JP2001301257A - Card transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and easily take out cards from a carriage. SOLUTION: When the carriage 4 reaches a card discharge part, a rotary lever 10 is rotated and a pushing rod 9 is raised along with the rotation. As a result, one end part of the card 1 is pushed up from a card hold face of the carriage 4 and the card 1 is pressed against a discharge roller 6a, so that the card 1 can be properly taken out. A hole 8, the pushing rod 9 and the rotary lever 10 are integrally set to the carriage 4 by utilizing a space below the carriage 4, enabling the card 1 to be taken outside. The card can be properly taken out even in the limited space.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card transporter, and more particularly to a card transporter provided in a card printer and suitable for discharging a card when the card is printed. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A card issuing device installed in a financial institution such as a bank is provided with a card printer for printing personal necessary information on a card when issuing a card. Such a card printer has a card transport device, and when a card is fed out by a card hopper,
The card is loaded and conveyed to the position of the printing unit, and after necessary information is printed on the card, the card is conveyed to the position of the card ejection unit. In this case, as a transport device for transporting the card, generally, a plurality of rollers are provided in a transport path of the card, and the card is transported by rotation of the rollers.

[0003]

However, if the card is conveyed by rotating the rollers, especially when performing color printing such as a color photograph on the card, the card is painted for each color such as magenta, cyan, and yellow. As a result, the card must be moved over the printer head many times, which may cause the card to be misaligned with respect to the printer head. In order to solve this problem, roller transport has been abolished, and instead, a conventional technique for transporting a card by a carriage has been proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-229197. According to this conventional technique, a card is mounted on a carriage and conveyed, so that it is possible to prevent the card from shifting as in the case of rotating a roller.

In this prior art, after a supplied card is received and moved to a printer head for printing,
Since the card is configured to return to the receiving portion, for example, if this card transport device is unitized and combined with another unit, the card feeding position and the discharging position may be the same portion. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to install another unit at that location in terms of space, and it cannot be combined with another unit. In addition, there is a discharge mechanism for discharging the printed card, but this discharge mechanism has a problem that not only the structure is complicated but also the space is increased accordingly. In particular, in recent years, card printers have been required to be smaller and more multifunctional, and the space occupied by each main part is limited. Therefore, the mechanism for taking out the card from the carriage is also subject to space restrictions. As a result, there is a problem that a mechanism for removing the cartridge cannot be provided around the carriage. Therefore, how to take out the card from the carriage has been a problem due to space restrictions associated with the unitization.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card transporting device that enables a card to be ejected from a carriage in a limited space by integrating a card removing mechanism with a carriage. And

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carriage for holding a card fed from a card hopper and sequentially transporting the card to a printing unit and a card discharging unit, and a moving mechanism for moving the carriage. Wherein the carriage has a card take-out mechanism. The card ejection mechanism includes a hole that penetrates the card holding surface of the carriage, a push-up rod having a leading end inserted into the hole, the push-up rod being movably engaged in the axial direction of the hole, and And a moving means for rotating the rotating lever when the carriage reaches the card ejection section while holding the card, and the rotating lever is driven by a driving source. At the time of the rotation, the push-up rod is inserted into the hole of the carriage card holding surface, and the leading end of the push-up rod presses the card on the carriage against the discharge roller to enable ejection of the card. .

As described above, when the carriage reaches the card ejection portion, the rotating lever is rotated, and the push-up rod is inserted through the card holding surface with the rotation.
Since one end of the card is pushed up from the card holding surface and the card is pressed against the discharge roller, the card can be properly taken out. Therefore, by using the space below the carriage and integrally providing the hole, the push-up rod, and the rotating lever in the carriage, the card can be removed, and it is not necessary to dispose a removal mechanism around the carriage. Thus, the card can be properly taken out even in a limited space.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the hole is formed in the center of one end of the carriage near the card ejection portion on the card holding surface.

