JPH10193586A - Ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make possible to carry out high-speed and high-quality printing while accelerating the drying of ink after printing. SOLUTION: The ink jet printer is formed in a manner of allowing a printing medium M to be held on the outer circumference 11 of a rotary member (drum 10) that can rotate at a constant peripheral speed and printing to the printing medium M in rotation to be carried out using an ink jet nozzle, and a drying and fixing means 130 that dries and fixes ink on the printing medium M in rotation, and an approach and leaving means 135 that make the drying and fixing means 130 approach and leave the outer circumference 11 of the rotary member (drum 10) are provided so that ink may be dried and fixed forcibly and the drying and fixing means 130 may approach and leave the rotary member (drum 10).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printer capable of holding a print medium on an outer peripheral surface of a rotating member rotating at a constant peripheral speed and printing on the rotating print medium using an ink jet nozzle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A nozzle head for each color is reciprocated over the entire length in a row direction, and printing is performed during each forward movement to print one line, and after one line printing, a printing medium (plain paper, OHP paper, etc.).
Compared to a so-called serial type ink-jet printer which feeds M by one line in the column direction and repeats them, printing speed can be drastically increased and continuous printing operation can be performed over a large number of sheets. The present applicant has proposed an ink-jet printer capable of achieving a great reduction in size (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-296959).

In FIG. 4, a drum (rotating member) 10 is rotatable at a constant peripheral speed and can hold a print medium M on an outer peripheral surface 11 thereof. That is, the print medium M is held on the outer peripheral surface 11 of the drum 10 by using the holding force of the medium holding means, and is rotationally transferred by using the rotation of the drum 10.

A nozzle head (print head) 200 for each color is arranged in the rotation (Y) direction of the drum 10. Therefore, for example, the integrated nozzle head 200 for each color or the integrated nozzle head 200 for each color in which a plurality of nozzle head elements are arranged in the row direction is used for the entire length in the row direction (perpendicular to the paper surface) by using reciprocating means. The printing medium M being rotated while being reciprocated continuously or intermittently by the pitch between inkjet nozzles (for example, 1/75 inch)
Ink can be printed in the row direction by spraying ink from the inkjet nozzles 207 for each color, and can be printed in the column direction while utilizing the rotation of the drum 10 during the forward movement of the pitch between the inkjet nozzles. That is, since the line-direction printing and the column-direction printing can proceed simultaneously, the printing speed can be greatly increased.

Further, since the nozzle heads 200 for each color and the ink tanks (ink cassettes) 213 for the respective colors are arranged at separate positions, the nozzle heads 200 for the respective colors are provided.
In addition to the fact that the printing speed can be reduced and the reciprocating speed in the row direction can be greatly increased, the printing speed can be further increased, and the capacity of the ink tank (ink cassette) 213 for each color can be greatly increased. This allows continuous printing operation.

In order to realize these, a medium feeding means 60 and a medium feeding means 90 are provided on one side (right side in FIG. 4) of the drum 10, and a medium is provided on the other side (left side in FIG. 4). Peeling means 140, medium discharging / conveying means 160, and direction switching means 1
90 are provided.

The medium feeding means 60 includes a cassette feeding means 7.
The print medium M can be selectively fed one sheet at a time from either one of the manual feeding means 61 and the manual feeding means 61. Medium supply means 90
Supplies the fed print medium M to the drum 10 at a predetermined timing. The medium peeling means 140 peels the print medium M from the drum 10 after printing, and the medium discharge / transport means 160 discharges and transports the peeled print medium M leftward in FIG. The direction switching unit 190 selectively switches between the discharge tray 192 and the upper discharge tray 193.

Thus, the feeding, supply, holding, rotational transfer, printing, peeling, and discharging and conveying of the printing medium M can be continuously performed, so that multicolor printing of, for example, 20 sheets or more of A4 size in one minute can be performed. it can. Further, according to such a previously proposed ink jet printer, the higher the rotational speed of the drum 10 and the reciprocating movement speed of the nozzle head 200, the more drastically the printing speed can be increased. In addition, a printing operation in which the resolution is switched becomes possible.

[0009]

In such an ink jet printer, printing can be basically performed at a higher speed (for example, 25 PPM) by increasing the rotation speed of the drum 10. However, there is a problem that drying of the ink does not catch up with the speeding up.

