JP2006193322A - Paper feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize separation performance regardless of a winding diameter of a recording paper roll, and to prevent damaging of the recording paper or defective printing. <P>SOLUTION: In a separation process, feeding amounts of the recording paper 23 are accumulated based on the number of printed papers, and a motor 19 is driven based on the accumulated feeding amount. When the motor 19 rotates the gear 31 by θ1 in counterclockwise direction, one end 33a of a coil spring 33 is displaced above in the figure, and a tip part 28a of a separation plate 28 is displaced to a contact position (in a state of (a)). At this time, an outer circumferential face of the recording roll 20 is pressed with a constant pressing force by the tip part 28a. After the separation process and when a gear 31 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction by θ2, one end 33a of the coil spring 33 is displaced below in the figure, and the separation plate 28 is displaced to a retraction position (in a state of (b)). In a printing process, the recording paper roll 20 is rotated and fed in a state where the separation plate 28 is separated from the outer circumferential face. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper feeding device that abuts a leading edge separation plate on the outer peripheral surface of a recording paper roll, separates the leading edge of the recording paper from the outer peripheral surface, and feeds the separated recording paper.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a paper feeding device that rotates a recording paper roll obtained by winding a long recording paper into a roll shape and supplies the recording paper from a paper feeding port in a feeding direction. The paper feeding device includes a leading edge separation plate that contacts the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll and separates the leading edge of the recording paper from the recording paper roll. The leading edge separation plate shown in Patent Document 1 is biased toward the recording paper roll by a biasing means such as a spring, and the leading end is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll. When the recording paper roll rotates in this state, the front end of the recording paper is scooped up from the outer peripheral surface by the front end portion of the front end separation plate and separated from the recording paper roll. The separated recording paper leading edge is guided by the guide portion and sent to the paper feed port.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-011750

  However, since the above-mentioned leading edge separation plate does not function in accordance with the change in the winding diameter of the recording paper roll, the smaller the winding diameter, the weaker the pressing force to press the recording paper roll, and the separation performance deteriorated. . Also, when the recording paper roll has a winding diameter that exhibits a certain separation performance, even during printing, the recording paper roll is pressed with the same pressing force as at the tip separation, so that an excessive force is applied to the recording paper roll and recording is performed. There is a risk of scratching the paper or causing printing failures such as printing streaks due to this.

  The present invention is to solve the above problems, and provides a paper feeding device that stabilizes the separation performance regardless of the winding diameter of the recording paper roll, and prevents damage to the recording paper and printing failure. Objective.

  The present invention is a paper feeding device that separates a recording paper front end from the outer peripheral surface by a front end separation unit that comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll obtained by winding the recording paper in a roll shape, and feeds the recording paper, A front end separation unit holding means for holding the front end separation unit in contact with the outer peripheral surface following the change in the winding diameter due to the use of the recording paper roll, and the front end separation unit applied to the recording paper roll with a substantially constant biasing force. Biasing means for biasing.

  Further, the present invention provides a holding arm for holding the tip separation portion so as to contact the outer peripheral surface at a substantially constant angle, a support portion for rotatably supporting the holding arm, and the tip separation portion from the outer peripheral surface. The tip separation part holding means is composed of the retracted position moving part that moves to the separated retracted position, and the urging means is composed of a coil spring provided between the holding arm and the support part. Furthermore, the present invention is characterized by having a biasing force changing portion that changes the biasing force by adjusting the position of one end fixed to the support portion of the coil spring.

  The present invention relates to a feed amount integrating portion that integrates the feed amount of recording paper, and an urging force that maintains the urging force substantially constant by adjusting the position of one end fixed to the support portion of the coil spring based on the accumulated feed amount. It has a control part. In addition, it is preferable that the tip separation portion is moved away from the outer peripheral surface by rotating the support portion in a direction opposite to the urging direction by the urging force control portion. Further, it is preferable that the feed amount integrating unit has a counter for counting the number of printed sheets, and obtains an integrated feed amount based on the count value of the number of printed sheets.

  According to the present invention, the leading end separation portion follows the winding diameter of the recording paper roll and contacts the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll, and presses the outer peripheral surface with a substantially constant pressing force. Regardless, the separation performance can be stabilized.

