JP2000219364A - Sheet carrier and imaeg forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the roll paper lateral directional regulation and carrying property by providing a sheet feeding base for supporting the sheet surface of a sheet material to be carried and a means arranged on the lateral inside of a guide part for guiding the lateral end of the sheet material and making contact with the end of the sheet material to energize it to the sheet feed base. SOLUTION: A movable side regulating guide 53 is vertically slid so as to regulate both ends of a roll paper by the movable side regulating guide 53 and the guide part of a reference side regulation guide 55, and fixed by a regulating screw 60. The vertical slide of the movable side regulation guide 53 and the reference side regulation guide 55 can smoothly be performed since a rotatable ball member 58 is provided. The roll paper is guided just under an ink jet head, and an image formed thereon by the ink injected from the ink jet head. Since the ball member 58 for energizing about the lateral end of the roll paper is arranged, the end of the roll paper is never buckled, and the guide of the roll paper can be performed surely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus for conveying a sheet and an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the conveyed sheet, and more particularly, to a side regulation for guiding an end of a sheet in a width direction. It is a technique concerning means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet printer (printing apparatus) for performing printing on a long sheet material wound in a roll shape (hereinafter referred to as roll paper, for example, roll paper or roll paper in which labels are divided and arranged). Exists. FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration of such an ink jet printer 101.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of a main part of a roll paper feeding device 201 for supplying roll paper to the main body of the inkjet printer 101 (FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line V1-V1 in FIG. 7).

The inkjet printer 101 includes a transport belt 102 as a sheet transporting means for transporting the roll paper RP, and synchronizes with the transport of the roll paper RP to form inkjet heads 103a, 103b, 103c, and 10c.
Ink is ejected from 3d to form an image.

[0004] The roll paper feeder 201 is provided with a roll paper RP.
The roll paper RP can be fed so as not to generate a tension equal to or higher than a predetermined value in accordance with the conveyance speed of the roll paper RP, as shown in FIG. The roll pressing unit 202 and the roll pressing unit 203 which are means for fixing the side and the side, the driving means 204 for rotating the respective units, and the means for controlling the driving hand throwing 204. The inkjet printer 101 includes a loop sensor 206, a position sensor 207 that detects the position of the loop sensor 206, and a paper guide unit 208 that controls the width of the roll paper RP and transports the roll paper RP straight to the main body of the inkjet printer 101.

The roll pressing unit 202 includes a paper tube pressing front 202a for supporting the paper tube of the roll paper RP and a guide plate 202b for supporting the side surface of the roll paper RP, and both are fixed by screws. .

[0006] The unit 203 after pressing the roll is
After pressing the paper core 203a, a pair of stopper springs 203b is provided.
And is fixed with screws together with the guide plate 203c. Further, the unit 203 after the roll pressing is connected to the driving hand throw 204 to rotate the shaft 210 and the fixing screw 209.
Before the roll holding unit 20
2 is detachable from the shaft 210 and can be fixed by a fixing screw 211.

[0007] The roll paper RP is the unit 2 after the roll press.
The roll paper RP is fixed by inserting the pre-roll pressing unit 202 into the shaft 210 in the X1 direction so that the roll paper RP is brought into contact with the roll paper RP.

[0008] As shown in FIG.
The tip is the upper part of the loop sensor 206 and the paper guide unit 2
08, and is set so as to be sandwiched between the transport belt 102 and the pinch roller 104 of the main body of the inkjet printer 101.

Then, a drive (not shown) is applied to the transport belt 102 based on the print start signal, and the roll paper RP
Is supplied to the main body, but the slack around the loop sensor 206 is absorbed by the rotation of the loop sensor 206. At that time, the position of the loop sensor 206 is detected by the position sensor 207 and the driving operation of the driving means 204 is controlled. As a result, the roll pressing front / rear units 202 and 203 integrated with the roll paper RP are rotated to form a slack of a predetermined size around the loop sensor 206.

[0010]

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the paper guide unit 208 as viewed from the paper feeding direction.
08 and the width of the roll paper RP in the width direction are large, the end RPa of the roll paper RP comes into contact with the guide portions 208a and 208b serving as side restricting means of the paper guide unit 208, and buckles. In some cases, the end portion RPa may be bent or broken, or the roll paper RP may not be reliably regulated.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to surely regulate the width of an end portion of a fed roll paper to improve the transportability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus provided with a side regulating unit which enables the image forming apparatus.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a sheet feeding table for carrying a sheet surface of a sheet material to be conveyed, and a widthwise end of the sheet material to be conveyed. A side regulating means having a guide portion for guiding the sheet member, and a sheet material contact member disposed at a widthwise inner side of the guide portion of the side regulating means and abutting against an end of the sheet material to urge the sheet feeding table. Contact means.

