Ink jet recording apparatus

Abstract

To provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which, when a door is opened in response to a user's door lock release instruction, the door lock is released after the internal temperature of a housing has been lowered, thereby enabling the door to be opened.SOLUTION: An exhaust fan is disposed in order to discharge air (outside air) blown onto a heating belt from the inside of a housing to the outside. When a door lock release instruction is issued (YES in S1), the exhaust fan is driven (S4). By discharge with the exhaust fan, the internal temperature of the housing is lowered to or below a predetermined safe temperature for a user (YES in S5), and thereafter the lock of the door by a door lock unit is released (S7). Thus, the state in which the user can immediately open the door in response to the door lock release instruction is not realized, and the door is prevented from being opened while the internal temperature of the housing remains high.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that forms an image with ink. [Background technology]

[0002] Inkjet recording devices have been proposed that form images on recording materials using ink. The inkjet recording device includes a drying section that dries the recording material by blowing high-temperature air onto the recording material on which the ink image has been formed (see Patent Document 1). The drying section dries the recording material by blowing high-temperature air onto the recording material that is being transported on a rotating transport belt.

[0003] Inkjet recording devices are provided with a door that can be opened and closed freely on the housing so that users can perform maintenance and remove jammed recording material when a jam occurs while the recording material is being conveyed. However, this door is locked so that it cannot be opened unless the user issues an unlock command to open the door. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-60712 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The drying unit blows high-temperature air into the housing, and the moisture in the ink evaporates as the high-temperature air is blown, causing the temperature inside the machine to become high. If the door is unlocked immediately in response to a door unlock command, the user can open the door and access the inside of the machine. However, a high temperature inside the door is undesirable for the user.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an inkjet recording device that, when the door is opened in accordance with a user's instruction to unlock the door, can unlock the door by lowering the temperature inside the housing to a predetermined temperature or below, and then opening the door. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An inkjet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is an inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink to form an image on a recording material, and includes a conveying section that conveys the recording material on which the image has been formed with ink, a heater, and a blowing fan that blows air toward the conveying section, and a drying section that blows the air heated by the heater onto the recording material conveyed by the conveying section to dry the ink, a housing that houses the conveying section, an exhaust fan that exhausts air inside the housing to the outside of the housing, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside the housing, and a fan that is provided in an openable and closable manner on the housing to access the conveying section. the control unit is configured to stop heating of air by the heater, and if the exhaust fan is stopped, start operating the exhaust fan, or if the exhaust fan is operating, continue operating the exhaust fan, and release the door from being locked by the locking mechanism after the temperature inside the housing has reached a predetermined temperature or lower.

[0008] An inkjet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is an inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink to form an image on a recording material, and includes: a conveying section that conveys the recording material on which the image has been formed with ink; a detecting section that detects the recording material conveyed by the conveying section; a heater; a blowing fan that blows air toward the conveying section, and a drying section that blows the air heated by the heater onto the recording material conveyed by the conveying section to dry the ink; a housing that houses the conveying section; an exhaust fan that exhausts air inside the housing to the outside of the housing; a temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside the housing; the control unit is configured to stop heating of air by the heater when an abnormality occurs in the detection result of the detection unit, and to start the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is stopped, or to continue operating the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is operating, and thereafter, when the control unit receives the unlocking instruction, unlock the door by the locking mechanism after the temperature inside the housing reaches or is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, when the door is opened in accordance with a user's instruction to unlock the door, the temperature inside the housing is lowered to a predetermined temperature or lower before the lock is released and the door can be opened. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an inkjet recording apparatus. [Figure 2] (a) Front view, (b) right side view, and (c) schematic diagram showing the drying module. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a drying module. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a control block diagram showing a control system of the drying module. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing a door unlocking process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a door lock release process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] [First embodiment] <Inkjet recording device> An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. First, an inkjet recording apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The inkjet recording apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is a so-called sheet-fed inkjet recording apparatus that forms an image on a recording material using ink and a reaction liquid based on image information input from an external device such as a computer or a document reader. The recording material may be any recording material that can accept ink, such as paper such as plain paper or cardboard, plastic film such as a recording material for overhead projectors, specially shaped recording materials such as envelopes or index paper, or cloth.

[0012] In this specification, the side on which a user stands when operating the inkjet recording apparatus 100 is referred to as the "front (or front)," and the opposite side is referred to as the "rear (or rear)." Furthermore, the left side when viewed from the front is referred to as the "left," and the right side when viewed from the front is referred to as the "right." Figure 1 shows the inkjet recording apparatus 100 as viewed from the front.

[0013] 1, the inkjet recording apparatus 100 includes a feeding module 1000, a printing module 2000, a drying module 3000, a fixing module 4000, a cooling module 5000, an inverting module 6000, and a stacking module 7000. The recording material S supplied from the feeding module 1000 undergoes various processes as it is transported along the transport path within each module, and is finally discharged to the stacking module 7000.