  During printing, the leading edge separation portion is disposed at the retracted position away from the outer peripheral surface, so that it is possible to prevent scratches on the recording paper and printing failures. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a separate mechanism for retracting the tip separation part, space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

  By determining the feed amount of the recording paper based on the count value of the number of prints and adjusting the position of one end of the coil spring based on this feed amount, the leading edge separation portion is arranged at an optimum position corresponding to the winding diameter of the recording paper roll. In addition, since a substantially constant pressing force is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll, it is possible to always exhibit stable separation performance and reliably separate the leading edge of the recording paper.

  If the position of one end of the coil spring can be adjusted manually, the user can directly place the tip separation portion at an optimum position with respect to the recording paper roll.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer 10 controls a paper feeding device (paper feeding unit) 11 to which the present invention is applied, a printing unit 12 that performs printing based on printing data, and controls these units 11 and 12. A printer control unit 13 for printing, a print data holding unit 14 for holding print data from a plurality of terminals PC1 to PC3, and the like. A recording paper roll unit 17 in which the recording paper 23 is wound in a roll shape is detachably loaded in the paper feeding unit 11. The printer control unit 13 inputs print data held by the print data holding unit 14 to the print unit 12 and supplies the recording paper 23 from the paper supply unit 11 to execute print processing. At this time, in the paper feeding unit 11, driving of the motors 18 and 19 is controlled via a driver (not shown).

  The recording paper roll unit 17 includes a recording paper roll 20 and a pair of roll holders 21. The recording paper roll 20 is, for example, a long recording paper 23 is wound around a hollow tubular core 22 having a diameter of 60 mm, and the diameter is 150 mm when not used. The pair of roll holders 21 are attached to both ends of the winding core 22 so as to sandwich both ends of the recording paper roll 20, and rotate together with the winding core 22. A pair of shafts 24 protrudes outside the pair of roll holders 21 sandwiching the recording paper roll 20, and these pair of shafts 24 are freely rotatable by a pair of bearing portions 25 fixed to the inner wall of the loading chamber. To fit. One shaft 24 is connected to the drive shaft of the motor 18. When the roll holder 21 is rotated by driving the motor 18, the recording paper roll 20 is rotated in the clockwise direction.

  Guide plates 26 for guiding the recording paper 23 separated from the recording paper roll 20 are provided on the outer periphery of the recording paper roll unit 17 and on both sides of the paper feed path to the printing unit 12. A tip separation mechanism 27 is disposed in a part of the paper feed path.

  The tip separation mechanism 27 includes a separation plate 28, a holding arm 29, a support shaft 30, a gear 31, a fixing member 32, a coil spring 33, and the like. The leading edge separation mechanism 27 performs a separation process for separating the leading edge of the recording paper 23 from the outer circumferential surface by bringing the separation plate 28 into contact with the outer circumferential surface of the recording paper roll 20 before feeding.

  The separation plate 28 and the holding arm 29 are connected to and integrated with each other by a connection shaft 35 inserted through a shaft hole penetrating in each width direction. Therefore, even if the winding diameter of the recording paper roll 20 changes with use, the separation plate 28 can be applied to the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 at a substantially constant angle. The separation plate 28 has a width size corresponding to the width of the recording paper 23, and is arranged to face the central portion of the recording paper 23. The leading end 28 a of the separation plate 28 is formed in a taper shape, and the leading end 28 a is thinner than the recording paper 23. Note that the width size of the separation plate 28 does not necessarily correspond to the width of the recording paper 23, and in the arrangement, the central portion of the recording paper 23 is desirable, but it may be provided from the central portion to one side portion. .

  The holding arm 29 is provided with a shaft hole 29 a penetrating in the width direction at an end portion (attachment end portion) opposite to the connection shaft 35. A support shaft 30 that is a rotation shaft of the gear 31 is rotatably inserted into the shaft hole 29a. At the center of the holding arm 29, there is provided a hooking hole 29b on which one end 33b of the coil spring 33 is hooked.

  The gear 31 is rotated by driving the motor 19, and the fixing member 32 is rotated together with the support shaft 30 along with the rotation. The fixing member 32 is fixed to the support shaft 30 with a mounting screw 34. The fixing member 32 is provided with a recess 32a, and the other end 33a of the coil spring 33 is hooked on the recess 32a.

  As described above, one end 33b of the coil spring 33 is hung on the rotatable holding arm 29, and the other end 33a is hung on the fixing member 32 whose rotation is controlled by the printer control unit 13, and the coil portion 33c. Is wound around the support shaft 30. Therefore, the separating plate 28 and the holding arm 29 are urged toward the recording paper roll 20 with a substantially constant urging force by the elastic repulsive force of the coil spring 32.

