Patent Application
20110057380
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming apparatuses and, in particular, to an image forming apparatus that conveys a medium to be recorded by air suction.
2. Description of the Related Art
As image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimile machines, copiers, plotters, and multi-task machines having plural such functions, known ink jet recording apparatuses of a liquid ejection recording type use a recording head that ejects, for example, ink liquid droplets. The image forming apparatus of this type ejects ink droplets from the recording head onto a sheet during conveyance to perform image formation (used synonymously with recording, printing, and imaging). Further, an object on which ink droplets are ejected is not limited to a paper but includes an OHP sheet, etc., which is also referred to as a medium to be recorded, a recording medium, a recording sheet, a recording paper, etc. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a serial-type image forming apparatus in which the recording head ejects liquid droplets to form an image while moving in a main-scanning direction and a line-type image forming apparatus using a line-type head in which a recording head ejects liquid droplets to form an image without moving.
Note that in the embodiments of the present invention, the “image forming apparatus” of the liquid ejection recording type refers to an apparatus that ejects liquid droplets onto a medium such as paper, a thread, a fiber, a fabric, leather, metal, a plastic, glass, wood, and a ceramic so as to perform image formation. Further, the “image formation” refers to forming on a medium not only relevant images such as characters and graphics, but also irrelevant images such as random patterns (i.e., liquid droplets are just ejected onto a medium). Further, the “ink” is not particularly limited to one called ink so long as it turns into liquid at the time of ejection, but includes a DNA sample, a resist, a pattern material, etc. Further, the “image” is not particularly limited to a planer image, but includes an image on an object formed in three dimensions, and an image formed by three-dimensionally molding a figure. Further, the “image forming apparatus” is not particularly limited to a liquid ejection recording type, but includes one that performs image formation using an electrophotographic method. In the embodiments of the present invention, the image forming apparatus of a liquid ejection type is used.
As a conveyance unit (mechanism) that conveys a sheet as a medium to be recorded in such an image forming apparatus, there is known one that has plural suction holes formed in a conveyance belt or a platen member for guiding the sheet and suctions a chamber or a negative chamber provided at the back surface of the conveyance belt or the platen member by a suction unit such as a suction fan, so that the sheet is air-attracted to the conveyance belt and the platen member and conveyed.
In such a conveyance unit using the air suction, a suction force to the sheet is reduced as the opening areas of the suction holes formed in the conveyance belt and the platen member increase. Therefore, it is likely that the tip end part and the rear end part of the sheet float.
For addressing this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a sheet conveyance unit in which an air chamber provided at the back surface of a platen member is divided into plural pieces of air chambers in a sheet conveyance direction, suction fans are provided so as to correspond to the air chambers, and a negative pressure is generated only in selected ones in any of the desired air chambers. Further, Patent Document 2 proposes a sheet conveyance unit in which a conveyance belt is divided into plural pieces of conveyance belts in a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveyance direction (i.e., sheet-width direction), air chambers respectively divided in the sheet-width direction are provided at the back surfaces of the conveyance belts, one suction fan and valves that open and close suction paths for connecting the air chambers to the suction fan are provided, and only selected ones of any of the desired air chambers is operated in accordance with a sheet size. Further, Patent Document 3 proposes an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a unit that opens and closes suction holes formed in a platen member in accordance with a sheet width in a sheet-width direction.