[0014] The feeding module 1000, printing module 2000, drying module 3000, fixing module 4000, cooling module 5000, reversing module 6000, and stacking module 7000 may each have a separate housing, and these housings may be connected to form the inkjet recording apparatus 100. For example, the housing 2010 of the printing module 2000 and the housing 3010 of the drying module 3000, the housing 3010 and the housing 4010 of the fixing module 4000, and the housing 4010 and the housing 5010 of the cooling module 5000 are connected to enable the transfer of the recording material S between the respective housings. Note that in this embodiment, the feeding module 1000, printing module 2000, drying module 3000, fixing module 4000, cooling module 5000, reversing module 6000, and stacking module 7000 may be arranged in a single housing.

[0015] The feeding module 1000 includes cassettes 1500a, 1500b, and 1500c that store recording materials S, and the cassettes 1500a to 1500c are provided so that they can be pulled out toward the front side to store the recording materials S. The recording materials S are fed one by one in each of the cassettes 1500a to 1500c by a separation belt and a conveying roller, and are conveyed to the print module 2000.

[0016] The print module 2000 includes a pre-imaging transport unit (not shown), a print belt unit 2200, and a recording unit 2300. The recording material S transported from the feeding module 1000 is transported to the print belt unit 2200 after the pre-imaging transport unit corrects the inclination and position of the recording material S. The recording unit 2300 is disposed at a position facing the print belt unit 2200 with respect to the transport path of the recording material S. The recording unit 2300 forms an image by ejecting ink onto the recording material S from above using multiple recording heads as the recording material S is transported by the belt. The recording material S is transported by suction using the print belt unit 2200, ensuring clearance between the recording material S and the recording heads.

[0017] The print module 2000 also includes a control unit 900, which controls the entire inkjet recording apparatus 100. The control unit 900 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) (see FIG. 5). The ROM and RAM store various programs such as image formation jobs and various data such as image data. For example, the CPU can execute the image formation program stored in the ROM or RAM to operate the inkjet recording apparatus 100 to form an image. The RAM can temporarily store the results of calculations performed in conjunction with the execution of the various programs.

[0018] The print module 2000 is further provided with an operation unit 200. In addition to physically provided switches, the operation unit 200 has a liquid crystal display unit 210 capable of displaying various information. The liquid crystal display unit 210 displays various displays, such as various programs, various data, the completion of an image formation job, or a jam occurring when the recording material S gets stuck during transport. The operation unit 200 may be, for example, a touch panel that can accept inputs for starting various programs such as an image formation job, inputs of various data, or instructions for unlocking a door (described later) in response to a user's touch operation. Note that the above-mentioned inputs for starting various programs, inputs of various data, and instructions for unlocking a door may be input not only from the operation unit 200 but also from an external device such as a computer.

[0019] An image forming job is a series of operations from the start of image formation to the completion of image forming operations based on an image signal for forming an image on a recording material S. That is, it is a series of operations from the start of preparatory operations (so-called pre-rotation) required for image formation, through the image forming process, to the completion of preparatory operations (so-called post-rotation) required for completing image formation. Specifically, it refers to the period from pre-rotation after receiving an image signal (preparatory operations before image formation) to post-rotation (operations after image formation), and includes the image formation period and paper intervals.

[0020] The drying module 3000 has an outside air blowing unit 3100, a decoupling section 3200, a drying belt unit 3300, and a warm air blowing unit 3400. The drying module 3000 reduces the liquid content of the ink applied to the recording material S in order to improve the fixability of the ink to the recording material S by the subsequent fixing module 4000.

[0021] The recording material S on which the image has been formed is transported to a decoupling section 3200 arranged in the drying module 3000. In the decoupling section 3200, a frictional force is generated between the recording material S and the belt by the wind pressure of air blown from an outside air blowing unit 3100 arranged above the decoupling section 3200, causing the belt to transport the recording material S. In this way, the recording material S placed on the belt is transported by frictional force, thereby preventing the recording material S from shifting as it is transported between the print belt unit 2200 and the decoupling section 3200.

[0022] The recording material S conveyed from the decoupling unit 3200 is conveyed by a drying belt unit 3300 serving as a conveying unit. A warm air blowing unit 3400 is disposed above the drying belt unit 3300, and the warm air blowing unit 3400 serving as a drying unit blows hot air that has been heated by a heater and has become hot onto the recording material S conveyed by the drying belt unit 3300. This dries the ink applied to the recording material S.

[0023] The fixing module 4000 has a fixing belt unit 4100. The fixing belt unit 4100 fixes ink onto the recording material S by passing the recording material S conveyed from the drying module 3000 between a heated upper belt unit and a lower belt unit.

[0024] The cooling module 5000 has a plurality of cooling sections 5001, which cool the high-temperature recording material S transported from the fixing module 4000. Although not shown, the cooling section 5001 uses a fan to draw air (outside air) from outside the housing 5010 into a cooling box to increase the pressure inside the cooling box, and the air sprayed out from the cooling box through a nozzle due to the pressure hits the recording material S to cool the recording material S. The cooling sections 5001 are arranged on both sides of the transport path of the recording material S, and cool both sides of the recording material S.

