Patent Application
20230202783
The present disclosure relates to a sheet feeding apparatus and a recording apparatus that feed a sheet from a roll.
Sheet feeding apparatuses for feeding a sheet from a wound roll of a sheet desirably prevent the roll from moving from the loaded position during sheet feeding. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-171733 discusses a recording apparatus including a support portion that detachably supports a roll, a guide portion that guides the roll to the support portion, and a movement blocking unit that blocks the movement of the rotation shaft of the roll. This recording apparatus is configured to prevent the roll from moving from the support portion by the movement blocking unit protruding into the guide path of the guide portion.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a sheet feeding apparatus includes a support portion configured to rotatably support a roll having a sheet wound to the roll, a guide portion configured to, in loading the roll, guide the roll in a guide direction from above the support portion to the support portion, and a contact unit configured to contact an outer periphery of the roll supported by the support portion, wherein the contact unit is configured to contact the roll from upstream in the guide direction, and, in feeding the sheet, the sheet is fed from the roll supported by the support portion.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An exemplary embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following exemplary embodiment is not intended to limit the disclosure set forth in the claims. While the exemplary embodiment describes more than one feature, all the features are not necessarily indispensable to the disclosure, and some of the features may be freely combined. In the drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals. A redundant description thereof may be omitted.
In the exemplary embodiment, recording is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and figures, but also covers the case of forming an image or a pattern on a sheet. While in the exemplary embodiment the sheet is assumed to be a sheet of paper, other sheets such as fabric and a plastic film may be used. The present exemplary embodiment is also applicable to electrophotographic recording apparatuses in addition to inkjet recording apparatuses.
The recording apparatus 1 has a flat rectangular solid shape as a whole, and includes a main body unit 2 accommodating principle components, and a cover unit 3 including a plurality of covers. The cover unit 3 is located over the main body unit 2, and includes a feed cover 301 for covering the roll, an access cover 302 for doing maintenance inside the recording apparatus 1, and a tank access cover 303 for covering tanks of the recording apparatus 1. The recording apparatus 1 includes a reading device (scanner unit) 3a that reads a document image. Like the access cover 302, the entire reading device 3a can also be rotated to do maintenance inside the recording apparatus 1. The feed cover 301 and the reading device 3a are arranged in the Y direction from the rear to the front, the direction in which the recording apparatus 1 feeds the sheet.
A discharge unit 10 for discharging an image-recorded sheet is located at the front of the recording apparatus 1. An operation unit 36 for accepting user operations is located at the front of the recording apparatus 1 above the discharge unit 10. The operation unit 36 includes a touchscreen display unit, and accepts the user's input operations and displays various types of information to the user.
The recording head 4 is mounted on a carriage 6 and reciprocated in the X direction by a driving unit. The driving unit includes a driving pulley and a driven pulley 7b located at a distance in the X direction, an endless belt 7c wound around the pulleys, and a carriage motor 7a (
The container 5 communicates with a channel 14a and a channel 15a. The channel 14a is an ink supply channel for supplying the ink from the accommodation portion 54 of the container 5 to the recording head 4. The channel 14a is formed of a supply tube 14 which is a flexible tube. The channel 15a is an air communication channel for making the buffer chamber 53 of the container 5 communicate with the air. The channel 15a is formed of an air communication tube 15 which is a flexible tube. A valve 16 opens and closes the channels 14a and 15a.
The liquid-gas exchange portion 52 is located a height H below a discharge surface 4a of the recording head 4, and can apply a negative pressure resulting from a head difference corresponding to the height H to the discharge surface 4a. During a recording operation, both the channels 14a and 15a are opened to supply the ink to the recording head 4. On the other hand, in replenishing the container 5 with ink, both the channels 14a and 15a are closed. The valve 16 opens and closes in an interlocking manner with the movement of the tank access cover 303 and a tank cover unit 13.
A recovery unit 11 is a mechanism for maintaining ink discharge performance of the recording head 4. The recovery unit 11 is located at an end of the moving range of the carriage 6. The recovery unit 11 includes a cap 11a for covering the discharge surface 4a of the recording head 4, and a pump 11b for sucking ink from the recording head 4 via the cap 11a. The cap 11a can be moved to a position to cover the discharge surface 4a and a position away from the discharge surface 4a by a not-illustrated mechanism. The recording head 4 can be prevented from drying by covering the discharge surface 4a with the cap 11a (capping).
