JP2011110666A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutter unit that can improve the durability of a cutter blade by making the cutting frequency uniform in the entire region of the cutter blade of the cutter unit, and can easily realize high-speed continuous cutting. An image forming apparatus is provided.
An image forming apparatus including a cutter unit 2 having a fixed blade 11 and a movable blade 12 for cutting a recording medium 7 in a direction intersecting a transport direction. A moving means for moving the cutter unit in a direction intersecting the conveying direction, and a control means 150 for controlling the moving means to move the cutter unit to a plurality of cutting positions according to the distribution of the cutting use frequency of the cutter blade surface. And comprising.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a cutter unit that cuts a recording medium to be conveyed in a direction crossing a conveyance direction.

  In general, an image forming apparatus having functions such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile records an image on a recording medium by a recording head based on image information. As the recording medium, various materials such as paper, plastic sheet, photographic paper, OHP sheet and cloth can be used. Image forming apparatuses can be classified into a serial type and a line type according to a scanning method. The serial type is a system in which the recording head is moved and the recording for one line for main scanning and the line feed operation by sub-scanning are repeated alternately. The line type is a system in which recording is performed only by sub-scanning while recording one line at a time. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus can be classified into an ink jet type, a thermal transfer type, a laser beam type, a thermal type, a wire dot type, and the like depending on the type of the recording head.

  In such an image forming apparatus, in addition to a configuration in which recording is performed on a cut paper of a certain size and discharging, a long recording medium (roll paper) wound in a roll shape is unwound and conveyed so that a predetermined area is obtained. Is recorded and cut and discharged after recording. Many image forming apparatuses that record on such a long recording medium include a cutting apparatus having a cutter blade for cutting an image-formed portion. The cutter blade is worn out as it is used. Further, if the cutter blade continues to be cut at the same portion of the blade surface, the wear of the portion proceeds and the sharpness may be locally reduced. If the sharpness is lowered, the straightness of the cutting edge may be deteriorated, fluff and wrinkles may be generated, and inconvenience such as poor cutting may occur. In that case, even when a part of the blade surface is worn, it is necessary to replace the cutter blade itself (the entire blade surface).

  From such a viewpoint, conventionally, means for improving the durability of the cutter blade has been proposed. In Patent Document 1, in a cutting apparatus that cuts a recording medium by running a cutter blade in a direction that intersects the conveyance direction, the protrusion amount of the cutter blade can be switched stepwise, and a portion used for cutting the cutter blade surface is disclosed. A configuration that switches in a predetermined order is disclosed. By switching the region used for cutting the blade surface in this way, it is possible to prevent the unused portion of the blade surface from being damaged and to use the cutter effectively without waste.

JP 2001-001292 A

  However, in such a conventional technique, since a specific region of the blade surface is intensively used in one cutting operation, wear of the cutter blade surface proceeds locally and rapidly. Moreover, even if the area used for cutting the blade surface can be switched, in order to cope with the recent improvement in high-speed, large-volume printing processes and maintenance, there has been a demand for further improvement in cutter blade durability. . Further, in the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to reciprocate the cutter blade at least over the entire width of the recording medium in one cutting operation, and there is a limitation in the cutting speed in that case, so high-speed continuous cutting can be realized. It was difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of such technical problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a cutter unit that can improve the durability of the cutter blade by making the cutting frequency uniform in the entire region of the cutter blade surface, and can easily realize high-speed continuous cutting. An image forming apparatus is provided.

  The present invention relates to a cutter unit having a fixed blade and a movable blade that are cut in a direction intersecting a conveyance direction of a recording medium in an image forming apparatus that records an image on a conveyed recording medium by a recording head, and conveys the cutter unit. Moving means for moving in a direction crossing the direction, and control means for controlling the moving means so as to move the cutter unit to a plurality of cutting positions according to the distribution of the cutting use frequency of the cutter blade surface. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a cutter unit that can improve the durability of the cutter blade by making the cutting frequency uniform over the entire region of the cutter blade surface, and can easily realize high-speed continuous cutting. An image forming apparatus is provided.

