The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2023-110204, filed Jul. 4, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a medium conveying apparatus and a recording apparatus.
2. Related Art
As disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2020-45242, there is an image forming apparatus which is an example of a recording apparatus that forms an image on a sheet which is an example of a medium. The image forming apparatus includes a guide sheet, a feed roller as an example of a conveying roller, and a retard roller as an example of a separation roller.
The guide sheet prevents a leading end of the sheet from being bent by guiding the leading end of the sheet.
The feed roller and the retard roller nip a medium at a nip portion, which is an example of a nip area, thereby separating and conveying a plurality of sheets one by one.
JP-A-2020-45242 is an example of the related art.
The guide sheet disclosed in JP-A-2020-45242 is provided at a position close to the nip portion, so that the guide accuracy of the sheet can be enhanced. However, the guide sheet disclosed in JP-A-2020-45242 is provided at a position overlapping the retard roller when viewed from the conveyance direction. Therefore, when the guide sheet is brought close to the nip portion, the leading end of the guide sheet may be caught in the nip portion to cause a sheet conveyance failure.
SUMMARY
A medium conveying apparatus that solves the problem described above includes: a separator configured to separate a plurality of media from each other to convey the medium; and at least one first guide member configured to guide the media to the separator, wherein the separator includes a conveying roller and a separation roller configured to nip the media in a nip range, the conveying roller is configured to come into contact with a first surface of the medium to convey the medium in a conveyance direction, the separation roller is configured to come into contact with a second surface opposite to the first surface of the medium, and is configured to switch between a separation state in which the plurality of media are separated from each other, and a conveying state in which the medium separated is conveyed, and a tip of the first guide member that is configured to guide the medium is located at a position that fails to overlap the separator when viewed from the conveyance direction and that overlaps the nip range when viewed from an axial direction of the separation roller.
A recording apparatus that solves the problem described above includes a medium conveying apparatus configured as described above, and a recording unit configured to perform recording on the medium.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a recording apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a medium conveying apparatus provided to the recording apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the medium conveying apparatus provided to the recording apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a medium conveying apparatus and a recording apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. The recording apparatus of the present embodiment is, for example, an inkjet printer that performs printing by ejecting ink, which is an example of a liquid, onto a medium such as a sheet. In the drawings, assuming that a recording apparatus 11 is placed on a horizontal plane, a direction of gravity is represented by a Z axis, and directions along the horizontal plane are represented by an X axis and a Y axis. The X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis are perpendicular to each other.
Recording Apparatus
As shown in FIG. 1, the recording apparatus 11 may be provided with an chassis 12, a stacker 13, a recording unit 14, a controller 15, a cassette 16, and a medium conveying apparatus 17.
The chassis 12 houses various components of the recording apparatus 11.
The stacker 13 receives the medium 19 conveyed by the medium conveying apparatus 17. The stacker 13 can stack a plurality of recorded media 19. In the present embodiment, two media 19 that are continuously conveyed out of the plurality of media 19 are also referred to as a first medium 19f and a second medium 19s. The first medium 19f is the medium 19 to be conveyed first. The second medium 19s is the medium 19 to be conveyed subsequently to the first medium 19f. In the following description, when the first medium 19f and the second medium 19s are not distinguished from each other, they are simply referred to as the media 19.
The recording unit 14 may have a nozzle surface 21. A plurality of nozzles 22 open on the nozzle surface 21. The recording unit 14 may be provided with the nozzle surface 21 so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. The recording unit 14 ejects a liquid from the nozzles 22 to thereby perform recording on the medium 19 thus conveyed. The recording unit 14 of the present embodiment is a line head that performs recording in a stopped state on the medium 19 to be conveyed.
The controller 15 integrally controls driving of each mechanism in the recording apparatus 11 to control various operations executed by the recording apparatus 11.
The controller 15 can be configured as a circuit including α: one or more processors that execute various types of processing in accordance with a computer program, β: one or more dedicated hardware circuits that execute at least some of the various types of processing, or γ: a combination thereof. The hardware circuit is, for example, an application specific integrated circuit. The processor includes a CPU and memory devices such as a RAM and a ROM, and the memory devices store program codes or commands configured to make the CPU execute the processing. The memory device, that is, a computer-readable medium includes all readable medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or dedicated computer.