If the ink dries slowly, not only may the print quality be degraded, but also the other print medium M may be soiled during or after discharge and conveyance.

A first object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer capable of further improving printing speed and printing quality while promoting ink drying after printing. A second object is to provide an ink jet printer capable of performing jam processing quickly and easily.

[0012]

In order to speed up the drying of the ink, it is desirable to promote the drying immediately after printing. Focusing on printing using a plurality of rotations of the drum in the above-mentioned proposed inkjet printer, it is relatively easy to promote drying and fixing of the ink on the printing medium being rotated. On the other hand, if the drum rotation speed is increased to further increase the printing speed by promoting the drying and fixing of the ink, there is a possibility that a jam is likely to occur.

From the above viewpoint, the present invention makes it possible to forcibly dry and fix the ink, and to further speed up the drying and fixing by using a heat source, and to facilitate the processing of anticipated jam occurrence, thereby further ensuring safety. It is formed so as to be able to perform a jam processing, thereby achieving one-step high-speed printing and high-quality printing through further speed-up of ink drying and fixing.

That is, the invention according to claim 1 is formed so that a printing medium can be held on the outer peripheral surface of a rotating member rotatable at a constant peripheral speed and can be printed on a rotating printing medium using an ink jet nozzle. A drying and fixing means for drying and fixing the ink on the rotating printing medium; and an approaching / separating means capable of approaching / separating the drying / fixing means from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member.

According to this invention, printing is performed by ink jet on a print medium held on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member. When the print medium moves with the rotation of the rotating member, the drying and fixing means forcibly dry-fixes the ink. Therefore, ink drying and fixing can be promoted immediately after printing. Also,
The drying / fixing unit is configured to be able to approach / separate from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member, that is, the print medium being held by the approach / separation unit. Therefore, the drying / fixing speed can be adjusted, and the jam processing can be easily performed if the drying and fixing speed are largely separated.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is an ink jet printer wherein the drying and fixing means includes a heat source.

In this invention, since the drying and fixing means includes a heat source, the same operation and effect as in the first invention can be obtained, and the printing speed can be further increased.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is an ink jet printer wherein the approaching / separating means is formed so as to be able to change the direction of the heat source downward.

According to the invention, the approach / separation means can direct the heat source downward when the drying / fixing means is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member. Therefore, the same operation and effect as those of the second aspect of the invention can be obtained, and furthermore, since the human does not touch the heat source, the jam can be safely processed.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is an ink jet printer wherein the drying and fixing means and the approaching / separating means are mounted on drawing means capable of drawing out the rotating member from the inside of the housing to the outside.

In this invention, the drying / fixing means and the approach / separation means can be drawn out of the housing. Therefore,
In addition to having the same effects as those of the first to third aspects of the present invention, jam processing can be further easily performed.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the print medium M is formed on the outer peripheral surface 11 of a rotating member (drum 10) rotatable at a constant peripheral speed so as to be able to hold the print medium M and to be able to print on the rotating print medium M using the inkjet nozzle 207. Drying and fixing means 130 for drying and fixing the ink on the rotating printing medium M.
And an approach / separation means 135 capable of approaching / separating the drying / fixing means 130 to / from the outer peripheral surface 11 of the rotating member (10).
Forced drying and fixing of ink after printing and dry fixing means 1
30 is formed so as to be able to approach and separate from the rotating member (drum 10).

The overall configuration will be described for a case constructed in the same manner as the case of the previously proposed inkjet printer (FIG. 4). Therefore, the description of the same parts as those in FIG. 4 will be simplified or omitted.

First, a description will be given of an improvement over the case of the previously proposed ink jet printer.

The drum 10 forming a rotating member is rotated by a servomotor 10M via a timing belt 10C. The rotation speed is, for example, 120 rpm at which multi-color printing at 20 PPM can be achieved, and the drum peripheral speed is kept constant.

The medium holding means mainly uses the charge attracting force of the charging roller 20, and fixes the leading end of the print medium M supplied from the medium supply means 90 as an auxiliary to the drum outer peripheral surface 11.
Is provided with a suction port 24 capable of attracting negative pressure and a holding claw 23 capable of being mechanically held.