Patent Document 1: JP-B-3690182
Patent Document 2: JP-A-5-107969
Patent Document 3: JP-A-2004-098319
As disclosed in Patent Document 2, the air chamber is divided into the plural pieces of air chambers in the sheet-width direction, and the occurrence of a negative pressure in the air chambers is controlled by the one fan and the valve provided in the respective suction paths. According to this configuration, the sheet conveyance unit becomes complicated in its configuration, and the suction fan serving as a source for generating a negative pressure is commonly used. Therefore, the occurrence of a negative pressure (occurrence of a suction force) cannot be finely controlled so as to correspond to the cases of the air chamber where all the suction holes are sealed by the sheet, the air chamber where some of the suction holes are sealed by the sheet, and the air chamber where the suction holes are not sealed by the sheet at all.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and may have an object of generating an appropriate suction force in accordance with the size of a medium to be recorded.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image; and a conveyance unit that conveys a medium to be recorded opposing the image forming unit. The conveyance unit includes a platen member that guides the medium to be recorded and has plural suction holes formed therein, plural air chambers that the plural suction holes formed in the platen members face, and plural suction units that suction air inside the plural air chambers through the suction holes. At least two or more of the plural air chambers are arranged in a direction crossing a conveyance direction of the medium to be recorded. One of the plural air chambers is connected to one of the plural suction units, and one or two or more of the plural air chambers is connected to at least one of the plural suction units.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to
The ink jet recording apparatus is a serial-type ink jet recording apparatus and has a recording apparatus main body 1 and a supporting base 2 that supports the recording apparatus main body 1.
Inside the recording apparatus main body 1, a guide rod 3 and a guide rail 4 are bridged between both side plates (not shown), and a carriage 5 is slidably held by the guide rod 3 and the guide rail 4 in the direction as indicated by an arrow A.
The carriage 5 has mounted thereon a recording head 21 (see
A main-scanning mechanism that moves the carriage 5 for scanning has a driving motor 11 arranged on one side in a main-scanning direction, a driving pulley 12 driven to rotate by the driving motor 11, a driven pulley 13 arranged on the other side in the main-scanning direction, and a belt member 14 bridged between the driving pulley 12 and the driven pulley 13. Note that the driven pulley 13 is outwardly urged by a tension spring (not shown) (in a direction away from the driving pulley 12). The belt member 14 tows the carriage 5 in the main-scanning direction with its part fixed to and held by a belt fixing part provided at the back surface of the carriage 5.
Further, an encoder sheet (not shown) is arranged to detect the main-scanning position of the carriage 5 along the main-scanning direction of the carriage 5. The position of the carriage 5 is detected in such a manner that the encoder sheet is read by an encoder sensor 22 (see
In the recording region of the main-scanning region of the carriage 5, the sheet 10 is intermittently conveyed by a suction conveyance unit 7 in the direction orthogonal to the main-scanning direction of the carriage 5 (i.e., the sub-scanning direction or the sheet conveyance direction as indicated by an arrow B).
Further, in a region on one end side of the main-scanning region, a maintenance and restoration mechanism 8 that maintains and restores the recording head 21 is arranged. Moreover, outside a carriage moving region in the main-scanning direction or in a region on the other end side in the main-scanning region, a main cartridge 9 accommodating respective colors of ink to be supplied to the sub-tanks is detachably attached to the recording apparatus main body 1.
Further, a roll sheet (hereinafter referred to as a “sheet”) 10 is installed in a sheet feeding unit 6, but a roll sheet different in size in its width direction can also be installed. The sheet 10 conveyed by the sheet feeding unit 6 is conveyed to the recording region by a conveyance unit (not shown) from the rear side to the front side of the apparatus. Then, when the carriage 5 is moved in the main-scanning direction and the recording head 21 is driven in accordance with image information to eject liquid droplets while intermittently feeding the sheet 10, a desired image is formed on the sheet 10. The sheet 10 on which the image is formed is cut into a prescribed length and ejected to a sheet catching tray (not shown) arranged on the front side of the apparatus.
Referring next to
As described above, the carriage 5 is moved to scan in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction. Further, the carriage 5 has the recording head 21 composed of the liquid ejection head that ejects liquid droplets, the encoder sensor 22 that detects a position in the main-scanning direction of the carriage 5, and the sheet sensor 23 serving as a sheet detection unit composed of an optical sensor, etc., that detects the tip end of the sheet 10, both ends thereof, etc.