The recording apparatus 11 may include a plurality of cassettes 16. The cassette 16 may include a hopper 24. The cassette 16 can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus. The cassette 16 may be capable of accommodating a plurality of media 19 in a stacked state. The hopper 24 pushes up the media 19 stacked. When placed on the cassette 16, the first medium 19f is located on the second medium 19s. The term placed refers to a state in which the medium is put on the cassette, and can be moved by applying an external force.
Medium Conveying Apparatus
The medium conveying apparatus 17 conveys the medium 19 placed on the cassette 16 inserted. The medium conveying apparatus 17 includes a feeding mechanism 26. The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include the same number of feeding mechanisms 26 as the number of the cassettes 16. The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include one or more roller pairs 28, a conveying belt 29, and a pair of pulleys 30.
The roller pair 28 includes a roller that contacts a first surface 19a of the medium 19 and a roller that contacts a second surface 19b of the medium 19. The second surface 19b is a surface opposite to the first surface 19a. One of the two rollers may be a roller that is driven to rotate, and the other may be a roller that rotates following the rotation thereof.
In FIG. 1, a conveyance path 32 and a reversing path 33 along the medium 19 is conveyed are represented by dashed-dotted lines. The conveyance path 32 connects the cassette 16 and the stacker 13 to each other. The reversing path 33 connects the conveyance path 32 downstream of the recording unit 14 and the conveyance path 32 upstream of the recording unit 14 to each other. The reversing path 33 is a path for returning the medium 19 recorded on one side to the upstream of the recording unit 14 when recording on both sides of medium 19. The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include a flap 34 that switches the path for conveying the medium 19.
The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include the plurality of roller pairs 28. The plurality of roller pairs 28 may be provided in the conveyance path 32 and the reversing path 33. The roller pair 28 conveys medium 19 along the conveyance path 32 or the reversing path 33 by rotating in a state of pinching the medium 19.
The conveying belt 29 is an annular belt. The conveying belt 29 is wound around the pair of pulleys 30. The conveying belt 29 circulates around the pair of pulleys 30 as one of the pulleys 30 rotates. The conveying belt 29 has a conveying surface 36 that conveys the medium 19. The conveying surface 36 is a flat surface that supports medium 19 by, for example, electrostatic attraction out of the outer circumferential surface of the conveying belt 29. The conveying belt 29 may be disposed so that the conveying surface 36 is parallel to the nozzle surface 21. The conveying belt 29 supports a portion of the medium 19 where recording is performed by the recording unit 14. The conveying belt 29 conveys the medium 19 in a conveyance direction Dc by circulating in a state of supporting the medium 19. The conveyance direction Dc is a direction along the conveyance path 32 and is a direction from the cassette 16 toward the stacker 13.
The feeding mechanism 26 feeds the medium 19 stored in corresponding one of the cassettes 16 from that cassette 16. The term feeding means to feed the media 19 stacked in the cassette 16 one by one. The feeding mechanism 26 may include a moving mechanism 38, a feed roller 39, and a separator 40.
The moving mechanism 38 moves the feed roller 39. The moving mechanism 38 may include, for example, a solenoid, a cam, and an air cylinder. The moving mechanism 38 displaces the feed roller 39 between a contact position shown in FIG. 1 and a separation position not shown. The contact position is a position where the feed roller 39 contacts the first surface 19a of the medium 19. The feed roller 39 located at the contact position pinches the medium 19 with the hopper 24. The first surface 19a of the medium 19 stacked may be the upper surface of medium 19. The feed roller 39 contacts the medium 19 from above. The separation position is a position where the feed roller 39 is separated from the medium 19.
The feed roller 39 is in contact with the first surface 19a of the medium 19 placed to convey the medium 19. The feed roller 39 feeds the medium 19 to the separator 40 by rotating at the contact position. The feed roller 39 is disposed upstream of the separator 40 in the conveyance direction Dc.
