Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-30
2003-11-25
Nguyen, Judy (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
C400S625000, C101S232000, C347S020000, C347S101000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652091
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording device having a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium such as a sheet of paper on which a recording head performs recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, ink-jet recording devices perform recording on a recording medium by allowing a recording head to discharge flying ink drops. Such recording devices have various advantages such as an easy reduction in the size of the recording head, performing accurate and high-speed recording, a low running cost, low noise due to non-impact features, and easy forming of a color image by using a variety of color inks.
In such an ink-jet recording device, a recording sheet on which the recording head has performed recording is held by a platen in a recording area and is discharged by a discharge section disposed downstream in the transport direction of the recording sheet.
With reference to
FIGS. 14
to
17
, a known ink-jet recording device will be described.
FIG. 14
is a perspective view illustrating the overall structure of a known ink-jet recording device
1
.
FIG. 15
is a sectional view illustrating the overall structure of the known ink-jet recording device
1
.
FIG. 16
is a perspective view schematically illustrating the positional relationship among a transport roller, a pinch roller, spurs, discharge rollers and so forth in the known ink-jet recording device
1
.
FIG. 17
is a sectional view schematically illustrating the positional relationship among the spurs, discharge rollers and so forth in the known ink-jet recording device
1
.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, recording sheets P, as recording media, are stacked on a feeding section
2
and are fed sheet by sheet from the top of the stack by a feeding roller
22
. The recording sheet P fed by the feeding roller
22
is supported by a transport roller
36
and a pinch roller
37
while being sandwiched therebetween and is transported to the start point of recording on a platen
34
by the transport roller
36
which is driven by a drive source (not shown).
A recording head
7
is detachably mounted on a carriage
50
. The carriage
50
is movably mounted on a shaft
81
in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording sheet P. In other words, the recording head
7
performs recording while moving in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the recording sheet P.
A discharge roller shaft
41
is driven by a drive force of the transport roller
36
via a transmission roller
40
. As shown in
FIG. 16
, the discharge roller shaft
41
has a plurality of discharge rollers
41
a
made from elastomer or gum mounted thereon for transporting the recording sheet P. Spurs
42
press-contacting the corresponding discharge rollers
41
a
have a sharp-edged periphery in order to minimize an amount of ink of a recorded image transferred to the spurs
42
, since the spurs
42
come in contact with the recorded surface of the recording sheet P.
The recording sheet P is transported by the transport roller
36
and pinch roller
37
until the front end thereof is supported by the discharge rollers
41
a
and the spurs
42
while being sandwiched therebetween. After the rear end of the recording sheet P passes over the pinch roller
37
, the recording sheet P is transported by the discharge rollers
41
a
and the spurs
42
, and then is discharged and stored in a discharge tray
100
.
The platen
34
has a plurality of projected ribs
34
a
formed on the upper surface thereof along the transport direction of the recording sheet P and supports the plurality of spurs
42
, each disposed downstream of a corresponding projected rib
34
a
. Since the projected ribs
34
a
on the platen
34
and the corresponding spurs
42
are arranged on the same lines parallel to the transport direction of the recording sheet P in order to suppress the raised height of any cockled recording sheet P, wherein the cockling of the recording sheet P can occur when ink is applied on the recording sheet P, cockling having a concave shape is formed at every portion of the recording sheet between the adjacent projected ribs
34
a
, thereby minimizing the raised height of the cockled sheet lying in the recording area.
Such cockling is likely to occur especially when a permeable dye-type color ink is applied on the wide area of the recording sheet P. In the ink-jet recording device, the affect of the cockling must be eliminated and the gap between the recording sheet P and the recording head
7
must be maintained with the above arrangement in order to perform effective recording.
In recent years, a pigmentary black ink is used to increase black image density in the ink-jet recording device. The pigmentary ink requires a substantial time period for drying and fixing after the ink is applied on the recording sheet P. With this requirement, such pigmentary ink may cause a smear phenomenon in that a wet image formed on the previously discharged sheet is smeared by the currently discharging sheet because the front portion of the discharging sheet rubs the upper surface of the previously discharged sheet.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, a discharge section
4
of the recording device
1
has a discharge support
47
for preventing such smearing. The discharge support
47
supports the recording sheet that has been recorded, and extends the time period, from the applying time of ink on the recording sheet P to the arrival time of the recording sheet P at the discharge tray
100
, for drying the ink applied on the previously discharged sheet.
In the known recording device
1
, the platen
34
has the discharge support
47
that can be retracted therein. As shown in
FIG. 15
, the discharge support
47
usually retracts into the platen
34
, and is pulled out and protrudes from the platen
34
at the time of recording. A plurality of the discharge supports
47
is disposed between the adjacent spurs
42
.
While protruding from the platen
34
, all the discharge supports
47
guide the recording sheet P upward higher than the surface of the recording sheet P lying in the recording area and support the discharging sheet P so that it bends downwardly at its central portion under its own weight. The known recording device
1
provided with the discharge supports
47
extends the time period from the recording time to the arrival time of the recording sheet P at the discharge tray
100
.
However, in the known recording device
1
provided with the foregoing discharge supports
47
, some of the discharge supports
47
raise the cockling in the recording area, thereby causing the recording sheet P to form a convex shape instead of a concave shape of the cockling between the adjacent spurs
42
, and resulting in the substantially raised portions of the recording sheet P in the recording area. This causes the surface of the recording sheet P to come in contact with the recording head
7
or the carriage
50
, giving rise to problems such that the surface of the recording sheet gets dirty or the recording head
7
is damaged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention can provide a recording device, provided with a discharge support, in which the parts of the device are easily fabricated, a large space for the discharge support is not needed, and a required flatness of the upper surface of the platen is easily obtained.
The present invention can also provide a recording device that comprises (a) a recording head for performing recording on a recording medium, (b) a support for supporting the recording medium downstream from the recording head in the transport direction of the recording medium, (c) a guide for supporting the support and (d) a holder for holding the guide. The guide protrudes from and retracts toward the holder substantially in the transport direction of the recording medium, and the support protrudes from and retracts toward the guide in a direction different from the protruding direction of the guide.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will
Liang Leonard
Nguyen Judy
LandOfFree
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