1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus including a cutting device according to an embodiment. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an image forming apparatus including a cutting device according to an embodiment. Front view of cutter unit according to one embodiment Sectional view (a) of moving table and guide shaft when moving cutter unit, and sectional view of moving table and guide shaft when cutting recording medium with cutter unit (b) 1 is a block diagram of a control unit of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. Flowchart of cutting operation according to the first embodiment for achieving uniform degradation over the entire blade surface Graph (a) of distribution of cutting use frequency over the entire blade surface, and graph (b) of scheduled cutting use frequency of an area to be used for cutting from now on Graph showing changes contrary to the uniform use frequency of cutting across the entire blade surface A graph showing the change in the direction of uniform use of cutting across the entire blade surface The perspective view of the image forming apparatus when the cutter is moved in the F1 direction to switch the cutting area of the blade surface The perspective view of the image forming apparatus when the cutter is moved in the F2 direction to switch the cutting area of the blade surface The perspective view of the image forming apparatus when the cutting area of the blade surface is not switched Flowchart of cutting operation according to the second embodiment for achieving uniform degradation over the entire blade surface

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus provided with a cutting apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the image forming apparatus provided with a cutting apparatus according to an embodiment. 1 and 2 show a case where the image forming apparatus 100 is a line type, and a recording head 3 having a length that covers the entire width of the recording medium is used. The illustrated image forming apparatus 100 is an inkjet recording apparatus that records an image by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles provided in a recording head based on image information. Further, the illustrated ink jet recording apparatus is for color recording, and the recording head 3 includes four recording heads 3Bk, 3Y, 3M, and 3C that discharge black, yellow, magenta, and cyan inks in parallel in the transport direction. Configured.

  A platen 4 that supports the recording medium to be conveyed is disposed at a position facing the nozzle surface (ink ejection surface) of the recording head 3 with a predetermined gap. As the recording medium, roll paper 7 unwound from the roll paper holder 8 of the paper supply unit 9 is used. Conveying rollers 5d, 5c, 5b, and 5a are arranged between the recording heads and on the downstream side of the recording head on the most downstream side of the conveyance. Each transport roller is provided with a pinch roller 6d, 6c, 6b, 6a that is driven to rotate. These pinch rollers generate a conveying force by being pressed against each conveying roller by an elastic biasing force. Between the paper feed unit 9 and the recording head 3, a paper feed roller pair 10 including a driving roller and a driven roller for feeding the roll paper 7 to the image forming unit is disposed. The paper feed roller pair 10 is driven by a drive source such as a stepping motor (not shown).

  A cutter unit 2 for cutting the roll paper is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance roller 5a at the most downstream side of the conveyance. The cutter unit 2 is mounted so as to be movable along a guide shaft 13 arranged in a direction intersecting (usually orthogonal) with the conveyance direction by a moving means controlled by the control unit 150. The cutter unit 2 moves (oscillates) between a fixed blade 11 disposed in the width direction of the roll paper 7, a standby position away from the fixed blade 11 across the conveyance path, and a cutting position overlapping the fixed blade 11. The movable blade 12 is provided, and a drive motor 17 and a transmission mechanism for driving the movable blade 12 are provided. The recording medium 7 is cut by moving the moving blade 12 from the standby position toward the cutting position overlapping the fixed blade 11.

  The cutter unit 2 is configured by mounting elements such as a fixed blade 11, a movable blade 12, a drive motor 17, and a transmission mechanism thereof on a moving table 14. By moving the moving table 14 along the guide shaft 13 by a moving means (not shown), the position of the cutter unit 2 when cutting the recording medium (the cutting position in the direction crossing the transport direction) can be switched. ing. The cutting device 50 includes a plurality of moving units 15 for moving the cutter unit 2 in a direction intersecting the conveying direction, and a plurality of cutter units 2 according to the distribution of the cutting use frequency of the cutter (the fixed blade 11 or the movable blade 12). Control means (a part of the control means 150) for controlling the moving means 15 so as to move to the cutting position.

  The control means 150 moves the cutter unit 2 by an input means for inputting the width of the recording medium, a movement amount determination means 24 for determining the movement amount of the cutter unit 2, and a movement amount determined by the movement amount determination means 24. Movement amount control means 16 to be moved. The moving amount determining means 24 determines the moving amount of the cutter unit 2 so that deterioration due to the use frequency in the entire length of the cutter blade surface of the cutter unit 2 is made uniform. Then, the movement amount control means 16 drives the movement means 15 by the determined movement amount to move the cutter unit 2.

  The cutting device 50 will be described more specifically. The cutting device 50 includes a movement control unit 16 that controls the movement of the cutter unit 2 by the moving unit 15 driven by the drive source 23. The movement amount of the cutter unit 2 is controlled by information given from the movement amount determination means 24 to the movement control means 16. The fixed blade 11 is fixed to holding members 18 a and 18 b fixed to the front and rear end portions of the movable table 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the movable blade 12 is attached at one end so as to be swingable around a fulcrum 31 provided on the holding member 18 a, and at the other end via a pin 32 with respect to the movable blade plate 21. It is slidably connected in the direction of arrows E1-E2.