As shown in FIG. 2, the separator 40 includes a conveying roller 41 and a separation roller 42. The medium conveying apparatus 17 includes at least one first guide member 43. The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include a second guide member 44, a drive source 45, a torque limiter 46, and a rotation shaft 48.
The conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 can nip the medium 19 in a nip range NR. The term nip means to pinch the medium 19 in a thickness direction. The nip range NR is a range in which the conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 are in contact with each other when the medium 19 is not present between the conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42. The conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 may be, for example, rubber rollers having elasticity. When at least one of the conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 is deformable, the nip range NR has a length in the conveyance direction Dc.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveying roller 41 is in contact with the first surface 19a of the medium 19 to convey the medium 19 in the conveyance direction Dc. The conveying roller 41 conveys the medium 19 by rotating while nipping the medium 19 with the separation roller 42.
The separation roller 42 contacts the second surface 19b of the medium 19. The separation roller 42 is rotatable about the rotation shaft 48 in a forward rotation direction R1 and a reverse rotation direction R2. The forward rotation direction R1 is a direction in which the first medium 19f is fed in the conveyance direction Dc. The reverse rotation direction R2 is a direction opposite to the forward rotation direction R1. The separation roller 42 is not fixed to the rotation shaft 48. Therefore, the separation roller 42 is rotatable so as to slide on the rotation shaft 48.
The drive source 45 rotates the separation roller 42 in the reverse rotation direction R2. Specifically, the drive source 45 rotates the rotation shaft 48 in the reverse rotation direction R2. However, when the separation roller 42 is in contact with the conveying roller 41 that is rotating, the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1 following the conveying roller 41.
The torque limiter 46 switches transmission of the driving force to the separation roller 42. When the rotation directions of the separation roller 42 and the rotation shaft 48 are different from each other, the torque limiter 46 may apply a rotation load to the separation roller 42. That is, when the rotation shaft 48 rotates in the reverse rotation direction R2 and the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1, the torque limiter 46 may apply a rotation load to the separation roller 42. When the rotation directions of the separation roller 42 and the rotation shaft 48 are the same, the torque limiter 46 is not required to apply a rotation load to the separation roller 42. That is, when the rotation shaft 48 and the separation roller 42 rotate in the reverse rotation direction R2, the torque limiter 46 is not required to apply the rotation load to the separation roller 42.
The separation roller 42 is switchable between a separation state of separating the plurality of media 19 from each other and a conveying state in which the medium 19 thus separated is conveyed. The separation state is a state in which the separation roller 42 rotates in the reverse rotation direction R2. The conveying state is a state in which the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1. The rotation load is applied to the separation roller 42 in the conveying state by the torque limiter 46.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the separator 40 does not nip medium 19, the force with which the conveying roller 41 rotates the separation roller 42 in the forward rotation direction R1 is larger than the rotation load by the torque limiter 46. Therefore, the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1 following the conveying roller 41. That is, before the medium 19 is conveyed to the separator 40, the separation roller 42 is in the conveying state.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the separator 40 nips the medium 19 as a single sheet, the force with which the medium 19 conveyed by conveying roller 41 rotates the separation roller 42 in forward rotation direction R1 is larger than the rotation load by the torque limiter 46. Therefore, the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1 following the medium 19 fed in the conveyance direction Dc. That is, when the separator 40 conveys the medium 19 as a single sheet, the separation roller 42 is in the conveying state.
When the separator 40 nips a plurality of the media 19, the force with which the conveying roller 41 and the media 19 cause the separation roller 42 to rotate in forward rotation direction R1 is smaller than when the separator 40 does not nip the medium 19 or when the separator 40 nips the medium 19 as the single sheet. Specifically, the force with which the conveying roller 41 and the media 19 cause the separation roller 42 to rotate in the forward rotation direction R1 is smaller than the rotation load by the torque limiter 46. Therefore, the separation roller 42 rotates in the reverse rotation direction R2 by the rotation load received from the torque limiter 46. That is, when the separator 40 nips a plurality of the media 19, the separation roller 42 is in the separated state. When the separator 40 nips a plurality of the media 19, the separation roller 42 pushes back the second and subsequent media 19. Specifically, when the separator 40 nips the first medium 19f and the second medium 19s, the separation roller 42 pushes back the second medium 19s. The separation roller 42 separates the first medium 19f and the second medium 19s from each other. The separator 40 separates and conveys the plurality of the media 19.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first guide member 43 guides the medium 19 to the separator 40. When the feeding mechanism 26 includes the plurality of first guide members 43, the plurality of first guide members 43 may be provided at both sides of the separator 40 in an axial direction Da. The axial direction Da may be a direction in which the rotation shaft 48, which is the shaft of the separation roller 42, extends and may be a direction parallel to the Y axis.
