JP2003127483A - Cutting mechanism of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting mechanism of printer exhibiting total cut and partial cut functions in label cutting operation in which the cutting depth of partial cut can be made variable and trouble of a cutter due to label cup chips is prevented. SOLUTION: The cutting section 5 of a printer 1 comprises a fixed cutter 17 and a movable cutter 18 and a cutter control section 26 controls the movable cutter 18 based on a signal being outputted from a cutter position sensor 42 for detecting the position of the movable cutter 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting mechanism for a printer, which cuts a band-shaped sheet on which printing is performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The cutting mechanism of a printer can be roughly classified into an all-cutting mechanism for mainly cutting a label and a partial-cutting mechanism for partially cutting a label. For example, as an all-cutting mechanism, one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-29183 is known. As a cutting mechanism of a printer, a circle cutter is provided on a belt spanned between pulleys, and this circle cutter is used. The label is separated by reciprocating in the label width direction. By the way, in a printer using an all-cutting mechanism, in serial number printing, there is a method of stacking labels in order by a stacker so that the order of cut labels is not mixed, but such a stacker has a problem that it is expensive. It was Further, when printing a receipt or the like, if the paper is separated, there is a risk that the sheet may be blown by the wind and the receipt may be lost.

In order to solve such a problem, in the reciprocating operation of the circle cutter, the position where the end in the label width direction is slightly left is set as the folding position of the cutting operation, so that the non-cut part is provided at the end of the label. There is a partial cut mechanism to form.

A printer having both a full cutting operation and a partial cutting operation by the circle cutter is described in JP-A-2000-316884.

[0005]

However, in the partial cutting operation, the circle cutter temporarily stops at the position where the widthwise end of the label is slightly left, and then the folding operation is performed, so that the cutting edge of the circle cutter bites into the label. Therefore, there is a problem that a large amount of load is applied to the folding operation of the circle cutter and the cutter is damaged. In particular, when cutting thick paper, such a problem remarkably occurred.

In the cutting operation with the circle cutter, the label cutting surface slightly contacts the edge of the circle cutter when the label is folded back to the home position after the label is cut. Therefore, the label is cut every time the circle cutter is folded. Scrap will be generated. There is a problem that the label cutting waste is caught in the gear of the motor and the cutting mechanism is damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and employs a guillotine type cutter that does not cause a cutter problem due to label cutting waste, has both a full cutting function and a partial cutting function, and is formed by partial cutting. The present invention provides a printer cutting mechanism in which the size of the non-cut portion can be arbitrarily set.

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a cutting mechanism of a printer that cuts printed paper, a cutting unit including a fixed blade and a movable unit having a movable blade that can move forward and backward toward the fixed blade, and a forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade are detected. And a control unit that controls the forward / backward movement of the movable blade based on a signal output from the sensor.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a cutting mechanism of a printer for performing a full cut or a partial cut on a printed sheet, a movable part having a fixed blade and a movable blade capable of moving forward and backward toward the fixed blade. A cutting section, a first sensor that detects a forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade during full cutting, a second sensor that detects a forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade during partial cutting, and a first or A cutter control unit that controls the movable blade as a full cut operation or a partial cut operation based on a signal output from the second sensor.

Further, the second sensor can enable the movable blade to be movable in the forward / backward movement direction.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a printer including a cutting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 mainly includes a supply unit 2, a printing unit 3, a drawer unit 4, a cutting unit 5, an input unit 6, a display unit 7, and a control unit 8.

In the supply unit 2, a label shaft 10 wound in a roll shape is loaded on a supply shaft 9, and the label bar 10 pulled out from the supply shaft 9 passes through a paper sensor 11 to a printing unit 3. Be guided.

The paper sensor 11 is a transmissive sensor having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, and detects the position of the label continuum 10.

The printing unit 3 is composed of a print head 12 and a platen roller 13, and the print head 12 prints at a predetermined timing according to a signal from the paper sensor 11. The platen roller 13 is rotated by the rotational force of the motor 15 transmitted via the belt 14, and the label continuous body 10 is conveyed by sandwiching the label continuous body 10 between the print head 12 and the platen roller 13.

The pull-out section 4 includes a pair of pull-out rollers 16, 16.
Of the label continuum 1 from the printing unit 3 to the cutting unit 5 by rotating in synchronization with the platen roller 13.
Carry 0.