The suction conveyance unit 7 has a resist roller 31, a resist pressure roller 32, three platen members 34a through 34c, three air chambers 36a through 36c, and three suction fans 38a through 38c. Here, the resist roller 31 and the resist pressure roller 32 convey the sheet 10 conveyed by the sheet feeding unit 6. Further, the three platen members 34a through 34c are used to guide the sheet 10, arranged in the sheet-width direction, and have plural suction holes 35 formed therein. Hereinafter, the three platen members 34a through 34c are referred to as a “platen member 34” and denoted by the same reference numeral when they are not distinguished from one another. Note that the same applies to other members. Further, the three air chambers 36a through 36c are provided at the back surfaces of the platen members 34a through 34c and arranged in the sheet-width direction. The three suction fans 38a through 38c serve as suction units connected to suction ports 37a through 37c of the air chambers 36a through 36c, respectively. Note that air chambers 36 are formed of an air-chamber forming member 36A.
In the suction conveyance unit 7, the resist roller 31 and the resist pressure roller 32 convey the sheet 10 onto the platen members 34, which have the plural suction holes 35 and are placed above the air chambers 36, with a predetermined timing, and the suction fans 38 arranged below the air chambers 36 generate a negative pressure in the air chambers 36. Thus, a suction force is applied to the sheet 10 through the suction holes 35 of the platen members 34, whereby the sheet 10 are closely attached to the platen members 34 and maintains its flatness. Then, as described above, the suction conveyance unit 7 intermittently conveys the sheet 10 every time a one-line image is formed by the liquid droplets ejected from the recording head 21 along with the movement of the carriage 5 in the main-scanning direction.
Specifically, the width of the one platen member 34 of the suction conveyance unit 7 is 310 mm, and the length thereof in the conveyance direction is about 120 mm. With the arrangement of the three platen members 34 in the sheet-width direction, the suction conveyance unit 7 can correspond to the sheet 10 having a width of up to 914 mm. Further, the three platen members 34 and the three air chambers 36 provided in the platen members 34 are formed of the same member so as to reduce a manufacturing cost.
Further, the suction fans 38 separately connected to the air chambers 36 can be driven by PWM control, and separate PWM signals can be input to the respective suction fans 38. Therefore, the operations of the suction fans 38 can be separately controlled.
Referring next to a block diagram shown in
A control unit 100 has a main control part 101, a head driving control part 102, a driving waveform storage part 106, a motor driving circuit 107, fan driving circuits 108a through 108c, a communications circuit, and the like. Here, the main control part 101 includes a micro computer that is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I/F, and the like, and serves as a unit that controls the driving of the suction fans according to the present invention so as to play a role in controlling the entire recording apparatus. The head driving control part 102 controls the driving of the recording head 21. The driving waveform storage part 106 stores driving waveform data to be applied from the head driving control part 102 to the recording head 21. The motor driving circuit 107 drives a sheet feeding motor 16 that drives the driving motor 11 and the resist roller (conveyance roller) 31 for conveying the sheet 10. The fan driving circuits 108a through 108c drive the suction fans 38a through 38c, respectively. The communications circuit 110 performs communications with outside.
Further, the main control part 101 receives a reading signal from the encoder sensor 22 of the carriage 5, a detection signal from the sheet sensor 23, a reading signal from an encoder sensor 24 constituting a rotary encoder that detects the rotational amount of the conveyance roller 31, and the like.
Through the communications circuit 110, the main control part 101 receives print data, etc., from a host such as an information processing apparatus like a personal computer, an image reading apparatus like an image scanner, an image pickup apparatus like a digital camera using a cable or a network. Inside the main control part 101, the RAM is used as a buffer, a work memory, etc., and stores various data. Further, the ROM stores various control routines, font data, graphic functions, procedures, etc., executed by the CPU.
