Drying device

Abstract

The invention provides a drying device. The drying device dries a recording medium on which an image is formed while conveying the recording medium. The drying device is provided with a conveying part and a heating device. The transport member supports the recording medium and transports the recording medium in a predetermined transport direction. The heating device heats the recording medium conveyed by the conveying member in a high-temperature environment. The heating device is provided with a heater, a reflecting plate and a lifting mechanism. The heater radiates infrared rays. The reflecting plate reflects infrared rays radiated by the heater toward the recording medium. The lifting mechanism changes the number of reflections of the infrared rays by lifting the reflecting plate with respect to the heater. Therefore, the intensity of the infrared rays irradiated on the recording medium can be changed according to the state of the recording medium.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a drying apparatus for drying a recording medium having an image formed thereon by an inkjet method while conveying the recording medium. Background Art

[0002] An image forming system including an inkjet image forming apparatus includes a drying device for drying an image formed on a recording medium using ink. The drying device may include: a fan for sucking in external air and blowing the air onto the recording medium; a plurality of heaters for radiating infrared rays; and a plurality of reflection plates provided at each heater for reflecting the infrared rays radiated by the heater and radiating the infrared rays onto the recording medium.

[0003] However, in the above-mentioned drying device, the optimal drying degree of the recording medium (ink) varies depending on the type of ink, the discharge amount, the type of recording medium, etc. However, since the heater can usually only be switched between the on state and the off state, the intensity of the infrared light irradiated to the recording medium is always constant. That is, it is difficult to achieve the optimal condition corresponding to the state of the recording medium (ink) by changing the intensity of the infrared light irradiated from the heater to the recording medium. Therefore, when changing the type of ink or recording medium, the heater itself sometimes needs to be replaced. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a drying device capable of changing the intensity of infrared rays irradiated onto a recording medium according to the state of the recording medium.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a drying device of the present invention dries a recording medium having an image formed thereon while conveying it. The drying device comprises a conveying component and a heating device. The conveying component is used to support the recording medium and convey it along a prescribed conveying direction. The heating device heats the recording medium conveyed by the conveying component under a high temperature environment. The heating device comprises a heater, a reflecting plate and a lifting mechanism. The heater is used to radiate infrared rays. The reflecting plate reflects the infrared rays radiated by the heater toward the recording medium. The lifting mechanism changes the number of reflections of the infrared rays by lifting the reflecting plate relative to the heater. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 This is a front view showing the interior of a drying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0007] Figure 2It is a diagram showing a lifting mechanism of a reflection plate in a drying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 3A This is a front view schematically showing a reflection state of infrared rays reflected by a reflection plate (when lowered) in the drying device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] Figure 3B This is a front view schematically showing a reflection state of infrared rays reflected by a reflection plate (when raised) in the drying device according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] Hereinafter, a drying device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] First, refer to Figure 1 , the overall structure of the drying device 1 is described. Figure 1 It is a front view showing the inside of the drying device 1. Fr, Rr, L, and R shown in each figure respectively represent the front side, the rear side, the left side, and the right side of the drying device 1.

[0012] The drying device 1 includes a conveying device 3 and a heating device 5, wherein the conveying device 3 conveys a recording medium on which an image is formed by an inkjet method; and the heating device 5 dries the ink of the recording medium conveyed by the conveying device 3 in a high temperature environment.

[0013] First, the conveying device 3 is described. The conveying device 3 includes a conveying belt 11, a conveying plate 13, a suction device 15, and front and rear side plates 17. Figure 1 The recording medium is transported in a transport direction X from right to left; the transport plate 13 is used to support the conveyor belt 11; the suction device 15 adsorbs the recording medium to the conveyor belt 11; the front and rear side plates 17 support the conveyor belt 11, the transport plate 13 and the suction device 15.

[0014] First, the front and rear side plates 17 are described. The front and rear side plates 17 are plate-like members that are long in the width direction (the direction intersecting the conveying direction X, the left and right direction), and are arranged at intervals in the front and rear direction. Two chambers 19 arranged in the conveying direction X are formed in the lower part of the space between the front and rear side plates 17.

