JPH05104802A - Sheet feeding apparatus and recording apparatus using the sheet feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] One guide member 1c for guiding the end portion of the recording sheet 2 is slidable, and the discharge driven roller 5b is slid in accordance with the sliding. In addition, when the recording unit 4 performs predetermined recording on the recording sheet 2 whose both ends are guided by the guide members 1c and 1d and the recording sheet 2 is discharged, the discharge driven roller 5 that contacts the recording surface
It is configured such that b and 5c contact the outside of the recording area. [Effect] Even if the ink is in a non-dried state, the recording area is not contaminated by the discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c, and a high-quality recorded image can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets and a recording apparatus using the sheet feeding apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording device such as a printer, a copying machine or a facsimile device is configured to drive a recording head according to recording information to record an image on a recording sheet such as paper or a plastic sheet. ..

In addition to manually inserting the recording sheet in the recording apparatus, the sheet feeding apparatus automatically feeds the recording sheet. This sheet feeding apparatus generally rotates a feeding roller to record the recording sheet. And a discharge tray unit for stacking the discharged recording sheets, and the recording sheet is driven by the driving force of the transport system of the recording apparatus. Are configured to be separately fed one by one.

[0004]

However, since the sheet feeding device conveys and discharges the recording surface of the recording sheet while directly pressing the recording surface of the recording sheet with the discharging roller or the spur, roller marks or the like remain on the recording portion. In some cases, in an ink jet recording apparatus or the like that ejects an ink liquid to perform recording, a roller may press the ink surface to cause contamination.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device capable of preventing stains due to rollers, spurs, and the like when a recorded sheet is discharged, and a recording device using the sheet feeding device.

[0006]

A typical means according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is to feed a sheet and to guide an end portion of the sheet to be fed. A guide member and a discharging means for discharging the fed sheet, the guide member is configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and the position of the discharging means according to the movement of the guide member. It is characterized in that it is configured to change.

[0007]

In the above means, when the guide member is moved according to the sheet width, the discharging means is moved accordingly. Therefore, the ejecting unit can always press the vicinity of the widthwise end of the sheet, and when this is used in the recording apparatus, the ejecting unit can grip and convey the outside of the recording area of the recording sheet. I can.

[0008]

【Example】

First Embodiment Next, a first embodiment of the present invention in which the above means is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the sheet feeding device, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of an inkjet recording device using the sheet feeding device, and FIG. 3 is a positional relationship between a recording sheet and a discharge roller. FIG.

In this apparatus, the recording sheet 2 is fed in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
The recording sheet 4 is conveyed by a and 3b, the recording unit 4 performs predetermined recording, and the recording sheet 2 is discharged by the discharging unit 5.

The structure of the feeding means 1 is as follows:
When the recording sheets 2 are stacked and set on, the uppermost recording sheet 2 is pressed against the feeding roller 1b by a spring (not shown). Further, as shown in FIG. 1, guide members 1c and 1d for guiding both ends of the recording sheet 1 in the width direction are attached to the feeding tray 1a, and one guide member 1c is arranged in the width direction of the recording sheet 2 (see FIG. Is attached slidably in the direction of arrow a). Further, separation claws 1e are attached to the lower ends of the guide members 1c and 1d.

Therefore, the recording sheet 2 is set on the feeding tray 1a, and the feeding roller 1b is connected to a motor (not shown).
When the recording sheet 2 is driven and rotated, the uppermost recording sheet 2 is separated by the separation claw 1e.
Separated and fed by. The fed recording sheet 2 is guided by a paper pan (not shown) and conveyed by U-turn as shown by an arrow in FIG.

The recording means 4 is for recording an ink image on the conveyed recording sheet 2. The recording means in this apparatus comprises a line type recording head 4a and an ink tank 4b which are integrally formed, An inkjet recording method is used in which ink is ejected from the recording head 4a for recording. That is, the recording head 4a has a fine liquid discharge port (orifice), a liquid passage, and an energy acting portion provided in a part of the liquid passage, and energy for generating droplet forming energy that acts on the liquid in the acting portion. Equipped with generating means.

As the energy generating means for generating such energy, a recording method using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, electromagnetic waves such as a laser are irradiated to generate heat, and droplets are ejected by the action of the heat generation. There are a recording method using an energy generating means, a recording method using an energy generating means for heating a liquid and discharging the liquid by an electrothermal converter such as a heating element having a heating resistor.

Among them, a recording head used in an ink jet recording method for ejecting a liquid by thermal energy has a high density of liquid ejection ports (orifices) for ejecting recording liquid droplets to form ejection liquid droplets. Since they can be arranged, high resolution recording is possible. Among them, the recording head using the electrothermal converter as the energy generating means can easily be made compact, and has the advantages of the IC technology and the microfabrication technology, which have been remarkably improved in the technology and the reliability in the recent semiconductor field. This is advantageous because it can be used in two parts, high-density mounting is easy, and the manufacturing cost is low.

