JPH11286363A - Inkjet recording device anc copy receiving tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly feed out the thick paper without enlarging the placing area of a recording device by providing a copy receiving tray which is inclined to an almost linear conveying path for conveying the paper, with an opening for feeding out the paper corresponding to the almost extension of the conveying path. SOLUTION: A copy receiving tray 5 is mounted on a recording device body in a state that it is inclined to a linear conveying path (straight conveying path) P. This copy receiving tray 5 comprises an opening 25 from which the copy can be received corresponding to the extension of the paper convey path P. Further the opening 25 comprises an operating plate 26 of which an upper end is rotatably pivotted on a tray body 5a through a support shaft 27. When the thick paper is used, the open and close plate 26 is rotated in the direction of an arrow A to open the opening 25. Whereby the copy discharged through the conveying path, is almost horizontally received through the opening 25 as shown by a path P2. Accordingly the forcible bending force does not act on the thick paper and the paper can be smoothly fed out.

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 and a paper discharge tray, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus having a substantially linear sheet conveyance path and a paper discharge tray of a recording apparatus including the ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus used for a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, etc. includes a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, and an actuator such as an electromechanical conversion element or a heating resistor provided for each nozzle. Using an inkjet head equipped with a recording head, an ink droplet is ejected from a nozzle of the recording head onto a sheet according to a recording signal while conveying the fed sheet to record an image, and the recorded sheet is printed. The paper is output to the paper output tray. In the present specification, “paper” means that ink droplets are attached, and is not limited to paper.
OHP sheets and the like are included.

In such an ink jet recording apparatus, compared with other methods such as an electrophotographic method, it is not necessary to adhere a sheet to a transfer unit or the like, and printing can be performed directly on a sheet. The paper transport path) can have a simple configuration close to straight.
Further, since the recording head and the paper do not directly contact each other, it is possible to convey and record a thick paper (thick paper) which cannot be conveyed by the electrophotographic method or the like.

[0004]

As described above, when a thick stiff sheet is conveyed by a straight conveyance path, a discharge tray for storing discharged sheets is set to be substantially horizontal in accordance with the sheet conveyance direction. It is necessary to prevent the bending force from being generated on the paper. However, if the discharge tray is mounted on the recording apparatus main body in a substantially horizontal state in order to use thick paper, the projection area (mounting area) of the recording apparatus increases, and the discharge tray is moved to the rear side of the recording apparatus main body. In particular, when paper other than thick paper is used, the paper take-out property deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus and a discharge tray capable of smoothly discharging thick paper without increasing the mounting area of the recording apparatus. And

[0006]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a discharge tray for storing discharged sheets on a substantially linear conveyance path for conveying the sheets; In the ink jet recording apparatus in which is mounted in an inclined state, an opening for discharging the paper is formed in the discharge tray corresponding to substantially the extension of the transport path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, an opening and closing plate that can be opened and closed is provided at an opening of the discharge tray.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein when the thick sheet is discharged, the opening / closing plate is displaced to the open position by being pushed by the sheet. In this configuration, an urging means for urging the opening / closing plate to the closed position is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a discharge tray for stocking the discharged paper is mounted in an inclined state with respect to a substantially linear transport path for transporting the paper. The paper discharge tray is configured to be swingably mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, when a thick sheet is ejected, the sheet is pushed by the sheet and the ejection tray is substantially parallel to the transport path. A biasing means for biasing the paper discharge tray to the inclined position with a biasing force capable of being displaced in a predetermined direction is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus having a substantially linear conveyance path for conveying a sheet and mounting a discharge tray for stocking discharged sheets. Any one of a plurality of inclined states including a substantially horizontal state is selected and can be mounted.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet discharging tray for storing sheets discharged from a recording apparatus, an opening capable of discharging the sheet, an opening / closing plate for opening and closing the opening, a thick sheet. And a biasing means for biasing the opening / closing plate to the closed position with a biasing force which is pushed by the paper when the sheet is discharged to displace the opening / closing plate to the open position.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus in a state where a sheet cassette is pulled out,
FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus viewed from the back side.

This ink jet recording apparatus comprises a carriage movable in the main scanning direction inside the recording apparatus main body 1, a recording head including an ink jet head mounted on the carriage, an ink cartridge for supplying ink to the recording head, and the like. A paper feed cassette 3 capable of loading a large number of sheets can be detachably attached to a lower part of the apparatus main body 1 from the front side.
The paper fed from the paper feed cassette 3 or the paper set in the manual feed tray 4 is taken in, a required image is recorded by the printing mechanism unit 2, and then discharged to the paper discharge tray 5.
When thick paper is used, the use of the manual feed tray 4 forms a substantially linear transport path from paper feeding to paper discharging.