[0025] The cooling module 5000 is also provided with a conveying path switching unit 5002. The conveying path switching unit 5002 switches the conveying path of the recording material S depending on whether the recording material S is conveyed to the reversing module 6000 or conveyed to a double-sided conveying path for double-sided printing, in which images are formed on both sides of the recording material S.

[0026] The reversing module 6000 has a reversing section 6400. The reversing section 6400 reverses the recording material S being conveyed, and changes the front and back orientation of the recording material S when it is discharged to the stacking module 7000. The stacking module 7000 has a top tray 7200 and a stacking section 7500, and stacks the recording material S conveyed from the reversing module 6000.

[0027] During double-sided printing, the recording material S is conveyed to a conveyance path below the cooling module 5000 by the conveyance path switching unit 5002. The recording material S then passes through a double-sided conveyance path including the fixing module 4000, drying module 3000, print module 2000, and feeding module 1000, before being returned to the print module 2000. The double-sided conveyance section of the fixing module 4000 is provided with an inverting unit 4200 that inverts the recording material S. An image is formed with ink on the other side of the recording material S that has been returned to the print module 2000, and the recording material S is then discharged to the stacking module 7000 via the drying module 3000, fixing module 4000, cooling module 5000, and inverting module 6000.

[0028] <Drying module> Next, the drying module 3000 will be described with reference to Fig. 2(a) to Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 2(a), a housing 3010 of the drying module 3000 is provided with an openable and closable left front door 14, right front door 15, and upper door 13. The left front door 14 is provided to be rotatable around a rotation shaft provided on the left side of the housing 3010, and the right front door 15 is provided to be rotatable around a rotation shaft provided on the right side of the housing 3010. In other words, the left front door 14 and the right front door 15 are double-door doors that open and close in a direction intersecting the vertical direction with respect to the housing 3010.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2(b), the upper door 13 is rotatable around a pivot provided on the rear side of the housing 3010. That is, by rotatably supporting the upper door 13 on the rear side, the front side of the upper door 13 can be opened upward so that the user can easily work from the front. As shown in FIG. 2(c), an outside air blowing unit 3100 and a hot air blowing unit 3400 are attached to the upper door 13, and the outside air blowing unit 3100 and the hot air blowing unit 3400 are moved integrally with the upper door 13. At this time, the decoupling section 3200 and the drying belt unit 3300 remain on the housing 3010 side. In this specification, the left front door 14 and the right front door 15, which, unlike the upper door 13, do not have any units attached, and the upper door 13 to which the outside air blowing unit 3100 and the hot air blowing unit 3400 are attached, are collectively referred to as "doors." Of these, the left front door 14 and the upper door 13 are doors that are provided on the housing 3010 so as to be able to be opened and closed, in order to enable access to the drying belt unit 3300 housed in the housing 3010.

[0030] By opening the upper door 13, the left front door 14, and the right front door 15, the user can perform maintenance on the outside air blowing unit 3100, the decoupling section 3200, the drying belt unit 3300, and the warm air blowing unit 3400 inside the housing 3010. Furthermore, when a jam occurs, the user can remove the recording material S from the decoupling section 3200 or the drying belt unit 3300 by opening the upper door 13, the left front door 14, and the right front door 15.

[0031] The drying module 3000 is provided with door lock units (131, 141, 151) as locking mechanisms that can lock the top door 13, the left front door 14, and the right front door 15, respectively. When the main power supply of the inkjet recording apparatus 100 is turned on, the door lock unit 131 locks the top door 13, the door lock unit 141 locks the left front door 14, and the door lock unit 151 locks the right front door 15, respectively, so that they cannot be opened. The locked states of the doors by these door lock units (131, 141, 151) are unlocked based on an unlock signal transmitted from the control unit 900 in response to an unlock instruction from the operation unit 200 by the user. Although not shown, the door lock units (131, 141, 151) include, for example, a rotatable locking claw and a motor for rotating the locking claw. The control unit 900 controls the motor to rotate the locking claw.

[0032] <Decoupling section> The outside air blowing unit 3100, decoupling section 3200, drying belt unit 3300, and warm air blowing unit 3400 of the drying module 3000 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the decoupling section 3200 includes an endless conveying belt 17, a driving roller 34, driven rollers 35, 36, and 37, and fans 38, 39, and 40. The conveying belt 17 is stretched across the driving roller 34 and driven rollers 35, 36, and 37, and rotates as the driving roller 34 is driven by a motor (not shown). A large number of minute holes are formed in the conveying belt 17, and fans 38, 39, and 40 are disposed on the inner periphery of the conveying belt 17. Furthermore, a recording material detection sensor 45 that detects the recording material S being conveyed by the conveying belt 17 is disposed at a position on the conveying belt 17 opposite the driving roller 34.

