GB2142879A

GB2142879A - Paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record

Info

Publication number: GB2142879A
Application number: GB08409176A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Naoyuki Maruyama
Original assignee: Epson Corp
Current assignee: Epson Corp
Priority date: 1983-04-12
Filing date: 1984-04-09
Publication date: 1985-01-30
Also published as: JPS59229371A; GB8409176D0

Abstract

A paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record, the said paper guide comprising a guide plate (13) provided with means (132) for pivotally mounting it on a case (2) of said apparatus, said guide plate (13) being adapted to be placed in an unraised position when the said apparatus is used for producing a record on a web of paper and being adapted to be placed in a raised position when the said apparatus is used for producing a record on a sheet of paper; supporting means (11) for supporting said guide plate (13) in said raised position; and edge guiding means (121, 122) for guiding the edges of the paper fed to said apparatus. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record The present invention relates to a paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record, e.g. apparatus such as a printer, a typewriter, a facsimile terminal equipment or the like. Although the invention is not so restricted, it relates more particularly to a paper guide for guiding both individual sheets of paper and a continuous web of paper to a printer or the like.

Although the present invention is primarily directed to any novel integer or step, or combination of integers or steps, as herein described and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings, nevertheless, according to one particular aspect of the present invention to which, however, the invention is in no way restricted, there is provided a paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record, the said paper guide comprising a guide plate provided with means for pivotally mounting it on a case of said apparatus, said guide plate being adapted to be placed in an unraised position when the said apparatus is used for producing a record on a web of paper and being adapted to be placed in a raised position when the said appartus is used for producing a record on a sheet of paper; supporting means for supporting said guide plate in said raised position; and edge guiding means for guiding the edges of the paper fed to said apparatus.

The said supporting means may include a pair of props angularly movably hinged to said guide plate for supporting the latter in said raised position. Moreover, the said guide plate may have a pair of grooves in which said props may be stowed away when the guide plate is in the unraised position.

The said edge guiding means may include at least one movable edge guiding plate, the or each movable edge guiding plate being slidable on said guide plate in accordance with the width of said fed paper.

The or each said movable edge guiding plate may have oppositely disposed hook and spring portions so as to be engaged with the guide plate. Moreover, the or each edge guiding plate may be detachably mounted on said guide plate. Alternatively, each said spring portion may include a stepped portion having an L-shaped cross-section for engagement with said guide plate.

Preferably, the or each said movable edge guiding plate and said hook and spring portions are integrally formed of a plastics material.

The said guide plate is preferably provided with a wall at each side edge thereof for preventing a movable edge guiding plate from sliding laterally off the guide plate. Preferably said guide plate and said walls are integrally formed of a plastics material.

The guide plate is preferably provided with a pair of hinge pins each of which is adapted to be mounted in a hole in the case of the printer to allow said guide plate to be angularly moved between the raised and unraised positions.

The invention also comprises apparatus for producing a record, e.g. a printer, a typewriter, facsimile terminal equipment or the like, provided with a paper guide as set forth above.

The invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a printer which is provided with a paper guide according to the present invention; Figures 2 and 3 are schematic views respectively showing the running paths of a sheet and of a web of paper when they are fed to the paper guide of the present invention; Figure 4 is a top plan view showing the paper guide of the present invention; Figure 5 is a back view of the paper guide shown in Fig. 4; Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI - VI of Fig. 4; Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the paper guide of the present invention; Figure 8 is a perspective view showing a printer using the separator of the prior art; and Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the paper guide of the prior art.

Terms such as "left", "right", "above", "upper", "lower", as used in the description below, are to be understood to refer to directions as seen in the respective Figures of the accompanying drawings.

A printer using a separator of the prior art is shown in perspective view in Fig. 8, the printer being fed with a continuous web of paper 1. According to this known construction, the paper web 1 is inserted into a case 2 of the printer from a clearance between the case 2 and a separator 3, is continuously or intermittently advanced by a paper advancing mechanism (not shown) disposed inside the case 2, and is discharged over the separator 3. When the printer is to be fed with a sheet of paper instead of with the paper web 1, the separator 3 is removed and a paper guide (not shown) is attached to the portion of the printer from which the separator 3 has been removed, or the paper guide is attached to the printer separately of the separator 3.

