Medium press device and ink jet printer
AssigneeSeiko I Infotech Inc.
InventorNaoki Matsuya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A medium holding apparatus holds a medium to be transferred in a printer. A pair of holding members are mounted to undergo movement and are configured to continuously hold respective end sections of the medium in a width direction of the medium during transfer of the medium in the printer. A support structure supports the pair of holding members so that the pair of holding members are permitted to advance and retract in the width direction of the medium in accordance with positions of the end sections of the medium in the width direction.
Claims22
A medium press device for holding a medium conveyed in a conveyance direction over a platen in an ink jet printer, the medium press device comprising:
- a pair of press members for holding opposite side sections of a medium in a width direction thereof which is orthogonal to the conveyance direction, the press members being mounted to undergo movement in the width direction of the medium;
- and
- support tools for supporting the respective press members and permitting the press members to advance and retract in the width direction of the medium in accordance with positions of the side sections of the medium in the width direction, the support tools comprising:
- two groove portions arranged in parallel with the platen along a longitudinal direction of the platen, one of the groove portions being arranged at the upstream side of the platen with respect to the conveyance direction of the medium and the other of the groove portions being arranged at the downstream side of the platen with respect to the conveyance direction of the medium,
- slider blocks fixed to each press member, some of the slider blocks being slidable along the inside of the one groove portion and others of the slider blocks being slidable along the inside of the other groove portion, and
- plate springs respectively connected to the slider blocks that are fixed to each press member and that are slidable along the one groove portion and plate springs respectively connected to the slider blocks that are fixed to each press member and that are slidable along the other groove portion, each plate spring being elastically pressed against an inner wall of its corresponding groove portion so that a frictional force is produced between the plate spring and the inner wall of the groove portion;
- wherein the press members regulate movement of the medium in the width direction thereof.
A printer comprising:
- a medium conveying device for conveying a recording medium in a conveyance direction over a platen, the platen extending in a longitudinal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction and having opposite end portions that are spaced apart in a width direction of the recording medium;
- a print head for performing printing on the recording medium while it is positioned over the platen;
- and
- a device for holding the recording medium during its conveyance over the platen, the device comprising two press members, one at each end portion of the platen, for holding opposite side portions of the recording medium that are spaced apart in the width direction of the recording medium, the press members being slidable along groove portions provided in the platen so that the press members can slide toward and away from one another in the width direction of the recording medium, and spring members connected to the press members and elastically pressed against inner walls of the groove portions so that a frictional force is produced between the spring members and the corresponding inner walls of the groove portions to fix the press members against movement by a force exerted in the width direction by the recording medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.