MEDIUM CONVEYING APPARATUS, RECORDING APPARATUS, AND POST-PROCESSING APPARATUS
A medium conveying apparatus includes a housing in which a paper feeding port is provided, a paper feeding roller configured to convey paper through the paper feeding port, a drive shaft to which the paper feeding roller is attached, the drive shaft extending in a ±Y direction intersecting a conveying direction of the paper, and an elastic roller attached to the drive shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on the inside of the housing from leaking to the outside of the housing through the paper feeding port. The elastic roller comes into contact with the paper conveyed by the paper feeding roller and removes electric charges of the paper.
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2023-083735, filed May 22, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND 1. Technical FieldThe present disclosure relates to a medium conveying apparatus that conveys a medium, a recording apparatus, and a post-processing apparatus.
2. Related ArtJP-A-2016-137995 describes a paper feeding device of an image forming apparatus that feeds paper with a paper feeding roller through an opening provided in a housing. The paper feeding device includes an elastic roller attached coaxially with the paper feeding roller and, by covering the opening with the paper feeding roller and the elastic roller, prevents noise occurring in the housing from leaking through the opening.
JP-A-2016-137995 is an example of the related art.
However, in JP-A-2016-137995, removal of electricity of paper is not considered at all. When paper set in the paper feeding device is charged or the paper is charged at the time of paper feeding, it is likely that the paper cannot be normally conveyed in the device. For this reason, it is necessary to separately dispose, near the opening, a device for removing electricity of the paper. There is a problem in that the device is increased in size.
SUMMARYA medium conveying apparatus includes: a housing in which an opening is provided; a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening; a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; and a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening, wherein the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
A recording apparatus includes: a housing in which an opening is provided; a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening; a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening; and a recording unit configured to perform recording on the medium, wherein the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
A post-processing apparatus includes: a housing in which an opening is provided; a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening; a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening; and a post-processing unit configured to perform post-processing on the medium, wherein the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
A printer 10 according to a first embodiment is explained below with reference to the drawings.
The printer 10 is a liquid ejection apparatus that, while conveying a recording target medium, ejects ink Q, which is an example of liquid, onto the medium to thereby record an image on the medium. The printer 10 is an example of the medium conveying apparatus and is also an example of the recording apparatus. The printer 10 in the present embodiment records an image on paper P such as plain paper, thick paper, or photographic paper, which is an example of the medium.
In the figures including
As illustrated in
In the housing 12, a paper discharge port 14 through which the paper P subjected to recording is discharged and a discharged medium placing section 15 on which the paper P discharged from the paper discharge port 14 is placed are formed above the paper storage cassette 13. Although not illustrated, an operation panel is provided on the front surface side of the printer 10. The operation panel includes display means such as a liquid crystal panel and input means for inputting various instructions and the like to the printer 10.
The printer 10 includes, on the inside of the housing 12, a recording head 16 that executes recording and a support base 17 that supports the paper P at a position facing the recording head 16. The recording head 16 ejects the ink Q onto the paper P based on print data input from an external device or the like to thereby record an image based on the print data on the paper P. The recording head 16 is an example of the recording unit.
The paper P is conveyed along a conveying path T in the housing 12. Specifically, the paper P is conveyed from the paper storage cassette 13 to the paper discharge port 14 through the recording head 16 along the conveying path T. Note that, although not partially illustrated in
The paper P stored in the paper storage cassette 13 is conveyed in the −X direction by a pick roller 18 and a roller pair 19 and thereafter is conveyed in the +Z direction along the inner surface of a side wall 20 on the −X side of the housing 12. Thereafter, a route of the paper P is changed in the +X direction. Recording is performed on the paper P by the recording head 16 halfway in being conveyed in the +X direction. Then, the route of the paper P after the recording is turned approximately 180°. The paper P is discharged in the −X direction from the paper discharge port 14 toward the discharged medium placing section 15.
A reversing path T1 for reversing the paper P when recording on both sides of the paper P, that is, duplex recording is performed is coupled to the conveying path T. When the duplex recording is performed, the paper P recorded on one side is switched back from downstream of the recording head 16 and enters the reversing path T1. Then, the paper P is returned from upstream of the recording head 16 to the conveying path T in a state in which the front and rear of the paper P are reversed. Recording on the opposite surface is executed.
