EP0518712B1 - Ergonomic printer on board aircraft cockpit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ergonomic printer which can be used in particular, but not exclusively, on board the cockpit of an aerodyne.

In general, we know that, within the framework of the pilot / on-board computer dialogue of an aerodyne, the use of a printer is more and more frequent.

This printer allows in particular the printing of messages or graphics (for example a flight plan or a geographic map) without disturbing the information presented on the displays used in the cockpit.

However, it turns out that conventional printers require complex manipulations, difficult to execute by a pilot seated at the controls of his aerodyne and whose two hands are rarely available at the same time.

This is in particular the case with the operations of loading, unloading or even cleaning the printer.

Indeed, the paper used in this type of printer is in the form of a rolled up strip constituting a roll.

When loading, this roller must be introduced into a magazine while its free end must be correctly engaged in the drive and guide system which ensures the controlled passage of paper in the printing area of the printer (area of passage of a print head).

This loading operation, which requires the use of both hands, is made all the more delicate since the extreme edge of the strip is rarely cut straight but is frequently torn and has serrations.

The introduction of this serrated edge into the access hole of the guide system (in general a narrow slot) is therefore particularly difficult.

This is particularly the case of the printer described in European patent application No. 0 401 036 which does not make any provision allowing the automatic engagement of the paper in the drive and guide system of the printer.

The invention therefore more particularly aims to eliminate these drawbacks, thanks to a printer whose structure and mode of use are specially designed so that all manipulations, including loading and cleaning operations can be performed with one hand, requiring the pilot's attention only for a very short time.

To achieve this result, it offers a printer comprising, delimited by a support structure, a magazine capable of containing a roll of paper, this magazine comprising means making it possible to support the roller while allowing its free rotation around a determined axis, the introduction of the roller into the magazine taking place by means of an access orifice formed in a front wall of the structure and through which the rollers can be translated while remaining substantially parallel to said axis, coding means being provided so that the roller cannot be engaged on the support means only in one direction.

According to the invention, this printer is characterized in that it comprises means for extracting the paper which act on the roller in a region of the latter substantially opposite to the access orifice, these extraction means being associated with guide means making it possible to bring the strip successively to a drive device, to a printing station and then to an outlet slot formed in the front wall.

• soit en prévoyant des moyens permettant d'assurer une mobilité en translation de la bobine de manière à ce qu'elle vienne en appui sur ledit bord sous l'effet de son propre poids,
• soit en utilisant un déflecteur élastiquement déformable.

Advantageously, the abovementioned extraction means may consist of a deflector, the front edge of which bears along a generator of the coil. In this case, the contact between this edge and the coil is kept during the course:

• either by providing means making it possible to ensure translational mobility of the coil so that it comes to bear on said edge under the effect of its own weight,
• either by using an elastically deformable deflector.

The guide means associated with the deflector may include a first guide plate located in the extension of the deflector and a second guide plate which can, for example, constitute the bottom of the magazine and which delimits, with the deflector / first plate assembly, a decreasing thickness space, in which the paper strip scrolls.

The drive means may, for their part, consist of a conventional capstan, driven by a stepping motor. not and directly associated with a print head (for example a thermal head).

Advantageously, the orifice for access to the paper tray is closed by a tilting cover which delimits, at least partially, said slot and which cooperates with a micro-switch, while a detector for the presence of paper is arranged at the inlet of the printing device.

• l'ouverture du couvercle et l'introduction du rouleau de papier dans le magasin,
• l'engagement de l'extrémité libre du papier dans les moyens de guidage, par une simple rotation du rouleau réalisable manuellement, jusqu'à ce qu'elle vienne en prise sur les moyens d'entraînement et soit détectée par le détecteur de présence,
• une première mise en oeuvre des moyens d'entraînement déclenchée à la suite de cette détection, pour entraîner une longueur de papier suffisante pour que son extrémité libre ressorte, de façon visible dans le magasin,
• la fermeture du couvercle qui, par le biais du microinterrupteur, inverse, dans un premier temps, l'action des moyens d'entraînement, pour provoquer le recul du papier, puis, dans un second temps, commande une nouvelle avance du papier pour l'amener en position de début d'impression, avec son extrémité engagée dans la fente.

The control of the drive means of this printer can then be carried out by a microprocessor programmed so as to be able to obtain a paper loading cycle comprising the following steps:

• opening the cover and inserting the paper roll into the magazine,
• the engagement of the free end of the paper in the guide means, by a simple rotation of the roller which can be carried out manually, until it comes into engagement with the drive means and is detected by the presence detector,
• a first implementation of the drive means triggered following this detection, to drive a length of paper sufficient for its free end to come out, in a visible manner in the magazine,
• closing the cover which, by means of the microswitch, reverses, firstly, the action of the drive means, to cause the paper to fall back, then, in a second time, orders a new advance of the paper for the 'bring to the start printing position, with its end engaged in the slot.

