The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-211096, which was filed on Sep. 21, 2010, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-011139, which was filed on Jan. 21, 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording device that uses a pair of rollers to nip and convey a tray and that records an image on a recording medium set on the tray.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image recording device that uses a pair of rollers to nip and convey a tray having the shape of a thin plate is known. In the image recording device, a thick recording medium, such as a CD or a DVD, is set on a dedicated tray. The tray is conveyed within the image recording device, and an image is recorded onto the recording medium.
In such an image recording device, the midsection of the tray is bent by the force from the driving roller and the driven roller for nipping the tray. The tray or the CD or DVD comes into contact with the driving roller or a recording head.
A need has arisen to provide an image recording device capable of preventing the recording medium disposed on the tray from coming into contact with the driving roller or the recording head.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an image recording device comprising: a first roller, a plurality of second rollers, a plate-like tray, and a recording portion. The first roller is configured to rotate by receiving a driving force from a driving source. The plurality of second rollers are arranged in an axial direction of the first roller. The plate-like tray has a first surface configured to hold a recording medium. The first roller and the plurality of second rollers are configured to nip the tray between the first roller and the plurality of second rollers. The recording portion is configured to record an image on the recording medium held in the tray. The tray comprises: a first section disposed at one end of the tray and a second section disposed at the other end of the tray in a widthwise direction parallel to the axial direction of the first roller. The first and the second sections extend in a lengthwise direction orthogonal to the widthwise direction and protrude from the first surface of the tray in a thickness direction perpendicular to the first surface. The tray also comprises a third section positioned between the first and the second sections, wherein the third section is thinner in the thickness direction than each of the first and the second sections. The tray further comprises an accommodation portion formed by a recess in the third section and configured to accommodate the recording medium. When the first roller and the plurality of second rollers nip the tray therebetween, the first surface of the tray does not contact any of the first roller or the plurality of second rollers, except at the first and the second sections of the tray.
An embodiment according to the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example of the present invention, and modifications of this embodiment of the present invention are permissible, where appropriate, so long as the modifications do not depart from the spirit of the invention.
Referring to
A control panel 13 for operating the printer unit 11 and the scanner unit 12 is provided at a front upper surface of the multi-function device 10, more specifically, at a front upper surface of the scanner unit 12. The control panel 13 includes various control buttons and a liquid-crystal display 14. In response to an input from the control panel 13, the multi-function device 10 operates on the basis of a command from a controller (not shown) that controls the overall operation of the multi-function device 10. If the multi-function device 10 is connected to a computer, the multi-function device 10 also operates on the basis of a command sent from the computer via a printer driver, a scanner driver, or the like.
The scanner unit 12 is a so-called flatbed scanner. A document cover 15 serving as a top plate of the multi-function device 10 is provided in an openable-closable manner on top of the scanner unit 12. A platen glass and an image sensor (not shown) are provided below the document cover 15. An image of an original document placed on the platen glass is read by the image sensor. Because the scanner unit 12 is not directly involved with the achievement of the present invention, a detailed description of the scanner unit 12 is omitted here.
Referring to
The multi-function device 10 has a conveying path 65. The conveying path 65 curves upward and toward the front surface of the multi-function device 10 from a rear side of a feed tray 20 and then extends below the recorder 24 from the rear surface toward the front surface of the multi-function device 10 so as to connect to an output tray 21. The recording sheet is conveyed along the conveying path 65 in a conveying direction indicated by an arrow 104. The conveying path 65 is defined mainly by an outer guide member 18 and an inner guide member 19 that face each other with a predetermined distance therebetween.
The feeder 22 is provided above the feed tray 20. The feeder 22 includes a feed roller 25, a feed arm 26, and a drive transmission mechanism 27. The feed roller 25 is rotatably supported at an end of the feed arm 26 that is pivotable into and out of contact with the feed tray 20. The feed roller 25 rotates by receiving a driving force of a feed motor (not shown) via the drive transmission mechanism 27 comprising multiple meshed gears. The feed roller 25 feeds an uppermost recording sheet from recording sheets stacked on the feed tray 20 to the conveying path 65.
The recorder 24 is provided above the conveying path 65 extending from the rear surface toward the front surface of the multi-function device 10. The recorder 24 includes a carriage 40 that holds a recording head 38 and that reciprocates in the main scanning direction (i.e., the width direction 101 which is orthogonal to the plane of the drawing in
Referring to
Although not expressed in the drawings, the conveying roller 60 is supported rotatably by frames (not shown) of the printer unit 11 that are provided at left and right sides of the conveying path 65. Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
The configuration of a medium tray 71 is described below. The multi-function device 10 has the function of recording an image on a face of a recording medium. If an image is to be recorded on a face of a recording medium, the recording medium is disposed on the medium tray 71. While being placed on a tray guide 17, the medium tray 71 is inserted in an insertion direction 105, which is the reverse direction of the conveying direction 104, along the conveying path 65 through an opening 16.
Referring to
The medium tray 71 has a thin-walled section 72 in a midsection thereof in the lateral direction 107, and thick-walled sections 73 extending respectively along opposite edges of the medium tray 71 in the lateral direction 107. The thin-walled section 72 and the thick-walled sections 73 have different thicknesses in a thickness direction 108, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction 106 and the lateral direction 107. Specifically, the thin-walled section 72 is thinner than the thick-walled sections 73. The thin-walled section 72 and the thick-walled sections 73 each have a fixed thickness except for areas where an accommodation portion 75 and grooves 77, as described below, are formed.