The recording means 4 selectively discharges ink onto the recording sheet 2 to form an ink image by supplying electricity to the electrothermal converter in synchronization with the conveyance of the recording sheet 1 according to an image signal. It is to record.

The recording sheet 2 on which the predetermined recording has been performed by the recording means 4 is discharged by the discharging means 5, which discharge driving roller 5a and a spring (not shown) as shown in FIGS. It is composed of two discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c which are in pressure contact with the drive roller 5a. Then, by driving a motor (not shown) connected to the transmission gear 5d attached to the shaft end of the drive roller 5a, the recorded recording sheet 2 is driven by the drive roller 5a.
It is gripped by a and the driven rollers 5b and 5c and discharged to the discharge tray 5e.

The rotation peripheral speed of the discharge driving roller 5a is set to be slightly higher than the rotation peripheral speed of the conveyance driving roller 3a so that tension is applied to the conveyed recording sheet 2. By transmitting the driving force to the transmission gear 5d via a slip clutch, the conveyance speed of the recording sheet 2 follows the rotation speed of the conveyance drive roller 3a.

The one discharge driven roller 5b is slidably mounted in the width direction of the recording sheet, and when the guide member 1c slides, the discharge driven roller 5b also slides. That is, a wire (or belt) 5g is connected to a roller support 5f that rotatably supports the discharge driven roller 5b. It is stretched and connected to the guide member 1c. Therefore, when the guide member 1c is slid in accordance with the width of the recording sheet 2, the discharge driven roller 5b is also slid in the same direction by the same amount.

Here, the drive roller 5a and the driven roller 5 are
The grip position of the recording sheet 1 by b and 5c will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion amount L of the discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c from the guide surfaces of the guide members 1c and 1d is L is the recording area of the recording sheet 2. It is set so that L <M with respect to the length M of the margins 2a at the left and right ends outside (the hatched portion in FIG. 3).

Accordingly, the recording sheet 2 to be fed is guided by the guide members 1c and 1d at both left and right ends and conveyed without being exposed. After the recording means 4 has performed a predetermined recording, the recording sheet 2 is ejected in contact with the recording surface side. The driven rollers 5b and 5c always grip the margin 2a to eject the recording sheet 2. Therefore, regardless of the size of the recording sheet 2, since the roller or the like does not come into contact with the recording area of the ink unfixed portion, stains due to retransfer of ink are prevented, and a high-quality recorded image can be obtained. ..

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described first embodiment, an example in which both of them are connected by a wire 5g in order to slide the discharge driven roller 5b in conjunction with the movement of the guide member 1c is shown. It may be configured as shown in.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the slidable guide member 1c and the roller support 5f of the discharge driven roller 5b are integrally connected, and the guide member 1c and the discharge driven roller 5b slide integrally. is there.

With this arrangement, since it is not necessary to use the wire, the pulley or the like as in the first embodiment, the number of parts of the device is reduced, the assembling process can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

Further, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, the discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c are made to contact the recording surface side of the recording sheet 2, but the driving force is transmitted to the rollers 5b and 5c. 5a may be configured to be driven to rotate.

Further, in the case where the driving force is transmitted to the rollers 5b and 5c as described above, the roller 5a is used in place of FIG.
The plate 5i may be in pressure contact with the rollers 5b and 5c as shown in FIG. In this case, the recording sheet 2 can be smoothly discharged by using a material having a small friction coefficient μ, such as POM, on the surface of the frame 5i. If the slope 5i1 is formed at one end of the plate 5i (upstream side in the sheet conveying direction) to widen the frontage for the sheet 2, the recording sheet 2 can be smoothly gripped.

Further, in the first embodiment described above, one guide member 1c is slidable, and the other guide member 1c is formed.
An example in which d is fixed is shown, but both guide members 1
The c and 1d may be configured to be slidable, and the respective discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c may be configured to slide according to the sliding of the respective guide members 1c and 1d.

Further, when the size of the recording sheet 2 used in the recording apparatus is one, the guide members 1c and 1d and the discharge driven rollers 5b and 5c do not necessarily have to be slid.

