JP2001026155A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate an operator's feeling hard to use while preventing paper jamming caused by the operation mistake of an operator in a printer wherein a movable member for cutting paper is provided at the paper outlet part of a printer main body. SOLUTION: A printer has the paper outlet part of a printer main body, a cutter 2 movable to a position spaced apart from the outlet part and a detector 11 capable of detecting the retraction of the cutter 2 from a cutting position and, when the cutter 2 is moved to a spaced-apart position from the cutting position, paper 7 is fed in a reverse direction so that the leading end thereof is drawn in the printer main body 1 and, when the cutter 2 is returned to the cutting position, the leading end of the paper is advanced forwardly by predetermined quantity to be returned to a predetermined position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer having a movable automatic cutting member or a manual cutting member for cutting continuous paper, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a state in which a cover of a conventional printer is opened. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many printers provided with a movable automatic cutting member (hereinafter referred to as an automatic cutter) or a manual cutting member (hereinafter referred to as a manual cutter) for cutting continuous paper have been proposed. When the auto cutter 102 held and held by the cover 103 is moved like a printer, the original paper 107a is held by hand and cut by contacting with the manual cutter 105 to hold the auto cutter 102. It was a printer to which the cover 3 was returned.

[0003]

Therefore, when the movable auto cutter 102 fixed and held by the screw 104 on the cover 103 shown in FIG.
When the ribbon cassette 110 is replaced, when the paper jam of the paper 107 is cleared, or when the cover 103 is opened inadvertently, be sure to hold the original paper 107a by hand and abut the manual cutter 105 before closing the cover 103 before cutting. After that, a series of operations for returning the cover 103 holding the auto cutter 102 is necessary, which is troublesome.

When the cover 103 is closed by forgetting to cut the original paper 107a with the manual cutter 105 after the cover 103 is opened, the original paper 107a falls down by winding the paper, etc.
If the next printing operation or paper feeding operation is performed as it is without being able to enter the auto cutter paper guide 102b, a paper jam occurs, and it is necessary to open the cover 103 again for the processing and repeat the above operation. Had a hard-to-use feeling.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for cutting the original paper with a manual cutter, and to prevent paper jam caused by an operator's operation error. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can prevent such problems.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printer according to the present invention, which comprises a paper feed mechanism for transporting continuous paper along a transport path, and a print head for printing on the paper. A cutter movable to a cutting position for cutting the sheet on the transport path on the downstream side of the print head and a separating position separated from the transport path; and detecting that the cutter has moved from the cutting position. Detector, when the cutter is separated from the cutting position, the sheet is transported a predetermined amount upstream based on a signal from the detector, and then, when the cutter returns to the cutting position, the sheet is moved. A paper feed controller for controlling the paper feed mechanism so as to carry the predetermined amount to the downstream side.

With the above arrangement, when the cutter is moved from the cutting position, the paper feed mechanism, whose rotation direction and amount of rotation are controlled by the paper feed controller, draws a predetermined amount of paper into the conveyance path, so that the paper up to the cutter is deformed. In addition, when the cutter returns to the cutting position, the sheet is transported to a state before the cutter moves, so that the operability is greatly improved.

Further, it is desirable that the cutter is attached to a rotating member rotatably supported by a printer main body that supports a printing mechanism, and the cutter may be a printer printer cover of a housing.

With the above configuration, the mechanism for moving the cutter can be used as a cover or the like, so that the configuration can be simplified and an inexpensive printer can be provided.

Further, the cutter may be an automatic cutter having a cutter blade for manually cutting the paper or a movable blade, and the same effect can be obtained regardless of the type of cutter.

Further, it is preferable that the detector is a cover open detector for detecting that the printer cover has been opened. In this case, one detector can perform two functions. Can be reduced.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory side sectional view of a printer having an automatic cutter and a cover open detector, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1 and 2, the printer body 1
Is provided with a paper inlet 1a and a paper outlet 1b. An automatic cutter 2 having a cutting port 2a and an automatic cutter paper guide 2b is attached to a cover 3 by screws 4, and is formed on an upper portion of the printer body 1.