  The winding diameter of the recording paper roll 20 changes in the use stage. Correspondingly, in the present embodiment, the fixing member 32 is rotated with the rotation of the gear 31 to adjust the position of the one end 33a of the coil spring 33, so that the tip 28a records the separation plate 28. It is possible to displace between a contact position (see FIGS. 1 and 3A) that contacts the outer peripheral surface of the paper roll 20 and a retracted position (see FIG. 3B) where the tip 28a is separated from the outer peripheral surface. Yes. Due to this displacement, in the separation process, the leading end portion 28a of the separation plate 28 is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 following the change in the winding diameter of the recording paper roll 20, and the contact state Hold.

  The function of the tip separation mechanism 27 in the displacement of the separation plate 28 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the gear 31 rotates θ1 counterclockwise, the fixing member 32 rotates θ1 counterclockwise around the support shaft 30 accordingly. At this time, one end 33a of the coil spring 33 is displaced upward in the drawing, the urging force of the coil spring 33 is increased, the separating plate 28 and the holding arm 29 are moved toward the recording paper roll 20, and the leading end 28a is recorded. Contact with the outer peripheral surface of the paper roll 20 (contact position). In this contact position, the separation plate 28 presses the outer peripheral surface with a constant pressing force. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the gear 31 rotates θ2 clockwise, the fixing member 32 rotates θ2 clockwise around the support shaft 30 accordingly. At this time, one end 33a of the coil spring 33 is displaced downward in the drawing, the urging force of the coil spring 33 is reduced, the separating plate 28 and the holding arm 29 are moved away from the recording paper roll 20, and the leading end 28a is moved. A vertical distance L1 is separated from the outer peripheral surface (retracted position).

  In this way, by adjusting the position of the one end 33a of the coil spring 33 and changing the urging force of the coil spring 33, the front end portion 28a of the separation plate 28 is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20, thereby Since the surface is pressed with a constant pressing force, the separation performance can be stabilized regardless of the winding diameter of the recording paper roll 20.

  A method for adjusting the position of the one end 33a of the coil spring 33 will be described. The printer control unit 13 is provided with a counter 15 that counts the number of prints. The counter 15 counts the number of times the print instruction drive signal is input to the print unit 12 as the number of prints. The printer controller 13 integrates the feed amount of the recording paper 23 based on the count value, and generates a drive pulse for the motor 19 based on the accumulated feed amount. Then, this drive pulse is input to a driver (not shown) to control the motor 19 with high accuracy. By this control, the fixing member 32 is rotated by a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction, and the position of the one end 33a of the coil spring 33 is adjusted.

  A state when the leading edge of the recording paper is separated from the recording paper roll 20 will be described with reference to FIG. When the leading edge of the recording paper 23 (the leading edge of the recording paper) is fed in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 toward the separation plate 28 at the contact position, first, the leading end portion 28a of the separation plate 28. The tip of the recording paper hits and stretches. When the leading end of the recording paper is further fed toward the separating plate 28, the recording paper roll 20 is unwound, and eventually the leading end of the recording paper is released from the leading end portion 28a and sent to the upper surface in the drawing of the separating plate 28 (broken line). State shown by). In this way, the leading edge of the recording paper is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 and supplied to the printing unit 12.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When print data is input from any of PC1 to PC3 to the print data holding unit 14, the recording paper 23 is supplied to the print unit 12 by the separation process, and the print process is started.

  In the separation process, the separation plate 28 in the retracted position is set at the contact position. At this time, the printer control unit 13 integrates the feed amount of the recording paper 23 based on the number of prints indicated by the count value of the counter 15 and drives the motor 19 based on the feed amount. When the gear 31 rotates θ1 counterclockwise by driving the motor 19, one end 33 a of the coil spring 33 is displaced upward in the figure, and the distal end portion 28 a of the separation plate 28 is displaced to the contact position. At this time, the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 is pressed by the front end portion 28a with a constant pressing force. Thereafter, when the recording paper roll 20 rotates clockwise by driving the motor 18, the leading edge of the recording paper is scooped up from the outer peripheral surface and separated. In this way, the separation process is performed, and the recording paper 23 is supplied to the printing unit 12.

