JP2003137456A - Media feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attach a sensor holder easily and swiftly. SOLUTION: To attach a main unit 6 to a guide 5, when this main unit, of which a housing case 8 is originally fixed to a circuit board 7 at the factory, is pressed from the top surface of a guide 5, inclined planes 82b and 82b of locking claws 82a and 82a at the bottom edge of locking pieces 82 and 82 contact the edge of an opening 5a of this guide, and when it is further pressed, these locking pieces are deformed inward against their own elastic force, and they are automatically restored by their own elastic force at the moment when the locking claws 82a and 82a go through the opening 5a, locking the bottom of this opening.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, an apparatus for conveying a print medium as a medium to be supplied in a printer, and a medium conveying apparatus provided with a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the print sheet when the medium is conveyed. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, when a circuit board on which a sensor is mounted is directly attached to an electronic device such as a printer, or when the sensor is stored in a holder in advance and the holder is attached to the electronic device, a mounting method thereof is used. There are two types, one is by screwing multiple points and the other is by adhesive.

[0003]

However, in the screwing method, it is necessary to screw the electronic device at a plurality of positions in order to prevent the displacement due to the looseness of the screw, and when an adhesive is used, Since the drying time is required, it takes a lot of trouble and time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a medium carrying device to which a sensor (optical switch, limit switch, etc.) can be easily attached in as short a time as possible.

[0005]

A medium carrying device according to the present invention has a feature that it has a guide and a sensor holder, and the guide has a medium carrying path and this medium. An opening communicating with the transport path is formed,
The sensor holder holds the medium detecting sensor, and is composed of a main body and a pair of locking pieces, and the pair of locking pieces are elastically deformable, and a locking claw is formed at each tip thereof. The locking claw has an inclined surface. When the locking piece is inserted into the opening of the guide, the inclined surface of the locking claw elastically deforms the pair of locking pieces by the insertion operation of the locking claw into the opening. Insertion into the opening is allowed, the locking claw is locked to the inner surface of the guide in the inserted state of the opening of the locking piece to prevent the locking piece from coming off, When facing the medium transport direction, the main body of the sensor holder abuts the outer surface of the guide, and the inclined surface of the locking claw is in contact with the inner surface of the guide when the tip of the medium comes into contact. First, the tip of the medium is guided to the downstream side.

Another feature of the present invention resides in that, as described in claim 2, the main body is formed in a box shape for accommodating the sensor.

Yet another feature of the present invention resides in that, as described in claim 3, the main body portion is in elastic contact with the outer surface of the guide.

Of course, the sensor may be not only an optical switch but also a limit switch.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a platen 2 is provided facing a print head 1 of a printer, and both sides of the print head and the platen are provided. Further, the driving rollers 3 and 31 which are conveying means and the pressing rollers 4 and 41 are elastically contacted with the driving rollers, and the pressing rollers are driven by the rotation of the driving rollers. Further, sensors S1 and S2 are provided outside the drive rollers 3 and 31, respectively. Therefore, in FIG. 1, when the print sheet P of the print medium is supplied and conveyed from the left side, the print sheet is first sandwiched and conveyed by the driving roller 3 and the pressing roller 4 installed on the left side, Next, printing is performed by the print head 1 and the platen 2, and the print head 1 and the platen 2 are further conveyed to the right, and the right drive roller 3
It is nipped by 1 and the pressing roller 41, further conveyed, and discharged to the right.

In this case, the printing paper P is the drive roller 3 on the left side.
The presence of the sensor S1 is detected in advance by the sensor S1 before it is nipped by the pressing roller 4 and printing is performed. Is no longer present.

On the contrary, when the printing paper P is supplied from the right side to the left side, the rotation direction of the platen 2, the driving rollers 3, 31, and the pressing rollers 4, 41 is opposite to the order of detection. The operating conditions are substantially the same.

Next, the medium carrying device in the printer, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when roughly divided into the configurations, two first and second guides 5 and 51 for guiding a print sheet P as a print medium and a main body portion of the sensor holder are provided. 6 and a medium transport path 9 is formed between the two guides. Further, the first guide 5 is formed with an opening 5a for detection and locking which communicates with the medium transport path 9. Furthermore, the second
The guide 51 is also formed with an opening 51a for preventing a malfunction of the detection of the reflective sensor S.

The sensor holder holds a sensor S for detecting the medium, and this sensor holder has a main body 6
And a pair of locking pieces 82, 82, and the structure of the main body portion is composed of a circuit board 7 and a storage box 8 having a hollow bottom end screwed to the lower surface of the circuit board with screws 10. This storage box is a rectangle that is long in the left-right direction. The lower end surface of the entire outer peripheral wall 81 of the storage box 8 contacts the upper surface of the first guide 5. Further, inside the storage box body 8, a pair of locking pieces 82, 82 are integrally formed so as to face each other in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the storage box body, and the locking pieces are elastically deformed. It is possible. Also, the locking pieces 82, 8
The space between the two is a storage chamber 8a for storing the sensor S. The sensor S is mounted on the circuit board 7, and this sensor is a reflection type in this embodiment.