It is clear that this loading process has the advantage of requiring only extremely simple manual interventions requiring the attention of the operator only for very short moments.

In addition, before closing the cover, the operator can make sure that the paper is correctly engaged and that there is no jamming.

The double withdrawal / advance movement then makes it possible to remove any possible jamming jam and to ensure that the paper follows a correct path in the printer.

Another important advantage of this printer is that it does not require, to carry out a loading, a frank and straight cutting of the extreme edge of the strip. Any cutting, possibly made by tearing, may suffice.

• La figure 1 est une coupe transversale d'une imprimante selon l'invention ;
• Les figures 2 à 5 sont des représentations schématiques de l'imprimante représentée figure 1, qui permettent d'illustrer ses différentes phases de fonctionnement ;
• La figure 6 montre une bobine en perspective avec, rabattus dans le plan de cette figure, les profils des éléments de montage rotatif, avec détrompage, de cette bobine.

An embodiment of the invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a cross section of a printer according to the invention;
• Figures 2 to 5 are schematic representations of the printer shown in Figure 1, which illustrate its different operating phases;
• Figure 6 shows a coil in perspective with, folded in the plane of this figure, the profiles of the rotary mounting elements, with polarization, of this coil.

In this example, the printer is mounted inside a substantially parallelepipedic box 1. It is intended to be embedded in a housing provided for this purpose in a panel 2 of the cockpit of an aerodyne, so that only the front face 3 of the printer is visible and accessible by the pilot.

This front face 3 comprises, on one side, a control panel 4 of the printer on which are mounted the various control and display elements, and on the other side, an orifice 5 giving access to a paper magazine 6.

This orifice 5 is closable by a cover 7 articulated on the control panel 4 and provided with a slot 8 for the passage of paper.

Of course, the orifice 5 has a suitable surface to allow the passage of a paper roll 9 provided with its pins 10, 11, such as, for example, that which is shown in FIG. 6.

The paper magazine 6 has a horizontal section of rectangular shape, substantially the dimensions of the orifice 5 which constitutes the upper face thereof.

It has two parallel longitudinal sides 12, 13 which are substantially vertical, two transverse sides 14 and a bottom 15 of curved transverse profile, of concavity oriented towards the interior of the magazine 6.

The two transverse sides 14 of the magazine 6 are respectively provided with two substantially coaxial half-bearings 16, 17 and open upwards, intended to receive the pins 10, 11 of the paper roll 9.

These two half-bearings 16, 17 are each extended upward by two ribs 18, 19 which widen, which serve to ensure, during loading, the guiding of the pins 10, 11 to the half-bearings (FIG. 6).

To ensure that the unwinding of the paper rolls 9 inside the magazine 6 can only be carried out in the same direction, the two pins 10, 11 and the two corresponding half-bearings 16, 17 have diameters different.

Parallel to the bottom 15, is arranged a curved deflector 21, articulated on the longitudinal side 13 of the magazine 6 and subjected to the action of a spring 22 so that its edge 23 (opposite the articulation) comes constantly s 'apply along a generatrix of the paper roll 9, regardless of the diameter of this roll 9.

This deflector 21 defines with the bottom 15 an intermediate space 24 in which the paper is guided in the direction of a paper drive device associated with a printing device.

In this example, the drive device is constituted by a capstan 25 of the conventional type driven by a gear motor 26 of the step type, by means of a pinion. The printing device in turn involves a movable print head 28 along a generator of the capstan 25.

At the entrance to the assembly formed by the capstan 25 and the print head 28, there is a sensor 29 for the presence of paper.

At the outlet of this assembly, the paper is guided between the movable and stationary knives 30, 31 of a cutter, in the direction of an outlet slot 8 formed in the cover 7.

A limit switch contact 36 makes it possible to detect the closed position of the cover 7.

The printer's electronic control circuits are carried by printed circuit boards placed in the space between the bottom of the magazine and the bottom of the case. In this example, these circuits involve a central unit card 41, an extension card 40 and a power supply card 42 associated with a capacitor-reservoir 43.

The loading of the printer previously described, and which is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, comprises the following phases:
During a first phase, the operator opens the cover 7 and introduces a coil 9 into the magazine 6 so that the pins 10, 11 engage in the corresponding half-bearings 16, 17. In this position, the free edge 23 of the deflector 21 comes to bear on a generator of the coil 9.

Once this operation is complete, the operator rotates the reel 9 in the direction of the arrow F₁ so that the free end 44 of the paper strip comes to engage and is guided in the intermediate space 24 between the deflector 21 and the bottom 15 (Figure 2).