  After the separation process, the separation plate 28 at the contact position is set at the retracted position. At this time, when the motor 19 is driven by the printer control unit 13 and the gear 31 rotates θ2 clockwise, one end 33a of the coil spring 33 is displaced downward in the figure, and the separation plate 28 is displaced to the retracted position. Thus, the recording paper roll 20 is rotated with the leading end 28a of the separating plate 28 away from the outer peripheral surface, the recording paper 23 is sequentially supplied, and the printing process is started.

  In the above embodiment, the coil spring 33 is used as the urging means, but is not limited to the coil spring, and may be a spring plate or other elastic material having a spring property.

  In the above embodiment, the feed amount of the recording paper 23 is integrated from the count value of the number of prints, and the motor 19 is controlled based on the feed amount. The winding diameter of the recording paper roll 20 is calculated based on the feed amount. Then, the motor 19 may be controlled based on the calculated winding diameter. The winding diameter may be calculated by actually measuring using a measuring instrument such as an optical sensor in addition to calculating the feeding amount of the recording paper 23.

  In the above embodiment, the motor 19 is driven to displace the one end 33a of the coil spring 33 via the gear 31, but the one end 33a may be manually displaced. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a fan-shaped fixing member 45 is fixed to a support shaft 44 that rotatably supports the holding arm 43. A plurality of hooking holes 45a are regularly formed in the fixing member 45 along the circumferential direction. One end 46a of the coil spring 46 is hooked in order on these hooking holes 45a, and the positions thereof are switched stepwise.

  In the above embodiment, the tip separation mechanism 27 is configured by the separation plate 28, the holding arm 29, the support shaft 30, the gear 31, the fixing member 32, the coil spring 33, and the like. However, the tip separation mechanism 27 is not limited to this, for example As shown in FIG. 6, the tip separation mechanism 51 includes a separation plate 52, a coil spring 53 that urges the separation plate 52 toward the recording paper roll 20 with a substantially constant urging force, and a shift that is displaced in the vertical direction in the figure. You may comprise from the mechanism 54. FIG. In this case, the separation plate 52 is separated from the contact position where the leading end 52a abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll 20 when the shift mechanism 54 moves away from the separation plate 52. When moving toward the plate 52, the tip 52a is displaced between the retracted position away from the outer peripheral surface.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the printer containing the paper feeder of this invention. It is a side view explaining a tip separation mechanism. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state in which a separating plate exists in the contact position (a), and the state in (b) retracted position. It is explanatory drawing which shows a state when separating the recording paper front-end | tip from a recording paper roll. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the adhering member. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the front-end | tip separation mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

11 Feeder 13 Printer Control Unit 18 Motor (for roll holder rotation)
19 Motor (for gear rotation)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Recording paper roll 22 Winding core 23 Recording paper 28 Separation plate 28a Tip part 29 Holding arm 30 Support shaft 31 Gear 32 Fixing member 33 Coil spring

Claims (6)

The recording paper roll, which is wound up in a roll shape, is rotated, and the leading edge separation unit in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper roll is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the recording paper, and the recording paper is fed out. In paper equipment,
A tip separator holding means for holding the tip separator in contact with the outer peripheral surface following a change in winding diameter due to the use of the recording paper roll;
An urging means for urging the leading edge separation portion toward the recording paper roll with a substantially constant urging force. The tip separation part holding means includes a holding arm that holds the tip separation part in contact with the outer peripheral surface at a substantially constant angle, a support part that rotatably supports the holding arm, and the tip separation part. A retreat position moving unit that moves to a retreat position separated from the outer peripheral surface;
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the urging unit includes a coil spring provided between the holding arm and the support portion.   The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, further comprising an urging force changing unit that changes the urging force by adjusting a position of one end fixed to the support portion of the coil spring.   Based on the integrated feed amount, a feed amount integration unit that integrates the feed amount of the recording paper, and a position of one end fixed to the support portion of the coil spring is adjusted to hold the biasing force substantially constant. The sheet feeding device according to claim 2, further comprising a force control unit.   5. The feeding according to claim 4, wherein the biasing force control unit rotates the support portion in a direction opposite to the biasing direction to place the tip separation portion in a retracted position away from the outer peripheral surface. Paper device. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the feed amount integrating unit has a counter for counting the number of printed sheets, and obtains an integrated feed amount based on a count value of the number of printed sheets.

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