[0033] <Outside air blowing unit> The outside air blowing unit 3100 includes four identical air units (16a, 16b, 16c, 16d), which are arranged in a line in the conveying direction of the recording material S. The air units (16a to 16d) include fans (41a, 41b, 41c, 41d), which blow air (outside air) drawn in from outside the housing 3010 (see FIG. 1) toward the recording material conveying surface of the opposing conveyor belt 17. As described above, since the conveyor belt 17 has minute holes, the air blown by the fans (41a to 41d) escapes from the recording material conveying surface to the inner periphery and is drawn in by fans 38, 39, 40 arranged on the inner periphery of the conveyor belt 17. When the recording material S is pressed against the conveyor belt 17 by the air blowing, the intake air from the fans 38, 39, and 40 creates a negative pressure on the inner circumferential surface side of the conveyor belt 17 compared to the recording material conveying surface side. Therefore, the recording material S is conveyed in a state of adhering to the conveyor belt 17. By making the recording material S stick to the conveyor belt 17 in this way, the recording material S can be conveyed stably.

[0034] In the outside air blowing unit 3100, outside air drawn in by fans (41a to 41d) is blown without heating, and the moisture in the ink applied to the recording material S is not dried. This is to prevent wavy deformation called cockling from occurring on the recording material S when image formation by the print module 2000 and drying of the ink by the drying module 3000 are performed simultaneously on the recording material S being transported between the print module 2000 and the drying module 3000.

[0035] <Drying belt unit> The drying belt unit 3300 includes an endless heating belt 19, a drive roller 20, driven rollers 21 and 24, heating rollers 22 and 23, temperature sensors 25 and 26, intake fans 27, 28 and 29, and an exhaust fan 47. The heating belt 19 is stretched across the drive roller 20, driven rollers 21 and 24, and heating rollers 22 and 23, and rotates as the drive roller 20 is driven by a motor (not shown). A large number of tiny holes are formed in the heating belt 19, and the intake fans 27, 28 and 29, temperature sensors 25 and 26, pressure sensor 43, and exhaust fan 47 are arranged on the inner circumferential side of the heating belt 19.

[0036] The heating belt 19 is heated by heating rollers 22 and 23 serving as heating units. The heating rollers 22 and 23 are provided with roller heaters 61 and 62 therein. The roller heaters 61 and 62 are, for example, halogen heaters, and generate heat when power is supplied from a control board (not shown). The amount of power supplied to the roller heaters 61 and 62 is determined based on temperature sensors 25 and 26 that measure the surface temperature of the heating belt 19. The temperature sensors 25 and 26 may be, for example, infrared temperature sensors that can detect the temperature of the heating belt 19 without contact. In addition, a recording material detection sensor 46 serving as a detection unit that detects the recording material S transported by the heating belt 19 is disposed at a position on the heating belt 19 facing the drive roller 20.

[0037] The recording material S being conveyed to the heating belt 19 has high-temperature hot air blown onto it from a hot air blowing unit 3400 disposed above the heating belt 19, thereby drying the moisture in the ink. The hot air blowing unit 3400 will be described later.

[0038] As described above, minute holes are formed in the heating belt 19, so that the hot air blown from the hot air blowing unit 3400 passes from the recording material conveyance surface to the inner periphery and is sucked into the intake fans 27, 28, and 29 arranged on the inner periphery of the conveyance belt 17. When the recording material S is pressed against the heating belt 19 by the blowing of hot air, the intake fans 27, 28, and 29 create a negative pressure on the inner periphery side of the heating belt 19 compared to the recording material conveyance surface side. Therefore, the recording material S is conveyed in a state where it is stuck to the heating belt 19. By having the recording material S stick to the heating belt 19 in this way, the recording material S can be conveyed stably. In addition, since the heating belt 19 heats the recording material S during conveyance, the ink drying performance is improved.

[0039] The intake fans 27, 28, and 29 are controlled so that the detection value of a pressure sensor 43 that measures static pressure becomes a target value. For example, intake fans 27, 28, and 29 may be of a type that controls drive power according to the duty ratio of an input PWM signal. In this case, the duty ratio of the PWM signal is fed back to control the drive power of intake fans 27, 28, and 29. Pressure sensor 43 is a sensor that outputs the difference between the static pressure at the installation location and atmospheric pressure. The target value for the difference is, for example, "-1000 Pascals."

[0040] The exhaust fan 47 is provided to exhaust air inside the housing 3010 (inside the housing) to the outside (outside the housing). During an image formation job, the exhaust fan 47 is controlled to turn on and off based on the detection results of the temperature sensors 25 and 26 so as to maintain the temperature inside the housing 3010 within a predetermined range (e.g., 80°C to 90°C) higher than room temperature. This maintains the ink drying performance during image formation. Note that in this embodiment, the average of the detection results of the temperature sensors 25 and 26 may be used as the temperature of the housing 3010, or the detection result of either the temperature sensors 25 and 26 may be used as the temperature of the housing 3010.