The lower ends of the pair of locking pieces 82, 82 are free ends, and locking claws 82a, 82a are integrally formed on the lower ends. The width of the locking pieces 82, 82 and the locking claws 82a, 82a can be inserted into the opening 5a of the first guide 5, and the inclined surface 82 is formed on the locking claws.
b and 82b are formed. Therefore, the locking claws 82a,
The reference numeral 82a penetrates the opening 5a of the guide 5 and can be locked to the opening 5a of the first guide 5. The inclined surfaces 82b and 82b of the locking claw are the same as those of the locking claw. The pair of locking pieces 82, 82 are elastically deformed by the inserting operation into the opening to facilitate and allow the insertion into the opening. In addition, on the inner surface of the locking pieces 82, 82, there is a slight space between the locking sensor 82 and the reflective sensor S.
This is because the a and 82a are smoothly locked to the opening 5a. The locking claws 82a, 82a are locked by the locking pieces 82, 8
2, and the locking claws are opposed to each other in the medium transport path 9 in the transport direction of the print paper P.

The lower surface of the sensor S has locking claws 82a,
It is located at the same level as or above the lower end of 82a. Further, the inclined surfaces 82b, 82b of the locking claws 82a, 82a guide the front end of the printing paper P to the downstream side when the front end of the printing paper P contacts. Therefore, even when the print paper P is supplied from the left side of the medium transport path 9 as shown by the solid line, or when the print paper P is supplied from the right direction of the medium transport path as shown by the two-dot chain line. Even if the front end of the printing paper comes into contact with the locking claw 82a, it can be smoothly guided by the inclined surface 82b and moved downstream.

Therefore, when the main body 6 of the sensor holder is attached to the first guide 5, the main body 6 in which the storage box 8 is fixed to the circuit board 7 in advance at the factory is attached to the upper surface of the guide. When pushed from, the inclined surfaces 82b, 82b of the locking claws 82a, 82a at the lower ends of the locking pieces 82, 82 are
When the abutment is brought into contact with the edge of the opening 5a of the guide and further pressed, the locking piece is elastically deformed inward against its own elastic force, and the locking claws 82a and 82a are opened. The moment it penetrates, it is automatically restored by its own elastic force and locked to the lower surface of this opening 5a. Therefore, the sensor holder can be easily attached and can be quickly mounted.

When the print sheet P is conveyed in the conveying path 9, when the print sheet passes the lower surface of the sensor S, light emitted from the sensor is reflected by the print sheet and the print sheet P Presence is detected by the sensor S.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This characteristic is that the lower ends of the outer peripheral walls 811, 811 facing each other among all the outer peripheral walls 81 of the storage box body 8 of the main body portion 6 are free ends, and the length of this outer peripheral wall is the outer peripheral wall 81 of the embodiment described above. The length is longer than that of the locking pieces 82, and is substantially the same as the length of the locking pieces 82, 82, for example.

Therefore, when the sensor holder is attached to the first guide 5, when the sensor holder is pushed down from the upper surface of the guide, as in the embodiment described above, the locking claw 82 is provided.
At the moment when a and 82a penetrate through the opening 5a, they are automatically restored by their own elastic force and locked to the lower surface of this opening.
At the same time, the outer peripheral wall 811 bends outward against its own elastic force, and the locking claws 82a, while retaining this elastic force,
82a is locked in the opening 5a. Therefore, the sensor holder is held against the guide 5 while having a spring property, so that it does not rattle up and down, and like the above-described embodiment, the sensor holder can be easily attached and quickly. It can be carried out.

[0020]

According to the present invention, it is easy and quick to attach the sensor holder to the guide. Further, when the main body of the sensor holder is elastically brought into contact with the upper surface of the guide, the main body of the sensor holder still has a spring property, so that it does not rattle up and down with respect to the guide.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sensor holder.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state where a sensor is attached to a sensor holder.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 guides 5a Guide opening 51 Guide 6 Sensor holder body 82 Locking piece 82a locking claw 82b Sloping surface of locking claw 9 Medium transport path 811 Body (outer peripheral wall) P medium (printing paper) S sensor

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C058 AB05 AB06 GB03                 2C059 AA16 DD02                 3F048 AA05 AB01 BA02 BB07 CB03                       CB12 CC11

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A guide and a sensor holder, wherein the guide is formed with a medium carrying path and an opening communicating with the medium carrying path, and the sensor holder holds a medium detecting sensor. The main body portion and the pair of locking pieces are elastically deformable, and the pair of locking pieces have locking claws formed at their tips, and the locking claws have an inclined surface. The locking piece is inserted into the opening of the guide, and the inclined surface of the locking claw elastically deforms the pair of locking pieces by the inserting operation of the locking claw into the opening. The locking claw is locked to the inner surface of the guide when the locking piece is inserted into the opening to prevent the locking piece from coming off. Also, the main body of the sensor holder faces up It contacts the outer surface of the guide, and the inclined surface of the locking claw guides the leading end of the medium to the downstream side when the leading end of the medium comes into contact with the inner surface of the guide. Characteristic medium transport device. 2. The medium carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is formed in a box shape for housing the sensor. 3. The medium carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion is in elastic contact with the outer surface of the guide.