  The movable blade plate 21 is supported by the holding member 18b so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum 33. A driving motor 17 for driving the cutting operation of the movable blade 12 is attached to the holding member 18b. An eccentric pin 20 is provided at a position displaced in the radial direction from the axis of the output shaft 19 of the drive motor 17, and the eccentric pin 20 is slidable with respect to a slot-like long hole 22 formed in the movable blade plate 21. Is engaged. When the eccentric pin 20 rotates around the output shaft 19 by driving the drive motor 17, the eccentric plate 20 slides along the long hole 22, so that the movable plate 21 swings (pivots) around the fulcrum 33. . Then, the movable blade 12 slidably connected to the movable blade plate 21 via the pin 32 oscillates around a fulcrum 31 in a predetermined angle range. As a result, the movable blade 12 moves between a standby position facing the fixed blade 11 across the conveyance path and a cutting position where the movable blade 12 cuts the recording medium while overlapping the fixed blade 11. That is, the cutting operation of the cutter unit 2 can be controlled by controlling the drive motor 17.

  The cutter unit 2 can switch the cutting position when the recording medium 7 is cut by moving the cutter unit 2 along the guide shaft 13 in the direction of the arrow F1-F2. That is, the cutting position in the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the cutter unit 2 can be switched to a predetermined position by controlling the driving of the moving unit 15 by the driving source 23 such as a motor by the movement control unit 16. As the moving means 15, for example, a transmission mechanism that is driven via a timing belt wound around an idler pulley, a rack and pinion transmission mechanism, or the like is used, but other transmission systems may be used.

  FIG. 4A is a sectional view of the moving table and the guide shaft when the cutter unit is moved, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view of the moving table and the guide shaft when the recording medium is cut by the cutter unit. . A bearing hole 34 is formed in the movable table 14 of the cutter unit 2, and the bearing hole 34 is slidably fitted to the guide shaft 13. Further, by engaging the groove portion 36 formed on the moving table 14 with the protrusion 35 formed on the upper portion of the guide shaft 13, the moving table 14 is positioned with a predetermined play in the rotation direction with respect to the guide shaft 13. It is regulated and fitted so as to be movable in the vertical direction. A V-shaped portion 37 having a V-shaped cross section is provided in the lower half portion of the bearing hole 34, and when the cutter unit 2 is biased upward, line contact is made at two locations 38a and 38b on the peripheral surface of the guide shaft 13 ( Point contact is seen in the cross section.

  In the present embodiment, an urging means (not shown) capable of urging the cutter unit 2 upward is provided, and the V-shaped portion 37 is guided by urging the cutter unit 2 when cutting the recording medium. It is configured to abut against the shaft 13. The two surfaces forming the V-shaped portion 37 have an angle of 45 degrees to 135 degrees, and the bisectors connecting the points where they abut against the guide shaft 13 are pressed (in FIG. 4B). It is possible to press the movable table 14 with a spring as indicated by the arrow G in FIG. According to such a configuration, the force efficiently acts on the two surfaces where the bearing hole 34 is in contact with the guide shaft 13, which is effective in regulating the position of the cutter unit 2. The pressing means of the cutter unit 2 may be other means such as a pressing means using a cam.

  The cutter unit 2 is pressed and the V-shaped portion 37 is abutted against the guide shaft 13 only after the cutter unit 2 has moved to the cutting position. This is because, when the cutter unit 2 is moving, it becomes a sliding resistance, so it is preferable to release the pressed state. With such a configuration, the guide shaft 13 is positioned along the guide shaft 13 without being displaced in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow HH ′ in FIG. 4B), and the roll paper 7 and the cutter unit 2 are positioned. It is possible to accurately maintain the perpendicularity to the. Therefore, it is possible to accurately define the perpendicularity when cutting the roll paper, and it is possible to eliminate the variation in perpendicularity of the cut end portion of the recording medium.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control unit 150 of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a cutting operation for making the deterioration of the cutter blade surface of the cutter unit uniform. FIG. 7A is a graph of the distribution of the cutting use frequency over the entire blade surface of the cutter, and FIG. 7B is a graph of the planned cutting use frequency of the region to be used from now on the blade surface of the cutter. FIG. 8 is a graph showing changes contrary to the uniform use frequency of cutting across the cutter blade surface. FIG. 9 is a graph showing a change in the direction of equalizing the cutting use frequency of the cutter blade surface. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus when the cutter is moved in the F1 direction in order to switch the cutting area of the cutter blade surface. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus when the cutter is moved in the F2 direction to switch the cutting area of the cutter blade surface.