The first guide member 43 is displaceable between a first position shown in FIG. 2 and a second position shown in FIG. 3. The first guide member 43 may be made of resin such as polyester. The first guide member 43 may have flexibility. A tip 43b of the first guide member 43 may be displaced with respect to a base end 43a which is fixed. The first guide member 43 may be deformed and displaced to the second position by being brought into contact with the medium 19 to be conveyed. The degree of deformation of first guide member 43 may change in accordance with the thickness, weight, rigidity, and the like of the medium 19. When the medium 19 passes the first guide member 43 displaced to the second position, the first guide member 43 may return to the first position by elasticity.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the first position of the first guide member 43 is a position when the medium 19 is not guided. The first guide member 43 located at the first position crosses the conveyance path 32 upstream of the nip range NR in the conveyance direction Dc. The position where the first guide member 43 located at the first position crosses the conveyance path 32 may be outside the separation roller 42 in the radial direction of the rotation shaft 48.
The base end 43a of the first guide member 43 may be located below the conveyance path 32. The base end 43a may be located upstream of the nip range NR in the conveyance direction Dc. The tip 43b of the first guide member 43 located at the first position may be located above the conveyance path 32. The first guide member 43 may be disposed obliquely with respect to the conveyance path 32 so that the tip 43b is located downstream of the base end 43a in the conveyance direction Dc.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the second position of the first guide member 43 is a position when the first guide member 43 guides the medium 19. The first guide member 43 is in contact with the second surface 19b of the medium 19. The first guide member 43 located at the second position may be located below the conveyance path 32. The tip 43b of the first guide member 43 that guides the medium 19 is located at a position that does not overlap the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc. In other words, the tip 43b of the first guide member 43 located at the second position is located at a position not overlapping the conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc.
The first guide member 43 and the separation roller 42 may be disposed side by side in the axial direction Da. The tip 43b of the first guide member 43 that guides the medium 19 is located at a position overlapping the nip range NR when viewed from the axial direction Da of the separation roller 42. The tip 43b of first guide member 43 located at the second position contacts the medium 19 in the nip range NR.
The second guide member 44 is disposed between the feed roller 39 and the conveying roller 41 in the conveyance direction Dc. The second guide member 44 may be disposed at a position overlapping the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc. At least a part of the second guide member 44 may be disposed at the same position as the position of at least one of the conveying roller 41 and the separation roller 42 in the axial direction Da.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, a line connecting the rotation center point of the feed roller 39 and the rotation center point of the conveying roller 41 to each other is referred to as a first imaginary line segment L1. The first imaginary line segment L1 is perpendicular to the axis of the feed roller 39 and the axis of the conveying roller 41. In the present embodiment, a line connecting the contact point CP where the feed roller 39 contacts the medium 19 and the nip range NR to each other is referred to as a second imaginary line segment L2. The second imaginary line segment L2 may be a line extending along the conveyance path 32. In the present embodiment, a line perpendicular to the first imaginary line segment L1 at the midpoint MP of the first imaginary line segment L1 is referred to as an imaginary perpendicular line L3.
The second guide member 44 may be disposed between the first imaginary line segment L1 and the second imaginary line segment L2. The second guide member 44 may be opposed to the hopper 24 with no medium 19 therebetween. The second guide member 44 may be disposed to cross the imaginary perpendicular line L3. The second guide member 44 contacts the first surface 19a of the medium 19 to guide the medium 19.