As shown in FIG. 4, the printing mechanism 2 slides the carriage 12 in the main scanning direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4) by a guide rod 11 and a guide plate (not shown) laid between the left and right side plates. It is movably held, and a recording head 13 composed of an ink jet head is mounted on the lower surface side of the carriage 12 with the ink droplet ejection direction facing downward, and ink is supplied to the recording head 13 on the upper surface side of the carriage 12. The ink cartridge 14 is mounted. The carriage 12 is moved and scanned in the main scanning direction by using a main scanning motor (not shown) as a driving source.

The recording head 13 includes, for example, yellow (Y) ink, magenta (M) ink, and cyan (C) ink, respectively.
It is composed of four heads arranged in the main scanning direction for discharging ink and black (Bk) ink, respectively. Similarly, the ink cartridge 14 also includes four ink cartridges for supplying each color ink.

On the other hand, on the lower side of the carriage 12, a paper feed roller 1 for feeding the paper set in the paper feed cassette 3 is provided.
5, a transport roller 16 having one cylindrical surface in the main scanning direction for transporting the paper fed by the paper feed roller 15 in reverse and transporting the paper fed from the manual feed tray 14; A pinch roller 17 for defining an angle at which the sheet is fed from the roller 16, and a rib 18 for guiding the sheet fed from the transport roller 16 to the lower side of the recording head 13
a, a pair of rollers 19 and 20 for sending out the sheet in the sheet ejection direction, a pair of sheet ejection rollers 21 and 22 for sending the sheet to the sheet ejection tray 5, and an inclined state for stocking the ejected sheet. The attached paper discharge tray 5 is provided.

Here, an example of the discharge tray 5 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The paper discharge tray 5 is mounted on the recording apparatus main body 1 in a state where the paper discharge tray 5 is inclined with respect to a linear transport path (straight transport path) P. As shown in the figure, the paper discharge tray 5 has an opening 25 capable of discharging paper corresponding to the extension of the paper transport path P. Further, the upper end of the opening 25 is connected to the tray body 5.
An opening / closing plate 26 rotatably supported by a support shaft 27 is mounted on a. The lower end 26a of the opening / closing plate 26 is held by the step 5b of the sheet discharge tray 5, so that the opening 25 is closed in a steady state.

With this configuration, when using paper such as plain paper that is not very strong, the opening 25 is closed by setting the open / close plate 26 to the closed position shown in FIG. Are smoothly discharged onto the discharge tray 5 as shown by a path P1 and are stocked.

On the other hand, when thick paper (thick paper) is used, the opening 25 is opened by turning the open / close plate 26 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. The sheet discharged via the transport path P is placed on the path P2.
As shown by, it is discharged in a substantially horizontal direction through the opening 25. Therefore, no excessive bending force acts on the thick paper, and the paper can be smoothly discharged.

As described above, the paper discharge tray for stocking the discharged paper with respect to the transport path is mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus in an inclined state. To form an opening for discharging paper,
When it is necessary to secure a straight discharge path for thick paper, etc., opening the opening allows the paper to be discharged smoothly, and the discharge tray itself is attached to the main body of the recording device in an inclined state. There is no increase in the mounting area of the apparatus, and the ability to take out paper when using the paper discharge tray is not impaired.

Next, another example of the discharge tray 5 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The paper discharge tray 5 is attached to the recording apparatus main body 1 in a state where it is inclined with respect to the linear transport path (straight transport path) P in the same manner as in the above-described example. Opening 2 for discharging paper
5, an opening / closing plate 30 for opening and closing the opening 25 is rotatably mounted on the tray main body 5a with a support shaft 31.

The open / close plate 30 and the tray body 5a
Between them, a torsion coil spring 32 is provided as urging means for urging the opening / closing plate 30 to a closed position (the position shown by the solid line). The urging force of the torsion coil spring 32 is pushed by the thick paper when the thick paper is discharged, and
0 is set to such a strength that it can be displaced to the open position (the position shown in the phantom line).

A stopper 33 is provided on the back side of the opening / closing plate 30 so as to engage with the back surface of the tray body 5a. The opening / closing plate 30 is moved toward the front surface (paper stock surface) of the tray body 5a by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 32. It is regulated not to fly out. Further, the lower end of the opening / closing plate 30 is mounted so as to enter inside the surface (paper stock surface) of the discharge tray 5, and a slightly curved portion 30 a is formed at the upper end to form the discharge tray 5. Slightly protruding from the surface of.