[0041] <Hot air blowing unit> The hot air blowing unit 3400 includes three identical heat air units (18a, 18b, 18c). These heat air units (18a to 18c) are arranged side by side in the conveyance direction of the recording material S to ensure sufficient ink drying time and achieve high ink drying performance. The heat air units (18a to 18c) will be described below using the heat air unit 18a as an example.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 4, the heat air unit 18a has a blowing fan 30a, an outside air heater 31a, a temperature sensor 32a, an outside air fan 33a, a pressure sensor 42a, and a duct 181a. The outside air fan 33a draws in air (outside air) from outside the housing 3010 (see FIG. 1). The blowing fan 30a is disposed at the intake port of the duct 181a and takes the air drawn in by the outside air fan 33a into the duct 181a. The outside air heater 31a heats the air taken into the duct 181a by the blowing fan 30a. The temperature sensor 32a detects the temperature of the air passing through the duct 181a after heating by the outside air heater 31a. The temperature of the outside air heater 31a is controlled so that the detection result of the temperature sensor 32a becomes a target temperature. The duct 181a has a plurality of exhaust holes formed on the side facing the drying belt unit 3300. The air taken into the duct 181a by the blowing fan 30a is heated by the external air heater 31a to high temperature hot air, which is then blown from the exhaust holes toward the recording material conveying surface of the heating belt 19.

[0043] The blower fan 30a is controlled so that the detection value of the pressure sensor 42a, which measures static pressure, becomes a target value. For example, the blower fan 30a may be a type that controls its drive power according to the duty ratio of an input PWM signal. In this case, the duty ratio of the PWM signal is fed back to control the drive power of the blower fan 30a. The pressure sensor 42a is located in the flow path of air that passes through the duct 181a after heating by the outside air heater 31a, and outputs the difference between the static pressure at the location where it is located and the atmospheric pressure. The target value for the difference is, for example, 500 Pascals.

[0044] <Drying module control system> Next, the control system of the drying module 3000 by the control unit 900 will be described using Fig. 5 with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. Note that the control system of the drying belt unit 3300 and the hot air blowing unit 3400 will be mainly described here. Also, various devices of each module other than the drying module 3000 are connected to the control unit 900, but illustrations and descriptions thereof are omitted here as they are not the main focus of the invention.

[0045] 5, the control unit 900 is connected to the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, 29, and the exhaust fan 47, and is capable of controlling the operation of these fans. The control unit 900 is also connected to the outside air heaters 31a-31c, the roller heaters 61, 62, the temperature sensors 25, 26, and the temperature sensors 32a-32c. The control unit 900 is capable of controlling the roller heaters 61, 62 based on the detection results of the temperature sensors 25, 26, and controlling the outside air heaters 31a-31c based on the detection results of the temperature sensors 32a-32c.

[0046] The control unit 900 is also connected to recording material detection sensors 45, 46 and a drive roller 20. The recording material detection sensors 45, 46 are provided to detect delays in the transport timing and early arrival of the recording material S in the drying module 3000. The control unit 900 increases the transport speed of the transport belt 17 and the heating belt 19 when the transport timing of the recording material S is late, and decreases the transport speed of the transport belt 17 and the heating belt 19 when the transport timing is early. Furthermore, if the recording material detection sensors 45, 46 detect early arrival or delay of the recording material S for more than a predetermined time, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred because the transport control of the recording material S is not operating normally, and the image forming operation is stopped.

[0047] In this embodiment, the control unit 900 controls the on / off of the exhaust fan 47 to maintain the temperature inside the housing 3010 within a predetermined range (e.g., 80°C to 90°C) during an image formation job. When the temperature inside the housing 3010 exceeds the predetermined range, the control unit 900 starts operating (turns on) the exhaust fan 47 to lower the temperature inside the housing 3010 to the predetermined range, and when the temperature inside the housing 3010 falls below the predetermined range, the control unit 900 stops (turns off) the exhaust fan 47 to raise the temperature inside the housing 3010 to the predetermined range. Note that, during an image formation job, the control unit 900 operates the exhaust fan 47 with an airflow rate of a first airflow rate. The control unit 900 also operates the outside air fans 33a to 33c, the blowing fans 30a to 30c, and the intake fans 27, 28, and 29 at predetermined airflow rates during an image formation job.

[0048] Furthermore, door lock units 131, 141, 151 and an operation unit 200 are connected to the control unit 900. The control unit 900 transmits information for changing the display content displayed on the operation unit 200 and receives various information and data input by the user from the operation unit 200. When the control unit 900 receives an instruction to unlock the doors from the operation unit 200, it controls the door lock units 131, 141, 151 to unlock the left front door 14, the right front door 15, and the upper door 13 (see FIG. 2(a)). However, as will be described later, in this embodiment, the doors are not unlocked unless the temperature inside the housing 3010 is below a predetermined temperature.