Function of Embodiment
The function of the present embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the separator 40 does not nip the medium 19, the separation roller 42 moves following the conveying roller 41 and rotates in the forward rotation direction R1. When the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1, even when a leading end of the medium 19 comes into contact with the separation roller 42, the medium 19 is guided to the nip range NR by the separation roller 42 rotating.
However, for example, when the separation roller 42 is worn, the separation roller 42 may easily slip with respect to the conveying roller 41. Specifically, even when the separator 40 does not nip the medium 19, the separation roller 42 may rotate in the reverse rotation direction R2. Since the separation roller 42 rotating in the reverse rotation direction R2 repels the medium 19 that touches the separation roller 42, there is a possibility that the separator 40 becomes unable to nip the medium 19.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the first guide member 43 guides the medium 19 to the nip range NR. For example, even when the medium 19 is guided to the nip range NR, the separation roller 42 which is rotating in the reverse rotation direction R2 fails to nip the medium 19 in some cases such as when the medium 19 is low in stiffness. However, the second guide member 44 presses the medium 19 into the nip range NR by holding down the medium 19. Therefore, the medium 19 is inserted into the nip range NR even when the separation roller 42 is rotating in the reverse rotation direction R2. When the separator 40 nips the medium 19, the separation roller 42 rotates in the forward rotation direction R1 following the medium 19 thus conveyed.
Advantages of Embodiment
Advantages of the present embodiment will be described.
- (1-1) The tip 43b of the first guide member 43 that guides the medium 19 is located at the position that does not overlap the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc, and that overlaps the nip range NR when viewed from the axial direction Da. Therefore, the medium 19 guided by the first guide member 43 can reach the nip range NR while keeping the state in which the leading end of the medium 19 is guided by the first guide member 43. Accordingly, since the medium 19 is easily fed into the nip range NR, the conveyance accuracy of the medium 19 can be improved.
- (1-2) The first guide member 43 is displaceable. For example, by displacing the first guide member 43 according to the weight of the medium 19 to be guided, the medium 19 can easily be guided to the nip range NR even when the type of the medium 19 is different.
- (1-3) For example, when the first guide member 43 has rigidity, a spring or the like for displacing the first guide member 43 is required. In this regard, since the first guide member 43 has flexibility, the first guide member 43 can be displaced between the first position and the second position by bending. Accordingly, the configuration can be simplified.
- (1-4) The first guide member 43 and the separation roller 42 are in contact with the second surface 19b. Accordingly, compared to when the first guide member 43 comes into contact with the first surface 19a, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the leading end 43b of the medium 19 comes into contact with the separation roller 42.
- (1-5) The plurality of first guide members 43 are disposed at both sides of the separator 40 in the axial direction Da. Therefore, compared to when the first guide member 43 is disposed at one side, the medium 19 can easily be guided to the nip range NR.
- (1-6) A system in which the drive source 45 rotates the separation roller 42 is also referred to as an active retard system. When the active retard system is adopted, for example, when the separation roller 42 wears to decrease the friction coefficient, the separation roller 42 sliding with respect to the conveying roller 41 may rotate in the reverse rotation direction R2. When the medium 19 comes into contact with the separation roller 42 rotating in the reverse rotation direction R2, the medium 19 fails to reach the nip range NR to cause a conveyance failure. In this regard, since the medium 19 is guided to the nip range NR by the first guide member 43, it is possible to feed the medium 19 to the nip range NR even in a state where the separation roller 42 rotates in the reverse rotation direction R2, and the life of the separation roller 42 can be extended.
- (1-7) The medium 19 receives force in the conveyance direction Dc from the feed roller 39 and receives force in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction Dc from the separation roller 42. Therefore, the medium 19 may deform between the feed roller 39 and the separator 40. In this regard, the second guide member 44 contacts the first surface 19a of the medium 19 between the feed roller 39 and the conveying roller 41. That is, since the second guide member 44 suppresses the deformation of the medium 19, the medium 19 can easily be fed into the nip range NR.
- (1-8) The medium 19 is likely to be largely deformed at a position crossing the imaginary perpendicular line L3. In this regard, since the second guide member 44 crosses the imaginary perpendicular line L3, an easily deformable portion of the medium 19 can efficiently be held down.