The head driving control part 102 includes a driving signal generation circuit that A/D-converts the driving waveform data stored in the driving waveform storage part 106 to generate driving waveforms for driving the actuator unit of the recording head 21. Then, the head driving control part 102 transmits print data developed into dot pattern data (bit map data), generated driving waveforms, etc., to a head driver (driving IC) (not shown) provided on the side of the carriage 5 that drives the recording head 21.
The main control part 101 detects a position in the main-scanning direction of the carriage 5 based on a reading signal from the encoder sensor 22 to control the moving stop position of the carriage 5. In addition, the main control part 101 detects the tip end and the right and left ends of the sheet 10 based on a detection signal from the sheet sensor 23 of the carriage 5, and also detects the conveyance amount of the sheet 10 based on the reading signal from the encoder sensor 24 using the detected position of the tip end of the sheet 10 as a reference.
Moreover, based on the size of the sheet 10 and the conveyance amount thereof transmitted from an operations panel and an external apparatus (not shown), the main control part 101 controls the driving of the suction fans 38a through 38c by PWM control through the fan driving circuits 108a through 108c.
Referring next to
Here, the center in the sheet-width direction of the sheet 10 is set as a reference, and the center in the sheet-width direction of the platen members 34 (the center position in the sheet-width direction of the platen members 34) is set as a reference for conveying the sheet 10.
First, a description is made of an operation when the sheet 10 having a width of 297 mm (hereinafter referred to as a “sheet 10A”) is printed.
Upon receipt of a print request, the carriage 5 is moved to a tip-end detection position so that the tip end of the sheet 10A fed from the sheet feeding unit 6 is detected. With the driving of the resist roller 31, the sheet 10A is conveyed until the sheet sensor 23 on the carriage 5 detects the tip end of the sheet 10A. Then, the sheet 10A is stopped, and the operation of only the suction fan 38b is started with the duty value of the PWM signal set to 75% (
When passing through the platen member 34b, the sheet 10A having a width of 297 mm covers most of the width (310 mm) of the platen member 34b. Therefore, as shown in
On this occasion, when the sheet 10A having a width of 297 mm passes over the suction holes 35 of the platen member 34b, the suction holes 35 of the platen members 34a and 34c remain opened at all times as shown in
Then, the conveyance distance (conveyance amount) of the sheet 10A is calculated from a reading pulse number from the encoder sensor 24 with the detected position of the tip end of the sheet 10A as an origin, and the duty value of the PWM signal of the suction fan 38 is changed in accordance with the conveyance distance of the sheet 10A.
In other words, when the tip end of the sheet 10A reaches the position 60 mm away from the origin (the position shown in
When the sheet 10A is further conveyed and the tip end of the sheet 10A reaches the position 120 mm away from the origin (the position shown in
As described above, the control is made such that the duty value of the PWM signal relative to the suction fan 38b is changed (reduced) in accordance with the conveyance distance of the sheet 10A. Therefore, the operation of the suction fan 38b can be optimized. Thus, a large suction force is applied to the sheet 10A, whereby degradation in conveyance accuracy, the buckling of the sheet 10A onto the platen member 38b without being conveyed due to the suction force exceeding the strength of the sheet 10A can be prevented. As a result, a reduction in the consumption power and the noise of the suction fan can be achieved.
Note that the operation of the suction fan 38b is changed twice in accordance with the conveyance distance of the sheet 10A. The number of changing the operation of the suction fan 38b is not limited to twice, but may be one or three or more times. Alternatively, even when the number is changed linearly in accordance with the conveyance distance rather than being changed in a stepwise manner, the same effects can be obtained.
Referring next to
The sheet 10B to be conveyed has a width of 420 mm. Therefore, as shown in
As described above, the duty value of the PWM signal of the suction fan 38 is set to be larger as the opening area of the suction holes 35 of the platen member 34 increases, while the duty value of the PWM signal thereof is set to be smaller as the opening area decreases. Accordingly, a negative pressure in the air chamber connected to the platen member having a large opening area can be maintained at a required level, which in turn prevents the floating of sheets in various sizes.
