GB2227477A

GB2227477A - Roll holder

Info

Publication number: GB2227477A
Application number: GB8924753A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Osamu Imura
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 1988-11-22
Filing date: 1989-11-02
Publication date: 1990-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 2009-11-02
Also published as: AU4387989A; CA2001777A1; DE3937831A1; AU616063B2; JPH07112895B2; JPH02144355A; GB2227477B; GB8924753D0

Description

j k RECORDING PAPER ROLL HOLDER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This Invention relates to a recording paper roll holder particularly suitable for use in facsimile apparatus, printers and the like. Description of the Prior Art

In general, image recording media as used in facsimile machines and printers in most cases employ elongated recording paper such as thermo-sensitive paper or electrostatic recording paper or discharge breakdown paper in the form of a roll wound on a paper tube. In such apparatus, the recording paper fed from the roll Is printed on in a recording zone and, after being cut into a predetermined size, discharged onto a paper discharge tray.

For holding such a roll of recording paper, devices have been used as illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows in a schematic sectional view a conventional recording paper roll holder as disclosed In Japanese LaidOpen Patent Application 60-183456. In this figure, numeral 1 designates a roll of recording paper, 2 a roll holding box which holds the paper roll 1 therein, 3 a guide portion which guides the roll paper 1 being fed out of the roll holding box, 4 a platen roller. 5 a recording head. 6 a driven discharge roller 2 for discharging the roll paper 1, and 7 an idle roller pressed against the driven paper discharge roller 6.

Next. the operation will be described. The roll paper 1 which is set and retained in the roll holding box 2 is drawn out under the guidance of the guide portion 3. The recording head 5 which is pressed against the platen roller 4 by a spring (not shown) is pushed down to allow the paper to pass between the recording head 5 and the platen roller 4. In the case of a facsimile apparatus using a thermal head, for example, recording signals are given to the recording head 5 at the time of reception according to the contents of a transmitted copy, and thermal energy is applied to the heating elements to effect printing/recording on the thermo-sensitive recording paper 1 from the roll while sending the paper 1 forward through the platen roller 4 for discharge.

The roll paper 1 is then fed to and between a driven discharge roller 6 and an idle discharge roller 7. The idle discharge roller 7 is pressed against the driven discharge roller 6 by a spring (not shown) and rotates with the driven discharge roller 6 to discharge the recording paper 1 out of the apparatus.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the conventional recording paper roll holder has a roll holding box 2 with a horizontal bottom surface, so that the paper roll 1 is often caused to tumble to the left side (as viewed in Fig. 1) of the roll holding box 2 as the paper is pulled forward by the paper feed or to the right side of the roll holding box 2 as the paper 1 is unrolled, leaving contact flaws on the recording surface of the paper 1. Especially in a case where the roll paper 1 consists of thermo-sensitive recording paper, in addition to the above-mentioned contact 3 flaws, the recording surfaces of the rolled paper 1 are contaminated by heat which results from frictional contact with bottom and side wall surfaces of the roll holding box 2. These scratches and contamination of the image recording medium itself considerably degrade the quality of the images record on the paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording paper roll holder which can prevent undesirable random movements of a recording paper roll in a roll holding box while keeping the recording surfaces of the paper from contact flaws or scratches and contaminations.

It is another object of the present invention to is provide a recording paper roll holder particularly suitable for holding a thermosensitive recording paper roll, which can prevent undesirable random movements of the paper roll within a roll holding box and which can reduce the amount of frictional heat generated by contact or friction between the thermo-sensitive recording paper and inner surfaces of the roll holding box, to thereby produce recorded images with less thermal contamination.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a recording paper roll holder which can prevent scratches or thermal contamination of the recording surface of the roll paper by simple and inexpensive means without resorting to complicated and costly devices.

According to one aspect of the present invention, for achieving the abovementioned objects, there is provided a recording paper roll holder having a roll holding box with an inclined bottom surface sloping 1 4 downwardly toward the discharge side of the holder, constantly urging the paper roll toward the discharge side by a component of gravity acting thereon.

According to another aspect of the present invention. there is provided a recording paper holder having a paper roll holding box with a low friction material on inner surfaces to be contacted with recording surfaces of a recording paper roll.

As stated above, the recording paper roll holder according to the invention is provided with a paper roll holding box with an inclined bottom surface sloping downwardly toward the discharge side of the holder, positioning the roll of recording paper almost constantly on the discharge side within the recording paper roll holding box to suppress undesirable random movements.

Further, the recording paper roll holder having a low friction material on the inner surfaces of the recording paper roll holding box considerably reduces the amount of heat generation by contact or friction between the holder box and the rolled recording paper holder box.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawing. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional recording paper roll holder; 1 Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a recording paper roll holder according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a recording paper roll holder according to another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of a recording paper roll holding box of the roll holder shown in Fig. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTa

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 shows a recording paper roll holder embodying the present invention, in which the component is parts common to Fig. 1 are designated by common reference numerals. The descriptions of the common component parts are omitted here to avoid unnecessary repetition.