- (1-9) The second guide member 44 is disposed at a position overlapping the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc. Therefore, for example, even when the width of the medium 19 is small, the deformation of the medium 19 can be suppressed by the second guide member 44.
- (1-10) The second guide member 44 is disposed between the first imaginary line segment L1 and the second imaginary line segment L2. That is, since the second guide member 44 is provided at a position closer to the medium 19 to be conveyed than the first imaginary line segment L1, the deformation of the medium 19 can efficiently be suppressed.
- (1-11) The medium 19 is placed in the cassette 16. Since the cassette 16 can be inserted into and pulled out from the apparatus, the medium 19 can easily be set.
- (1-12) For example, when the second guide member 44 contacts the medium 19 at a position away from the nip range NR in the axial direction Da with respect to the medium 19 conveyed, the medium 19 may be inclined. In this regard, the second guide member 44 is disposed at a position overlapping the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc. Therefore, the inclination of the medium 19 can be suppressed.
Modified Examples
The present embodiment can be implemented with the following modifications. The present embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other as long as no technical inconsistencies are involved.
The second guide member 44 may have flexibility. Similarly to the first guide member 43, the second guide member 44 may be made of resin such as polyester. Since the second guide member 44 is made of a material low in friction coefficient, the medium 19 can slide smoothly on the second guide member 44.
- At least a portion of the second guide member 44 may be located at a position deviated from an area between the first imaginary line segment L1 and the second imaginary line segment L2.
- The second guide member 44 may be disposed at a position not overlapping the separator 40 when viewed from the conveyance direction Dc.
- The feeding mechanism 26 may include a plurality of the second guide members 44. The plurality of second guide members 44 may be provided at shifted positions in the axial direction Da. The plurality of second guide members 44 may be provided at shifted positions in the conveyance direction Dc. At least one of the plurality of second guide members 44 may be disposed at a position different from the position of the separator 40 in the axial direction Da, or at least one of the plurality of second guide members 44 may be disposed at the same position as the position of the separator 40.
- The second guide member 44 may be disposed at a position not crossing the imaginary perpendicular line L3.
- The medium conveying apparatus 17 may have a configuration not including the torque limiter 46. For example, the medium conveying apparatus 17 may switch the transmission of the driving force to the separation roller 42 using, for example, a clutch.
- The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include the first guide member 43 as a single member.
- The plurality of first guide members 43 in the above embodiment may be configured with, for example, a single member in which the base ends 43a are connected to each other.
- At least one of the plurality of feeding mechanisms 26 may include the first guide member 43. At least one of the plurality of feeding mechanisms 26 may include the second guide member 44.
- The first surface 19a of the medium 19 may be the lower surface of the medium 19 in a state of being stacked in the cassette 16. The feed roller 39 may contact the medium 19 from below. The conveying roller 41 may be located below the conveyance path 32. The separation roller 42 and the first guide member 43 may be located above the conveyance path 32 and the conveying roller 41. That is, the conveying roller 41, the separation roller 42, and the first guide member 43 may be arranged upside down from the arrangement of the embodiment. In this case, the second guide member 44 may be located below the conveyance path 32.
- The first guide member 43 may have rigidity. The first guide member 43 may be a flap displaceable between the first position and the second position. The medium conveying apparatus 17 may include a cam mechanism that displaces the first guide member 43 between the first position and the second position.
- The first guide member 43 is not required to be displaced. For example, the first guide member 43 may be fixed at the second position.
- The first guide member 43 may be disposed to contact the first surface 19a of the medium 19.
- The medium conveying apparatus 17 may convey the media 19 stacked in the tray. The tray in which the media 19 are stacked may be fixed to the apparatus or may be detachable.
- The medium conveying apparatus 17 may be provided to a scanner including a reading unit that reads an image of the medium 19.
- The recording apparatus 11 is not limited to an inkjet printer, and may be a laser printer, a thermal printer, a dot impact printer, a digital printing machine, or the like.