As described above, since the hole is provided at the center of one end of the card holding surface of the carriage, when the tip of the push-up rod pushes up the card from the card holding surface, the card is pushed up in a biased posture. Can be prevented. Therefore, the card can be pressed straight against the ejection roller of the card ejection section without biasing the card, so that the card can be favorably ejected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the push-up rod has a rotatable roller at the upper end for discharging a card in cooperation with a discharge roller.

In this way, when the roller provided at the upper end of the push-up rod pushes up the card, the card is ejected in cooperation with the ejection roller, so that the card can be easily ejected to the outside.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which a card transport device according to the present invention is applied to a card printer, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a carriage in the transport device,
3 to 5 are enlarged views showing a card ejection mechanism provided on the carriage, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state of the card ejection mechanism.

In this card printer, as shown in FIG. 1, cards 1 are stacked in a card hopper 2, and when the cards 1 are fed out from the card hopper 2 to a carriage 4, the carriage 4 of the card transport device 3 is moved. Moves to the printing unit 5 while holding the card 1, and after desired information is printed on the upper surface of the card 1, the carriage 4
Moves to the card ejection unit 6 installed in the direction opposite to the card 1 feeding-out position, so that the card 1 is ejected.

For this reason, this card printer holds a card hopper 2 for stacking the cards 1 and sequentially feeding the stacked cards 1 one by one at the time of printing, and a card hopper 2 fed from the card hopper 2. A card transport device 3 for transporting the card 1 between a card receiving position, a printing portion, and a card discharging position, a printing unit 5 for printing personal necessary information on the card 1, and an external device for printing the printed card 1 on a card printer And a card ejection unit 6 for ejecting the card.

The card 1 handled in this embodiment is formed in a rectangular shape in which an IC is incorporated in a synthetic resin such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and the upper surface thereof is printable. Surface of the cassette 21 in the card hopper 2.
Are stacked.

In the card hopper 2, a cartridge 21 in which the cards 1 are stacked is set. In printing, the feeding claw 22 moves to the left as shown by an arrow in FIG.
When the lowermost card 1 is pushed out by the feeding claw 22, the card 1 is fed out along the feeding guide 24 by the rotation of the feeding roller 23, and is supplied to the carriage 4 of the card conveying device 3.

The card transport device 3 has a carriage 4 for transporting the card 1 mounted on the upper card holding surface 4a, and a moving mechanism (not shown) of the carriage 4. The carriage 4 stands by at the feeding position when the card 1 is fed by the card hopper 2, and after the card 1 is fed to the card holding surface 4a by the feeding roller 23, the card 1 is held by the card holding means. In this state, it moves in the direction of the printing unit 5 and the card ejection unit 6. At the upper end of the carriage 4, a take-in roller 4b for guiding the fed card 1 to the card holding surface 4a is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the card holding means includes, around the card holding surface of the carriage 4, a fixing tool 41 fixed to one side in the width direction and one side in the longitudinal direction adjacent thereto. , And expansion levers 43 and 44 provided so as to be able to expand at positions corresponding to the fixing tools 41 and 42.

As shown in FIG. 1, the moving mechanism of the carriage 4 includes a pulley 31 installed at a lower position on the card hopper 2 side and a pulley 32 installed at a lower position on the card ejection unit 6 side. Conveyor belt 3 wound between, 32
3 and a guided portion 35 which is fixed at an intermediate position on the operation side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the transport belt via a fixing member 34 and on which the carriage 4 is mounted. One of the pulleys 31 and 32 forms a driving side connected to the output shaft of the motor, and the other forms a driven side. The guided portion 35 is inserted through a linear shaft 36 installed along the length direction of the transport belt 33, and the linear shaft 3
6 guided. Stoppers 37 and 38 are attached to both ends of the linear shaft 36 to limit the movement distance of the guided portion 35.

In this moving mechanism, the carriage 4 moves together with the guided portion 35 by driving the conveyor belt 33 by the pulleys 31 and 32. When the card 1 is fed from the card hopper 2, the guided By moving the unit 35 to the right, the carriage 4 waits at the card feeding position, and when the fed card 1 is mounted, the carriage 4 moves to the printing unit 5 and when printing by the printing unit 5 ends, the guided unit 35 is further moved to the left so that the carriage 4 stops at the card ejection position.