The cover 3 is formed on the upper case 12 and rotates about the fulcrum 3a as shown by an arrow A, and the auto cutter 2 also moves to a position above the printer main body 1 and away from it.

The hand-cutting cutter 5 is welded to the printer 1 with an abutment surface that plays a part of a paper path 6 from the paper outlet 1b to the cutting opening 2a. Reference numeral 7 denotes paper (W roll paper) composed of original paper 7a and copy paper 7b; 8, a supply and take-up device for the paper 7; 9, paper guides constituting a paper path;
0 is a ribbon cassette. 11 is a cover open detector, and 11a is a cover open detector lever.

The detecting member 3b formed on the cover 3
Are arranged so that the cover open detector lever 11b can be pushed down. 14 is a sheet exit 1 for the sheet 7
This is a paper feed roller of a paper feed unit that conveys in the direction b.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the printer control method of the present invention. 20 is an interface for inputting data, 21 is a CPU of the controller, 21a, 21
b, 21c, 21d are I / O ports, 22 is ROM, 2
3, a RAM; 28, a printer mechanism; 28a, a motor for rotating the paper feed roller 14 and a take-up shaft 8b for winding the copy paper 7b; 24, a motor 2 inside the printer mechanism;
8a, a motor driving circuit for driving and controlling the head 8a, a head driving circuit 25 for driving and controlling the head inside the printer mechanism, 26 an auto cutter driving circuit for driving and controlling an auto cutter inside the printer mechanism, 27 a cover open detection inside the printer mechanism And input circuits for receiving signals from the detector 28d. The CPU 21 controls the entire printer according to a program code stored in the ROM 22. A signal from the cover open detector 28d is input to the I / O 21d of the CPU 21 via the detector signal input circuit 27. The CPU 21 performs a determination process on the signal level input to the I / O 21d according to a program code stored in the ROM 22, outputs a drive signal from the I / O 21a to the motor drive circuit 24, and rotates the motor 28a. Perform the feeding operation.

Although the motor 18a and its transmission mechanism are not shown, the motor 28a is a stepping motor, which directly drives the paper feed roller 14 via a gear train, and connects the winding shaft 8b to a friction clutch. (Not shown) and rotates in the same direction as the paper feed roller. Based on the above configuration, a description will be given along the flowchart of FIG.

The printer operation includes a printing process (ST20),
After the printing is completed (ST21), the paper is cut by the automatic cutter 2 (ST22), and the apparatus temporarily stands by in this state. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the paper is cut at the cutting opening 2a of the automatic cutter 2, and the original paper 7a is in contact with the cutting opening 2a of the automatic cutter 2.

Next, a cover open judgment (ST23) is performed, and when the cover 3 is in the closed state, a printing process (ST23) is performed.
Return to 20). When all data to be printed is printed, the printer stops after the paper cut (ST22) until the next print data comes.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the cover 3 is in the open state, the lever 11a is separated from the detecting member 3b of the cover 3, and the cover open detector 11 transmits a cover open signal. This signal is connected to the detector signal input circuit 27 of FIG.
Input to the CPU 21 via the I / O 21d,
Is detected to be in an open state.

When the cover 3 detects the open state, the motor 28a is rotated in the reverse direction (ST24), and the sheet 7 is moved backward. The process proceeds to a step (ST25) of measuring the number of steps of the motor 18a to determine whether or not the motor has been retracted by a desired amount and determining whether or not the predetermined number of steps has been completed.

If the predetermined steps are not completed, the process returns to the reverse rotation of the motor (ST24). If the predetermined number of steps are reversed, the motor is stopped (ST26) and the cover close signal is on standby (ST27).

The paper 7 at this time will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
In the state, the end corresponding to a desired movement amount Y in which the leading end is stably held by the paper guide 9 is drawn in the direction of the arrow B and stopped. At the same time, the take-up shaft 8b is also rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1, and the copy paper 7b is drawn in the direction of arrow B at the same time as the original paper 7a in the direction of arrow B.

Next, when the opened cover 3 is closed, as shown in FIG. 3, the lever 11a of the cover open detector 11 pushes down the detection member 3b of the cover 3 to transmit a cover close signal, as shown in FIG. The signal is input to the CPU 21 via the detector signal input circuit 27 and the I / O 21d in FIG. 5 to determine that the cover 3 is in the closed state (ST2).
7) is done.