  Below, the operation | movement for equalizing deterioration of the blade surface of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12 is demonstrated along the flowchart of FIG. This operation is controlled by the control unit 150 in FIG. First, in step S <b> 1, the distribution of the cutting use frequency (cumulative total number of cuttings so far) over the entire blade surface of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12 is calculated by the control unit 150 from the nonvolatile memory 26 in the driver circuit 25. read out. The measured value of the distribution of the cutting use frequency over the entire blade surface is updated each time cutting is performed and is sequentially stored in the nonvolatile memory 26. Here, it is assumed that the distribution of the cutting use frequency in the current entire blade surface is a polygonal line I as shown in FIG.

  After reading (measuring) the cutting use frequency distribution as in graph I from the nonvolatile memory 26, in step S2, the width of the recording medium input from the UI screen is detected, and the width of the recording medium to be cut next. Based on the above, the planned cutting use area of the blade surface is calculated. This recording medium width detection method is performed using an optical sensor or the like, but other methods may be used. A broken line (graph) J in FIG. 7B shows the planned cutting use frequency when cutting the calculated cutting use area (when cutting a 6-inch width recording medium). In each cutting area of the blade surface, the sum of the current cutting use frequency and the planned cutting use frequency is the cutting use frequency after cutting. Next, in step S3, an effective blade for uniformizing the degradation of the entire cutter blade surface based on the actual cutting usage frequency distribution (polygonal line I) and the scheduled cutting usage area usage frequency (polygonal line J). Calculate the usage area of the surface. That is, if the roll paper is cut in any region in the blade surface of the cutter composed of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12, the maximum cutting use frequency (MAX. In FIG. 7A) and the minimum cutting use in the entire blade surface. It is calculated whether the value of the difference Δ from the frequency (MIN. In FIG. 7A) can be minimized.

  FIG. 8 shows a case where an area including the maximum cutting use frequency (MAX.) Is selected as the cutting area. In FIG. 8, the broken line I and the broken line J are overlapped so that the cut use frequency distribution after cutting is indicated by the broken line K, and the difference Δ between the maximum cut use frequency and the minimum cut use frequency is the value before cutting ( It is larger than Δ) in FIG. In FIG. 8, because the selection of the scheduled cutting use area is wrong, the difference between the maximum cutting use frequency after cutting and the minimum cutting use frequency cannot be minimized, and the deterioration of the entire blade surface is made uniform. The case where this is not possible is shown for reference.

  In the present embodiment, an area including the minimum cutting use frequency (MIN.) Is selected as the use area of the cutter blade surface. According to such selection, as shown in FIG. 9, in the broken line L of the cutting use frequency distribution after cutting, the difference Δ between the maximum cutting use frequency (MAX.) And the minimum cutting use frequency (MIN.) The value is minimized. Therefore, in step S4, in order to cut the roll paper using the blade surface area where the difference Δ between the calculated maximum cutting use frequency (MAX.) And the minimum cutting use frequency (MIN.) Is minimum, the guide The amount of movement of the cutter unit 2 along the shaft 13 is determined. The determination of the movement amount is performed by the movement amount determination means 24 (FIG. 2) of the control means 150.

  Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the determined movement amount is zero. When the movement amount is 0, the process proceeds to step S7, and the cutting operation is performed at that position without moving the cutter unit 2. On the other hand, if the movement amount is not 0, the process proceeds to step S6, and the movement control unit 16 operates the movement unit 15 to move the cutter unit 2 in the predetermined direction by the movement amount. In step S7, the cutter unit 2 performs a cutting operation at the position after the movement.

  When cutting the roll paper 7, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the cutter unit 2 is moved in the direction intersecting the transport direction by the movement amount (including the movement amount 0) determined by the movement amount determination means 24. . FIG. 10 shows a state in which the roll paper 7 is cut at the cutting edge surface area of the cutter blade (the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12). When the cutting use frequency of the area near the tip of the cutter blade is less than the area on the base side of the cutter blade, the cutter unit 2 is moved in the direction of the arrow F1 to control cutting at the area near the tip of the cutter blade. . On the other hand, even in the case of the same roll paper 7, when the cutting use frequency in the region near the tip of the cutter blade is higher than the region on the root side of the cutter blade, the cutter unit 2 is moved in the direction of arrow F2 as shown in FIG. It is controlled to move and cut using the area close to the root of the cutter blade. In this way, by switching the usage area according to the usage frequency of each area of the blade surface, the usage frequency in the entire blade surface can be made uniform as much as possible, while preventing local early deterioration of the blade surface for a long period of time. The cutter blade can be used effectively.

