Image forming apparatus

• US 20060187290A1
• Filed: 02/21/2006
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Nakashima, Atsuhisa
• Granted Patent: US 7,744,209 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/104
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/007 Conveyor belts or like feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/076 Construction of rollers; Bearings therefor

Abstract

In an image forming apparatus, a nip roller group for pressing a face of a conveyance belt on which a recording medium is held includes a pair of first end pressing parts which are arranged in the width direction of the conveyance belt at a distance corresponding to the recording medium having a predetermined size, and a first center pressing part which is arranged between the pair of first end pressing parts. Herein, a pressing force of the first center pressing part is set to be smaller than pressing forces of the first end pressing parts.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an endless conveyance belt which holds and conveys a recording medium;

a nip roller unit which presses a face of the conveyance belt on which the recording medium is held, rotates in accordance with movement of the conveyance belt, and includes a pair of first end pressing parts arranged in the width direction of the conveyance belt at a distance corresponding to the recording medium having a first size, and a first center pressing part arranged between the first end pressing parts; and

a recording head which has a plurality of ink ejecting holes, and ejects ink from the plurality of ink ejecting holes onto the conveyed recording medium to thereby form an image, wherein

a pressing force of the first center pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be smaller than pressing forces of the pair of first end pressing parts toward the conveyance belt.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

rotating shafts of the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part are arranged coaxially along the width direction of the conveyance belt.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pair of end pressing units and a center pressing unit which provide pressing forces for biasing the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part toward the conveyance belt, respectively, to thereby press the conveyance belt, wherein

the pressing force given to the first center pressing part by the center pressing unit is set to be smaller than the pressing forces given to the pair of first end pressing parts by the pair of end pressing units, and

the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part can rotate independently.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an entirety pressing unit which provides a pressing force for biasing a common rotating shaft on which the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part are integrally provided toward the conveyance belt to thereby allow the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part to press the conveyance belt, wherein

dimensions in outer diameter of the pair of first end pressing parts are larger than a dimension in outer diameter of the first center pressing part.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

at least one of outer peripheral faces of the pair of first end pressing parts and an outer peripheral face of the conveyance belt is made of an elastic material.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

a dimension in length of the first center pressing part in the width direction of the conveyance belt is larger than dimensions in length of the pair of first end pressing parts.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the nip roller unit further includes a second end pressing part, and a second center pressing part arranged between the second end pressing part and one, close to the second end pressing part, of the pair of first end pressing parts,

a distance between the second end pressing part and the other one of the first end pressing parts in the width direction of the conveyance belt corresponds to a recording medium having a second size which is larger than the recording medium having a first size, and

a pressing force of the second end pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be substantially equal to pressing forces of the pair of first end pressing parts and, also, a pressing force of the second center pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be substantially equal to a pressing force of the first center pressing part.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

rotating shafts of the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part are arranged coaxially along the width direction of the conveyance belt.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

three end pressing units and two center pressing units which provide pressing forces for biasing the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part toward the conveyance belt, respectively, to thereby press the conveyance belt, wherein

the pressing forces given to the first and second center pressing parts by the two center pressing units are set to be smaller than the pressing forces given to the pair of first end pressing parts and the second end pressing part by the three end pressing units, and

the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part can rotate independently.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

an entirety pressing unit which provides a pressing force for biasing a common rotating shaft on which the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part are integrally provided toward the conveyance belt to thereby allow the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part to press the conveyance belt, wherein

a dimension in outer diameter of the second end pressing part is substantially equal to dimensions in outer diameter of the pair of first end pressing parts,

a dimension in outer diameter of the second center pressing part is substantially equal to a dimension in outer diameter of the first center pressing part, and

the dimensions in outer diameter of the first and second end pressing parts are larger than the dimensions in outer diameter of the first and second center pressing parts.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

at least one of outer peripheral faces of the first and second end pressing parts and an outer peripheral face of the conveyance belt is made of an elastic material.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