The cutting unit 5 is a so-called guillotine type cutting mechanism composed of a fixed blade 17 fixed to a printer housing (not shown) and a movable unit 45 which will be described later and is provided with a movable blade 18. In 1, the label continuum 10 is cut by allowing the movable blade 18 to move back and forth in the vertical direction.

The input unit 6 is an input device such as a keyboard and a touch panel, and inputs commands such as print settings.

The display unit 7 is a display device such as an LCD and displays the contents input from the input unit 6 and the current output status.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 8 of the printer 1 having the cutting mechanism according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

The control unit 8 is a ROM (read only memory) 2
1 and a CPU that operates according to a predetermined control program stored in the ROM 21 and controls each unit
(Central processing unit) 20, and RAM (random access memo) for temporarily storing print data, commands, etc.
ry) 22 and the transport controller 2 that controls the drive of the motor 15.
3, a paper detection unit 24 that detects the position of the label continuum 10 based on the signal output from the paper sensor 11, and printing that sends desired data to the print head 12 based on the received command or print data to perform printing. A cutter control unit 26 that controls the position of the movable blade 18 based on signals output from the control unit 25 and a cutter position sensor 42 described below.
An input control unit 27 that controls the print settings and commands input from the input unit 6; and a display control unit 28 that controls the display unit 7 that displays the information input from the input unit 6. Each of these units is connected to the data bus 19, receives print data and commands sent from the host computer 30 via the interface 29, and prints on the label continuum 10 according to the received print data and commands.

Next, the cutting mechanism of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The cutting section 5 is mainly composed of the fixed blade 17 fixed to the housing (not shown) of the printer as described above, and the cutting section 5 shown in FIG.
The movable part 4 including the movable blade 18 attached to the cutting device body 46 provided at the deepest side in
It is composed of 5. This movable part 45 is mainly a movable blade 1.
8, a mounting frame 32, and a rotating plate 37.

The movable blade 18 has a V-shaped blade edge 18a,
It is fixed to the mounting frame 32 with screws 31.

The mounting frame 32 has a pair of shaft guide holes 3
3, 33, a protrusion 34, and an eccentric shaft guide hole 35. The pair of shaft guide holes 33, 33 are attached to the mounting frame 32.
3 is formed at a predetermined interval from the end portion in the width direction of FIG.
It is a hole that is symmetric from the central part in and is opened vertically. The pair of shaft guide holes 33, 33 has a cutting device body 4 fixed to a casing (not shown) of the printer.
A pair of regulation guide shafts 36, 36 protruding from 6 are inserted. The protrusion 34 is located between the widthwise end of the mounting frame 32 and the guide shaft hole 33, and projects toward the front side in FIG. 3. The eccentric shaft guide hole 35 is located in the central portion in the width direction of the mounting frame 32, and has an elongated hole shape opened in the left-right direction in FIG.

Further, the mounting frame 32 and the cutting device body 4
A rotating plate 37 is arranged between the positions 6. The rotating plate 37 is
A central shaft 38 is provided rotatably with respect to the cutting device body 46. The circumferential portion of the central shaft 38 is threaded. An eccentric shaft 39 is provided on the rotating plate 37 at an eccentric position near the center shaft 38, and is inserted into the eccentric shaft guide hole 35 formed in the mounting frame 32. Then, when the rotating plate 37 rotates, the eccentric shaft 39 slides along the eccentric shaft guide hole 35 and displaces its position, so that the mounting frame 3
2 is moved up and down in the vertical direction.

The circumferential portion of the threaded central shaft 38 is screwed into the transmission gear 41, and the transmission gear 41 is the drive shaft 40 of the motor 15.
It is installed in. Therefore, when the motor 15 rotates, this rotation is transmitted to the drive shaft 40, the transmission gear 41, and the central shaft 38, and the rotation plate 37 rotates.

The cutter position sensor 42 comprises a movable sensor 43 and a fixed sensor 44, both of which are provided in the cutting device body 46. The movable sensor 43 is movable in the vertical direction and can be fixed at any position.
On the other hand, the fixed sensor 44 is fixed. The fixed sensor 44 is located higher than the movable sensor 43 in the vertical direction.