Moreover, thickened ink adhering to the recording head 4 can be removed and the channel 14a and the recording head 4 can be filled with ink by activating the pump 11b with the discharge surface 4a capped with the cap 11a. If a recording operation is performed with the channel 14a and the recording head 4 filled with the ink, as much ink as discharged from the recording head 4 is supplied from the container 5.
The conveyance unit 9 conveys the sheet S fed from the feed unit 8 in a conveyance direction (Y direction). The conveyance unit 9 includes a conveyance roller 9a and a conveyance motor 9b (
The conveyed sheet S is cut by the cutter 10c and discharged from the recording apparatus 1. The recording apparatus 1 includes a second feed unit 12 that feeds a cut sheet placed on a tray 12b using a feed roller 12a. The cut sheet placed on the tray 12b is conveyed to the recording head 4 for image recording. In the case of recording an image on the cut sheet, the cutter 10c does not cut the cut sheet.
The MPU 31 performs a discharge operation by controlling the recording head 4 via a driver 34a and the carriage motor 7a via a driver 34b. The MPU 31 also performs a conveyance operation by controlling the conveyance motor 9b via a driver 34c and the feed motor 8b via a driver 34d. The MPU 31 obtains detection results of a sensor group 35 including various sensors in the recording apparatus 1, and performs various types of control. The sensor group 35 includes a cover detection sensor 35a.
The MPU 31 further performs display control on the display unit of the operation unit 36, and accepts user operations on the operation unit 36.
The host computer 100 is a personal computer or a mobile terminal (such as a smartphone and a tablet terminal), for example. A printer driver 101 for performing communication between the host computer 100 and the recording apparatus 1 is installed on the host computer 100. The recording apparatus 1 includes the IF unit 33 that serves as an IF for communicating with the host computer 100. If the user requests the host computer 100 to perform a recording operation, the printer driver 101 obtains image data and settings about the quality of the image to be recorded, and issues various instructions to the recording apparatus 1.
The roll setting unit 28 will now be described with reference to
To support the roll R with the support units 25, the spool units 26 are inserted into the ends of the roll R. Each spool unit 26 includes a spool gear 17, a flange 37, a spool shaft 38, and an insertion portion 39. The roll setting unit 28 includes the support units 25 that rotatably support the spool units 26, and the feed cover 301 that covers the roll R. Each support unit 25 includes a flange guide 75, a drive gear 18, guide portions 71, and a support portion 72. The spool unit 26 is rotatably supported by the support portion 72. The spool unit 26 is prevented from moving in the axial direction of the spool shaft 38 by a movement restriction portion. The feed cover 301 protects the roll R from the adhesion of dust, and prevents the user from touching the roll R during a recording operation. The feed cover 301 has an arc-shaped cross section throughout the width direction of the roll R, and can cover the outer periphery of the roll R with the inner side of the arc shape. The feed cover 301 is openably and closably supported by rotation shafts 74 of the support units 25 at both ends in the width direction of the roll R. The rotation shafts 74 are located above and behind the guide portions 71. The feed cover 301 can thus rotate between an open position (
Either one of the support units 25 includes a driving unit for driving the roll R. The driving unit includes the feed motor 8b and the drive gear 18. Counterclockwise rotation of the spool gear 17 (
The plurality of nip roller units 20 is disposed on the arc-shaped inner surface of the feed cover 301. Each nip roller unit 20 includes a torsion coil spring 21, an arm unit 22, a roller holding unit 23, and nip rollers 24. One end 22A of the arm unit 22 is rotatably held on the feed cover 301 at the inner side of the feed cover 301. The roller holding unit 23 is rotatably held by the arm unit 22 at the other end 22B of the arm unit 22. The roller holding unit 23 is configured so that its rotatable angle is greater than or equal to an angle desirable to make contact with rolls R within the range of minimum and maximum outer diameters. The nip rollers 24 thus correspond to a contact unit according to the present exemplary embodiment. Two nip rollers 24 are rotatably held at the respective ends of the roller holding unit 23. The torsion coil spring 21 is disposed at the junction of the end 22A of the arm unit 22 and the feed cover 301. The arm unit 22 can thus bias the nip rollers 24 in a direction P toward the axial center of the roll R. Since the nip rollers 24 are located upstream of the sloping guide portion 72 and the roll R has a cylindrical shape, a large space for accommodating the nip roller units 20 is not needed.