Then, as in the case of the sheet 10A having a width of 297 mm, the change in the duty values of the PWM signals is controlled in accordance with the conveyance distance. In other words, when the tip end of the sheet 10B reaches the position 60 mm away from the origin (the position shown in
Note that the control in the operations of the suction fans is based on, but not limited to, the duty values of the PWM signals. Alternatively, even when the control in the operations of the suction fans is based on other methods such as changing input voltage, the same effects can be obtained.
Referring next to
When the sheet 10C having the maximum width passes through the suction conveyance unit, all the suction holes 35 in the width direction of the three platen members 34a through 34c are sealed by the sheet 10C. Therefore, control is made such that the duty values of the PWM signals of the three suction fans 38a through 38c are set to be the same as the duty value of the PWM signal of the suction fan 38b when the sheet 10B having a width of 420 mm is conveyed.
In other words, after the detection of the tip end of the sheet 10C (
As described above, the duty values of the PWM signals of the suction fans are changed in accordance with the sheet width (sheet size) and the opening areas of the suction holes changed in accordance with the conveyance distance of the sheet. Therefore, even with the sheets in various sizes (from small sizes to large sizes), degradation in conveyance accuracy due to an increase in a suction force, conveyance failure due to the buckling of the sheets, and the floating of the sheets and contact with the head due to an insufficient suction force can be prevented at the same time. As a result, the conveyance can be performed safely. In addition, only the required suction fan is operated so as to correspond to the size of the sheet. As a result, a reduction in the consumption power and the noise of the suction fan and the downsizing of the apparatus can be achieved.
That is, according to the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention, at least the two or more air chambers are arranged in the direction crossing the conveyance direction of the medium to be recorded. In addition, one of the plural air chambers is connected to the one suction unit, and the other one or two or more air chambers is connected to the at least one suction unit. Therefore, an appropriate suction force corresponding to the size of the medium to be recorded can be generated without the use of a complicated mechanism such as an opening/closing unit and an opening/closing valve, and thus image degradation due to the floating of the medium to be recorded and damage on the medium to be recorded due to the contact with the head can be prevented.
In this case, since the suction units are separately connected to the plural air chambers, negative pressures in the respective air chambers can be easily controlled.
Referring next to
In this embodiment, the three air chambers 36a through 36c and the platen members 34a through 34c are arranged side by side in the sheet-width direction, but the air chamber 36b and the platen member 34b arranged on the central side are made larger in width than the air chambers 36a and 36c and the platen members 34a and 34c arranged on both sides. The air chamber 36b on the central side is connected to the one suction fan 38b. On the other hand, the suction ports 37 of the air chambers 34a and 34c on the both sides are connected to a common path 39, and a suction port 40 provided in the common path 39 is connected to the one suction fan 38a.
In this case, the center in the width direction of a sheet is set as a reference for conveying the sheet. Thus, since negative pressures in the air chambers 36a and 36b on the both sides are controlled in the same way, the same effects can be obtained with this configuration. In addition, since the number of the fans used in the suction conveyance unit decreases from three to two, a reduction in the consumption power and the noise of the suction fans can be achieved.
Referring next to
In this embodiment, the four platen members 34a through 34d, the air chambers 36a through 36d corresponding to the platen members 34a through 34d, respectively, and the suction fans 38a through 38d connected to the air chambers 36a through 36d, respectively, are arranged in the sheet-width direction.
For example, assuming that the width of the one platen member 34 is set to be about 230 mm, the arrangement of the four platen members 34 can correspond to a sheet having a width of 914 mm. Further, assuming that the right end of a sheet and the right end of the platen member are set as references for conveying the sheet, when the sheet 10D having a width of 210 mm passes through the suction conveyance unit, the suction holes 35 of the platen member 34d are nearly sealed and the suction holes 35 of the platen members 34a through 34c remain opened as shown in
As described above, with an increase in the number of the air chambers, the suction conveyance unit can correspond even to a smaller sheet.
