JPH09116686A - Ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recording device whereby while reference height is normally made to be the same as paper sheet carrier height by arranging a first rotating body and the second rotation body being axial displacement possible outside the passage area of recording paper sheets and permitting while reference to be lower than the position of recording paper sheet carrier height in accordance with the displacement of the second rotation body. SOLUTION: The carrier roller 11 of the first rotation body and the ramming runner 25 of the second rotation body are arranged by facing each other outside the passage area of the recording paper sheet within the scanning area of a carrier 2. While reference 21 is attached to a holder 23 and the holder 23 is journaled on an axial fulcrum which is at the upstream of the carrier roller 11 and energized a litter by a spring 24. The ramming runner 25 is fitted to the holder 23 and brought into contact with the roller 11. The height of white reference 21 is set at the same position as the carrier height of normal paper sheets. When a thick envelope S is fed horizontally, the runner is pressed and lowered for the portion of the thickness of the envelope. White reference 21 is lowered more than quantity for lowering the runner. Therefore, white reference does not interfere envelope feeding so that a printing state is sufficient.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an inkjet recording apparatus having an image reading function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet recording apparatus of this type, a carrier carrying a recording head is reciprocally movable in a straight line, and recording paper is conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the carrier. The main scanning by the carrier and the sub-scanning by the sheet conveyance are combined to perform printing. In recent years, it has been proposed that an image reading sensor is provided on a carrier of such a recording apparatus, or a printing cartridge and an image reading unit are exchanged to use the recording apparatus as an image reading apparatus.

In such a case, in order to calibrate the input level of the image reading unit, a white portion is provided somewhere outside the paper passage range within the scanning range of the carrier so as to face the image reading unit. (White standard) is generally performed.

Further, in order to improve the accuracy of the input level calibration, it is desirable that the distance between the white reference and the image reading device and the distance between the read document and the image reading device are equal.

When a document to be read by the image reading device is transported using the paper transport function of the recording device, the document is in the same transport path as the recording paper, so the desirable white reference height position is the recording paper transport height position. Becomes

Therefore, conventionally, the white reference may be arranged at the same height as the paper passage surface outside the paper passage range within the carrier scanning range.

[0007]

However, in a small-sized ink jet recording apparatus, even though the maximum print width is set to, for example, letter size or A4 size, carrier scanning is performed in the longitudinal direction of the envelope so that it can be easily written horizontally in a long and narrow envelope. Some sheets are set to pass paper even in the direction. That is, even though the maximum printable paper width is A4 size, the paper passing width is A4 size or more.

In this case, if the white reference is arranged at the same height as the paper, as shown in FIG. 5 which shows the paper passing state in the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the envelope S and the white reference which are fed sideways are placed. There is a problem that the envelope S floats due to its thickness due to interference with 210, and printing cannot be performed accurately. If the white reference position is lowered so as not to interfere with the envelope, the distance between the white reference and the image reading device will increase,
There is also a problem that the accuracy of input level calibration becomes poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. Even if the envelope is passed laterally while the white reference is placed at the recording paper conveyance height position, good printing can be obtained. It is another object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device with an image reading device that does not reduce the accuracy of input level calibration when the image reading device is used.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention comprises an ink jet recording means for recording on a recording paper based on data, and a carrier on which the ink jet recording means can be mounted on a straight line. A main scanning unit that reciprocates, a sub-scanning unit that conveys a recording sheet in a direction substantially orthogonal to the scanning direction of the carrier by the main scanning unit, and an image of the recording sheet can be sequentially read as the carrier moves. And an optical image reading device, and a white reference that is placed outside the passage range of the recording sheet in the carrier scanning range and is arranged at the same position as the recording sheet conveyance height position and that serves as a reference of the reading level of the image reading apparatus. The sub-scanning means includes a first rotating body that is in contact with the recording surface side of the recording sheet and has a fixed axial position;
It is arranged outside the range of passage of the recording paper in the carrier scanning range, and is urged toward the first rotating body to come into contact with the non-recording surface side of the recording paper or the first rotating body so that the axial position can be displaced. At least a certain second rotating body is provided, and the white reference is configured to be lower than the recording sheet conveyance height position as the second rotating body is displaced.

The white reference is fixed to a supporting member that rotatably supports the second rotating body, and the supporting member is axially supported on the upstream side of the first rotating body in the transport direction, and
It is characterized in that it is configured to be at the same height position as the recording sheet conveyance height in a state where the second rotating body is in contact with the first rotating body.

In such a recording apparatus, the ink jet recording means is replaceable.

Further, the ink jet recording means is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink, and the ink jet recording means is further applied by the electrothermal converter. The feature is that the ink is ejected from the ejection port by utilizing the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy.