In Fig. 2, numeral 8 designates a paper roll (or a recording paper roll) holding box which mounts and holds a paper roll (or rolled recording paper) to be fed toward the recording zone. The recording paper holding box 8 is provided with an inclined bottom surface 8a which is sloped downwardly toward the paper discharge side of the holder (to the left in Fig. 2) relative to the horizontal orientation of the apparatus shown by dashed line H.

Next, operation of this apparatus according to the embodiment will be described. The recording paper 1 which has been printed by the recording head 5 is discharged in the same manner as in the conventional counterpart, and therefore description of that feature is omitted here.

1 6 In this embodiment, the roll paper 1 is mounted and held on the inclined bottom surface 8a of the paper roll holding box 8 and is constantly urged toward the discharge side by gravity Fg, namely, by a component force of the gravity Fg acting on the paper roll 1.

Accordingly, the paper roll 1 is constantly positioned on the discharge side within the roll holding box 8.

The angle of incline of the surface 8a relative to the horizontal orientation of the apparatus is selected such that the gravitational force component Fc urging the roll toward the discharge side is sufficient to overcome the opposing forces Fo imposed on the roll by the feed mechanism. In a preferred embodiment, the angle of incline is between 30 - 100. Consequently random movements of the paper roll 1 in the roll holding box 8 are restricted, preventing contact scratches of the recording surfaces of the roll paper 1 to produce contamination-free recorded images.

In has also been found effective to secure sheetlike tapes 9 of low friction resistance material on the inner surfaces of the roll holding box 8 to be contacted with the paper roll 1, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The sheet-like tape 9 may be a cellophane tape with an adhesive layer on its back side, or a sheet of a polyethylene terephthalate resin or polytetrafluoroethylene resin which is applied to the inner surface by the use of a dual adhesive tape or the like.

As mentioned hereinbefore, there are possibilities of the recording surfaces of the roll paper 1 being damaged by frictional contact with the roll holding box 8 as the roll paper 1 is drawn toward the discharge side. Such damage or contact flaws can also be prevented in a more reliable manner by the sheet-like 7 tapes of low frictional resistance material as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, because such low frictional resistance material can weaken frictional force between the recording surface of the roll paper and the inner surface of the roll holding box.

Especially in the case where the roll paper is is thermo-sensitive recording paper, it is possible to prevent contaminations of the recording surfaces of the paper as caused by perception of the frictional heat resulting from contact or friction between the recording paper 1 and the inner surfaces of the roll holding box 8.

Although the tape 9 is secured on two separate areas in the example shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it is to be understood that the taped areas are not restricted to the particular areas shown. Instead of securing the tape 9, the paper roll holding box 8 itself may be formed of a synthetic resin material of low frictional resistance.

Although the paper roll holder of the present invention has been described in conjunction with a facsimile apparatus in the foregoing embodiment, it can also be applied to printers or other apparatus using a recording paper roll to obtain similar effects.

Furthermore, the roll paper 1 which has been shown as a thermo-sensitive recording paper in the foregoing embodiment may equally be electrostatic recording paper, discharge breakdown recording paper or the like.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that, according to the present invention, the bottom surface of the recording paper roll holding box 8 is sloped downwardly toward the paper discharge side to hold the paper roll constantly in a position on

8 the discharge side within the roll holding box, thereby preventing random or irregular movements of the paper roll in the roll holding box and keeping the recording surfaces of the paper roll from contact flaws to produce contamination-free recorded images.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the inner surfaces of the paper roll holding box are covered with a low friction material to prevent the contact flaw in a more positive and secure manner, preventing contaminations due to frictional heat as produced by friction between the recording paper the paper roll holding box particularly in the case of thermo-sensitive recording paper.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and that modifications of detail can be made within the scope of invention.

Q A 1 0 9

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A recording paper roll holder for holding a roll of recording paper to be fed to a recording head of a recording device, comprising: a paper roll holding box having a bottom surface and a discharge side surface toward which recording paper is unrolled and discharged to said recording head; said bottom surface being inclined relative to a horizontal surface of said recording device at an angle to bias said recording paper roll against said discharge side surface of said holding box.

2. A recording paper roll holder according to claim 1, wherein said angle is within the range of about 3 - 10 degrees.

3. A recording paper roll holder according to claim 1, further comprising low friction material covering at least part of the bottom and side surfaces of said holding box contacting said recording paper roll for preventing frictional damage to said recording paper during discharge to said recording head.

4. A recording paper roll holder according to claim 1, wherein said recording device is a facsimile machine.

5. A recording paper roll holder according to claim 4, wherein said recording paper comprises thermosensitive recording paper.

6. A recording paper roll holder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 2 or Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings- Published 1990 at The PatentOflice.State House, 66.71 High Holborn, LordonWC1 R 4TP. Further copies maybe obtained from The Patent Office