In addition, a paper feeding port 21 to which the paper P is supplied from the outside of the housing 12 is provided in the side wall 20 on the −X side of the housing 12. A feeding path T2 for feeding the paper P supplied from the paper feeding port 21 to the recording head 16 is coupled to the conveying path T upstream of the recording head 16. The paper feeding port 21 has a rectangular shape elongated in the ±Y direction. The length of the paper feeding port 21 is longer than the width of the paper P. The paper feeding port 21 is an example of the opening.
A supplied medium placing section 22 configured to be capable of moving up and down according to driving of a not-illustrated drive source is disposed on the −X side of the side wall 20 on the outer side of the housing 12. The supplied medium placing section 22 is a placement table on which a plurality of pieces of paper P can be placed. The paper P placed on the supplied medium placing section 22 is sent to the feeding path T2 by a paper feeding roller 23. The paper feeding roller 23 is disposed to close the paper feeding port 21 and is configured to be rotatable with an axis in the ±Y direction as a rotation axis according to driving of a not-illustrated drive source. The lower surface of the paper feeding roller 23 comes into contact with the upper surface of the paper P at the top among the plurality of pieces of paper P placed on the supplied medium placing section 22. Then, the paper feeding roller 23 conveys the paper P at the top in the +X direction through the paper feeding port 21 with its own rotation and sends the paper P to the feeding path T2. Note that, when the number of pieces of paper P on the supplied medium placing section 22 decreases, the supplied medium placing section 22 rises such that the paper feeding roller 23 and the paper P at the top come into contact with each other.
The printer 10 includes a control unit 24. The control unit 24 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a storage, which are not illustrated. The control unit 24 controls operations such as conveyance of the paper P, recording by the recording head 16, and raising and lowering of the supplied medium placing section 22.
As illustrated in
The paper feeding roller 23 is a cylindrical roller and is attached to a drive shaft 27 extending in the ±Y direction. More specifically, the paper feeding roller 23 is fixed to the drive shaft 27. The drive shaft 27 is driven by a not-illustrated drive source to rotate clockwise when viewed from the −Y side. The paper feeding roller 23 fixed to the drive shaft 27 also rotates clockwise together with the drive shaft 27. Consequently, the paper P at the top in contact with the paper feeding roller 23 is conveyed in the +X direction. The paper feeding roller 23 is an example of the conveying roller. The drive shaft 27 is an example of the rotating shaft.
As illustrated in
The elastic rollers 28 are formed long to cover a space S between the pair of conveyance guide plates 25. The elastic rollers 28 are disposed to close most of the paper feeding port 21 in conjunction with the paper feeding roller 23. For this reason, the elastic rollers 28 prevent sound occurring on the inside of the housing 12 from leaking to the outside of the housing 12 through the paper feeding port 21. The elastic rollers 28 are an example of the soundproof member. Of the two elastic rollers 28, the elastic roller 28 on the ±Y side is an example of the first soundproof member and the elastic roller 28 on the −Y side is an example of the second soundproof member.
The diameter of the elastic rollers 28 are slightly larger than the diameter of the paper feeding roller 23. For this reason, when the paper feeding roller 23 comes into contact with the paper P on the supplied medium placing section 22, the elastic rollers 28 are slightly deformed such that the lower side is crushed. By setting the diameter of the elastic rollers 28 larger than the diameter of the paper feeding roller 23 as explained above, since the elastic rollers 28 securely come into contact with the paper P, electric charges of the paper P is easily removed. In addition, by setting the diameter of the elastic rollers 28 larger than the diameter of the paper feeding roller 23, since no gap is present between the elastic rollers 28 and the paper P, a soundproof effect by the elastic rollers 28 can be increased. The electric charges removed from the paper P are discharged into the air from the elastic rollers 28. However, a grounded conductive member may be brought into contact with the surface of the elastic rollers 28.
Note that the elastic rollers 28 are not limited to be fixed to the drive shaft 27 and may be attached to the drive shaft 27 to be capable of idling. In this case, the elastic rollers 28 may be attached to the outer surface of a tubular member having an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the drive shaft 27 and may be attached to the drive shaft 27 by inserting the drive shaft 27 into the tubular member. Alternatively, the elastic rollers 28 may be attached to the drive shaft 27 via a bearing. When the elastic rollers 28 are configured to be capable of idling, it is easy to remove the paper P when a jam or the like of the paper P occurs in the paper feeding port 21.