(Operation) In the ink jet recording apparatus constructed as described above, the white reference used in the case of the image reading apparatus is outside the recordable range in the scanning range of the carrier, and the white level of the input level is calibrated. In order to improve the accuracy, the distance between the image reading device and the conveyance sheet is the same as the distance between the conveying sheet and the image reading device.

In such a state, for example, when a long and thin envelope is passed sideways, even if the envelope extends outside the sheet passage range in the scanning range of the carrier, the first member of the support member in which the white reference is arranged is arranged. Since the envelope pushes down the second rotary body that is in contact with the rotary body, the white reference is lower than the recording paper conveyance height position. Therefore, the passage of the envelope is not alienated. Further, when a document of normal width is passed, the white reference is set at the document height, and the image reading level can be set accurately.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus having an image reading function of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the basic configuration of a conventional recording apparatus except for the white reference arrangement method. Is.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a carrier 2, and a head cartridge 5 in which an ink tank 4 is housed in a recording head 3 which constitutes an ink jet recording means is provided on the carrier 2. It is installed. The carrier 2 is slidably supported in the axial direction by a guide shaft 6 and a guide rail 7. The carrier 2 is driven by a carrier motor 8
Is performed by driving the belt pulley 10 that supports the carrier belt 9.

Recording is performed on the recording paper P by driving the recording head 3 in synchronization with the reciprocating movement (main scanning) of the carrier 2 by the main scanning means and ejecting ink in accordance with a recording signal. is there. That is, the recording head 3 generates a fine liquid discharge port (orifice), a liquid passage and an energy acting portion provided in a part of the liquid passage, and a droplet forming energy to act on the liquid in the acting portion. Equipped with generating means. Specifically, the generating unit has a heat generating element, vaporizes ink by heat energy generated by the heat generating element to generate bubbles, and expands the ink droplets to eject ink droplets. Such a recording head is called a bubble jet recording head.

When one line is printed by the main scanning of the carrier 2, the recording paper P is conveyed (sub-scanning) to perform the next line recording. The sub-scanning means for conveying the recording paper P is It is performed by a first rotating body pair including a transport roller 11 that is a first rotating body and a pinch roller 12 that abuts on the conveying roller 11, and a second rotating body pair including a discharge roller 13 and a spur 14 that abuts on the discharging roller 13. Be seen. The drive of these transport rollers is performed by the transport motor 15.

Here, the pinch roller portion related to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a pinch roller portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the first and second pairs of rotating bodies, the conveying roller 11 and the spur 14 which are the rotating bodies on the recording surface side of the recording paper P have the axial position fixed, and the non-recording surface side. The pinch roller 12 and the discharge roller 13 which are rotating bodies are configured to be axially displaceable. The pinch roller 12 is directly moved to the conveying roller 11 side by the pinch roller spring 12b via the pinch roller holder 12a, and the discharge roller 13 is directly discharged to the discharge roller spring. It is urged toward the spur 14 by 13b.

Returning to FIG. 1, the sheet feeding to the recording apparatus 1 is ASF.
(Auto sheet feeder) 16. First, a predetermined number of sheets are set to a position where they hit the sheet stopper 17. ASF motor 1 depending on paper feed signal
Reference numeral 8 drives a paper feed roller 19 and a separation roller 20 to feed the recording paper P to the recording apparatus main body one by one.

The image reading apparatus (not shown) of this embodiment is
By having an outer shape compatible with the head cartridge 5 and mounting it on the carrier 2 instead of the head cartridge 5, the recording paper P is conveyed instead of the recording paper P using main scanning and sub-scanning for recording. The image of the original is read.

The white reference 21 indicating the brightness reference is provided at a position where it does not interfere with the conveyance of the paper outside the printing range in FIG.

Also in this embodiment, the white reference position in the carrier scanning direction and the paper transport direction is provided at the same position as in the conventional example, and there is no difference.

Next, the white reference configuration according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the position corresponding to the white reference portion shown in FIG. 1 taken in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The same reference numerals are attached to each unit corresponding to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the white reference 21 is attached to a holder 23 which is a supporting member. The holder 23 is a shaft fulcrum 22 on the upstream side of the transport roller 11 in the paper transport direction.
Is rotatably supported by the holder spring 24 and is lightly urged by the holder spring 24 in the clockwise direction in the drawing. An abutting roller 25, which is a second rotating body, is attached to the holder 23 so as to rotate lightly, and abuts on the conveying roller 1 at the same position as the pinch roller 12 (see FIG. 2). The sheet passing therethrough is regulated in the same manner as the portion sandwiched between the pinch roller 12 and the conveying roller 11, so that the sheet is not conveyed.

The height of the white reference position is set to the same position as the plain paper conveyance position shown by the dotted line in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the white reference portion when the envelope is passed laterally. The operation of the white reference configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to this figure.