In addition, the movable sensor 43 and the fixed sensor 4
Reference numeral 4 denotes a light reflection type sensor, each of which has a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion (both not shown). When the cutter position sensor 42 is turned on, it can detect the protrusion 34 mounted on the mounting frame 32 which moves back and forth in the vertical direction, and when the movable sensor 43 fixed at an arbitrary position is turned on, it faces the fixed blade 17. When the protrusion 34 that is moving forward is detected, the forward movement of the mounting frame 32 is stopped by a signal from the cutter controller 26.

Next, the full cutting and partial cutting operations of the cutting mechanism of the printer will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the entire cutting operation by the cutting unit 5 of the cutting mechanism of the printer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the motor 15 is driven to drive the drive shaft 4
The transmission gear 41 is rotated via 0, and the rotating plate 37 having the central shaft 38 screwed to the transmission gear 41 is rotated clockwise. The rotation of the rotating plate 37 also rotates the eccentric shaft 39 in the clockwise direction, the eccentric shaft 39 slides along the eccentric shaft guide hole 35, and the mounting frame 32 and the movable blade 18 are pushed down and moved. At this time, the mounting frame 32 and the movable blade 18 move within the range of the shaft guide holes 33, 33 of the mounting frame 32 while being regulated by the regulation guide shafts 36, 36.

Subsequently, when the rotating plate 37 rotates clockwise and the eccentric shaft 39 is located directly below the central shaft 38, the movable blade 18 is located at the home position position where it is separated from the fixed blade 17. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the eccentric shaft 39 is located right above the central shaft 38, the movable blade 18 is located at the full cutting position where it overlaps with the fixed blade 17. Therefore, the rotating plate 37 is rotated clockwise,
By repeatedly moving the movable blade 18 forward and backward, the label continuum 10 is completely cut. At this time, the detection functions of the movable sensor 43 and the fixed sensor 44 are turned off.

In the label cutting mechanism as described above, the label cutting surface and the cutting edge of the cutter do not come into contact with each other in the label cutting operation unlike the folding operation of the circle cutter, so that the label cutting waste is less likely to occur and the cutter cutting waste causes the label cutting waste. Problems such as cutter damage are unlikely to occur.

Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a partial cutting operation by the cutting unit 5. In the figure, the movable sensor 43 is previously positioned at an appropriate position below the fixed sensor 44, and the detection function of the movable sensor 43 is turned on. The motor 15 is driven to rotate the rotating plate 37 in the clockwise direction in the same manner as in the above-described full-cut operation to move the mounting frame 32 and the movable blade 18. The movable blade 18 has an eccentric shaft 39.
Is located at the home position position where it is separated from the fixed blade 17 when it is located directly below the central axis 38. When the rotating plate 37 continues to rotate in the clockwise direction and the eccentric shaft 39 moves to a position obliquely above the central shaft 38 as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusion 34 blocks the sensor light from the movable sensor 43, and the cutter control unit. Since the movable blade 18 is controlled by 26 so as not to advance further, only the central portion of the V-shaped blade edge 18a of the movable blade 18 is positioned at the partial cut position where it does not overlap the fixed blade 17. At this time, the fixed sensor 44 has the detection function turned off. After detecting the partial cut position, the motor 15 is rotated in the reverse direction to drive the drive shaft 40.
The rotating plate 37 having the central shaft 38 that is screwed with the transmission gear 41 via the is rotated counterclockwise.

As a result of the above operation, the central portion of the V-shaped cutting edge 18a of the movable blade 18 does not overlap the fixed blade 17, and therefore the movable blade 18 shown in FIG.
An uncut portion 50 is formed in the widthwise central portion of the label continuum 10 as shown in FIG.

When the movable sensor 43 is moved downward in FIG. 4, the protrusion 34 provided on the mounting frame 32, which is detected by the movable sensor 43, is further fixed to the fixed blade 17.
Since it can be detected at a position distant from, and the amount of advancement of the movable blade 18 in the direction of the fixed blade 17 can be reduced, the label continuum 10 having a wide non-cut portion 50 can be formed. For example, when the label continuum 10 to be cut is thin paper, the non-cut portion 50 is formed to be large so as not to be torn by wind or the like, and when the label continuum 10 is thick paper, it is easy to tear by hand. As described above, it is possible to make adjustments such as forming the non-cut portion 50 small.