The printing section 5 includes a thermal head 51, an ink ribbon 52 for performing color printing based on color image information, a supply reel 53 for supplying the ink ribbon 52, and a take-up reel for the ink ribbon 52. 54
And a drive unit (not shown) for the thermal head 51. When the card 1 is conveyed to the printing site by the carriage 4, the thermal head 51 performs printing by thermally transferring the dye on the ink ribbon 52. I have to. At this time, the carriage 4 sequentially reciprocates for each of the yellow, magenta, cyan, black, and transparent coat dyes applied to the ink ribbon 52, thereby performing color printing based on the color image information on the card printing surface. I am trying to.

When printing is completed, the carriage 4
Moves to the position of the card ejection unit 6, the leading end of the card 1 on the carriage 4 is guided to the ejection roller 6a by a card ejection mechanism described later, and the card 1 is ejected by the rotation of the ejection roller 6a. I have. The card discharge section 6 is provided with a discharge roller 6a, and the discharge roller 6a
Rotates the card 1 out of the card printer by rotating.

Therefore, when the carriage 4 moves to the card discharge section 6, the card 4 on the carriage 4 of the card transport device 3 is pressed against the discharge roller 6a so that the card 1 can be discharged. An extraction mechanism 7 is provided.

The card removal mechanism 7 includes a hole 8 penetrating the carriage 4, a push-up rod 9 inserted into the hole 8, and a rotating lever 10 for operating the push-up rod 9.
Is provided.

The hole 8 is provided on the carriage 4 as shown in FIG.
The card holding surface 4a is formed so as to penetrate the center of one end near the card ejection portion 6 along the vertical direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the push-up rod 9 has a plate 91 made of two opposing members formed in a substantially L-shape, and a pin at the upper end between the plates 91, 91. The roller 92 is rotatably supported by the roller 92, a pin 93 connecting the lower portions of the plates 91, 91, and the roller 92 is inserted into the hole 8 of the carriage 4 in a normal state, A support pin 94 supports the hole 8 so that the hole 8 can be inserted and moved along the axial direction. The roller 92 is inserted into the hole 8 in a normal state.

Two support pins 94 are vertically provided at appropriate positions on the middle of a fixing member 97 fixed to the bottom of the carriage 4. The plate body 91 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction by inserting the support hole 95 of the 91.
At this time, the tip of the support pin 94 is attached to the E attached to it.
By providing a spring 99 between the ring 98 and one of the plate members 91, a dimensional tolerance between the two plate members 91, 91 can be absorbed. Further, the plate bodies 91, 91 are provided with a support pin 94 located at an upper portion and a support pin 9 located at a lower portion.
4 and 5, as shown in FIGS.
Is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rotating lever 10 has a substantially L-shape when viewed from the front, and its base is attached to a pin 11 fixed to the bottom of the carriage 4 via a bearing 12. A push pin 13 is provided at the lower part. When the carriage 4 reaches the card ejection unit 6,
When the pressing lever 14 presses the pressing pin 13, the rotating lever 10 rotates counterclockwise about the pin 11. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the pin 11 is provided laterally at an intermediate position of a fixing member 97 fixed to the bottom of the card holding surface 4 a of the carriage 4. Press lever 14
Although not shown in detail, in the present example, the carriage is connected to the movable portion of the solenoid, and when the carriage 4 reaches the card ejection portion 6, the solenoid is excited so that the movable portion moves in the direction of the push pin 13 by the movable portion. Moving.

As shown in FIG. 4, a swelling portion extending in the direction of the engaging pin 96 of the push-up rod 9 is provided on one side of the rotating lever 10, and the swelling portion is provided with an engaging pin 96.
A groove 10a is formed to engage with the groove. Further, the groove 10
a arm 10b extending in the longitudinal direction of the carriage 4 is formed below the bulging portion forming the extension a. A tension spring 15 is provided between the distal end of the arm 10b and the bottom 97a of the fixing member 97.
Are connected, and the rotating lever 10 is biased so as to always be able to rotate clockwise.