In some cases, the maximum print width is set to, for example, a letter size or an A4 size, but the lengthwise direction of the envelope is set so that it can be passed even when the longitudinal direction of the envelope is easy to easily write horizontally. . Further, the white reference used in the case of the image reading apparatus is located outside the pass range of the printable maximum width paper within the carrier scanning range. In such a case, conventionally, when an attempt was made to pass the envelope sideways, the end portion of the envelope interfered with the white reference position.
However, in this embodiment, when the rectangular envelope S is passed laterally, the abutting roller 25 is pushed down by the thickness of the envelope S.
Since the center of rotation of the holder 23 is on the opposite side of the white reference 21 across the transport roller 11, the holder 23 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and the white reference 21 is projected by the positional relationship between the rotation center and the abutment roller 25. The hit roller 25 goes down more than it did.
Therefore, the white reference 21 does not interfere with the passage of the envelope, and the envelope S does not float, so that the printing state can be kept good.

The above-described white reference structure according to the present invention may be arranged not only outside the pass range of the printable maximum width paper within the carrier scanning range but also within the paper pass range. Further, the white reference may be set by utilizing the location where the conventional pinch roller 12 is arranged.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention is particularly effective in an ink jet type recording head and a recording apparatus for recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the ink jet recording systems. To bring.

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding one-to-one to this drive signal can be formed. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion.

Further, the present invention can be applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of the recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

Regarding the type or number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of recording heads corresponding to a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. It may be provided individually.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides being used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and further a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function. It may take the form of.

[0041]

As described above, the present invention is an ink jet recording apparatus capable of being converted into an optical image reading apparatus capable of sequentially reading an image on a recording sheet with the movement of a carrier capable of mounting a recording head. At
Outside the range of the recording paper in the carrier scanning range,
A second rotating body, which comes into contact with the first rotating body or the non-recording surface side of the recording sheet and whose axial position is displaceable, is provided as a part of the sub-scanning means, and the recording sheet conveying height is accompanied by the displacement of the second rotating body. By arranging the white reference that is lower than the position, the white reference is normally at the same height as the recording paper, but a thick paper such as an envelope is fed outside the passage area of the recording paper in the scanning range of the carrier. If it does, the white reference will escape and will not interfere. Therefore, the white reference height position in the case of an image reading device can always be the same as the recording paper conveyance height position, even if the device has a paper passage width greater than the maximum printable paper width. , It is not necessary to reduce the accuracy of input level calibration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pinch roller portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a white reference portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a white reference portion when an envelope is fed in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a white reference portion of a conventional inkjet recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Inkjet recording device 2 Carrier 3 Recording head 4 Ink tank 5 Head cartridge 6 Guide shaft 7 Guide rail 8 Carrier motor 9 Carrier belt 10 Belt pulley 11 Conveyor belt 12 Pinch roller holder 12b Pinch roller spring 13 Ejection roller 13b Ejection roller Spring 14 Spur 15 Conveyor motor 16 ASF (auto sheet feeder) 17 Paper stopper 18 ASF motor 19 Paper feed roller 20 Separation roller 21 White reference 22 Shaft fulcrum 23 Holder 24 Holder spring 25 Abutment roller P Recording paper

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 1/04 107 B41J 3/04 101Z

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording unit for recording on a recording sheet based on data, a main scanning unit for reciprocally moving a carrier on which the inkjet recording unit can be mounted, and a scanning direction of the carrier by the main scanning unit. A sub-scanning unit that conveys the recording paper in a substantially orthogonal direction, an optical image reading device that can sequentially read the image of the recording paper as the carrier moves, and a recording paper passing range outside the carrier scanning range. And a white reference which is arranged at the same position as the recording paper conveyance height position and which serves as a reference of the reading level of the image reading device, and the sub-scanning means is in contact with the recording surface side of the recording paper and is attached to the shaft. A first rotating body whose position is fixed; and a first rotating body which is arranged outside the passage area of the recording paper in the carrier scanning range and is biased toward the first rotating body. And at least a second rotating body that is in contact with the non-recording surface side of the recording sheet or the first rotating body and whose axial position is displaceable, and the white reference is as the second rotating body is displaced, An inkjet recording apparatus configured to be lower than a recording paper conveyance height position. 2. The white reference is fixed to a support member that rotatably supports the second rotating body, the supporting member is axially supported on the upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the first rotating body, and 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two-rotation body is configured to be in the same height position as the recording sheet conveyance height in a state of being in contact with the first rotation body. 3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording unit is configured to be replaceable. 4. The ink jet recording means comprises an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink, according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
Item 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to item 1. 5. The ink jet recording means ejects ink from an ejection port by utilizing film boiling generated in the ink by heat energy applied by the electrothermal converter. Inkjet recording device.