Cutting – Rotatable disc tool pair or tool and carrier – Carrier for rotatable tool movable during cutting
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-09
2004-10-26
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3724)
Cutting
Rotatable disc tool pair or tool and carrier
Carrier for rotatable tool movable during cutting
C083S614000, C400S621000, C346S024000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06807888
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a recording material cutting device to be utilized in an image-forming apparatus such as a plotter, printer, facsimile and copying machine.
BACKGROUND ART
In many image-forming apparatus such as of an ink-jet type, there is intermittently transferred a recording material wound in a roll shape while drawing out the recording material from the roll, and there is formed an image of 1 band on the recording material at a time, by a recording head which reciprocates in a direction (widthwise direction of the recording material) substantially perpendicular to the recording material transferring direction. Many of such image-forming apparatus are provided with recording material cutting devices for cutting away those portions of the recording materials which have been formed with the pertinent images. Basically, recording material cutting devices include a cutter blade or holder means for holding such a cutter blade, and a driving portion for reciprocating it in the widthwise direction of the recording material. While the transferring operation of the recording material is stopped, the cutter blade is to move in a direction (i.e., widthwise direction of the recording material) substantially perpendicular to the recording material transferring direction similarly to the recording head, to thereby cut the recording material.
Although cutter edge surfaces have a certain extent of length, keeping on cutting recording materials at only one point of a cutter edge surface will result in a rapid abrasion at the one point to thereby shorten the service life of the cutter blade itself. Thus, as disclosed in JP-A-8-290387 (290387/1996) of the present applicant, it has been proposed that the cutter blade moving in the widthwise direction of the recording material in a recording material cutting device is to be also displaced in a direction vertical to the recording material (up-and-down direction) within a certain extent so as to cut the recording material by the whole of the cutter blade, to thereby prolong the service life of the cutter blade.
The recording material cutting device described in the JP-A-8-290387 is provided with a cutter rail. When a rotatable guiding roller is moved in the widthwise direction of the recording material along a cammed surface (tapered surface) provided at the lower side of the cutter rail, there is changed, relative to the recording material, the height of the cutter blade coupled to the guiding roller. This causes the substantially whole of the cutter blade to be used to cut the recording material so as to uniformalize the abrasion of the cutter blade, to thereby prolong the service life of the cutter blade.
Further, there has been known a recording material cutting device in which a cutter blade is laterally inclined to a recording material, i.e., the side of the cutter blade is inclined to the upstream or downstream side in the transferring direction relative to the surface of the recording material to a certain extent.
FIGS. 35 and 36
show an example of such a recording material cutting device.
FIG. 35
is a perspective view of the recording material cutting device viewed diagonally from the above, and
FIG. 36
is a cross-sectional view of the cutter blade portion of the device of
FIG. 35
taken along a cross section including a straight line parallel to the transferring direction (i.e., direction D) of the recording material.
The recording material cutting device shown in
FIGS. 35 and 36
includes a rotatable guiding roller
64
which is moved up and down along a cammed surface at the lower side of a cutter rail
70
when a cutter base
61
is moved along a guiding rail
60
in a direction C. Such an upper and lower movement of the guiding roller
64
causes a cutter arm
65
to swing about a shaft
63
, thereby causing a cutter holder
66
upwardly urged by a spring
67
to move upwardly and downwardly. The cutter holder
66
has a lower end provided with a cutter blade
30
so that the cutter blade
30
moves upwardly and downwardly together with the movement of the cutter holder
66
. Acting as a recording material placing part is a platen
17
formed with a cutter-aimed groove
31
, such that the cutter blade
30
is moved upwardly and downwardly within the cutter-aimed groove
31
to thereby change the cutting-in depth for a recording material
13
. Such a mechanism allows to cut the recording material
13
, by the whole of the cutter blade
30
mounted to the lower end of the cutter holder
66
.
As seen from
FIG. 36
, the cutter blade
30
is inclinedly held at the lower end of the cutter holder
66
. As a result, upon starting the cutting of the recording material
13
, those portions of the recording material at the left and right of the cutter blade
30
in
FIG. 36
tend to be cut up upwardly and downwardly, respectively, i.e., in the different directions. This reduces the resistance of the recording material
13
against the cutter blade
30
, to thereby improve an entering ability of the cutter blade
30
into the recording material. As a result, it becomes possible to restrict the occurrence of such a phenomenon that the recording material is twisted or creased to thereby wave or ripple the cut portion of the recording material upon starting the cutting.
According to the conventional recording material cutting device as described above, it certainly becomes possible to realize such an effect to prolong the service life of the cutter blade, by upwardly and downwardly displacing the cutter holder holding the cutter blade in the inclined state, so as to cut the recording material by the whole of the cutter blade. However, merely upwardly and downwardly moving the cutter holder changes that position in the direction D (see
FIG. 36
) where the cutter blade cuts the recording material, thereby deviating the cut portion of the recording material from a straight line and causing the cut portion to become a curved line, so that the straightness of the cut portion is deteriorated. Such a deterioration of the straightness is considerably problematic, in items such as a business-use poster the dimensions of which are strictly defined.
Further, the conventional recording material cutting device requires the rail having the cammed surface as described above, so as to cause: the cutter blade moving in the widthwise direction of the recording material; to be displaced upwardly and downwardly during the movement of the cutter blade. Such a rail is to be installed over the full width of the recording material, to thereby complicate the structure of the device and cause a difficulty in downsizing the device.
In the aforementioned recording material cutting device, the cutter blade located above the recording material is lowered to thereby enter the recording material while forming an acute angle between the cutter edge surface and the recording material, such that the cutter blade travels in the direction (widthwise direction of the recording material) perpendicular to the recording material transferring direction to thereby cut the recording material. In this case, particularly to avoid a cut-jam where the recording material is buckled or creased upon starting the cutting, there exists such a recording material cutting device provided with, near the cutter blade, a seizing member for resiliently seizing the recording material downwardly.
Meantime, keeping on using a certain region of an edge surface of a cutter blade rapidly wears the certain region and rapidly deteriorates the cutting quality. When the recording material is made of paper, the thus deteriorated cutting quality causes such problems that: the cut portion of the recording material becomes linty or nappy; the recording material is buckled to be wavy; and/or the straightness of the sectioned surface of the recording material is deteriorated after cutting. When the recording material is a coated paper, the deteriorated cutting quality may cause particles of the coating agent.
The deteriorated cutting quality of a cutter blade requires replacemen
Kiyohara Naoki
Miyamoto Kazutaka
Tatsumi Yousuke
Alie Ghassem
Canon Finetech Inc.
Rabin & Berdo P.C.
Shoap Allan N.
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