[0015] A driving roller 21 and a driven roller 23 are supported between the front and rear side plates 17. The driving roller 21 is rotatably supported at the end (left end) of the front and rear side plates 17 on the downstream side of the conveying direction X. The driven roller 23 is rotatably supported at the end (right end) of the front and rear side plates 17 on the upstream side of the conveying direction. The driving shaft of the driving roller 21 is connected to a motor (not shown).

[0016] Next, the conveyor belt 11 is described. The conveyor belt 11 is an endless belt, and a plurality of through holes are formed on the entire surface thereof and penetrate the belt in the thickness direction. The conveyor belt 11 is wound around the driving roller 21 and the driven roller 23. The driving roller 21 is driven by a motor to rotate, and the conveyor belt 11 is moved along the conveyor belt 11. Figure 1 The conveyor belt 11 circulates in a counterclockwise direction. The surface of the conveyor belt 11 along the outer side of the upper track is a conveying surface for conveying recording media. Thus, the conveyor belt 11 is an example of a conveying member for conveying recording media in the present invention.

[0017] Next, the conveyor plate 13 is described. The conveyor plate 13 is supported by the front and rear side plates 17 in a manner that contacts the inner peripheral surface (the surface on the back side of the conveyor surface) of the conveyor belt 11 that travels along the upper track. When the conveyor belt 11 travels, the inner peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 11 slides along the upper surface of the conveyor plate 13. The conveyor plate 13 has a plurality of through holes that penetrate in the thickness direction formed on the entire surface.

[0018] Next, the suction device 15 will be described. The suction device 15 is respectively disposed in two chambers 19 formed between the front and rear side plates 17. By driving the suction device 15, air is sucked into the through holes of the conveyor belt 11 and the through holes of the conveyor plate 13. As a result, the recording medium on the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 11 is attracted to the conveyor belt 11.

[0019] Next, the heating device 5 will be described. The heating device 5 includes two heater units 31 , two fans 33 provided in each of the heater units 31 , and a housing 35 that houses the heater units 31 and the fans 33 .

[0020] The housing 35 is formed in a box shape with an open lower surface. The opening of the lower surface is covered with a protective net 37 .

[0021] Two heater units 31 are arranged in a hollow portion of the housing 35 along the conveying direction X. Each heater unit 31 has a plurality of infrared heaters 41 arranged along the conveying direction X, and a reflector 43 for reflecting infrared rays emitted by each infrared heater 41. The infrared heater 41 mainly radiates infrared rays radially from the lower half. The reflector 43 is in a box shape with an opening at the bottom, and has a top plate, left and right side plates, and front and rear side plates. The inner surface of each plate is mirror-finished. The reflector 43 is arranged in a manner to surround the heater 41. The infrared rays emitted by the heater 41 are mainly reflected multiple times by the inner surfaces of the left and right side plates and the front and rear side plates of the reflector 43, and irradiate downward.

[0022] The plurality of reflection plates 43 are supported so as to be able to be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism 51 composed of a rack and pinion mechanism. Figure 2 The lifting mechanism 51 will be described. Figure 2 It is a diagram showing the lifting mechanism 51.

[0023] The lifting mechanism 51 includes a rack gear 53 (53F, 53R) fixed to the plurality of reflectors 43, and a pinion gear 55 rotatably supported on the rear side plate 35R of the housing 35. The front and rear ends of the plurality of reflectors 43 are suspended and supported on the front and rear support plates 59F, 59R, respectively. The front and rear support plates 59F, 59R are fixed to the front and rear rack gears 53F, 53R. The front and rear rack gears 53F, 53R are supported on the inner surfaces of the front and rear side plates 35F, 35R of the housing 35 in a manner that allows them to move in the up and down directions.

[0024] The pinion gear 55 is rotatably supported on the inner surface of the rear side plate 35R and meshes with the rack gear 53R on the rear side. In addition, a drive motor 61 is supported on the rear surface of the rear side plate 35R. The drive shaft of the drive motor 61 passes through the rear side plate 35R. A drive gear 63 is fixed to the top end of the drive shaft protruding from the rear side plate 35R. The drive gear 63 meshes with the pinion gear 55.

