Conveyor and ink-jet recording apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9630430-B2
Application number	US-201615087550-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

A conveyor includes: a slide gear and a clutch gear including a first gear and a second gear. The clutch gear includes: a first surface and a second surface provided on one of the first and second gears and facing each other; and a contact member provided on the other of the first and second gears and located between the first surface and the second surface. A controller is configured to: control a motor in a state in which the slide gear and the first gear are in mesh with each other, to rotate the clutch gear to establish a state in which the contact member is not in contact with the first surface or the second surface; and control a sliding mechanism to slide the slide gear in the state in which the contact member is not in contact with the first surface or the second surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyor, comprising:
a slide gear supported slidably in axial directions of a support shaft;
a clutch gear comprising (i) a first gear meshable with the slide gear and (ii) a second gear that is rotated coaxially with the first gear;
a motor that applies a driving force to one of the second gear and the slide gear;
a driven member that is driven by the driving force transmitted from another of the second gear and the slide gear;
a sliding mechanism that slides the slide gear;
a roller that conveys a sheet by being rotated by the driving force transmitted from the motor; and
a controller configured to control the motor and the sliding mechanism,
wherein the clutch gear comprises:
a first surface and a second surface provided on one of the first gear and the second gear, the first surface and the second surface facing each other in circumferential directions of the one of the first gear and the second gear; and
a contact member provided on another of the first gear and the second gear and located between the first surface and the second surface in the circumferential directions, the contact member being contactable with the first surface and the second surface,

wherein a distance in the circumferential directions between a contact portion of the contact member which is to contact the first surface and a contact portion of the contact member which is to contact the second surface is less than a distance between the first surface and the second surface in the circumferential directions, and
wherein the controller is configured to perform:
controlling the motor in a state in which the slide gear and the first gear are in mesh with each other, to cause rotation of the clutch gear to establish a state in which the contact member is not in contact with any of the first surface and the second surface; and
controlling the sliding mechanism to cause sliding of the slide gear in the state in which the contact member is not in contact with any of the first surface and the second surface.

2. An ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising:
the conveyor according to claim 1 ;
a recording head configured to eject ink from at least one nozzle onto the sheet conveyed by the roller; and
a carriage supporting the recording head and movable over a printing area and a home position,
wherein the printing area is an area where the recording head is allowed to eject the ink onto the sheet, and the home position is located outside the printing area,
wherein the axial directions are a first direction and a second direction as opposite directions,
wherein the slide gear is slidable to (i) a first position at which the slide gear is in mesh with the first gear and (ii) a second position at which the slide gear is not in mesh with the first gear, and the second position is located on a first-direction side of the first position in the axial directions,
wherein the sliding mechanism comprises:
the carriage;
an urging member that urges the slide gear in the first direction; and
a lever member comprising a protrusion protruding into a moving area of the carriage, the lever member being slidably supported by the support shaft, the lever member being configured to keep the slide gear at the first position against an urging force of the urging member when the protrusion is in contact with the carriage located at the home position, and

wherein the controller is configured to move the carriage from the home position toward the printing area to slide the slide gear.

3. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a roller gear provided on a roller shaft of the roller, the roller gear being rotatable together with the roller, the roller gear being meshable with the slide gear,
wherein the motor is configured to apply the driving force to the slide gear via the roller gear, and
wherein the roller gear is in mesh with the slide gear when the slide gear is located at any of the first position and the second position.

4. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the driven member is a maintenance mechanism that is driven by the driving force transmitted from the second gear to perform maintenance of the recording head.

5. An ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising:
the conveyor according to claim 1 ;
a plurality of transmission gears spaced apart from each other in the axial directions and each meshable with the slide gear;
a recording head configured to eject ink from at least one nozzle onto the sheet conveyed by the roller; and
a carriage supporting the recording head and movable over a printing area and a home position,
wherein the printing area is an area where the recording head is allowed to eject the ink onto the sheet, and the home position is located outside the printing area,
wherein the axial directions are a first direction and a second direction as opposite directions,
wherein the plurality of transmission gears at least comprises:
a first transmission gear that transmits the driving force produced by the motor to the driven member; and
a second transmission gear disposed on a first-direction side of the first transmission gear in the axial directions, the second transmission gear being configured to transmit the driving force produced by the motor to the roller,

wherein the slide gear is slidable at least to (i) a first position at which the slide gear is in mesh with the first transmission gear and (ii) a second position at which the slide gear is in mesh with the second transmission gear,
wherein the sliding mechanism comprises:
the carriage;
an urging member that urges the slide gear in the first direction; and
a lever member comprising a protrusion protruding into a moving area of the carriage, the lever member being slidably supported by the support shaft, the lever member being configured to keep the slide gear at the first position against an urging force of the urging member when the protrusion is in contact with the carriage located at the home position, and

wherein the controller is configured to move the carriage from the home position toward the printing area to slide the slide gear.

6. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the motor is configured to apply the driving force to the second gear, and
wherein the first gear is in mesh with the slide gear regardless of position of the slide gear.

7. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the roller is a supply roller that supplies the sheet supported by a tray, to a conveyance path formed in the conveyor.

8. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the driven member is a cap that is driven by the driving force transmitted from the motor to be moved between (i) a covering position at which the cap covers the at least one nozzle of the recording head mounted on the carriage located at the home position and (ii) a separated position at which the cap is spaced apart from the at least one nozzle.

9. The ink-jet recording apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein a distance between adjacent two of the plurality of transmission gears in the axial directions is greater than a length of the slide gear in the axial directions.

10. An ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising:
the conveyor according to claim 1 ;
a plurality of transmission gears spaced apart from each other in the axial directions;
a recording head configured to eject ink from at least one nozzle onto the sheet conveyed by the roller; and
a carriage supporting the recording head and movable over a printing area and a home position,
wherein the printing area is an area where the recording head is allowed to eject the ink ont

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Aoki Hirotaka
• Samoto Kenji
• Ichikawa Shohei

Classifications

• B65H2403/00

  Power transmission; Driving means · CPC title

• B41J13/03

  driven, e.g. feed rollers separate from platen · CPC title

• B65H5/06 Primary

  by rollers {or balls, e.g. between rollers (transport by suction rollers B65H5/226)} · CPC title

• B65H2403/72

  Clutches, brakes, e.g. one-way clutch +F204 · CPC title

• B65H2403/73

  Couplings · CPC title