The thin-walled section 72 extends in the longitudinal direction 106 in the midsection of the medium tray 71 in the lateral direction 107. The thin-walled section 72 has an upper surface (first surface) 74 that faces upward in
The thick-walled sections 73 extend in the longitudinal direction 106 respectively along the opposite edges of the medium tray 71 in the lateral direction 107. Each of the thick-walled sections 73 protrudes above the upper surface 74 of the thin-walled section 72. When the medium tray 71 is inserted into the multi-function device 10, as described below, the pair of conveying rollers 58 nips the thick-walled sections 73.
The medium tray 71 has the grooves 77 respectively formed at the outer sides of the accommodation portion 75 of the thin-walled section 72 in the lateral direction 107. The grooves 77 are disposed near the boundaries between the thin-walled section 72 and the thick-walled sections 73. The grooves 77 extend in the longitudinal direction 106 and are depressed in the thickness direction 108 from the upper surface 74.
A procedure for inserting the medium tray 71 into the multi-function device 10 and recording an image onto the recording medium disposed on the medium tray 71 are described below. As shown in
When a command for recording an image onto the recording medium is input to the control panel 13 or when the command is received from an external device, the multi-function device 10 rotates the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62, so that the medium tray 71 is conveyed further in the insertion direction 105. Specifically, the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are driven rotationally in the reverse direction of the conveying direction 104.
Although not depicted in the drawings, when the medium tray 71 is inserted, the multi-function device 10 may be configured to move the platen 42, the discharge roller 62, and the pinch rollers 141 to 144 downward in accordance with the thickness of the medium tray 71.
Referring to
After the medium tray 71 is inserted in the insertion direction 105 to the predetermined position by the pair of conveying rollers 58, the rotation of the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 is switched from the reverse direction to the forward direction. Thus, the medium tray 71 is conveyed in the conveying direction 104. When the recording medium disposed on the medium tray 71 is conveyed to a position directly below the recording head 38, the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are stopped temporarily from rotating. While the rotation of the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 is stopped temporarily, the carriage 40 holding the recording head 38 is moved in the width direction 101. Specifically, the recording head 38 is scanned across the recording medium. During this scanning process, ink droplets are ejected selectively onto the recording medium from the recording head 38. The ejected ink droplets land on the face of the recording medium. When the movement of the carriage 40 is completed, the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are rotated by an amount equivalent to a predetermined conveying distance, and are stopped again. Specifically, the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are rotated intermittently with temporarily stop periods in-between. While the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are stopped temporarily, the carriage 40 is moved in the same manner as described above. During the movement of the carriage 40, ink droplets are selectively ejected from the recording head 38 and land on the face of the recording medium. By repeating this process, a desired image is recorded on the recording medium. After the desired image is recorded on the recording medium, the conveying roller 60 and the discharge roller 62 are rotated continuously, thereby discharging the medium tray 71 outward from the front surface of the device.
When the medium tray 71 is nipped and conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 58, as described above, the thick-walled sections 73 of the medium tray 71 are nipped between the conveying roller 60 and the pinch rollers 141 and 144, as depicted in
As described above, because the thick-walled sections 73 of the medium tray 71 protrude higher than the upper surface 74 of the thin-walled section 72, even if the thin-walled section 72 is pressed and slightly bent toward the conveying roller 60 by the pinch rollers 142 and 143, a gap between the upper surface 74 of the thin-walled section 72 and the conveying roller 60 reduces the recording medium accommodated in the accommodation portion 75 from coming into contact with the conveying roller 60. In addition, because a gap also is formed between the upper surface 74 of the thin-walled section 72 and the recording head 38, the medium tray 71 and the recording medium accommodated in the accommodation portion 75 of the medium tray 71 are reduced from coming into contact with the recording head 38.
Because the upper surface 74 of the thin-walled section 72 does not come into contact with the conveying roller 60 when the medium tray 71 is conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 58, the biasing force from the pinch rollers 141 to 144 is not transmitted to an area in the conveying roller 60 that corresponds to the thin-walled section 72, that is, a midsection of the conveying roller 60 in the axial direction. Accordingly, the amount of bowing of the conveying roller 60 is minimized even if the biasing force of the coil springs 91 and 92 that bias the pinch rollers 141 to 144 is increased.
Furthermore, supposing that an axis 109 of the conveying roller 60 is bowed relative to a horizontal direction 110 (i.e., the width direction 101), as shown in
Although the grooves 77 in the medium tray 71 are formed at the outer sides in the lateral direction 107 relative to the accommodation portion 75 of the thin-walled section 72 in the above-described embodiment, the positions of the grooves 77 are changeable.
For example, referring to
Like the above-described embodiment, even when the axis 109 of the conveying roller 60 is bowed relative to the horizontal direction 110 (i.e., the width direction 101), each of the grooves 79 causes only the outer side of the groove 79 in the width direction 101 to extend along the bowed axis 109, whereby a fixed head gap is maintained between the recording medium accommodated in the accommodation portion 75 and the recording head 38. Furthermore, the same advantages are achieved whether the grooves 77 or 79 are disposed in the upper surface 74 or the lower surface 78 of the medium tray 71.
Although the conveying roller 60 is disposed above the conveying path 65, and the pinch rollers 141 to 144 are disposed below the conveying path 65 in the above-described embodiment, the positions of these components are changeable. For example, referring to
As shown in
Referring to
By providing each thick-walled section 73 with a plurality of grooves 80, the amount of bending of the thick-walled section 73 in the lateral direction 107 is minimized. Moreover, because the contact area between the thick-walled sections 73 and the conveying roller 60 is not reduced, a fluctuation in the driving force transmitted to the thick-walled sections 73 from the conveying roller 60 does not occur. Accordingly, the medium tray 71 may be conveyed accurately.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2010-211096 | Sep 2010 | JP | national |
2011-011139 | Jan 2011 | JP | national |
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