Inkjet recording apparatus

• US 10,710,384 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2019
• Issued: 07/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Ito, Tsuyoshi, Koga, Yuji, Sugiyama, Wataru, Samoto, Kenji
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Huan H
• Application Number:
  US16/354,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20190344591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0025 Handling copy materials differing in width
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0045 Guides for printing material curl smoothing B41J11/0005; platens B41J11/02, B41J11/06; guiding webs B41J15/046
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/006 Means for preventing paper jams or for facilitating their removal
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/007 Conveyor belts or like feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/06 Flat page-size platens or smaller flat platens having a greater size than line-size platens B41J11/0085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/14 Platen-shift mechanisms; Driving gear therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/01 Ink jet
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 5/068 between one or more rollers or balls and stationary pressing, supporting or guiding elements
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 9/002 changing orientation of sheet by only controlling movement of the forwarding means, i.e. without the use of stop or register wall

Abstract

An image forming apparatus may include a mechanism for forming a corrugated shape in a sheet to be conveyed. The mechanism may include various components include one or more pressing portions, one or more ribs, one or more discharge rollers, a switching mechanism and the like. In one arrangement, ribs and pressing portions configured to create the corrugated shape may be disposed at various locations upstream or downstream of the platen, recording portion and/or nozzles thereof. In one example, pressing portions may be disposed both upstream and downstream of the nozzles of the recording portion to maintain a corrugated shape in the conveyed sheet. Various other configurations may be used.

Claims

1. An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising:

a first conveyor configured to nip and convey a sheet along a conveying direction;

a platen disposed downstream of the first conveyor with respect to the conveying direction;

a recording head disposed opposite to the platen and including nozzles that eject ink droplets;

a plurality of second conveyors disposed downstream of the platen with respect to the conveying direction and space apart from each other with respect to a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, and wherein the plurality of second conveyors is configured to nip and convey the sheet along the conveying direction;

a support member disposed downstream of the platen with respect to the conveying direction and comprises a plurality of first ribs that support the sheet conveyed by the plurality of the second conveyors, wherein the plurality of first ribs are spaced apart from each other with respect to the width direction; and

a first contact member comprising a first contact portion extending toward the support member and that contacts the sheet at a position downstream of nip points of the plurality of second conveyor, wherein the first contact portion is disposed between two of the first ribs with respect to the width direction.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the first contact portion is disposed between two of the second conveyors with respect to the width direction, and

wherein the first contact portion is disposed downstream of the two of the second conveyors with respect to the conveying direction.

3. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the two of the first ribs is aligned with corresponding one of the two of the second conveyors along the conveying direction.

4. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second contact member comprising a second contact portion extending toward the platen and that contact the sheet at upstream of the plurality of second conveyors.

5. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second contact portion is aligned with the first contact portion along the conveying direction.

6. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the platen comprises a plurality of second ribs configured to support the sheet conveyed by the first conveyor,

wherein the second contact portion is disposed between two of the plurality of second ribs with respect to the width direction.

7. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the two of the plurality of second ribs is aligned with a corresponding one of the conveyors along the second conveying direction.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first contact portion forms a corrugated shape in the sheet in conjunction with the two of the first ribs.

9. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second contact portion forms a corrugated shape in the sheet in conjunction with the two of the second ribs.

10. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second contact portion is disposed between the first conveyor and the nozzles with respect to conveying direction.

11. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of second ribs extends from upstream of the nozzles toward the plurality of the second conveyors with respect to the conveying direction.

12. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first contact portion at least partially overlaps the plurality of first ribs when viewed in the width direction.

13. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second contact portion at least partially overlaps the plurality of second ribs when viewed in width direction.