[0025] Furthermore, a connecting member 65 is disposed between the front and rear side plates 35F and 35R, and the connecting member 65 is used to synchronously move the front and rear rack gears 53F and 53R. The connecting member 65 includes a rotating shaft 67 and front and rear gears 69F and 69R fixed to both ends of the rotating shaft 67. Both ends of the rotating shaft 67 are rotatably supported by the front and rear side plates 35F and 35R. The front and rear gears 69F and 69R are meshed with the front and rear rack gears 53F and 53R, respectively.

[0026] When the driving motor 61 is driven and rotated, the pinion 55 rotates with the rotation of the driving gear 63. Accordingly, the rack gear 53R on the rear side meshing with the pinion 55 is raised and lowered. As the rack gear 53R on the rear side is raised and lowered, the gear 69R on the rear side of the connecting member 65 rotates. Then, the gear 69F on the front side also rotates together with the gear 69R on the rear side, and the rack gear 53F on the front side meshing with the gear 69F on the front side is raised and lowered synchronously with the rack gear 53R on the rear side. Accordingly, the plurality of reflectors 43 supported by the support plates 59F and 59R are raised and lowered as a whole.

[0027] The plurality of reflectors 43 are raised and lowered between a lower position and an upper position by the lifting mechanism 51. In the lower position, the heater 41 is located approximately in the center of the height direction of the reflectors 43, and the length of the reflectors 43 (front and rear and left and right side plates) below the heater 41 becomes longer (see Figure 3A In the upper position, the heater 41 is located slightly below the center of the height direction of the reflector 43, and the length of the reflector 43 (front and rear and left and right side plates) below the heater 41 becomes shorter (refer to Figure 3B That is, by raising and lowering the reflector 43, the number of times the infrared rays are reflected on the side plates of the reflector 43 is changed (details will be described later).

[0028] Refer again Figure 1 , two fans 33 are provided on the upper surface of each heater unit 31. The fan 33 sucks the air in the housing 35 and blows it downward. The air blown downward passes through the heater unit 31 and is heated, thereby generating warm air blowing downward.

[0029] The heating device 5 is disposed above the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 11 of the conveying device 3 at a predetermined distance from the conveying surface.

[0030] Reference Figure 3A and Figure 3B The drying operation of the drying device 1 having the above-described structure will be described. Figure 3A and Figure 3B It is a diagram schematically showing reflection of infrared rays on the reflection plate 43 .

[0031] In the conveying device 3, the driving roller 21 is driven to rotate, so that the conveying belt 11 travels. Then, the recording medium on which the image is formed by the inkjet method is conveyed to the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11. In addition, the suction device 15 is driven. According to this, as described above, the air in the through holes of the conveying belt 11 and the through holes of the conveying plate 13 is sucked, and the upper part of the conveying surface of the conveying belt 11 becomes negative pressure. As a result, the recording medium is adsorbed to the conveying surface. In this way, the recording medium is conveyed along the conveying direction X while being adsorbed to the conveying surface.

[0032] Then, the heater unit 31 and the fan 33 of the heating device 5 are driven. The reflector 43 of the heater unit 31 is lowered to the lower position by the lifting mechanism 51. As described above, the infrared rays emitted by the infrared heater 41 are reflected by the reflector 43 and irradiated downward. Specifically, Figure 3A As shown, the infrared ray R emitted from the predetermined position of the infrared heater 41 is reflected by the left side plate, then by the right side plate, and then by the left side plate, and is irradiated toward the recording medium. Thus, in this example, the number of reflections is 3 times.

[0033] In addition, the air blown downward by the fan 33 passes through the heater unit 31 and is heated, thereby generating downward warm air. In this way, the heating device 5 blows the heated air (warm air) downward. The recording medium (ink) conveyed to the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 11 is dried by such infrared rays and warm air.

[0034] When the amount of ink discharged onto the recording medium is greater than the standard amount, or when the recording medium is not easily adhered to by ink, it is necessary to increase the illuminance of infrared light irradiated onto the recording medium to enhance the intensity of drying the ink (referred to as drying intensity) compared to the standard state.

[0035] In this case, as described above, the pinion 55 of the lifting mechanism 51 is rotated to raise the rack gears 53F and 53R, thereby raising the reflector 43 together with the support plates 59F and 59R to the upper position. Figure 3B As shown in FIG. 1 , the infrared ray R emitted from the predetermined position of the infrared heater 41 is reflected by the side plate on the left, then reflected by the side plate on the right, and then irradiated toward the recording medium. In this example, the number of reflections is 2. The number of reflections of the infrared ray is 2. Figure 3A The number of times in the case shown (when the reflector 43 is lowered to the lower position, the number of reflections is 3 times) is small.