[0013] The sheet material contacting means preferably includes a rotatable ball member which is in contact with the sheet material, and a biasing means for biasing the ball member toward the sheet feeding table.

It is also preferable that the sheet material contact means is provided at a plurality of positions in the sheet feeding direction of the sheet feeding table.

It is also preferable that the side restricting means is movable in the width direction according to the width of the sheet material.

An image forming apparatus is characterized by including the above-described sheet material conveying device, and image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material fed by the sheet material conveying device.

[0017]

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an inkjet printer 10 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and a sheet material transporter for transporting and feeding roll paper as a sheet material to the inkjet printer 10. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional configuration explanatory diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a roll paper feeding device 30 that is a device. 3 is a rear view of the roll paper feeding device 30, and FIG. 4 is a top view of the roll paper feeding device 30.

The ink jet printer 10 includes an ink jet head (image forming means) 11 for discharging fine ink for forming an image, and an ink jet printer 10
And a transport belt 13 (endless belt) for transporting roll paper 14 in which labels are continuously arranged on release paper by being rotated and rotated by a drive shaft 12 therein.

The roll paper 14 is transported by the transport belt 13
In FIG. 1, it is conveyed from right to left. On the surface of the roll paper 14, while the roll paper 14 is being conveyed, an inkjet head 11 having discharge nozzles arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (a plurality of ink jet heads when a multicolor image can be formed (this embodiment In the embodiment, four inkjet heads are arranged), and an image is formed by ink ejected from the inkjet head.

The cutter unit 15 is a device capable of separating a release paper portion between labels in a label placed on release paper discharged from a paper discharge port of the ink jet printer 10.

Next, the configuration of the roll paper feeding device 30 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the roll paper feeding device 30 mainly includes a housing 33 having a roll presser 32 that is a means for fixing the roll paper core 16 and a hand throw that rotationally drives the roll presser 32. A loop sensor 34 which is a hand beat for controlling the rotation drive after the roll is pressed 32, and side regulating guides 53 and 55 as side regulating means for regulating an end portion of the roll paper 14 in the width direction. ing.

After the roll press 32, a pair of leaf springs 36 for fixing the roll paper 14 are provided with respect to the center of rotation. A guide plate 37 for pressing the side surface of the roll paper 14 is provided on one side surface of the roll presser 32 so that a gap between the side surface of the roll paper 14 and the guide plate 37 increases in a direction in which the outer diameter of the roll paper 14 increases. And taper 38
Is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 33 is provided with a rotatable winding shaft 41 supported by bearings 39 and 40. After the roll is pressed, the take-up shaft 41 is fixed to the take-up shaft 41 so as to follow the rotation thereof coaxially with the take-up shaft 32, and a gear 42 is fixed coaxially at one end of the take-up shaft 41.

The stay 43 fixed to the housing 33 is provided with a motor 44 having a gear 52, and the gear 42 and the gear 52 are arranged so as to be able to transmit drive.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the side regulation guides 53 and 55 viewed from the sheet feeding direction. Side regulation guide 53
The roll paper 14 is movable in accordance with the width direction of the roll paper 14, is provided with two regulating shafts 54, and has a guide 57 that guides the regulating shaft 54 in the roll paper width direction. The label tray 56 can be moved.

The movable side regulation guide 53 is formed with a roof member 53a so as to overlap the end of the roll paper 14.

The side regulation guide 55 serving as a reference is fixed to the label tray 56, and a roof member 55a is also formed above the reference guide 55 so as to overlap the end of the roll paper 14.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the roof member 55a. Ball members 58 as sheet material contact means are provided on the upstream and downstream portions of the reference side regulation guide 55 by the compression spring 59 toward the label tray 56. It is energized and is freely rotatable and vertically movable.

The roof member 53a on the side of the movable side regulation guide 53 has the same configuration. Further, the movable guide 53 is linked with a paper width sensor (not shown), and serves to regulate the paper width and detect the roll paper width at the same time.

