GB2211826A

GB2211826A - Turning bankbook pages

Info

Publication number: GB2211826A
Application number: GB8825322A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Teruhiko Nakata; Nobuo Fujimoto; Akira Mochizuki
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 1987-11-05
Filing date: 1988-10-28
Publication date: 1989-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2008-10-28
Also published as: GB8825322D0; JPH07100394B2; KR890007923A; KR910003904B1; GB2211826B; JPH01237198A

Abstract

The pages of books (1) e.g. bankbooks, are turned e.g. for printing thereon by a page turning mechanism having a page-turning roller (9,30), which includes a member or members (9a, 30a) formed of an elastic material having a large coefficient of friction and exhibiting a small change in pressure relative to changes in an amount of deformation, wherein the page-turning is effected by the force that is solely attributable to the change in pressure of that member. Alternatively, the book page turning mechanism may have a pad (20) formed of a material with a large coefficient of friction and disposed at a position opposing the page-turning roller, so as to enable the page-turning. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING DATA ON BANKBOOKS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for printing data on bankbooks, forms, etc. (these will hereafter be generically called "books, etc".), and more particularly, to an apparatus of this kind that is suitable for automatic turning of pages.

An apparatus of this type is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 55-66173.

In the conventional apparatus according to this disclosure, a force required to turn a page of a book is formed by the reaction of a pressing bar that press the book against a page-turning roller, and a force generated by friction between the page to be turned and the pageturning roller. The pressing bar itself is not provided with any means for holding the book. During the turning of a page, the rotation of feed rollers is stopped to hold the book in place.

The conventional apparatus has the following disadvantage. The relationship between the amount of deformation of the page-turning roller and the force exerted thereby is such that it does not correspond to variations in the thickness of books which may contain different numbers of pages. It is therefore necessary to provide the above-described pressing bar as well as a drive source for driving the bar and other associated members, rendering the apparatus complicated in structure and expensive. Another disadvantage of the conventional apparatus is that, if there is any imbalance between the force with which the feed roller hold the book and the force with which the page-turning roller turns a page, the book may be moved by the rotation of the page-turning roller or become tilted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-described disadvantages of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to enable page-turning to be performed positively by an apparatus for printing data on books, etc.

To these ends, according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for printing data on books, comprising a printing section and a book page turning mechanism, the book page turning mechanism having a page-turning roller. The page-turning roller of the apparatus of the invention includes a member formed of an elastic material having a large coefficient of friction and exhibiting a small change in pressure relative to the change in an amount of deformation, wherein the page-turning is effected by the force that is solely attributable to the change in pressure of that member.

One aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus for printing data on books, comprising a printing section and a book page turning mechanism, the book page turning mechanism having a page-turning roller. The book page turning mechanism of the apparatus of the invention also has a pad formed of a material with a large coefficient of friction and disposed at a position opposing the page-turning roller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a view schematically showing an apparatus for printing data on books, etc., in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 2a and 2b are views showing a pageturning action of a page-turning roller; Fig. 3 is a view showing a page-turning roller of an apparatus for printing data on books, etc., in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a graph showing the relationship of force exerted by the page-turning roller of the conventional apparatus to the amount of deformation of the roller; Fig. 5 is a graph showing the relationship of force exerted by a rubber member of a page-turning roller of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention to the amount of deformation of the member;; Fig. 6 is a view showing the action of hands, simulating the action of a book page turning mechanism of the conventional apparatus; and Fig. 7 is a view showing the action of a hand, simulating the action of a book page turning mechanism of the apparatus of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown an apparatus 10 for printing data on books, etc., in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 10 includes an inserter 2 through which a book 1 or the like (hereafter abbreviated to "book") is inserted, a plurality of pairs of feed rollers 3a to 3d, a magnetic head 4, a printing head 5, a page-turning roller 9 and a sensor 15. The magnetic head 4 operates to read information recorded on a magnetic strip la provided on the cover of the book 1 and to write information thereon.

The printing head 5 forms a printing section, together with a carrier 6, a platen 7 and a printing ribbon mechanism 8. The page-turning roller 9 is driven by a motor 22. As shown in Fig. 2a, the roller 9 is provided with relatively soft, sponge-like rubber members 9a mounted thereon. The rubber members 9a undergo a small change in pressure relative to its deformation. A plurality of, preferably two, rubber members 9a are provided at intervals in the axial direction of the page-turning roller 9. Alternatively, a single rubber member 9a may be provided in such a manner as to extend over the full length of the page-turning roller 9. The material forming the rubber member must have a high frictional resistance and a high wear resistance.

Referring to Fig. 5, there is shown a relationship of the page-turning force F to an amount X of deformation of the rubber members 9a of the page-turning roller 9.

It is seen from the graph that, if the amount of X deformation changes between amounts a and a' corresponding to a range within which the thickness of the book varies, the page-turning force F changes within a normal range between b and b'. Referring to Fig. 4 showing a relationship of the page-turning force F' to the amount X' of deformation of the page-turning roller of the conventional apparatus, it is seen that, if the amount X' of deformation changes between amounts c and c' corresponding to a book-thickness variation range, the page-turning force F' does not change within a normal range between d and d'.