The movable sensor 43 and the fixed sensor 44
By turning on both of the functions, it is possible to perform a cutting operation in which partial cuts and all cuts are combined.
For example, when the printer 1 prints serial number print data for three labels, partial cuts are made up to the first and second sheets, and all cuts are made after the last label is printed. The formed three label sets are formed. In this operation, 3 which is the number of printed labels input from the input unit 6 is stored in the RAM 22, the number of partial cutting operations is counted by the movable sensor 43, and the movable blade is moved by the cutter control unit 26 after printing the third label. Make 18 perform all cutting operations. In this full cut operation, when the movable blade 18 is located at all cut positions, the projection 34 blocks the sensor light of the fixed sensor 44, transmits a signal to the cutter control unit 26, and the movable blade 18 is at all cut positions. It is performed by detecting that. When the fixed sensor 44 detects the protrusion 34, the movable blade 1
The 8 returns to the home position and the cutting operation is completed.

Further, the movable blade 18 in FIG.
By removing and replacing it with a mountain-shaped blade edge 18b as shown in FIG. 6 or a comb-shaped blade edge 18c as shown in FIG.
It is possible to form non-cut parts by partial cutting corresponding to various specifications. Although the cutter blade described in the present embodiment can change the shape of the movable blade 18, it can also change the shape of the fixed blade 17.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sensor detects the forward position of the movable blade which moves back and forth toward the fixed blade, and the movable position with respect to the fixed blade is detected based on the signal output from the sensor. Since the forward movement of the blade can be controlled, the cutting states of the fixed blade and the movable blade can be controlled, and various cuts can be made on the label. In addition, the size of the non-cut portion of the label can be set to any size by combining the function of cutting all the labels and the function of partial cutting, and making the sensor that detects the position of the movable blade in the partial cutting operation movable in the forward and backward movement direction. Can be set to. Furthermore, a first sensor that detects the forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade at the time of full cutting and a second sensor that detects the forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade at the time of partial cutting are provided to allow the movable blade to perform the partial cutting operation. While performing, the first sensor counts the number of detections of the movable blade at the forward position, and when the number of detections reaches a predetermined value, the control unit can cause the movable blade to perform all cutting operations. Therefore, it is possible to form a label in which partial cuts and all cuts are combined. Further, since the label cutting waste is small during the cutting operation, there is no problem that the cutting mechanism is damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printer including a cutting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a full cutting operation by a cutting unit of the cutting mechanism of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a partial cutting operation by the cutting unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a label continuum cut by a partial cutting operation by a cutting unit of the cutting mechanism of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a movable blade of a cutting portion of a cutting mechanism that is another example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a movable blade of another cutting portion of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 printer, 2 supply unit, 3 printing unit, 4 drawer unit, 5
Cutting unit, 6 input unit, 7 display unit, 8 control unit, 9 supply shaft, 10 label continuum, 11 paper sensor, 12 print head, 13 platen roller, 14 belt, 15 motor, 16 drawing roller, 17 fixed blade, 18 movable blades, 1
8a V-shaped cutting edge, 18b chevron-shaped cutting edge, 18c comb-shaped cutting edge, 19 data bus, 20 CPU, 21 ROM, 2
2 RAM, 23 transport control section, 24 label detection section, 2
5 print head control unit, 26 cutter control unit, 27 input control unit, 28 display control unit, 29 interface, 30
Host computer, 31 screw, 32 mounting frame, 33 shaft guide hole, 34 protrusion, 35 eccentric shaft guide hole, 36 regulation guide shaft, 37 turning plate, 38 central shaft, 39 eccentric shaft, 40 drive shaft, 41 transmission gear , 42
Cutter position sensor, 43 movable sensor, 44 fixed sensor, 45 movable part, 46, cutting device body, 50
Non-cut part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cutting mechanism of a printer for cutting printed paper, comprising a fixed blade and a movable portion having a movable blade capable of moving back and forth toward the fixed blade,
A cutting mechanism for a printer, comprising: a sensor that detects a forward position of the movable blade with respect to a fixed blade; and a control unit that controls a forward / backward movement of the movable blade based on a signal output from the sensor. 2. A cutting mechanism of a printer for performing a full cut or a partial cut on printed paper, comprising a fixed blade and a movable portion having a movable blade capable of advancing and retreating toward the fixed blade; A first sensor that detects the forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade during cutting, a second sensor that detects the forward position of the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade during partial cutting, and an output from the first or second sensor And a cutter control unit that controls the movable blade as a full-cut operation or a partial-cut operation based on the received signal. 3. The cutting mechanism for a printer according to claim 2, wherein the second sensor is capable of setting the movable blade to move in the forward / backward movement direction.