The loop sensor 34 is disposed in the middle of the roll paper transport path of the roll paper 14 and the ink jet printer 10, and has an R hinge 45 fixed to the housing 33 and an F hinge 45.
The sensor spring 4 is rotatable with the hinge 46 as both fulcrums.
7 urges the stopper 48.

A flag 49 is formed on the loop sensor 34, and two photo sensors 50 and 51 are arranged on the rotation locus of the flag 49. The photo sensor 50 detects a state where the loop sensor 34 is biasing against the stopper 48, and the photo sensor 51 detects a state where the loop sensor 34 is biasing against the label tray 56.

Next, the roll paper 14 is fed to the roll paper feeding device 30.
The operation when paper is fed and the side regulation guides 53 and 55 of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the roll paper 14 is inserted into the roll 32 after pressing the roll from the X1 direction, the roll paper core 1
6 is fixed by a leaf spring 36. Then, take-up shaft 4
The roll pre-hold unit 35 that can be attached to and detached from
When inserted from the direction, the roll paper 14 is fixed.

The unit 57 before the roll pressing is a fixing screw 3
It is fixed to the winding shaft 41 by 5a. The leading end of the roll paper 14 passes through the upper part of the loop sensor 34 and is sandwiched between the drive shaft 12 and the pinch roller 18. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the movable side guide 53 is slid in the X2 direction so that both ends of the roll paper 14 are regulated by the movable side regulation guide 53 and the guide portion of the side regulation guide 55 serving as a reference. Fix with.

The sliding of the movable side regulation guide 53 and the reference side regulation guide 55 in the X2 direction can be performed smoothly because of the rotatable ball member 58. Then, based on the print start signal, the transport belt 13 is driven by a transport motor (not shown).
The roll paper 14 is guided directly below the inkjet head 11, and an image is formed by ink ejected from the inkjet head 11. Even if the roll paper 14 is skewed during the transport of the roll paper, in the present invention, the ball members 58 for urging the vicinity of the width direction end of the roll paper 14 are arranged at the four corners of the side regulation guide. Buckling does not occur at the end of the roll paper 14, and the roll paper can be reliably guided.

In place of the configuration of the ball member 58, a configuration in which the roll paper 14 is urged against the label tray 56 by a leaf spring may be employed.

[0037]

According to the present invention as described above, the side regulating means having the guide portion for guiding the widthwise end of the sheet material, and the side regulating means abutting on the end of the sheet material with respect to the sheet feeding table. The sheet material abutting means that is biased can prevent the sheet material from being bent or broken during conveyance, and can reliably guide the sheet material in the width direction.

Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the image forming position from being displaced and to prevent the sheet material from being damaged, and it is possible to stably convey the sheet material and form the image.

Since the sheet material contacting means is provided at a plurality of positions in the sheet feeding direction of the sheet feeding table,
More stable sheet material conveyance is obtained.

By providing the sheet material contact means in the side regulating means, the sheet material contact means can be moved in the width direction of the sheet material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus and a roll paper feeding apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a roll paper feeding device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the roll paper feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the roll paper feeding device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view of the side regulation guide as viewed from a sheet feeding direction.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a side regulation guide.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory cross-sectional configuration diagram of a conventional image forming apparatus and a roll paper feeding apparatus.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a conventional roll paper feeding device.

FIG. 9 is a view of a conventional side regulation guide viewed from a sheet feeding direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ink-jet printer (image forming apparatus) 11 Ink-jet head 12 Drive shaft 13 Conveying belt 14 Roll paper 15 Cutter unit 16 Roll paper paper tube 17 Roll paper side surface 18 Pintilo ← La 30 Roll paper feeding device (sheet material transport device) 32 rolls After pressing 33 Housing 34 Loop sensor 53, 55 Side regulation guide 53a, 55a Roof member 56 Label tray 58 Ball member 59 Compression spring

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding table for carrying a sheet surface of a sheet material to be conveyed, side regulating means having a guide portion for guiding a widthwise end of the sheet material to be conveyed, and And a sheet material contacting means disposed on the inner side in the width direction of the guide portion and in contact with an end of the sheet material to urge the sheet feeding table. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material contacting means includes a rotatable ball member which is in contact with the sheet material, and a biasing means for biasing the ball member toward a sheet feeding table. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet contacting means is provided at a plurality of positions in a sheet conveying direction of the sheet feeding table. 4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the side regulating unit is movable in a width direction according to a width of the sheet. 5. A printing apparatus comprising: the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet fed by the sheet conveying apparatus. Characteristic image forming apparatus.