[0036] Each time the infrared ray is reflected by the reflector 43, it diffuses or is absorbed by the reflector 43, and the intensity is weakened. That is, the more times the infrared ray is reflected, the weaker the intensity is. Figure 3A Compared with the case shown in FIG. 1 , the amount of infrared light diffused or absorbed by the reflector is reduced, so the illuminance of infrared light irradiated on the recording medium is increased. Therefore, the recording medium can be dried at a higher drying intensity than in the standard state.

[0037] As can be seen from the above description, according to the drying device 1 of the present invention, the intensity of drying the recording medium (ink) can be changed by raising and lowering the reflector 43. Specifically, when it is desired to increase the illumination of infrared rays irradiated onto the recording medium, the reflector 43 is raised to reduce the number of reflections of the infrared rays. Therefore, the recording medium can be dried at an intensity suitable for the recording medium without replacing the heater 41.

[0038] In addition, the lifting mechanism 51 for lifting and lowering the reflector 43 is composed of a gear rack mechanism, so that the reflector 43 can be accurately raised to the upper position or lowered to the lower position through a simple structure. In addition, the position of the reflector 43 is not limited to the upper position and the lower position, and it can also be lifted to a height other than these positions (heights). In addition, the lifting mechanism 51 is not limited to the gear rack mechanism. For example, a solenoid can be used to lift and lower the reflector 43 via the support plates 59F and 59R. Alternatively, the support plates 59F and 59R can be suspended by a wire, and the wire can be wound or fed out by a winding roller, thereby lifting and lowering the reflector 43.

[0039] In addition, the user or after-sales maintenance personnel determines whether it is necessary to increase the drying intensity of the recording medium. In this case, for example, a selection button is set on the operation panel of the drying device 1. When it is necessary to increase the drying intensity, the selection button is pressed, thereby driving the motor 61 to raise the reflector 43 to the upper position.

[0040] In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the structure for raising and lowering the plurality of reflectors 43 at the same time is described, but the plurality of reflectors 43 may be raised and lowered individually. For example, on the upstream side of the conveying direction X, the illumination of the infrared light irradiated on the recording medium is weakened by lowering the reflector 43 to the lower position. On the other hand, on the downstream side of the conveying direction X, the illumination of the infrared light irradiated on the recording medium is enhanced by raising the reflector 43 to the upper position. Alternatively, the height of the reflector 43 is gradually increased from the upstream side to the downstream side of the conveying direction X. Accordingly, for example, when using ink that is easy to dry, on the upstream side of the conveying direction X, the illumination of the infrared light irradiated on the recording medium is weakened, thereby preventing the ink from drying rapidly, thereby causing the ink to dry gradually.

[0041] The present invention describes specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments can be variously changed, replaced, and deformed without departing from the scope and gist of the present invention, and the technical solution includes all embodiments that can be included in the scope of the technical idea.

Claims

1. A drying device for drying a recording medium having an image formed thereon while conveying the recording medium, It is characterized in that It has a conveying component and a heating device, wherein: The conveying member is used to support the recording medium and convey it along a specified conveying direction; The heating device heats the recording medium conveyed by the conveying member under a high temperature environment. The heating device comprises a heater, a reflective plate and a lifting mechanism, wherein: The heater is used to radiate infrared rays; The reflective plate reflects the infrared rays emitted by the heater toward the recording medium; The lifting mechanism changes the number of reflections of the infrared rays by lifting the reflection plate relative to the heater.

2. The drying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the intensity of infrared rays irradiated onto the recording medium is to be increased, the lifting mechanism reduces the number of reflections by lifting the reflection plate.

3. The drying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The reflective plates are provided in plurality. The lifting mechanism enables the plurality of reflective plates to be lifted and lowered simultaneously.

4. The drying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The reflective plates are provided in plurality. The lifting mechanism enables the plurality of reflective plates to be lifted and lowered individually.

5. The drying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism is a rack and pinion mechanism.

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