That is, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 4, the lower part of the rotating lever 10 travels leftward from the fixed member 97 under normal conditions due to the spring force of the tension spring 15,
When the push lever 14 pushes the push pin 13 rightward as shown by the dashed line when the carriage 4 reaches the card ejection section 6, the pivot lever 10 is deflected against the spring force of the tension spring 15. At this time, the engaging pin 96 is pushed up by the counterclockwise rotation of the rotating lever 10 so that the roller 92 at the upper end of the push-up rod 9 passes through the hole 8 of the carriage 4. Then, the end of the card 1 on the carriage 4 is taken out of the carriage 4 and pressed against a discharge roller 6a, so that the card 1 can be taken out from the carriage 4 and discharged from the card printer.

The card printer according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and its operation will be described next. In FIG. 1, first, the cartridge 2 in the card hopper 2 is
It is assumed that a plurality of cards 1 are stacked on one. In this state, when the power of the card printer is turned on, the carriage 4 of the card transport device 3 moves to the card feeding position, and the feeding claw 21 of the card hopper 2 is driven. The card 1 is sent out to the left and the feed roller 23 rotates, so that the lowermost card 1 is fed out along the guide 24, and the card 1 is mounted on the card holding surface 4a which is the upper surface of the carriage 4. Is done.

When the card 1 is set on the card holding surface 4a and the card 1 is held on the card holding surface by the holding means 41 to 44, the carriage 4 moves to the printing portion of the printing unit 5 by It is printed on the printing surface on the top of the card. In this case, in the printing unit 5, printing is performed by the thermal head 51 thermally transferring the paint of the ink ribbon 52 onto the printing surface of the card 1 of the carriage 4.

When printing is completed, the carriage 4
Moves to the card ejection section. At this time, when the carriage 4 reaches the card ejection unit 6, the pressing lever 14 is driven, and when the pressing lever 14 presses the pressing pin 13 of the rotating lever 10, the rotating lever 10 4 counterclockwise in FIG. 4 against the spring force, and the turning lever 10 pushes up the push-up rod 9 with the turning.
As a result, the roller 92 at the upper end of the push-up rod 9 is
As shown in FIG. 5, the roller 92 moves up in the hole 8 of the carriage 4 along the axial direction, the roller 92 pushes up the card 1 on the card holding surface 4a from below, and the card 1
The card 1 can be discharged from the card printer to the outside by rotating the discharge roller 6a.

That is, in the card transport device 3 of the present embodiment, the card take-out mechanism 7 is movably attached to the hole 4 penetrating the card holding surface of the carriage 4 and the bottom of the carriage 4 so as to insert the hole 8. The push-up rod 9 is engaged with the push-up rod 9 so that the push-up rod 9 can be inserted into the hole, and is rotatably attached to a lower portion of the carriage 4.
0 and a pressing lever 14 for operating the rotating lever 10
When the carriage 4 reaches the card ejection section 6, the rotating lever 10 is rotated, and the push-up rod 9 is raised with the rotation, whereby the card 1 is moved from the card holding surface 4a of the carriage 4. Is pushed up and the card 1 is pressed against the discharge roller 6a, so that the card 1 can be properly taken out.

Therefore, the card 1 can be taken out by utilizing the space below the carriage 4 and integrally providing the hole 8, the push-up rod 9, and the rotating lever 10 in the carriage 4. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a takeout mechanism, and the card can be taken out properly even in a limited space.

Further, since the push-up rod 9 and the rotating lever 10 are integrally mounted on the carriage 4, the following effects are obtained as compared with the case where a card take-out mechanism is provided at a place other than the carriage. That is, not only can the push-up rod 9 be easily positioned with respect to the hole 8 of the carriage 4, but also the positioning between the push-up rod 9 and the turning lever 10 becomes easy, and the turning lever 10 can move the pushing rod 9. Since the card 1 can be reliably rotated, the card 1 on the carriage card holding surface 4a can be reliably pushed up.