That is, the leading end of the print medium M is held in a predetermined posture on the drum outer peripheral surface 11 by negative pressure suction holding and nipping, and thereafter, is held by charge suction and pressed by the charging roller 20 to be closely held.

Further, on the downstream side in the rotation (Y) direction of the drum 10, a replenishment charger 21 for maintaining a charge adsorption force attenuated during a printing operation, and charge adsorption before the separation by the medium separation means 140. A static eliminator 22 for removing a force is provided.

Here, the charging roller 20 and the replenishing charger 2
1 is provided with a drying and fixing means 130. The drying and fixing means 130 is for directly or indirectly drying and fixing the ink on the printing medium M held on the outer peripheral surface 11 of the drum. In the embodiment, the heater 31 serving as a heat source and the heater 3 for further speeding up the drying and fixing are further improved.
1 and a heat radiation reflection case 132 surrounding the heat radiation reflection case 132.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the approach / separation means 135 comprises a link 136 which is rotatable about a support shaft 136S and can be fixed at a predetermined angle. Therefore, the drying and fixing means 130 can be moved toward and away from the rotating member [10 (11)]. If completely separated from each other as indicated by the two-dot chain line, the jam can be easily removed. Further, by adjusting the distance from the drum outer peripheral surface 11, the dry fixing speed can be adjusted according to the printing speed, the type of ink, and the like.

This adjustment is made in a frame 55 described later.
The pin hole 136H of the link 136 is aligned with one of the plurality (three) of pin holes 55H provided in
This is performed by switching the inclination angle of the link 136 by inserting a pin into 55H. The complete separation is restricted by the stopper pin 55P.

The drying / fixing means 130 and the approach / separation means 1
35 is attached to the frame 55 shown in FIG. That is, the frame 55 is mounted on a moving table 50 movably mounted on the guide rail 9 in the housing 1 in the left-right direction in FIG. Forming a drawing means for drawing out from the outside.

More specifically, in FIG. 1, the drum 10 is rotatably supported between a pair of frames 55 (55) opposed to the paper surface in the vertical direction, and a predetermined relative position to the drum 10 (11) is to be maintained. Elements (10M, 91, 93, 20,
130, 135, 21, 22) are also attached.

Therefore, since the drum 10 can be pulled out of the housing 1, jam processing can be performed quickly and easily. Also,
If the drum 10 is returned into the housing 1 after the jam processing, the drum 10 and peripheral components (10M, 91, 93, 20, 130, 135,
21 and 22), the printing operation can be immediately resumed. It is also effective for speeding up printing.

The supply roller 91 and the guide 93 forming the medium supply means 90 are provided on the frame 55, and the supply roller 92 is mounted on a fixed bracket (not shown) in the housing 1. Therefore, the portion where the jam is most likely to occur is separated, so that the jam processing can be more easily performed.

In the first embodiment having such a configuration, the leading end of the print medium M supplied by the medium supply means 90 is
4 is held by suction on the outer peripheral surface 11 by the negative pressure suction force and is held by the holding claws 23. Immediately thereafter, the charging roller 20 charges the print medium M. The printing medium M is attracted and held on the outer peripheral surface 11 by the electric charge attracting force. In addition, by providing a mechanical ironing by the charging roller 20 from the front end side to the rear end side, the close contact holding property can be further enhanced.

The nozzle head 2 is provided on the rotating print medium M.
Ink is sprayed from 00 (inkjet nozzle 207), and characters and images are printed. When the printing portion passes through the drying and fixing means 130, the drying and fixing of the ink is promoted by heating by the heat source (131). Therefore, high quality printing can be ensured and printing speed can be further increased. If necessary, the position of the heat source (131) with respect to the outer peripheral surface 11 can be adjusted using the approach / separation means 135.

If a jam occurs during the printing operation,
The cover 2 is opened horizontally as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, and the drum 10 is pulled out of the housing 1 by pulling means (50, 55). Thereby, the jam processing can be performed quickly and easily.

At this time, the approaching / separating means 135 is connected to FIG.
If the sheets are completely separated from each other as indicated by the dashed line, the jam processing can be more easily performed. After the jam processing, the drum 10 is moved to the housing 1.
Put back inside. Printing operation can be resumed immediately.

