft 13 for supporting and rotating the roll paper RP at its rotation center is provided inside the platen roller 11. Are arranged concentrically with each other, and both ends of the roll paper drive shaft 13 and the drive shaft 14 are pivotally supported by both frames 15, 15. Further, a gear 17 is attached to one end of the roll paper drive shaft 13 and the drive shaft 14 via a clutch 16, and the rotation output of a drive source such as a stepping motor (not shown) is transmitted to the gear 17 via a transmission mechanism. To be done.

A slit for feeding the roll paper RP in the platen roller 11 as shown in FIG. 1 is provided on the peripheral surface of the platen roller 11 slightly downstream of the paper conveying path 4 from the portion facing the print head 12. A roll-shaped opening 18 is formed, and a roll paper detection sensor 19 for detecting the leading end of the roll paper RP is provided inside the platen roller 11 of the opening 18.
Are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carrying roller 7 is arranged so as to come into contact with the platen roller 11 slightly upstream of the sheet carrying path 4 from the opening 18 of the platen roller 11, and the other carrying roller 8 is The platen roller 11 is arranged so as to come into contact with the platen roller 11 slightly downstream of the peripheral surface portion of the platen roller 11 facing the print head 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, both ends of each of the transport rollers 7 and 8 are rotatably supported by the frames 15 and 15, and gears 20 and 21 axially attached to one end of the transport rollers 7 and 8 are provided on the roll paper drive shaft 13 side. It is meshed with the gear 17.

The print head 12 is fixed to a carriage 23 which slides along a guide rod 22 arranged in parallel with the platen roller 11 as shown in FIG.
The endless belt 23 is fixed in the middle of the endless belt 24.
The print head 12 is configured to reciprocate left and right by 24.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the ink jet recording apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation. Next, the printing operation of the inkjet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Roll paper R as paper to be printed by button operation (not shown)
When P is selected, this selection is confirmed in step S1, and in the next step S2, the print mode in which the roll paper RP is used as the print paper is set.

Then, in step S3, the clutch
By the switching operation of 16, the drive shaft 14 of the platen roller 11 is separated from the gear 17 and set in a fixed state by a brake (not shown). The roll paper drive shaft 13 is kept connected to the gear 17. At this time, the platen roller
The rotational position of 11 is set so that the opening 18 thereof is located slightly downstream of the paper transport path 4 with respect to the transport roller 7.

Under this condition, the printing operation is performed in step S4 as shown in FIG. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the rotation output of the drive source is transmitted to the gears 17, 20, 21 (FIG. 2) from the state in which the front end of the roll paper RP faces the opening 18 of the platen roller 11, and FIG. ), The roll paper RP and the transport rollers 7 and 8 rotate intermittently in synchronization. As a result, the roll paper RP is delivered from the opening 18 to the outside of the platen roller 11, and is conveyed to the discharge tray 9 along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 11 by the transport rollers 7 and 8. Along with the transportation, ink droplets are ejected from the minute nozzles of the print head 12 and printing is sequentially performed on the roll paper RP.

When the printing is completed, the print mode at this time is confirmed in the next step S5. If it is confirmed that the roll paper RP is in the print mode, all the operations end here. The roll paper RP is perforated for each page, and the user can separate the print page portion by pulling the roll paper RP discharged from the transport roller 8 to the paper discharge tray 9. ..

When the printing operation of the roll paper RP is completed as described above and the cut paper CP, for example, is selected as the paper to be printed by the button operation (not shown), this selection is confirmed in step S1, and then the selection is confirmed. In step S6, the print mode in which the roll paper CP is used as the print paper is set.

Next, in step S7, as shown in FIG. 3C, the cut sheet CP is reset to an initial state in which printing is possible. That is, by rotating the gear 17 (FIG. 2) in the reverse direction, the roll paper RP fed to the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 11 is collected in the platen roller 11, and when the leading end of the roll paper RP retracts into the opening 16, it is collected. The operation is stopped. The stop timing is set based on a signal when the roll paper detection sensor 19 provided in the opening 18 detects the leading end of the roll paper RP. Next, the drive shaft 14 of the platen roller 11 is connected to the gear 15 by the switching operation of the clutch 16, and the platen roller 11 is released from the previously fixed state.

Under this state, the printing operation in step S4 is performed. That is, the cut paper CP of the paper feed cassette 2 is supplied to the paper transport path 4 by the drive of the paper feed roller 3, and further sent to the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 11 via the registration roller 5 and the guide plate 6. The cut paper CP sent is discharged along the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 11 facing the print head 12 by the intermittent synchronous rotation of the platen roller 11 and the transport rollers 7 and 8 accompanying the rotation of the gears 17, 20 and 21. It is sent to the tray 9. Along with this, the cut sheets CP are sequentially printed.

When the printing operation is completed, the print mode at this time is confirmed in step S5. Cut paper CP
If it is confirmed that the print mode is the print mode, the paper discharge operation of the cut paper CP is performed in step S8. That is, the platen roller 11 and the transport rollers 8 and 8 rotate for a while, and the printed cut paper CP is discharged to the paper discharge tray 9.

In the above embodiment, when the printing of the roll paper RP is switched to the printing of the cut paper CP, the rolled-out roll RP is collected in the platen roller 11 while the rotation position of the platen roller 11 is fixed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, the plan roller 11 is rotated in the reverse direction, the opening 18 and the rolled-out roll paper RP are retracted to the rotation peripheral region outside the paper transport path 4, and the cut paper C is cut.
It may be configured so as not to hinder the transport of P.

In the above embodiment, the case of the serial printer has been described, but it can be applied to the line printer as well.

[0025]

According to the present invention, which has the above-described structure, a cylindrical platen which is arranged so as to face the print head and also serves as a roll paper storage case, and a roll plate which is arranged in the cylindrical platen to support the roll paper and rotate. A roll paper drive shaft that feeds roll paper from an opening formed on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen, a cut paper feeding guide that feeds cut paper to the vicinity of the opening of the cylindrical platen, and a feed from the opening of the cylindrical platen. Since the roll paper and the cut paper sent from the cut paper supply guide are provided along the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen facing the print head, the paper is supplied with a simple structure. It is possible to perform printing on the roll paper while keeping the gap between the head and the peripheral surface of the roll paper constant, and also to perform printing on the cut paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of an inkjet recording apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a printing section of the ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of the inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of the inkjet recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

5, 6 ... Cut paper supply guide, 7, 8 ... Paper conveying means, 11 ... Cylindrical platen, 13 ... Roll paper drive shaft, 18 ... Opening, CP ... Cut paper, RP ... Roll paper.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI technical display location B41J 29/16 8804-2C (72) Inventor Kenichi Satake 1-2 Tatamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 28 Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Setsuo Hori 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical platen which is arranged so as to face a print head and also serves as a roll paper storage case, and an opening which is formed in the peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen by supporting and rotating the roll paper arranged in the cylindrical platen. From the roll paper drive shaft that feeds the roll paper from, the cut paper supply guide that supplies the cut paper to the vicinity of the opening of the cylindrical platen, and the roll paper that is fed from the opening of the cylindrical platen and the cut paper supply guide An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a sheet conveying unit that conveys a cut sheet that is fed along a peripheral surface of the cylindrical platen facing the print head.