The page-turning roller 9 forms a book page turning mechanism section, together with book guides 12 and 13, a page-turning pad 20 and a page-turning home position sensor 21. The sensor 21 operates to detect the fact that a predetermined number of pages of the book have been turned and to stop the rotation of the motor 22 upon detection.

The sensor 15 reads a page code (not shown) on the book 1 before the printing section starts printing.

Fig. 6 shows the action of hands, simulating the action of the book page turning mechanism of the conventional apparatus. When a page of a book 1 is to be turned manually, a middle portion of a page lb to be turned is caught by, e.g., the right hand so as to move the page lb rightward as the page lb is being pushed by the left hand, thereby enabling turning the page lb. In this case, the left hand pushing the page Ib exerts such a large force that, if the right and left hands do not align with each other, the book 1 may become rotated or the page Ib may not be turned smoothly.

Fig. 7 shows the action of a hand, simulating the action of the page turning mechanism of the apparatus of the present invention. The book 1 is held between the thumb and other fingers of the left hand from a page lb to be turned through to a cover Ic thereof, and, as the page lb to be turned is being pushed by the left thumb, the page lb is moved rightward, thereby enabling turning the page lb. In this case, it suffices if the force that acts to move the page lb rightward as the page lb to be turned is being pushed by the thumb is larger than a force generated by friction between the page lb and the adjacent page of the book 1.

Further, if the coefficient of friction between said other fingers of the left hand and the cover lc of the book is larger than the coefficient of friction between the page lb and the adjacent page of the book 1, this ensures that the page-turning action can be effected positively without causing any movement or rotation of the book 1.

The apparatus operates in the following manner.

The book 1 on which data is to be printed is inserted through the inserter 2, then fed further inside the printing apparatus 10 by the plurality of feed rollers 3a and 3b, and stopped at a position at which the magnetic strip la provided on the cover of the book 1 opposes the magnetic head 4. While the book 1 is at this position, reading or writing of information is performed.

Thereafter, the book 1 is fed by the feed rollers 3b to the printing section, in which printing is performed.

If the printing must be continued from a first page to the next page, or if a different page must be subjected to printing, the book 1 is fed to the book page turning mechanism by the feed rollers 3c, and is then stopped at a predetermined position shown in Fig. 2a, at which the cover lc of the book 1 is in contact with the page-turning pad 20. When the pageturning roller 9 is driven by the motor 22 in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2a, the rubber members 9a of the page-turning roller 9 are brought into contact with the topmost page lb of the book 1, and flip up the page lb in such a manner as to position the page lb over the page-turning roller 9.While the rubber members 9a are in contact with the topmost page lb of the book 1 during the page-turning action, the book 1 is kept from displacing from its stopping position by virtue of friction between the cover lc and the page-turning pad 20. When the home position sensor 21 detects the fact that a predetermined number of pages have been turned, and, accordingly, the rotation of the motor 22 is stopped, the feed rollers 3d move the book 1 leftward, as shown in Fig. 2b, to terminate the page-turning action, then they send the book 1 to the printing section for further printing. Before the printing is started in the printing section, the sensor 15 reads the page code (not shown) of the book 1, thereby checking whether or not the predetermied number of pages have been turned over without fail.When the printing section has completed the printing, the magnetic head 4 renews an information recorded on the magnetic strip la on the cover of the book 1, and the feed rollers 3a, 3b and 3c send the book 1 to the inserter 2.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a pageturning roller 30 of an apparatus for printing data on books, etc., in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus of the second embodiment is distinguished from that of the first embodiment in that a rubber member 30a mounted on the roller 30 is hollow, and it is formed of a material which must be relatively soft but which may not necessarily be sponge-like.

In a further embodiment, a compression spring may be provided for pushing the page-turning pad 20 toward the page-turning roller 9 or 30 of the first or second embodiment, thereby making the relationship of the force of the rubber member of the page-turning roller to the amount of deformation thereof suitable for the pageturning action concerned. Further, if the spring constant of the compression spring is suitably selected, the turning of a page can be effected using the compression spring in cooperation with an ordinary pageturning roller.

Although the invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments except as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for printing data on books, comprising a printing section and a book page turning mechanism, said book page turning mechanism having a page-turning roller including a member or members formed of an elastic material having a large coefficient of friction and exhibiting a small change in pressure relative to the change in an amount of deformation, wherein the page-turning is effected by the force that is solely attributable to the change in pressure of said member or members.

2. An apparatus for printing data on books, according to claim 1, wherein said member or members have a hollow configuration.

3. An apparatus for printing data on books, comprising a printing section and a book page turning mechanism, said book page turning mechanism having a page-turning roller and also a pad formed of a material with a large coefficient of friction and disposed at a position opposing said page-turning roller.

4. An apparatus for printing data on books, according to claim 3, wherein said book page turning mechanism further has spring means for pushing said pad toward said page-turning roller.

5. An apparatus for printing data on books, according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein said page-turning roller includes a member or members formed of an elastic material having a large coefficient of friction and exhibiting a small change in pressure relative to the change in an amount of deformation.

6. An apparatus for printing data on books, according to claim 5, wherein said member has a hollow configuration.