  In the present embodiment, the planned cutting use frequency of the planned cutting use area is calculated based on the data of one area of the recording medium to be recorded and cut. However, this may calculate the scheduled cutting use frequency based on the recording / cutting data for two or more sheets, such as each job unit, and determine the use area of the blade surface, which is the moving frequency of the cutter unit 2 This is advantageous for high-speed image formation.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in order to make the cutting use frequency in the entire blade surface of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12 as uniform as possible, the maximum cutting use frequency (MAX.) And the minimum cutting use frequency (MIN.) Are two. One data is used. However, this may be configured such that the cutting area of the blade surface is selected so as to suppress variation in overall cutting usage frequency based on the distribution pattern of cutting usage frequency. In any case, various methods can be adopted as long as the method can make the cutting use frequency in the entire blade surface uniform as much as possible based on the actual cutting use frequency and the planned cutting use frequency.

  In the above description, the uniform use frequency of cutting when two types of roll paper of 6 inch width and 12 inch width are cut has been described. However, in the above cutting operation, what is the width dimension? In addition, even if there are three or more width dimensions, the same applies. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the roll paper 7 is conveyed by center feeding with the center in the width direction as a reference has been described. The same applies to the case of paper conveyance.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a cutting operation according to the second embodiment for making the deterioration of the entire blade surface of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12 uniform. Next, the cutting operation according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. First, the width of the recording medium (scheduled cutting width) input by the user from the UI screen is detected (step S21), and the width of the recording medium is compared with the length of the half of the blade surface of the fixed blade 11 (step S22). ). When the width of the recording medium is larger than half of the blade surface of the fixed blade 11, it is confirmed whether or not the current position of the cutter unit 2 is the center (home position) in the width direction (direction intersecting the transport direction). (Step S23). If the current position is not the center, the cutter unit 2 is moved to the center (step S24). On the other hand, when the cutter unit 2 is located at the center (home position), the recording medium (roll paper) 7 is cut in the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 12 without moving the cutter unit (step S31). . In this case, since the total length of the blade surfaces of the fixed blade 11 and the movable blade 12 of the cutter unit 2 is greater than or at least the same as the width of the recording medium, by positioning the cutter unit 2 at the center as shown in FIG. The entire width of the recording medium can be cut.

  If the width of the recording medium is smaller than half of the entire length of the fixed blade 11, the current position of the cutter unit 2 is read (step S25), and the area of the fixed blade 11 on the arrow F1 side or the arrow F2 side is half. The moving amount and moving direction of the cutter unit 2 are calculated and determined so as to cut the recording medium 7 (step S26). In the present embodiment, the movement amount of the cutter unit 2 is changed based on the nonvolatile memory 26 that stores information on the number of times of cutting of each region in the entire blade surface length of the cutters 11 and 12 and the width and the number of times of cutting of the recording medium 7. Moving amount changing means is provided. And it is discriminate | determined whether the moving amount determined by the moving amount change means is 0 (step S27). If it is not 0, the cutter unit 2 is moved by the amount of movement (step S28), and the recording medium is cut at the position after the movement (step S31). The movement operation of the cutter unit 2 at this time is executed by controlling the drive source 23 (FIG. 2) by the movement control means 16 (FIG. 2) and driving the movement means 15 (FIG. 2) by the drive source 23. .

  On the other hand, if the amount of movement is 0 in step S27, it is determined whether or not the cutting number of the cutter unit 2 up to the present position at the same position has reached the set number (100 in this embodiment) (step S29). . The determination of the set number of times is based on the number of cuttings held in the nonvolatile memory 26 (FIG. 5) that updates and holds the number of repeated cuttings at the same position after the cutter unit 2 moves in the directions of arrows F1 and F2. Based on. When the number of times of cutting has reached 100 times, the recording medium 7 is moved in the half area on the F1 side or F2 side of the fixed blade 11 by the moving amount changing means in order to switch the cutting area on the cutter blade surface. The moving amount and moving direction of the cutter unit 2 are calculated and determined so as to be cut (step S30). Then, the cutter unit 2 is moved by the amount of movement (step S28), and the recording medium is cut at the position after the movement (step S31). The moving operation of the cutter unit 2 at this time is also similar to the above, in which the driving control unit 16 (FIG. 2) controls the driving source 23 (FIG. 2) and the driving source 23 drives the moving unit 15 (FIG. 2). It is executed by. If the number of cuts has not reached 100 in step S29, the recording medium 7 is cut without moving the cutter unit 2 (step S31). Other configurations and operations of the present embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment described above.