- The recording apparatus 11 may be a liquid-jet apparatus that performs recording by jetting or ejecting the liquid other than ink. The state of the liquid ejected as a minute amount of droplet from the liquid-jet apparatus includes a particle, a tear drop, and a state in which a tail is drawn in a thread shape. Here, the liquid may be a material that can be jetted from the liquid-jet apparatus. For example, the liquid is only required to be in a liquid state of a substance, and includes a liquid material high or low in viscosity, sol, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, and a fluid material such as liquid resin, liquid metal, and metal melt. The liquid includes not only the liquid as a state of a substance, but also a liquid in which particles of a functional material made of a solid such as a pigment or a metal particle are dissolved, dispersed, or mixed in a solvent. As typical examples of the liquid, there can be cited the ink, liquid crystal, and so on explained in the embodiment described above. Here, the term ink includes various types of liquid compositions such as general water-based ink, oil-based ink, gel ink, and hot melt ink. As a specific example of the liquid-jet apparatus, there is an apparatus that jets a liquid containing a material such as an electrode material or a coloring material used in, for example, manufacture of a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence display, a surface-emitting display, and a color filter in a dispersed or dissolved form. The liquid-jet apparatus may be an apparatus that jets a bioorganic substance used for manufacturing a biochip, an apparatus that is used as a precision pipette and jets a liquid serving as a sample, a textile printing apparatus, a micro dispenser, or the like. The liquid-jet apparatus can be an apparatus that jets lubricating oil to a precision machine such as a timepiece or a camera in a pinpoint manner, or an apparatus that jets a transparent resin liquid such as ultraviolet curing resin onto a substrate in order to form a minute hemispherical lens, an optical lens, or the like used for an optical communication element or the like. The liquid ejection apparatus may be an apparatus that jets an etching liquid such as acid or alkali to etch a substrate or the like.
Definition
The expression “at least one” used in this specification means “one or more” of desired alternatives. For example, the expression “at least one” used in the present specification means “either one of alternatives” or “both of two alternatives” when the number of the alternatives is two. As another example, the expression “at least one” used in the present specification means “just one alternative” or “a combination of any two or more alternatives” when the number of the alternatives is three or more.
APPENDIX
Technical ideas figured out from the embodiment and the modified examples described above, and functions and advantages thereof will hereinafter be described.
- (A) A medium conveying apparatus includes: a separator configured to separate a plurality of media from each other to convey the medium; and at least one first guide member configured to guide the media to the separator, wherein the separator includes a conveying roller and a separation roller configured to nip the media in a nip range, the conveying roller is configured to come into contact with a first surface of the medium to convey the medium in a conveyance direction, the separation roller is configured to come into contact with a second surface opposite to the first surface of the medium, and is configured to switch between a separation state in which the plurality of media are separated from each other, and a conveying state in which the medium separated is conveyed, and a tip of the first guide member that is configured to guide the medium is located at a position that fails to overlap the separator when viewed from the conveyance direction and that overlaps the nip range when viewed from an axial direction of the separation roller.
According to this configuration, the tip of the first guide member that is configured to guide the medium is located at a position that fails to overlap the separator when viewed from the conveyance direction, and overlaps the nip range when viewed from the axial direction. Therefore, the medium guided by the first guide member can reach the nip range while the leading end is guided by the first guide member. Accordingly, since the medium is easily fed into the nip range, the conveyance accuracy of the medium can be improved.
- (B) In the medium conveying apparatus described in (A), the first guide member may be displaced between a first position where the first guide member is located when the first guide member does not guide the medium, and a second position where the first guide member is located when the first guide member guides the medium.
According to this configuration, the first guide member is displaceable. For example, by displacing the first guide member according to the weight of the medium to be guided, the medium can easily be guided to the nip range even when the type of the medium is different.
- (C) In the medium conveying apparatus described in (B), the first guide member may have flexibility.
For example, when the first guide member has rigidity, a spring or the like for displacing the first guide member is required. In this regard, according to this configuration, since the first guide member has flexibility, the first guide member can be displaced between the first position and the second position by bending. Accordingly, the configuration can be simplified.