[0049] As described above, the drying module 3000 dries the ink by blowing high-temperature hot air onto the recording material S. The heating belt 19 is heated by the heating rollers 22 and 23. During an image formation job, the temperature inside the housing 3010 is maintained at a high temperature (for example, in the range of 80°C to 90°C). As already mentioned, conventionally, the door lock units 131, 141, and 151 were unlocked immediately in response to a user's instruction to unlock the doors, allowing the user to open the upper door 13, the left front door 14, and the right front door 15 (see FIG. 2(a)). However, if the doors were unlocked immediately in response to a user's instruction to unlock the doors, the user might open the doors without realizing that the temperature inside the housing 3010 was high, potentially exposing the user to high temperatures and potentially touching various devices inside the housing 3010 that had become hot. Therefore, it is preferable to unlock the doors when the temperature inside the housing 3010 is below a predetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature may be a temperature (for example, 25°C) at which the user will not get burned. Furthermore, if it takes a long time for the temperature inside the housing 3010 to drop below the predetermined temperature when the user is performing maintenance, image formation cannot be performed during that time, which is undesirable as it reduces the operational efficiency of the inkjet recording apparatus 100.

[0050] In view of the above, in this embodiment, when the door is opened in accordance with a user's instruction to unlock the door, the temperature inside the housing 3010 of the drying module 3000 is quickly reduced before the door is unlocked and the door can be opened. In order to quickly reduce the temperature inside the housing 3010, the exhaust fan 47 is configured to quickly release heat from the inside of the housing 3010 to the outside. The door unlocking process that achieves this will be described below using FIG. 6 with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. Note that the control unit 900 prevents the user from issuing an instruction to unlock the door from the operation unit 200 during image formation.

[0051] <Door unlock process> 6, the control unit 900 determines whether or not an instruction to unlock the door has been received (S1). If an instruction to unlock the door has not been received (NO in S1), the control unit 900 waits for processing. As described above, an instruction to unlock the door is issued by the user operating the operation unit 200, and the control unit 900 waits without unlocking the door unless it receives an instruction to unlock the door.

[0052] When the control unit 900 receives an instruction to unlock the door (YES in S1), it stops heating the air taken into the duct 181a by the blower fans 30a-30c using the outside air heaters 31a-31c, and stops heating the heating rollers 22-23 using the roller heaters 61-62 (S2). The control unit 900 also determines whether the temperature inside the housing 3010 (internal temperature) is higher than the predetermined temperature based on the detection results of the temperature sensors 25-26 (S3). If the temperature inside the housing 3010 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature (NO in S3), the control unit 900 jumps to the process of step S6.

[0053] If the temperature inside the housing 3010 is higher than the predetermined temperature (YES in S3), the control unit 900 drives the exhaust fan 47 (S4). At this time, if the exhaust fan 47 is stopped, the control unit 900 starts the exhaust fan 47, and if the exhaust fan 47 is operating, the control unit 900 keeps the exhaust fan 47 operating. Furthermore, it is preferable that the control unit 900 increase the air volume of each fan to a value higher than that during image formation. For example, it is preferable that the control unit 900 increase the air volume of the blowing fans 30a to 30c and the exhaust fan 47 to a second air volume higher than the first air volume during image formation. Then, the control unit 900 determines whether the temperature inside the housing 3010 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature (e.g., 25°C) (S5). The control unit 900 continues to operate the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, 29, and also the exhaust fan 47 to exhaust air from the housing 3010 until the temperature inside the housing 3010 reaches or falls below a predetermined temperature (NO in S5).

[0054] In this embodiment, the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, and the intake fans 27, 28, and 29 continue to operate, and the heating belt 19 continues to rotate. As a result, air (outside air) taken in from outside the housing 3010 is blown onto the heating belt 19 to cool it without being heated by the outside air heaters 31a-31c. The air taken in from outside the housing 3010 (outside air) cools not only the heating belt 19 but also the drying belt unit 3300 and the warm air blowing unit 3400. The exhaust fan 47 promotes the exhaust of air from inside the housing 3010 to the outside, so that heat can be quickly released from inside the housing 3010 to the outside, and the temperature inside the housing 3010 can be quickly lowered.

[0055] When the control unit 900 receives an instruction to unlock the door, it is preferable to drive the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, 29, and the exhaust fan 47 with a predetermined control amount so that the airflow rate is higher than during image formation. The predetermined control amount is, for example, the duty ratio of the PWM signal that controls the power supply to each fan. The duty ratio is a predetermined value, and may be, for example, 50% or 100%.

[0056] If the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops below the predetermined temperature (YES in S5), the control unit 900 stops the exhaust fan 47 (S6). The control unit 900 also stops the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, and the intake fans 27, 28, and 29, and also stops the drive roller 20 (S6). After the above fans have stopped, the control unit 900 controls the door lock units 131, 141, and 151 to unlock the left front door 14, the right front door 15, and the upper door 13 (see FIG. 2(a)) (S7).

[0057] As described above, in this embodiment, when a door unlock instruction is given, the exhaust fan 47 lowers the temperature inside the housing 3010 to a predetermined temperature or below that is safe for the user. Thereafter, the door is unlocked by the door lock units 131, 141, and 151, allowing the door to be opened. As described above, in this embodiment, the user is not able to immediately open the door in response to the door unlock instruction until the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops below the predetermined temperature, so the door will not be opened while the temperature inside the housing 3010 is still high.