  In the second embodiment, the cutter unit 2 is moved at the number of times of cutting 100 times to switch the cutting area of the blade surface of the cutter. The conditions for the number of times of cutting are the strength of the blade surface, the main recording medium It varies depending on the rigidity, thickness, etc., and can be set as appropriate according to the case. As a means for detecting the width of the recording medium, a method using an optical sensor or the like may be used, or another method may be used. In the present embodiment, the case where the recording medium 7 is transported by center feeding with reference to the center in the width direction has been described. However, the above-described cutting operation may be performed by other sheet feeding transport such as one-sided butted feeding or one-sided butted transportation The same applies to the case of.

  Note that the present invention can be similarly applied regardless of a recording method such as a line type only by sub-scanning by conveying a recording medium, or a serial type in which main scanning is performed in a direction intersecting the conveying direction by a recording head. The present invention is not limited to the case where the recording medium is a long sheet such as roll paper, and the same applies to the case where a recording medium of another form such as a cut sheet cut to a predetermined size is used. It is applicable to. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied regardless of the size of the recording medium, the type of the width of the recording medium, the number of recording heads, the type of ink used and the number of properties. Furthermore, the present invention can be similarly applied regardless of the material of the recording medium such as paper, plastic film, photographic paper, and non-woven fabric.

2 Cutter unit 3 Recording head 4 Platen 5 Transport roller 7 Recording medium (roll paper)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Fixed blade 12 Movable blade 13 Guide shaft 14 Moving stand 15 Moving means 16 Movement control means 17 Drive motor 24 Movement amount determination means 50 Cutting apparatus 100 Image forming apparatus 150 Control means

Claims (6)

In an image forming apparatus for recording an image on a transported recording medium with a recording head,
A cutter unit having a fixed blade and a movable blade for cutting in a direction intersecting with the conveyance direction of the recording medium;
Moving means for moving the cutter unit in a direction crossing the conveying direction;
Control means for controlling the moving means so as to move the cutter unit to a plurality of cutting positions according to the distribution of the cutting use frequency of the cutter blade surface;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The control means moves the cutter unit by the movement amount determined by the input means for inputting the width of the recording medium, the movement amount determination means for determining the movement amount of the cutter unit, and the movement amount determination means. A movement control means,
The moving amount determining means determines the moving amount of the cutter unit so that deterioration due to the use frequency in the entire length of the cutter blade surface of the cutter unit is made uniform.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movement control unit drives the movement unit by the determined movement amount to move the cutter unit.   The cutter unit includes a fixed blade arranged in a width direction of the recording medium, and a movable blade movable from a standby position away from the fixed blade toward a cutting position overlapping with the fixed blade. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. In order to guide the movement of the cutter unit, provided with a guide shaft arranged in a direction crossing the conveyance direction of the recording medium,
The cutter unit includes a moving table having a V-shaped portion having a V-shaped cross section that can slide with the guide shaft, and an urging means for abutting the V-shaped portion against the guide shaft,
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the V-shaped portion is abutted against the guide shaft when the recording medium is cut. 5. The control means includes
Dividing the entire length of the cutter blade of the cutter unit into a plurality of areas and measuring the cutting use frequency in each area,
Calculate the expected cutting use frequency of each area when the recording medium is cut after measurement of the cutting use frequency,
Based on the cutting usage frequency and the scheduled cutting usage frequency, the cutting blade surface of the cutter is cut so that the cutting usage frequency of each region of the cutting blade surface after the recording medium is cut is equalized. Select the area to use,
5. The movement amount of the cutter unit is determined so as to move the cutter unit to a position at which the recording medium is cut in the selected region of the blade surface of the cutter. The image forming apparatus described in 1. The control means includes
A memory for storing information on the number of times of cutting of each area of the cutter blade surface;
A moving amount changing means for changing the moving amount of the cutter unit based on the width of the recording medium and the number of times of cutting;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images