As described above, by using the space below the carriage 4 and integrally providing the card take-out mechanism 7, not only can the unit of the card transport device 3 be realized, but also each of the card printers can be realized. The unitization of the main part can be realized.

Further, the card take-out mechanism 7 is mounted on the carriage 4.
The hole 8 provided in the carriage 4 can be made smaller by providing the unit 1 integrally, and there is no influence when printing on the card 1. That is, when the card take-out mechanism 7 is provided around the carriage 4, the hole must be enlarged due to the tolerance of each component. There is a possibility that the thermal head 51 cannot perform thermal transfer with an appropriate pressing force. However, as described above, since the components of the card take-out mechanism 7 are integrally provided on the carriage 4, the assembly tolerance between the components can be minimized, and the holes provided on the card holding surface 4a of the carriage 4 can be minimized. 8 can be made smaller, so that the card holding surface 4a
The thermal head 5 can satisfactorily press the card 1 held in the printer 1 without adversely affecting printing.

Since the hole 8 is provided at the center of one end with respect to the card holding surface 4a of the carriage 4, when the roller 92 of the push-up rod 9 pushes up the card 1 from the card holding surface 4a, the card 1 Can be prevented from being pushed up in a biased posture. Therefore, the card 1 can be pressed straight against the discharge roller 6a without bias, so that the card 1 can be satisfactorily discharged.

In this embodiment, an example in which the pressing lever 14 driven by a solenoid is used as the operating means for pressing the rotating lever 10 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example. Any method can be used as long as the rotation lever 10 is rotated by using such a method.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the carriage reaches the card ejection section, the rotating lever of the card take-out mechanism is rotated, and the push-up rod is moved with the rotation. Is inserted through the card holding surface, thereby pushing up one end of the card from the card holding surface and pressing the card against the ejection roller.
The card can be taken out properly, so that it is not necessary to arrange a take-out mechanism around the carriage, and the card can be taken out properly even in a limited space.

According to the second aspect, since the hole is provided at the center of one end on the card holding surface of the carriage,
When the tip of the push-up rod pushes up the card from the card holding surface, the card can be prevented from being pushed up in a skewed posture, so that the card can be pushed straight against the ejection roller of the card ejection section without bias. Since the card can be hit, there is an effect that the card can be ejected favorably.

According to the third aspect, when the roller provided at the upper end of the push-up rod pushes up the card, the card is ejected in cooperation with the ejection roller, so that the card can be easily ejected to the outside. The effect is as follows.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram showing an embodiment in which a card transport device according to the present invention is applied to a card printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a carriage in the card transport device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a card ejection mechanism provided on a carriage.

FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3 showing the card removal mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4 showing the card removing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state of the card ejection mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Card 2 Card hopper 3 Card transport device 4 Carriage 4a Card holding surface 6 Card discharge unit 6a Discharge roller 7 Card removal mechanism 8 Hole 9 Push-up rod 10 Rotating lever 14 Press lever

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A card transport device comprising: a carriage that holds a card fed from a card hopper and sequentially transports the card to a printing unit and a card ejection unit; and a moving mechanism that moves the carriage. The carriage has a card ejection mechanism, and the card ejection mechanism includes a hole that penetrates a card holding surface of the carriage, a push rod having a leading end inserted into the hole, and a push rod having a hole. A rotating lever movably engaged along the axial direction and rotatably attached to the carriage, and an operation of rotating the rotating lever when the carriage reaches the card ejection section while holding the card. When the rotating lever is rotated by the driving source, the push-up rod is inserted into the hole of the carriage, and the tip of the push-up rod is positioned on the carriage. Card transport device, characterized in that to enable the discharge of the card pressed against the card discharge roller. 2. The card transporting device according to claim 1, wherein the hole is formed at a center of one end of the carriage near a card ejection portion on a card holding surface of the carriage. 3. The card conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the push-up rod has a rotatable roller at an upper end portion for discharging a card in cooperation with a discharge roller.