As explained above, with the printer 10 in the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
With the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the elastic rollers 28 close most of the paper feeding port 21 to thereby reduce the noise leaking from the paper feeding port 21 and come into contact with the paper P to remove electric charges of the paper P. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a conveyance failure due to electric charges of the paper P supplied from the paper feeding port 21 without separately providing an electricity removing device in the vicinity of the paper feeding port 21.
In addition, according to the printer 10 of the present embodiment, since the diameter of the elastic rollers 28 is larger than the diameter of the paper feeding roller 23, the elastic rollers 28 are crushed when the paper P is conveyed by the paper feeding roller 23. For this reason, the elastic rollers 28 and the paper P adhere to each other. It is possible to efficiently remove the electric charges of the paper P. Further, since no gap is present between the elastic rollers 28 and the paper P, it is possible to effectively reduce noise.
With the printer 10 of the present embodiment, since the elastic rollers 28 are disposed on both the sides in the ±Y direction of the paper feeding roller 23, it is possible to more effectively reduce noise.
With the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the elastic rollers 28 are formed long to cover the space S between the pair of conveyance guide plates 25 long in the ±Y direction. For this reason, it is possible to effectively reduce noise leaking to the outside through the space S and noise that can occur when the conveyance guide plates 25 themselves vibrates.
2. Second EmbodimentThe printer 10 according to a second embodiment is explained below with reference to the drawings.
The printer 10 according to the second embodiment is different from the printer 10 according to the first embodiment in that the printer 10 according to the second embodiment includes, instead of the elastic rollers 28, soundproof sheet members 30 explained below. The soundproof sheet members 30 are an example of the soundproof member.
As illustrated in
The support members 32 are cylindrical and have an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the drive shaft 27. The soundproof sheet members 30 are rotatably attached to the drive shaft 27 by inserting the drive shaft 27 through the support members 32. That is, the soundproof sheet members 30 are provided to be capable of idling with respect to the drive shaft 27. The outer diameter of the support members 32 is smaller than the diameter of the paper feeding roller 23. The paper P conveyed by the paper feeding roller 23 and the support members 32 do not adhere to each other. For this reason, even when the drive shaft 27 rotates and the paper P is conveyed by the paper feeding roller 23, the support members 32 do not rotate following the conveyance of the paper P and the soundproof sheet members 30 do not greatly change the posture. Note that the support members 32 may be fixed to the housing 12 or the like in a state in which the support members 32 are attached to the drive shaft 27.
The conductive sheets 31 are attached to hang down from upper portions of the support members 32 along curved surfaces on the −X side. In a state in which the paper P on the supplied medium placing section 22 is in contact with the paper feeding roller 23, parts on the lower side of the conductive sheets 31 come into contact with the paper P on the outer side of the housing 12 and extend in the −X direction along the upper surface of the paper P. Electric charges charged in the paper P are removed when the paper P comes into contact with the conductive sheets 31. Note that the conductive sheets 31 may be coupled to a grounded conductive member.
In the present embodiment as well, the soundproof sheet members 30 are disposed to close most of the paper feeding port 21 in conjunction with the paper feeding roller 23. For this reason, the soundproof sheet members 30 prevent noise or the like occurring on the inside of the housing 12 from leaking to the outside of the housing 12 through the paper feeding port 21.
Note that, as illustrated in
As explained above, with the printer 10 in the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
With the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the soundproof sheet members 30 close most of the paper feeding port 21 to thereby reduce noise leaking from the paper feeding port 21 and come into contact with the paper P to remove electric charges of the paper P. For this reason, it is possible to suppress a conveyance failure due to electric charges of the paper P supplied from the paper feeding port 21 without separately providing an electricity removing device in the vicinity of the paper feeding port 21.