The aforementioned paper guide is composed, as shown in Fig. 9, of a pair of rails 4, rail holders 5, and a rail guide 6, and regulating plates 7 which are disposed above the foregoing components and which are slidable on the rails 4 in accordance with the width of the paper fed to the printer.

In the construction of the prior art thus far described it is necessary to provide both a separator for web paper and a paper guide for sheet paper which are separate from each other. If the prior art construction is used with a printer for a word processor or the like which has to be adapted to use either of the two types of paper, the attachment and detachment of the paper guide is troublesome and time-consuming. Moreover, the prior art paper guide itself has a complicated construction and is expensive.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a paper guide of simple construction and low cost which can act as both the separator for a continuous web of paper and as the paper guide for sheets of paper.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer which is provided with a paper guide 10 according to the present invention. In the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, a guide plate 1 3 of the paper guide 10 is raised and held at an inclination suitable for a sheet-fed operation by means of a pair of props 11.

Edge guiding plates 121 and 122 for guiding the edges of the paper 1 fed to the printer are slidably mounted on the guide plate 1 3 so that they can be moved to positions suitable to accommodate the width of the paper. If desired, the edge guiding plate 1 22 may be made stationary and not slidable if the print starting position (i.e.the left hand position) is fixed.

Figs. 2 and 3 are schematic views showing respectively the running paths of the sheet and web of paper when the paper guide of the present invention is used as the paper guide for the sheet paper and as the separator for the web paper.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing the paper guide of the present invention. The guide plate 13 is provided at each of its side edges with a stopper wall 131 for preventing the edge guiding plates 121, 122 from sliding laterally off of the side edges of the guide plate 13. The guide plate 1 3 is also provided with a pair of hinge pins 132 by which the guide plate 13 is pivotally mounted on the printer body 2. The guide plate 13, the stopper walls 131 and the hinge pins 132 are integrally formed of a plastics material. The edge guiding plates 121, 122 are slidably mounted on the guide plate 1 3 so that they can be moved in the directions of arrows A and B so as to regulate their spacing in accordance with the width of the fed paper.

The edge guiding plates 121, 122, have paper guide walls 123a, 123b at the right and left side edges, respectively. Moreover plates 124a, 1 24b respectively extend from the paper guide walls 123a, 123b for allowing the paper to be smoothly inserted into the printer without slackness.

Fig. 5 is a back view of the paper guide shown in Fig. 4. The edge guiding plates 121, 122 respectively have hook portions 121a, 121b, 122a, which are engage- able with the upper end face 1 33 of the guide plate 13, and also respectively have spring portions 121c, 121d, 122c, 122dwhich are engageable with the lower end face 1 34 of the guide plate 1 3. The edge guiding plates 121, 122 and their hook and spring portions are integrally formed of a plastics material.

Due to the resilient force of the spring portions 121c, 121 d, 122c, 122d, the edge guiding plates 1 21, 1 22 are detachably mounted on the guide plate 1 3 and can be stopped at any position according to the width of the paper. The hook portions 1 21 a, 121 b, 122a,122b are respectively vertically opposite to and are equally spaced from the spring portions 121c, 121 d, 122c, 122d. On the other hand, the upper and lower end faces 133, 1 34 are parallel to and are suitably spaced from each other. The edge guiding plates 121,122 are thus smoothly slidable in the lateral direction between the stopper walls 131 of the guide plate 13.The stopper walls 131 have, in their backs, grooves 135 in which the aforementioned props 11 are received. These props 11 are hingedly held by supporting holders 111 and are angularly movable around the latter. When the printer is fed with sheets of paper, the guide plate 1 3 of the paper guide 10 is held stable in an inclined or raised position by turning the props 11 and by retaining the ends 11 a of the props 11 in retaining portions 2a (as shown in Fig. 1) of the case 2 of the printer body. When the printer is fed with a web of paper, the props 11 are stowed away in the grooves 135 so that the guide plate 1 3 is in a non-inclined or unraised position.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line Vl-Vl of Fig. 4, i.e. along the centre line of the guide plate 1 3. The hook portion 121 b of the edge guiding plate 1 21 engages the end face 1 33 of the guide plate 1 3. The guide plate 13 is clamped by the spring portion 121 d at the other end face 1 34. The spring portion 121 d can, as shown, be formed with a stepped portion 14 having an L-shaped crosssection for engagement with the guide plate 13.

Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the paper guide of the present invention. As seen from Fig. 7, the hinge pins 1 32 of the guide plate 1 3 can be fitted in hinge holes 1 5 formed in the body or case 2 of the printer.

As has been described hereinbefore, the paper guide 10 is provided with the guide plate 13 having stopper walls 131, props 11 for supporting the guide plate 13, and edgeguiding plates 121, 122 having the hook and spring portions. Due to the resilient force of the spring portions 121c, 121 d, 122c, 122d, the edge guiding plates 121, 122 may be detachable from the guide plate 1 3 and may be moved to any desired position so that the paper guide can be easily operated.

Moreover, not only the guide plate 1 3 itself but also the edge guiding plates 121, 122 having the hook and spring portions can be integrally moulded of a moulding material such as plastics material. Thus, the paper guide can have an excellent appearance, a variety of different designs, and can be easily produced at a low cost.

By using the paper guide of the present invention, moreover, it is unnecessary to provide a separator which is separate from the paper guide, so that difficulties involved in connecting the separator to and disconnecting it from the printer are avoided. As a result, the paper guide of the present invention is particularly useful when used with a printer, a typewriter, a facsimile terminal equipment or the like which is frequently fed with either web paper or sheet paper.

Claims

1. A paper guide adapted for use in apparatus for producing a record, the said paper guide comprising a guide plate provided with means for pivotally mounting it on a case of said apparatus, said guide plate being adapted to be placed in an unraised position when the said apparatus is used for producing a record on a web of paper and being adapted to be placed in a raised position when the said apparatus is used for producing a record on a sheet of paper; supporting means for supporting said guide plate in said raised position; and edge guiding means for guiding the edges of the paper fed to said apparatus.

2. A paper guide according to claim 1 wherein said supporting means includes a pair of props angularly movably hinged to said guide plate for supporting the latter in said raised position.

3. A paper guide according to claim 2, wherein said guide plate has a pair of grooves in which said props may be stowed away when the guide plate is in the unraised position.

4. A paper guide according to any preceding claim wherein said edge guiding means includes at least one movable edge guiding plate, the or each movable edge guiding plate being slidable on said guide plate in accordance with the width of said fed paper.

5. A paper guide according to claim 4, wherein the or each said movable edge guiding plate has oppositely disposed hook and spring portions so as to be engaged with the guide plate.

6. A paper guide according to claim 5 wherein the or each edge guiding plate is detachably mounted on said guide plate.

7. A paper guide according to claim 5 wherein each said spring portion includes a stepped portion having an L-shaped crosssection for engagement with said guide plate.

8. A paper guide according to any of claims 5-7 wherein the or each movable edge guiding plate and said hook and spring portions are integrally formed of a plastics material.

9. A paper guide according to any of claims 4-8 wherein said guide plate is provided with a wall at each side thereof for preventing a movable edge guiding plate from sliding laterally off the guide plate.

10. A paper guide according to claim 9, wherein said guide plate and said walls are integrally formed of a plastics material.

11. A paper guide according to any preceding claim in which the guide plate is provided with a pair of hinge pins each of which is adapted to be mounted in an hole in the case of the printer to allow said guide plate to be angularly moved between the raised and unraised positions.

1 2. A paper guide for a printer or the like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figs. 17 of the accompanying drawings.

1 3. Apparatus for producing a record provided with a paper guide as claimed in any preceding claim.

14. Any novel integer or step, or combination of integers or steps, hereinbefore described and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings, irrespective of whether the present claim is within the scope of or relates to the same or a different invention from that of the preceding claims.

1 5. A paper guide for a recording apparatus comprising: a guide plate pivotally mounted on a case of said recording apparatus, said guide plate coming into a fallen position in printing on a web of paper and into a raised position in printing on a sheet of paper; means for supporting said guide plate in said raised position; and means for regulating the width of the paper fed to said recording apparatus.