Moreover, in the case of the sheet 10D having a minimum size of 210 mm, the maximum static pressure of the suction fans 36a through 36c where the suction holes 35 remain opened is set to be 400 Pa, which is higher than the maximum static pressure 300 Pa of the suction fan 38d. Thus, with the sheet 10E having a width of 594 mm, all the suction holes 35 in the width direction of the platen member 34d are sealed by the sheet 10E (
Similarly, in the case of the sheet having a width of 297 mm, all the suction holes 35 of the platen 34d are covered by the sheet, and some of the suction holes 35 of the platen member 34c remain open. Therefore, with the use of the suction fan 38c having a high maximum static pressure, an appropriate suction force can be easily applied as in the case of the sheet having a width of 594 mm.
Referring next to
In this embodiment, the two platen members 34a and 34b and the air chambers 36a and 36b corresponding to the platen members 34a and 34b, respectively, are arranged in the sheet-width direction. Further, the two suction fans 38a1 and 38a2 are connected to the air chamber 36a, and the one suction fan 38b is connected to the air chamber 36b.
Such a configuration is particularly suitable for an image forming apparatus that allows a sheet whose maximum size is small, e.g., an A3 sheet, to pass through. The right end of the sheet and the right end of the platen member are set as references for conveying the sheet. When the maximum size of the sheet is A3, the width of the sheet is 297 mm at a maximum. Therefore, the width of the one platen member 34 is set to be about 150 mm. Further, with the series arrangement of the two suction fans 38a and 38b in the air chamber 36a of the platen member 34a, a negative pressure in the air chamber 36a where the suction holes 35 remain open in most cases can be easily set to an appropriate level.
In this embodiment, when a sheet 10F having the length size of A5 as a minimum size is conveyed, the sheet 10F is placed on only the platen 34b as shown in
Further, when a sheet 10G having a width of 210 mm (having the length size of A4) is conveyed, some of the suction holes 35 of the platen member 34a remain open. However, since the suction fans 38a1 and 38a2 connected to the air chamber 36a are arranged in series, a negative pressure in the air chamber 36a is easily maintained. Therefore, a sufficient suction force can be applied to the sheet 10G.
As described above, the suction conveyance unit is so configured that the maximum static pressure of the suction unit connected to the air chamber where the suction holes are not sealed when the conveyable medium to be recorded having the minimum width is conveyed is made larger than the maximum static pressure of the suction unit connected to the air chamber where at least some of the suction holes are sealed when the medium is conveyed. With this configuration, in the case of the air chamber where the suction holes in the sheet-width direction are sealed by the sheet of the minimum size, all the suction holes in the sheet-width direction are sealed in most cases when the sheet of a larger size passes over. Therefore, a sufficient suction force can be applied to the medium to be recorded even with the suction unit having the low maximum static pressure. Thus, with the use of the suction unit (e.g., the suction fan) having the low maximum static pressure, a reduction in the consumption power and the noise of the suction unit and the downsizing of the apparatus can be achieved.
Further, the suction conveyance unit is so configured that the number of the suction units connected to the air chambers where the suction holes are not sealed when the conveyable medium to be recorded having the minimum width is conveyed is made larger than the number of the suction units connected to the air chambers where at least some of the suction holes are sealed when the medium is conveyed. With this configuration, in the case of the air chamber where the suction holes in the sheet-width direction are sealed by the sheet of the minimum size, most of the suction holes in the sheet-width direction are sealed when the sheet of a larger size passes through. Therefore, even if the number of the suction units connected to the air chamber is reduced, a negative pressure in the air chamber involved can be sufficiently maintained.
Note that in the above embodiments, the suction conveyance unit is configured to include the separate platen members and the air chambers.
However, the plural platen members or the plural air chambers may be configured integrally.
The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present application is based on Japanese Priority Application No. 2009-206390 filed on Sep. 7, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-206390 | Sep 2009 | JP | national |