dimensions in length of the first and second center pressing parts in the width direction of the conveyance belt are larger than dimensions in length of the first and second end pressing parts.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an endless conveyance belt which holds and conveys a recording medium;

nip roller means which presses a face of the conveyance belt on which the recording medium is held, rotates in accordance with movement of the conveyance belt, and includes a pair of first end pressing parts arranged in the width direction of the conveyance belt at a distance corresponding to the recording medium having a first size, and a first center pressing part arranged between the first end pressing parts; and

a recording head which has a plurality of ink ejecting holes, and ejects ink from the plurality of ink ejecting holes onto the conveyed recording medium to thereby form an image, wherein

a pressing force of the first center pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be smaller than pressing forces of the pair of first end pressing parts toward the conveyance belt.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

rotating shafts of the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part are arranged coaxially along the width direction of the conveyance belt.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

a pair of end pressing means and center pressing means which provide pressing forces for biasing the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part toward the conveyance belt, respectively, to thereby press the conveyance belt, wherein

the pressing force given to the first center pressing part by the center pressing means is set to be smaller than the pressing forces given to the pair of first end pressing parts by the pair of end pressing means, and

the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part can rotate independently.

16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising:

entirety pressing means which provides a pressing force for biasing a common rotating shaft on which the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part are integrally provided toward the conveyance belt to thereby allow the pair of first end pressing parts and the first center pressing part to press the conveyance belt, wherein

dimensions in outer diameter of the pair of first end pressing parts are larger than a dimension in outer diameter of the first center pressing part.

17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein

at least one of outer peripheral faces of the pair of first end pressing parts and an outer peripheral face of the conveyance belt is made of an elastic material.

18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

a dimension in length of the first center pressing part in the width direction of the conveyance belt is larger than dimensions in length of the pair of first end pressing parts.

19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

the nip roller means further includes a second end pressing part, and a second center pressing part arranged between the second end pressing part and one, close to the second end pressing part, of the pair of first end pressing parts,

a distance between the second end pressing part and the other one of the first end pressing parts in the width direction of the conveyance belt corresponds to a recording medium having a second size which is larger than the recording medium having a first size, and

a pressing force of the second end pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be substantially equal to pressing forces of the pair of first end pressing parts and, also, a pressing force of the second center pressing part toward the conveyance belt is set to be substantially equal to a pressing force of the first center pressing part.

20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 19, wherein

rotating shafts of the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part are arranged coaxially along the width direction of the conveyance belt.

21. The image forming apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:

three end pressing means and two center pressing means which provide pressing forces for biasing the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part toward the conveyance belt, respectively, to thereby press the conveyance belt, wherein

the pressing forces given to the first and second center pressing parts by the two center pressing means are set to be smaller than the pressing forces given to the pair of first end pressing parts and the second end pressing part by the three end pressing means, and

the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part can rotate independently.

22. The image forming apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising:

entirety pressing means which provides a pressing force for biasing a common rotating shaft on which the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part are integrally provided toward the conveyance belt to thereby allow the pair of first end pressing parts, the second end pressing part, the first center pressing part, and the second center pressing part to press the conveyance belt, wherein

a dimension in outer diameter of the second end pressing part is substantially equal to dimensions in outer diameter of the pair of first end pressing parts,

a dimension in outer diameter of the second center pressing part is substantially equal to a dimension in outer diameter of the first center pressing part, and

the dimensions in outer diameter of the first and second end pressing parts are larger than the dimensions in outer diameter of the first and second center pressing parts.

23. The image forming apparatus according to claim 22, wherein

at least one of outer peripheral faces of the first and second end pressing parts and an outer peripheral face of the conveyance belt is made of an elastic material.

24. The image forming apparatus according to claim 19, wherein

dimensions in length of the first and second center pressing parts in the width direction of the conveyance belt are larger than dimensions in length of the first and second end pressing parts.