[0058] Furthermore, the exhaust fan 47 uses the air (outside air) blown onto the heating belt 19 from the blowing fans 30a to 30c to forcibly exhaust the air inside the housing 3010 to the outside of the apparatus, thereby shortening the time required for the temperature inside the housing 3010 to drop below a predetermined temperature. As a result, this contributes to improving the operational efficiency of the inkjet recording apparatus 100.

[0059] In this embodiment, the temperature sensors 25 and 26 detect the temperature of the heating belt 19, and the lock is released when the temperature of the heating belt 19 drops below a predetermined temperature. This is because, when a user accesses the inside of the device, they may come into contact with the hot heating belt 19. Because the heating belt 19 can become hot and is easily shaken by the user, the temperature sensors 25 and 26 that detect the temperature of the heating belt 19 are used as the trigger for unlocking the lock.

[0060] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described. As described above, if a jam occurs in which the recording material S gets stuck during transport, the user can remove the recording material S by opening the upper door 13, the left front door 14, and the right front door 15. Even if a jam occurs, if the doors are unlocked immediately in response to a user's instruction to unlock them, there is a risk that the user will open the doors without realizing that the temperature inside the housing 3010 is high. Therefore, even if a jam occurs, it is preferable that the doors be unlocked when the temperature inside the housing 3010 is below a predetermined temperature. Below, the door unlocking process when a jam occurs will be described using FIG. 7 with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5.

[0061] Based on the detection results of the recording material detection sensors 45 and 46, the control unit 900 determines whether a jam has occurred, i.e., the recording material S has become stuck during transport (S11). If a jam has occurred (YES in S11), the control unit 900 controls the drive roller 20 to stop rotation to stop the heating belt 19 from transporting the recording material S, and also controls the outside air heaters 31a-31c and the roller heaters 61 and 62 to stop heating the heating belt 19 (S12). The control unit 900 then drives the exhaust fan 47 (S13). At this time, if the exhaust fan 47 is stopped, the control unit 900 starts operating the exhaust fan 47, and if the exhaust fan 47 is operating, the control unit 900 continues operating the exhaust fan 47. It is also preferable that the control unit 900 increase the airflow rate of each fan compared to that during image formation. For example, it is preferable that the control unit 900 increase the airflow rate of the blowing fans 30a-30c and the exhaust fan 47 to a second airflow rate that is greater than the first airflow rate during image formation.

[0062] The control unit 900 determines whether or not an instruction to unlock the door has been received (S14). If an instruction to unlock the door has not been received (NO in S14), the control unit 900 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the jam was detected (S18). If the predetermined time has not elapsed since the jam was detected (NO in S18), the control unit 900 returns to the processing of step S14. If the predetermined time has elapsed since the jam was detected (YES in S18), the control unit 900 stops the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, 29, and the exhaust fan 47 (S19).

[0063] In this case, heating by the outside air heaters 31a-31c and the roller heaters 61 and 62 is stopped, and the exhaust fan 47 is driven, so the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops over time. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the jam was detected, the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops below a predetermined temperature that is safe for the user. This predetermined time is a time sufficient for the temperature inside the housing 3010 to drop below the predetermined temperature, and is stored in advance in ROM or the like. In this case, because a door unlock instruction has not been received, the control unit 900 does not unlock the door. However, if the user later issues a door unlock instruction, the door will be unlocked immediately because the temperature inside the housing 3010 has already dropped below the predetermined temperature.

[0064] On the other hand, if an instruction to unlock the door has been received (YES in S14), the control unit 900 increases the airflow rate of each fan to a level higher than that during image formation (S15). For example, the control unit 900 increases the airflow rate of the blowing fans 30a-30c and the exhaust fan 47 to a second airflow rate that is higher than the first airflow rate during image formation. The control unit 900 then determines whether the temperature inside the housing 3010 is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature (e.g., 25°C) (S16). The control unit 900 continues to operate the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, and 29, and the exhaust fan 47 to exhaust air from inside the housing 3010 until the temperature inside the housing 3010 reaches or exceeds the predetermined temperature (NO in S16). If the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops below the predetermined temperature (YES in S16), the control unit 900 stops (S17) the outside air fans 33a-33c, the blowing fans 30a-30c, the intake fans 27, 28, 29, and the exhaust fan 47. After the above fans have stopped, the control unit 900 controls the door lock units 131, 141, 151 to unlock the left front door 14, the right front door 15, and the upper door 13 (see FIG. 2(a)) (S18).