Further, although the ink jet recording system is used as the recording means in the above-mentioned first embodiment, the electrothermal converter is energized according to a recording signal, and the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter causes the ink to be printed on the ink. It is more preferable that the ink is ejected from the ejection port for recording by the growth and contraction of the bubbles generated in the ink by utilizing the film boiling that occurs.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, it is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but in the case of the on-demand type in particular, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer, which corresponds to the recorded information and provides a rapid temperature rise beyond nucleate boiling,
This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter to cause film boiling on the heat acting surface of the recording head, and as a result bubbles in the liquid can be formed in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, so that particularly excellent liquid ejection can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise 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 respective specifications. The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459,600, which disclose configurations in which the heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho-A-Ko
The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, in addition to using the above-described full-line type recording head as a recording method, the recording head is mounted on a carriage and ink is ejected while moving the carriage in the recording sheet width direction for recording. A so-called serial recording configuration may be used.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type described above, it is possible to electrically connect to the apparatus main body and supply ink from the apparatus main body by mounting the recording head fixed to the carriage or the carriage. A replaceable chip type recording head or a cartridge type recording head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the recording head itself may be used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specific examples thereof include a capping unit for the recording head, a cleaning unit, a pressurizing or suction unit, an electrothermal conversion type or a heating element other than this, or a preheating unit using a combination thereof,
It is also effective to perform stable recording by performing a preliminary ejection mode in which ejection is performed separately from recording.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads mounted on the carriage, for example, only one recording head is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. And a plurality of them may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to a recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be a combination of a plurality of recording heads integrally formed, but a mixed color of different colors or a mixed color It is also applicable to a device having at least one of the full colors according to

In addition, although the ink is described as a liquid in the above-described embodiments, it is an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens or liquefies at room temperature, or in the ink jet recording system. 30 inks
It is common to adjust the temperature within the range of ℃ to 70 ℃ to control the viscosity of the ink so that it is in the stable ejection range. good. In addition, it is possible to prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy from being positively used as the energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to use ink that solidifies when left standing for the purpose of preventing ink evaporation. However, in any case, when heat ink is liquefied by application of heat energy according to a recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or when the ink reaches a recording sheet, it begins to solidify. It is also applicable when using an ink that has the property of being liquefied only by energy.

The ink in such a case is described in JP-A-54-5.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6847 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 60-71260, a mode in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole. Also good. The most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

Further, as a form of the above-mentioned ink jet recording apparatus, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function It may be a form or the like.

Although an example of using the ink jet recording system as the recording means has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the ink jet recording system, and other thermal transfer recording system, thermal recording system, Can also be applied to a recording method other than the impact recording method such as the wire dot recording method. Further, it is not necessary to limit to the serial recording method, and a so-called line recording method may be used.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the discharging means is configured to come into contact with the outside of the recording area of the recording sheet, the image recorded by the recording means is contaminated when passing through the discharging means. It is possible to obtain a high quality recorded image. Further, by moving the discharging means in conjunction with the movement of the guide member for guiding the end portion of the sheet, it is possible to obtain a high-quality recorded image regardless of the sheet size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of a sheet feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a recording apparatus using a sheet feeding apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a recording sheet and a discharge roller.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a guide member and a roller support body are integrally configured.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a discharge driven roller and a plate are pressed against each other to discharge a recording sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Feeding means, 1a ... Feeding tray, 1b ... Feeding roller,
1c, d ... Guide member, 1e ... Separation claw, 2 ... Recording sheet, 2a ... Margin, 3a, 3b ... Conveying roller, 4 ... Recording means, 4a ... Recording head, 4b ... Ink tank, 5 ... Ejecting means, 5a ... Discharge driving rollers, 5b, 5c ... Followed rollers, 5d ... Transmission gears, 5e ... Discharge tray, 5f ... Roller support, 5g ... Wires, 5h1-5h6 ... Pulleys, 5i ...
Plate, 5i1 ... slope

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sheet feeding device for feeding a sheet, a guide member for guiding an end portion of the sheet to be fed, and a discharging device for discharging the fed sheet. A sheet feeding device, wherein the guide member is configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and the position of the discharging unit is changed according to the movement of the guide member. 2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means is attached to the guide member, and the guide member and the discharging means are integrally moved. 3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharging unit is configured to grip the vicinity of both ends of the sheet. 4. A sheet feeding unit for feeding a sheet, a guide member for guiding an end portion of the sheet to be fed, a recording unit for recording on the fed sheet, A recording apparatus, comprising: a discharging unit configured to discharge a recorded sheet, wherein the discharging unit is configured to grip the outside of the recording area of the recorded sheet. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the guide member is configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and the position of the discharging unit is changed according to the movement of the guide member. .. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording apparatus is an inkjet recording system in which a recording unit ejects ink in accordance with a signal to perform recording. 7. The recording device according to claim 6, wherein the recording device includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ink ejection by the recording means. 8. The recording device according to claim 7, wherein the recording means ejects the ink from the ejection port by utilizing the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. The recording device described.