Thus, according to the first embodiment,
Outer peripheral surface 1 of rotating member (10) rotatable at a constant peripheral speed
1 is formed so as to be able to hold the print medium M and to be able to print on the rotating print medium M using the ink jet nozzles 207,
The drying and fixing means 135 is formed so as to be able to be separated from the drum outer peripheral surface 11 so that the drying and fixing means 135 can be separated from the drum outer peripheral surface 11. Jam processing can be performed easily.

The drying and fixing means 30 is provided with a heat source (131).
, The drying and fixing speed can be further increased, so that higher-speed printing can be performed.

Further, since the drying and fixing means 130 has a configuration in which the heater 131 is accommodated in the heat radiation reflection case 132, the generated heat can be used more effectively.

Further, since the drying / fixing means 130 and the approaching / separating means 135 are mounted on the drawing means (50, 55) capable of drawing the rotating member (10) from the inside of the housing 1 to the outside, the jam processing is performed. It is easier to do.

Further, the drum 10 and peripheral components (10M, 91, 93, 2
0, 130, 135, 21 and 22) are attached with their relative positions kept constant, so that the printing operation can be restarted immediately after the jam clearance.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment, the basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1), but the approach / separation means 130 is formed as shown in FIG. I have.

That is, the approaching / separating means 135 includes the link bar 136 rotatably held on the support shaft 136S horizontally mounted on the frame 55, and the support shaft 1 similarly mounted on the support shaft 136S.
The link bar 137 is rotatably held at 37S. Each end of the link 136, 137 is connected to a pin 136R,
It is rotatably connected to the heat radiation reflection case 132 via 137R.

Accordingly, when the state is changed from the solid line state (approaching) to the two-dot chain line state (complete separation), the case 132 faces downward and the heat source (131) can be surrounded downward. That is, it is possible to prevent a person from directly touching the heat source (131). Therefore, when the jam is cleared, the worker may be burned in the case shown in FIG. 2, but it is very safe. Of course, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0048]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing medium is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member rotatable at a constant peripheral speed so as to be able to hold the printing medium and to be able to print on the rotating printing medium using the ink jet nozzle. In addition, a drying / fixing unit and an approach / separation unit are provided so that the ink on the printing medium being rotated can be dried and fixed, and the drying / fixing unit can be separated from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member. In addition to speeding up printing and achieving high quality printing, the jam processing can be performed quickly and easily.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the drying and fixing means includes a heat source, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained, and further, the drying of the ink is further promoted. Since it is possible, the printing speed can be further increased.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the approaching / separating means is formed so as to be able to change the direction of the heat source downward, the same effect as that of the second aspect of the invention can be obtained. Since it does not come into contact with a heat source, it can be safely jammed.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, since the drying and fixing means and the approaching / separating means are mounted on the drawing means capable of drawing out the rotating member from the inside of the housing to the outside, the claim 1 to claim 1 In addition to achieving the same effects as those of the inventions up to Item 3, the jam processing can be further easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an approaching / separating means.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining approach / separation means according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a previously proposed inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 housing 2 cover 9 guide rail 10 drum (rotating member) 11 outer peripheral surface 20 charging roller 21 replenishment charger 23 holding claw 24 suction port 50 moving table (drawing means) 55 frame (drawing means) 90 medium supply means 130 drying Fixing means 131 Fan 132 Heater (heat source) 135 Approaching / separating means 140 Medium separation means 160 Medium discharge / conveyance means 200 Nozzle head 207 Ink jet nozzle

Claims (4)

[Claims] An ink jet nozzle is formed on a rotating member rotatable at a constant peripheral speed so as to be able to hold a printing medium and print on a rotating printing medium using an ink jet nozzle. An ink jet printer, comprising: a drying / fixing unit for drying and fixing the ink; and an approach / separation unit capable of approaching / separating the drying / fixing unit from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating member. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein said drying and fixing means includes a heat source. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the approaching / separating means is formed so as to be able to change the direction of the heat source downward. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drying and fixing unit and the approaching / separating unit are mounted on a drawing unit that can draw the rotating member from the inside of the housing to the outside. The described inkjet printer.