[0065] As described above, when a jam occurs, heating by the outside air heaters 31a to 31c and the roller heaters 61 and 62 is stopped, and the exhaust fan 47 is driven. Then, when an instruction to unlock the door is given, the door lock units 131, 141, and 151 will not unlock the door unless the exhaust fan 47 reduces the temperature inside the housing 3010 to a predetermined temperature or lower that is safe for the user. Therefore, even when a jam occurs, the user will not be able to open the door immediately in response to the instruction to unlock the door until the temperature inside the housing 3010 drops to a predetermined temperature or lower, and therefore the door will not be opened while the inside of the housing 3010 is still hot. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 13, 14, 15...Doors (upper door, left front door, right front door), 19...Belt (heating belt), 22, 23...Heating unit (heating roller), 25, 26...Temperature sensor, 30a, 30b, 30c...Blowing fan, 31a, 31b, 31c...Heater (outside air heating heater), 46...Detection unit (recording material detection sensor), 47...Exhaust fan, 100...Inkjet recording device, 131, 141, 151...Lock mechanism (door lock unit), 200...Operation unit, 900...Control unit, 3010...Housing, 3300...Conveying unit (drying belt unit), 3400...Drying unit (warm air blowing unit), S...Recording material

Claims

1. An inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink to form an image on a recording material, a conveying section that conveys a recording material on which an image is formed with ink; a drying section including a heater and a blowing fan that blows air toward the conveying section, and that dries ink by blowing the air heated by the heater onto the recording material conveyed by the conveying section; a housing that houses the transport unit; an exhaust fan that exhausts air from within the housing to the outside of the housing; a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature inside the housing; a door provided on the housing in an openable and closable manner for accessing the transport unit; a locking mechanism that can lock the door to the housing in a closed state; an operation unit capable of receiving an instruction from a user to unlock the door; a control unit capable of controlling the drying unit, the locking mechanism, and the exhaust fan, When the control unit receives the unlock instruction, the control unit stops heating of the air by the heater, and starts operating the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is stopped, or continues operating the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is operating, and unlocks the door by the locking mechanism after the temperature inside the housing reaches a predetermined temperature or lower. An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by:

2. the exhaust fan is operable at a first airflow rate and a second airflow rate greater than the first airflow rate; When the control unit receives the unlock instruction, if the exhaust fan is stopped, the control unit starts operating the exhaust fan at the second air volume, and if the exhaust fan is operating at the first air volume, the control unit changes the air volume of the exhaust fan to the second air volume.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

3. The blowing fan is operable at a first airflow rate and a second airflow rate greater than the first airflow rate; When the control unit receives the unlock instruction, the control unit changes the air volume of the blowing fan from the first air volume to the second air volume.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

4. the control unit operates the exhaust fan and the blowing fan until the temperature inside the housing reaches or is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

5. the door is an upper door provided above the housing so as to be openable and closable in the vertical direction relative to the housing, the drying unit is disposed on the upper door and moves together with the upper door to enable access to the conveying unit housed in the housing from above; 2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

6. the door is a front door that is provided so as to be openable and closable in a direction intersecting the vertical direction of the housing, The transport unit is accessible when the front door is open.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

7. An inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink to form an image on a recording material, a conveying section that conveys a recording material on which an image is formed with ink; a detection unit that detects the recording material conveyed by the conveyance unit; a drying section including a heater and a blowing fan that blows air toward the conveying section, and that dries ink by blowing the air heated by the heater onto the recording material conveyed by the conveying section; a housing that houses the transport unit; an exhaust fan that exhausts air from within the housing to the outside of the housing; a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature inside the housing; a door provided on the housing in an openable and closable manner for accessing the transport unit; a locking mechanism that can lock the door to the housing in a closed state; an operation unit capable of receiving an instruction from a user to unlock the door; a control unit capable of controlling the drying unit, the locking mechanism, and the exhaust fan, When an abnormality occurs in the detection result of the detection unit, the control unit stops heating of the air by the heater, and starts operation of the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is stopped, or continues operation of the exhaust fan if the exhaust fan is operating, and thereafter, when the unlocking instruction is received, unlocks the door by the locking mechanism after the temperature inside the housing reaches a predetermined temperature or lower. An inkjet recording apparatus characterized by:

8. the exhaust fan is operable at a first airflow rate and a second airflow rate greater than the first airflow rate; When the control unit receives the unlock instruction, the control unit changes the air volume of the exhaust fan from the first air volume to the second air volume.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7,

9. The blowing fan is operable at a first airflow rate and a second airflow rate greater than the first airflow rate; When the control unit receives the unlock instruction, the control unit changes the air volume of the blowing fan from the first air volume to the second air volume.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7,

10. the control unit operates the exhaust fan and the blowing fan until the temperature inside the housing reaches or is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7,

11. the door is an upper door provided above the housing so as to be openable and closable in the vertical direction relative to the housing, the drying unit is disposed on the upper door and moves together with the upper door to enable access to the conveying unit housed in the housing from above; 8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7,

12. the door is a front door that is provided so as to be openable and closable in a direction intersecting the vertical direction of the housing, The transport unit is accessible when the front door is open.

8. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 7,

13. the conveying unit includes a belt that rotates to convey the recording material, and a heating unit that heats the belt; The temperature sensor detects the temperature of the belt.

2. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is a recording medium.

Images