The operator continues his action until the end 44 of the strip engages between the capstan 25 and the print head 28.

In this position, the detector 29 detects the presence of the paper strip and causes the motor 26 to rotate in the paper advance direction.

Under the effect of the capstan 25, the paper strip is driven until it reaches a visible position in the magazine 6 (FIG. 4). The engine 26 stops and the cover 7 closes.

• une première phase de marche arrière du moteur 26 qui est destinée à ramener le bord libre de la bande de papier, juste à la sortie du cabestan 25,
• une deuxième phase de marche avant du moteur 26 qui amène la bande de papier en position début d'impression, avec son extrémité libre 44 passant par la fente de sortie 8.

When, at the end of closing, the cover 7 requests the contact 36, the latter controls an operating cycle of the stepping motor 26 which comprises:

• a first reverse phase of the motor 26 which is intended to bring the free edge of the paper strip, just at the exit of the capstan 25,
• a second phase of forward movement of the motor 26 which brings the paper strip into the printing start position, with its free end 44 passing through the output slot 8.

The printer is now ready to use.

Advantageously, the control panel 4 may comprise, in addition to the conventional on / off button, the cutter control button, etc., a button causing a cleaning process.

Once actuated, this cleaning button can initiate a sequence of forward / reverse running of the motor 26 until the cleaning is carried out.

Claims (12)

1. Ergonomic printer suitable for use in the cockpit of an aircraft, said printer comprising, delimited by a support structure (1), a magazine (6) adapted to contain a roll of paper (9), said magazine comprising means (16, 17) for supporting said roll (9) while enabling it to rotate freely about a predetermined axis, said roll being inserted into said magazine through an access orifice (5) in a front wall (3) of the structure (1) through which the rolls can be moved in translation whilst remaining in a position substantially parallel to said axis, polarizing means being provided so that said paper roll can only be inserted into said support means (16, 17) in a single direction,
   characterized in that it comprises paper extraction means (21) which operate on said paper roll (9) in a region thereof substantially opposite said access orifice (5) said paper extraction means (21) being associated with guide means for feeding said paper sucessively to a feed device (25), a print station (28) and an outlet slot (8) in said front wall (3).
2. Printer according to claim 1,
   characterized in that said extractor means comprise a deflector (21) whose anterior edge (23) bears on said paper roll (9) along a generatrix thereof.
3. Printer according to claim 2,
   characterized in that contact is maintained between said edge (23) and said paper roll (9) during unwinding by means enabling movement in translation of said paper roll (9).
4. Printer according to claim 2,
   characterized in that contact is maintained between said edge (23) and said paper roll (9) during unwinding by virtue of the fact that said deflector (21) is elastically deformable.
5. Printer according to claim 2,
   characterized in that contact is maintained between said edge (23) and said paper roll (9) during unwinding by virtue of the fact that said deflector (21) is hinged and is returned by elastic means (22) against said paper roll (9).
6. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that said guide means associated with said deflector (21) comprise a first guide plate aligned with said deflector and a second guide plate constituting the bottom (15) of said magazine (6), said second plate delimiting with the combination of said deflector and said first plate an intermediate space (24) of decreasing thickness in which said paper moves.
7. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that said access orifice (5) to said paper magazine (6) is closed by a hinged lid (7) which delimits at least partly said slot (8).
8. Printer according to claim 7,
   characterized in that it comprises a switch (36) adapted to sense the closed position of said lid (7).
9. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that it comprises a paper present sensor (29) at the entry of said print device (28).
10. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
    characterized in that printer operation is controlled by a microprocessor programmed to be able to instruct a paper loading cycle comprising the following stages :

    - opening of said lid (7) and insertion of said paper roll (9) into said magazine (6),

    - insertion of the free end (44) of said paper into said guide means (15, 21) by simple manual rotation of said paper roll (9) until it is engaged with said feed means (25) and is sensed by said paper present sensor (29),

    - a first actuation of said feed means (26) initiated by said detection to feed a sufficient length of said paper for its free end (44) to emerge visibly into said magazine (6),

    - closing of said lid (7) which by operating said microswitch (36) reverses said feed means (26) initially to retract said paper and subsequently to feed said paper again to a start of printing position with its end inserted in said slot (8).
11. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
    characterized in that it comprises jam clearing control means adapted to initiate a forward/reverse sequence of movement of said feed means (26).
12. Printer according to one of the preceding claims,
    characterized in that said paper roll (9) comprises two coaxial support journals of different diameters (10, 11) and said supports comprise two half-bearings (16, 17) matching the respective diameters of said support journals (10, 11).

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