With this configuration, when using a sheet such as plain paper that is not very stiff, the opening / closing plate 30 is held in the closed position shown by the solid line in FIG. The paper discharged through the transport path P is smoothly discharged onto the discharge tray 5 as shown by the path P1, and is stocked. At this time, the lower end of the opening / closing plate 30 is sunk inward from the surface of the paper discharge tray 5, and the upper end is formed with a curved portion 30a projecting from the surface of the tray. The paper is smoothly discharged without being caught at the joint between the opening 25 and the opening / closing plate 30.

On the other hand, when thick paper (thick paper) is used, the thick paper is sent out between the paper discharge rollers 21 and 22 and the opening / closing plate 30 is pushed by the pressing force of the paper.
Against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 32 as shown by arrow B in FIG.
The paper ejected through the transport path P is substantially horizontally moved through the opening 25 as shown by a path P2 since it is rotated in the direction of FIG. Discharged in the direction. Therefore, no excessive bending force acts on the thick paper, and the paper can be smoothly discharged. After the sheet is discharged, the torsion coil spring 32
The opening / closing plate 30 returns to the closed position by the urging force of.

As described above, the sheet discharge tray has an opening through which the sheet can be discharged, an opening / closing plate for opening / closing the opening, and the opening / closing plate which is pushed by the sheet when the thick sheet is discharged. A biasing means for biasing the opening / closing plate to the closed position with a biasing force displaceable to the open position is provided, and by providing such a discharge tray, the opening / closing plate opens the opening when thick paper is used. Therefore, the sheet can be smoothly discharged, and the open / close plate is automatically opened and closed by being pushed by the sheet, so that the operability is not impaired. Furthermore, since the paper discharge tray itself is mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus in an inclined state, the mounting area of the recording apparatus does not increase, and the paper taking out property when the paper discharge tray is used is not impaired.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a paper discharge tray 35 is rotatably mounted on a structure 34 of the recording apparatus main body with a support shaft 36, and the paper discharge tray 35 is tilted between the paper discharge tray 35 and the structure 24. A torsion coil spring 37 as an urging means for urging is interposed. This torsion coil spring 37
Of the paper tray 35 when the thick paper is discharged.
Is set to such a degree that the sheet can be displaced in a substantially horizontal state by being pressed by a sheet. Further, the structure 34 is provided with a stopper 38 for restricting the sheet discharge tray 35 to an inclined state against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 37.

With this configuration, when using paper such as plain paper that is not very strong,
5 is held by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 37 in the inclined state shown by the solid line in FIG.
Is smoothly discharged onto the tray 35 while being bent and stocked.

On the other hand, when cardboard is used,
When the thick paper is fed from between the paper discharge rollers 21 and 22, the paper discharge tray 35 itself is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow C in FIG. Since the paper is displaced to a substantially horizontal position shown by the imaginary line in the drawing, the discharged paper is conveyed in a substantially horizontal state and is smoothly stocked on the discharge tray 35. Therefore, no excessive bending force acts on the thick paper, and the paper can be smoothly discharged. When the pressing force of the sheet is lost by discharging the sheet, the discharging tray 35 returns to the inclined state in which the sheet is engaged with the stopper 38 by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 37.

As described above, the discharge tray is swingably mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus, and is pushed by the thick paper when the thick paper is discharged, so that the discharge tray is substantially parallel to the transport path. Since the urging means for urging the paper discharge tray to the inclined position with the urging force displaceable to the state can be provided, paper can be discharged smoothly even when thick paper is used, and the paper discharge tray is pushed by paper. The operability is not impaired because it is automatically displaced. Furthermore, since the paper discharge tray itself is mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus in an inclined state, the mounting area of the recording apparatus does not increase, and the paper taking out property when the paper discharge tray is used is not impaired. In addition, even when a large-sized thick paper is used, the width of the paper discharge tray can be made narrower than that of the paper discharge tray shown in FIGS.

Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a plurality of slit grooves 42 and 43 are provided in the structure 40 of the main body of the recording apparatus so that the discharge tray 41 can be detachably mounted. here,
The slit groove 42 is provided at a position for holding the sheet discharge tray 41 in an inclined state, and the slit groove 43 is provided at a position for holding the sheet discharge tray 41 in a substantially horizontal state.