When the cover close is detected (ST27), the motor 28a is rotated forward (ST28). In this case, in order to advance the paper 7 by the moving amount Y that has been pulled in,
The moving amount is determined in the predetermined step end determination (ST29).

Steps for the forward rotation of the motor 28a are counted, and if the predetermined step is not completed, the process returns to the forward rotation of the motor (ST28). When forward rotation for a predetermined step,
The motor 28a is stopped (ST30), and the printing process (ST2)
Return to 0).

The manner in which the motor 28a rotates forward to convey the paper 7 will be described in detail. The original paper 7a is fed by a distance Y in the direction of arrow C, and the leading end is
Is guided by the paper guide 2b, and is conveyed to the cutting opening 2a and stopped. At the same time, the copy paper 7b is simultaneously fed in the direction of arrow C in the direction of arrow C and stopped, and at this time, the winding shaft 8
Since b is also rotated in the same direction as the paper feed roller 14 (clockwise in FIG. 1), the copy paper 7b between the paper guide 9 and the take-up shaft 8b is not greatly slackened. Then, a state of waiting for the next print processing operation is set.

With the above configuration, when the cover is opened, the leading edge of the paper is automatically drawn into the printer main body from the cutter position, so that the original paper is not broken and the maintainability of the printer can be improved. When the cover that is opened is closed, the paper that has been pulled in is automatically conveyed to the cutter position, so that the leading edge of the paper is smoothly moved to the cutter.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made.

For example, even when the above-mentioned copy paper 7b is unnecessary, that is, when only one paper 7 is used, the operation can be performed without any problem using only the original paper 7a. Further, when the above-mentioned auto cutter is movably fixed to and held by a member other than the cover, for example, the printer body or the upper case can be operated without any problem.

Although the case where the auto cutter is fixed to the cover has been described, the case where the one fixed to the cover is a manual cutter may be used.

Further, the cover open detector is not limited to the mechanical detector as in the embodiment, and it goes without saying that the same operation is possible as long as it is a detecting means capable of detecting the cover open.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operator accidentally opens the cover during use of the printer, and then closes the cover or replaces the ribbon cassette installed under the cover. When the printer is opened and then closed, etc., the printer has a program code that enables the printer to automatically control and retreat and advance the paper, so that the operator cuts the paper with a manual cutter in the printer. Since it is not necessary to perform a very troublesome operation of closing the cover from the front, the operation of the operator can be reduced, and the paper jam caused by an operation mistake that the operator closes the cover without manually cutting the paper can be prevented. What you can do,
The practical effects of the present invention are extremely large.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a printer having an automatic cutter and a cover open detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial assembly view of the automatic cutter according to the present invention in a state where a sheet is cut.

FIG. 4 is an assembly view of the automatic cutter according to the present invention in a moving state and in a paper reverse feed state.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a printer driving method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial assembly view showing a state in which an automatic cutter of a conventional printer is moved.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer main body 1a Paper insertion slot 2 Auto cutter 2a Cutting slot 2b Auto cutter paper guide 3 Cover 3b Detecting member 5 Manual cutter 6 Paper path 7 Paper 7 Original paper 7 Copy paper 11 Cover open detector main body 11a Cover open detector lever 12 Upper case 14 Paper feed roller

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed mechanism for transporting continuous paper along a transport path; a print head for printing on the paper; a cutting position for cutting the paper on the transport path downstream of the print head; A cutter movable to a separation position separated from the conveyance path, a detector capable of detecting that the cutter has moved from the cutting position, and a signal based on a signal from the detector when the cutter has separated from the cutting position. A paper feed controller that controls the paper feed mechanism so that the paper is transported the predetermined amount downstream when the cutter returns to the cutting position. A printer characterized by having. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the cutter is mounted on a rotation member rotatably supported on a printer body that supports a printing mechanism. 3. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the rotating member is a printer printer cover of a housing. 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the cutter is a manual cutter for manually cutting the paper or an automatic cutter having a movable blade. 5. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the detector is a cover open detector that detects that a printer cover has been opened.