When the roll R to which the spool units 26 are attached is loaded on the recording apparatus 1 and the feed cover 301 is rotated to the closed position, the outer periphery of the roll R first contacts the nip rollers 24. The two nip rollers 24 at the end 22B of the arm unit 22 each rotate to an angle to make contact with the outer periphery of the roll R. Meanwhile, the nip rollers 24 are pressed by the reaction force from the roll R. As a result, the roll R is nipped by the nip rollers 24 with the spring force from the torsion coil spring 21 at the end 22A. In other words, the nip rollers 24 press the roll R toward the support portion 72 from upstream in the guide direction G. With the roll R loaded on the support units 25, the positions and angles of the nip rollers 24 change with the outer diameter of the roll R. The sheet S is fed through a feed port 27 between the feed unit 12 and the roll setting unit 28. The roll setting unit 28 is thus configured so that the tangent between the outer periphery of the roll R and the nip rollers 24 is directed roughly toward the feed port 27 when the feed cover 301 is at the closed position. The sheet S can thus be fed from the roll R to the conveyance unit 9 regardless of whether the outer diameter of the roll R is the minimum or the maximum. Alternatively, without the feed cover 301, the nip roller units 24 can be configured to be retractable in attaching and detaching the roll R. The direction of rotation of the roll R and the direction of attachment and detachment of the roll R can be freely set.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the support portions 72 are configured so that the roll R driven to rotate is less likely to come off. Forces acting on the spool gear 17 will be described with reference to
The guide portions 71 of the support units 25 is sloped and thus guide the roll R from the setting tables 70 in the direction of gravity and the guide direction G opposite to the conveyance direction C. In loading the roll R on the support units 25, the roll R is guided along the lower guide portions 71A. The guide paths of the guide portions 71A extend straight to the support portions 72 without bending in the middle. As illustrated in
In such a configuration, if, in
By contrast, if, in
The component force of the net force 15C in the direction opposite to the guide direction G will be referred to as a component force 15D. The component force 15D is a force in the direction in which the spool gear 17 is separated from the support portion 72. Now, the force that the roll R receives from the nip rollers 24 will be referred to as a net force 19A. The component force of the net force 19A in the guide direction G will be referred to as a component force 19B. The component force 19B by which the nip roller units 20 press the roll R in the guide direction G is set to be greater than the component force 15D in the direction in which the spool gear 17 is separated from the support portion 72. The roll R therefore will not be separated from the support portion 72. The cases with and without the nip roller units 20 will now be compared with reference to
A method by which the user loads the roll R on the roll setting unit 28 will be described. The user attaches the spool units 26 by inserting the insertion portions 39 into both ends of the roll R. To load the roll R, the user then manually rotates the feed cover 301 to the open position. Here, the recording apparatus 1 is in a standby state where recording is not performed, or a shutdown state with the power off. The user then places the roll R to which the spool units 26 are attached on the setting tables 70. The user releases his/her grip on the spool units 26, and the spool shafts 38 descend the slopes of the setting tables 70 by gravity. The spool shafts 38 are guided by the guide portions 71 from upstream in the guide direction G to reach the support portions 72 having the arc-shaped surfaces. As a result, the spool shafts 38 are supported by the support portions 72. Here, the spool gear 17 is engaged with the drive gear 18 of the support unit 25 and connected to the feed motor 8b. Finally, the user rotates the feed cover 301 to the closed position, whereby the loading of the roll R is completed. Note that the setting tables 70 may be horizontal ones. In such a case, the user guides the roll R from the setting tables 70 to the guide portions 71. Either one of the setting tables 70 of the support units 25 may be horizontal while the other is sloped.
Next, a method by which the user unloads the roll R will be described. The user rotates the feed cover 301 at the closed position to the open position. The user can then detach the roll R from the support units 25 by pulling the roll R to the front side of the recording apparatus 1 in the direction opposite to the guide direction G. The user then rotates the feed cover 301 to the closed position, whereby the unloading of the roll R is completed.
A relationship between the nip roller units 20 and the roll R in cases where rolls R of different widths are loaded on the recording apparatus 1 will be described with reference to
The conventional movement blocking unit is configured to rotate in an interlocking manner with the cover in loading and unloading the roll. Such a sheet feeing apparatus therefore desirably includes a space where the movement blocking unit is retracted. This complicates the configuration of the movement blocking unit. The configuration of the roll setting unit according to the present exemplary embodiment does not need the movement blocking unit and thus enables a reduction in cost and size. A sheet feeding apparatus capable of feeding a sheet from a roll with a simple configuration can thus be provided.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-211159, filed Dec. 24, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-211159 | Dec 2021 | JP | national |