Therefore, normally, the discharge tray 41 is mounted in the slit groove 42, and when thick paper is used, the mounting position is changed to the slit groove 43 to make the discharge tray 41 substantially horizontal, so that the thick paper can be removed. Paper can be discharged smoothly without excessive bending force.

As described above, the discharge tray can be selectively mounted in a plurality of inclined states including the substantially horizontal state, so that the thick paper can be smoothly discharged without increasing the mounting area of the recording apparatus. Can be performed, and the normal sheet takeout property is not impaired.

In each of the embodiments described above, an example is described in which the discharge tray according to the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus. In addition, a recording apparatus other than the ink jet recording apparatus, such as a thermal transfer recording apparatus, and the like. The same can be applied to the discharge tray.

[0036]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the transport path is substantially extended to the paper discharge tray which is arranged to be inclined with respect to the substantially linear transport path for transporting the paper. Since the opening for discharging the paper is formed corresponding to the above, the thick paper can be smoothly discharged without increasing the mounting area of the recording apparatus.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 2, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 1,
Since the openable and closable plate is provided at the opening of the discharge tray, sheets other than thick paper can be smoothly discharged onto the discharge tray.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 3, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 2,
When a thick sheet is ejected, the opening / closing plate is urged to the closed position by an urging force that can be displaced to the open position by being pushed by the sheet. There is no need to perform an operation, and operability is improved.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, the discharge tray is swingably mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus, so that the mounting area of the recording apparatus does not increase, and
Thick paper can be discharged smoothly.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 5, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 4,
When a thick sheet is ejected, the ejection tray is pressed to the inclined position by an urging force capable of being displaced in a state substantially parallel to the conveyance path by being pushed by the sheet, so that recording is performed. It is possible to smoothly discharge thick paper without increasing the mounting area of the apparatus.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, since the discharge tray can be mounted by selecting one of a plurality of inclined states including a substantially horizontal state, the mounting area of the recording apparatus is increased. This makes it possible to discharge thick paper smoothly.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, an opening through which a sheet can be discharged, an opening / closing plate for opening / closing the opening, and a thick sheet which is pushed by the sheet when it is ejected. Since the urging means for urging the opening / closing plate to the closed position with an urging force capable of displacing the plate to the open position is provided, the thick paper can be smoothly discharged even when the card is attached to the recording apparatus main body in an inclined state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating an example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus in a state where a sheet cassette is pulled out.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the recording apparatus viewed from the back side.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a paper discharge tray of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another example of a paper discharge tray of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining still another example of a paper discharge tray of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view for explaining still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording device main body, 2 ... Printing mechanism part, 3 ... Paper feed cassette, 4 ... Manual feed tray, 5 ... Discharge tray, 12 ... Carriage, 13 ... Recording head, 16 ... Transport roller, 17 ... Pinch roller, 18 ... Guide members 21, 22 ... paper discharge roller pair, 25 ... opening, 26 ... opening / closing plate, 30 ... opening / closing plate, 32
... Torsion coil springs, 35, 41 ... Discharge tray, 42,
43 ... Slit groove.

Claims (7)

[Claims] An ink jet recording apparatus in which a discharge tray for stocking discharged sheets is mounted in an inclined state with respect to a substantially linear conveyance path for conveying sheets.
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein an opening for discharging the sheet is formed in the discharge tray substantially corresponding to an extension of the transport path. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an openable and closable plate at an opening of the discharge tray. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the thick paper is ejected, the opening / closing plate is closed by an urging force capable of being displaced to an open position by being pushed by the paper. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising an urging means for urging a position. 4. An ink jet recording apparatus in which a discharge tray for stocking discharged sheets is mounted in an inclined state with respect to a substantially linear conveyance path for conveying sheets.
An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the discharge tray is swingably mounted on a recording apparatus main body. 5. An ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when a thick sheet is ejected, said ejecting tray is pushed by said sheet and can be displaced in a state substantially parallel to said transport path. And an urging means for urging the paper discharge tray to the inclined position. 6. An ink jet recording apparatus having a substantially linear transport path for transporting sheets and mounting a discharge tray for stocking discharged sheets, wherein the discharge tray includes a plurality of substantially horizontal positions. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized in that any one of the inclined states can be selected and mounted. 7. An ejection tray for stocking paper ejected from a recording device, an opening through which paper can be ejected,
An opening / closing plate that opens and closes the opening; and a biasing device that pushes the opening / closing plate to the closed position with a biasing force that is pushed by the thick paper when the thick paper is ejected to displace the opening / closing plate to the open position. A sheet discharge tray provided with a biasing means.