3. ModificationThe embodiments explained above may be modified as follows.
In the first embodiment explained above, the paper feeding roller 23 is disposed at the center in the ±Y direction of the drive shaft 27 and the elastic rollers 28 are disposed on the ±Y side and the −Y side of the paper feeding roller 23. However, disposition of the paper feeding roller 23 and the elastic rollers 28 is not limited thereto. For example, as illustrated in
In the embodiments explained above, the supplied medium placing section 22 configured to be capable of moving up and down is disposed outside the paper feeding port 21. However, the supplied medium placing section 22 is not limited to be capable of moving up and down. For example, as illustrated in
In the embodiments explained above, a mode in which noise is suppressed and electricity is removed in the paper feeding port 21 to which the paper P is supplied from the outside of the housing 12 is explained. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this mode. For example, the same configuration may be provided in the paper discharge port 14 from which the paper P after the recording is discharged to the outside of the housing 12. Specifically, a paper discharge roller that conveys the paper P to the outside of the housing 12 through the paper discharge port 14 may be provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge port 14. A soundproof member such as the elastic roller 28 or the soundproof sheet member 30 may be attached to a rotating shaft of the paper discharge roller. In this case, the paper discharge port 14 is an example of the opening and the paper discharge roller is an example of the conveying roller. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce noise leaking from the paper discharge port 14. Therefore, it is possible to reduce noise heard by a user waiting for discharge of the paper P in the vicinity of the paper discharge port 14. It is possible to discharge the paper P after the recording in a state in which electricity is removed.
In the second embodiment explained above, a sheet-shaped member 33 (see
In the embodiments explained above, the printer 10 may be an apparatus that discharges liquid other than the ink Q. The printer 10 is not limited to a liquid discharge apparatus that discharges liquid. For example, the printer 10 may be a recording apparatus of a thermal type, a dot impact type, or a laser type.
In the embodiments explained above, the printer 10 that is the recording apparatus is explained as an example. However, the medium conveying apparatus is not limited to the printer 10. That is, the medium conveying apparatus only has to include the housing 12, the paper feeding roller 23, the drive shaft 27, and the soundproof members such as the elastic roller 28 and the soundproof sheet members 30 and may not include the recording head 16. The medium conveying apparatus may include a post-processing unit that performs post-processing on a medium. That is, the medium conveying apparatus may be a post-processing apparatus including the post-processing unit. Examples of the post-processing include punching processing of punching a hole in a medium and end-binding processing of aligning a plurality of media and binding end portions of the media.
Claims
1. A medium conveying apparatus comprising:
- a housing in which an opening is provided;
- a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening;
- a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; and
- a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening, wherein
- the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
2. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the soundproof member is an elastic roller having conductivity.
3. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a diameter of the elastic roller is larger than a diameter of the conveying roller.
4. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the soundproof member includes a sheet-shaped first member having conductivity.
5. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a sheet-shaped second member is stuck to the first member.
6. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
- the soundproof member includes a first soundproof member and a second soundproof member, and
- the conveying roller is disposed between the first soundproof member and the second soundproof member in the medium width direction.
7. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
- the conveying roller includes a first conveying roller and a second conveying roller, and
- the soundproof member is disposed between the first conveying roller and the second conveying roller in the medium width direction.
8. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the soundproof member is attached to the rotating shaft to be configured to idle.
9. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of conveyance guide plates disposed downstream of the opening in the conveying direction and configured to guide the medium on both upper and lower sides of the medium, wherein
- the soundproof member is formed long to cover a space between the pair of conveyance guide plates.
10. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a paper feeding port to which the medium is supplied.
11. The medium conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a paper discharge port from which the medium is ejected.
12. A recording apparatus comprising:
- a housing in which an opening is provided;
- a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening;
- a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; and
- a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening; and
- a recording unit configured to perform recording on the medium, wherein
- the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
13. A post-processing apparatus comprising:
- a housing in which an opening is provided;
- a conveying roller configured to convey a medium through the opening;
- a rotating shaft to which the conveying roller is attached, the rotating shaft extending in a medium width direction intersecting a conveying direction of the medium; and
- a soundproof member attached to the rotating shaft and configured to prevent sound occurring on an inside of the housing from leaking to an outside of the housing through the opening; and
- a post-processing unit configured to perform post-processing on the medium, wherein
- the soundproof member comes into contact with the medium conveyed by the conveying roller and removes electric charges of the medium.
Type: Application
Filed: May 20, 2024
Publication Date: Nov 28, 2024
Inventors: Yuto SUZUKI (SHIOJIRI-SHI), Kohei UENO (MATSUMOTO-SHI)
Application Number: 18/668,379