- (D) In the medium conveying apparatus described in any one of (A) to (C), the first guide member may be in contact with the second surface of the medium.
According to this configuration, the first guide member and the separation roller are in contact with the second surface. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the leading end of the medium comes into contact with the separation roller, compared to when the first guide member comes into contact with the first surface.
- (E) The medium conveying apparatus described in any one of (A) to (D) may include a plurality of the first guide members, and the plurality of first guide members may be disposed at both sides of the separator in the axial direction.
According to this configuration, the plurality of first guide members are disposed at both sides of the separator in the axial direction. Therefore, the medium can easily be guided to the nip range compared to when the first guide member is disposed on one side.
- (F) The medium conveying apparatus described in any one of (A) to (E) may further include: a drive source that is configured to rotate the separation roller in a reverse rotation direction; and a torque limiter that is configured to switch transmission of driving force to the separation roller.
The system in which the drive source rotates the separation roller is also referred to as an active retard system. When the active retard system is adopted, for example, when the separation roller wears to decrease the friction coefficient, the separation roller sliding with respect to the conveying roller may rotate in the reverse rotation direction. When the medium comes into contact with the separation roller rotating in the reverse rotation direction, the medium fails to reach the nip range to cause a conveyance failure. In this regard, according to this configuration, since the medium is guided to the nip range by the first guide member, it is possible to feed the medium to the nip range even in a state where the separation roller rotates in the reverse rotation direction, and the life of the separation roller can be extended.
- (G) The medium conveying apparatus described in (F) may include: a feed roller configured to come into contact with the first surface of the medium placed to convey the medium; and a second guide member configured to come into contact with the first surface of the medium to guide the medium, wherein the feed roller may be disposed upstream of the separator in the conveyance direction, and the second guide member may be disposed between the feed roller and the conveying roller in the conveyance direction.
The medium receives the force in the conveyance direction from the feed roller and receives the force in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction from the separation roller. Therefore, the medium may deform between the feed roller and the separator. In this regard, according to this configuration, the second guide member contacts the first surface of the medium between the feed roller and the conveying roller. That is, since the second guide member suppresses the deformation of the medium, the medium can easily be fed into the nip range.
- (H) In the medium conveying apparatus described in (G), the second guide member may cross an imaginary perpendicular line perpendicular to a first imaginary line segment connecting a rotation center point of the feed roller and a rotation center point of the conveying roller to each other at a midpoint of the first imaginary line segment.
The medium is likely to be largely deformed at a position crossing the imaginary perpendicular line. In this regard, according to this configuration, since the second guide member crosses the imaginary perpendicular line, it is possible to efficiently hold down the easily deformable portion of the medium.
- (I) In the medium conveying apparatus described in (G) or (H), the second guide member may be disposed at a position overlapping the separator when viewed from the conveyance direction.
According to this configuration, the second guide member is disposed at a position overlapping the separator when viewed from the conveyance direction. Therefore, for example, even when the width of the medium is small, the deformation of the medium can be suppressed by the second guide member.
- (J) In the medium conveying apparatus described in any one of (G) to (I), the second guide member may be disposed between a first imaginary line segment connecting a rotation center point of the feed roller and a rotation center point of the conveying roller to each other, and a second imaginary line segment connecting a contact point where the feed roller comes into contact with the medium and the nip range to each other.
According to this configuration, the second guide member is disposed between the first imaginary line segment and the second imaginary line segment. That is, since the second guide member is disposed at a position closer to the medium to be conveyed than the first imaginary line segment, the deformation of the medium can efficiently be suppressed.
- (K) A recording apparatus includes: the medium conveying apparatus according to any of (A) to (J); and a recording unit configured to perform recording on the medium.
According to this configuration, it is possible to achieve substantially the same advantages as those of the medium conveying apparatus.
- (L) The recording apparatus described in (K) may include a cassette configured to be inserted into and pulled out from the recording apparatus, wherein the medium conveying apparatus may convey the medium placed in the cassette inserted.
According to this configuration, the medium is placed in the cassette. Since the cassette can be inserted into and pulled out from the apparatus, the medium can easily be set.
Patent Application
20250011111
