JP2008184270A - Stacker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stacker aligning and stacking a curled leaf paper sheet thereon causing no stacking failure. <P>SOLUTION: The stacker comprises: a bottom surface part 27 loading the leaf paper sheet thereon; a feeding part 22 feeding the leaf paper sheet to a paper stopper 26 side; and the paper stopper 26 positioned in a vertical direction with respect to the bottom surface part 27, and regulating a front end of the leaf paper sheet fed by the feeding part 22. The paper stopper 26 has a paper guide part 41 guiding the leading end of the leaf paper sheet to the bottom face part 27 side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stacker for printing predetermined information by a printer and sequentially stacking cut single-leaf print media.

A stacker is connected to a printer, and is used for the purpose of facilitating the handling of paper by stacking a plurality of papers printed by the printer in sequence, for example, as a bundle of papers issued in one operation. Yes. For example, a printer is known in which a roll paper obtained by winding a long continuous paper into a roll shape is rotatably held, and predetermined information is printed on the continuous paper and then cut into single units of single-sheet paper. In addition, since the roll paper is held in a roll state for a long period of time, curling is generated in the continuous paper, and the curl amount is increased because the roll diameter is reduced toward the inner diameter of the roll paper. End up.
A stacker that holds such roll paper rotatably and is connected to a printer that discharges printed paper as one unit of single-sheet paper and stacks the single-sheet paper sequentially from below is known (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

JP-A-6-234452

However, in a stacker connected to a printer that uses roll paper as in Patent Document 1, the leading edge of the single-sheet paper ejected from the printer is curled so as to be warped, and is conveyed in the direction of warping. Therefore, there was a risk of loading failure. In particular, when the perforated lines are formed on the single-sheet paper, there is a problem that the sheet is likely to be bent and the stacking failure is likely to occur.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stacker capable of beautifully stacking curled single-sheet paper without stacking failure.

The stacker according to the present invention includes a bottom surface portion on which single-sheet paper is stacked, a conveyance portion that conveys single-sheet paper to the bottom surface portion, and a single-sheet paper that is positioned perpendicular to the bottom surface portion and conveyed by the conveyance portion. A paper stopper for restricting the front end, and a paper guide portion for guiding the leading edge of the single-sheet paper to the bottom surface side is provided on the paper stopper.
In addition, the sheet guide section has a slope that guides the leading edge of the single sheet to the bottom surface side.
In addition, a sheet pressing unit that further presses the surface of the single-sheet paper conveyed to the conveying unit toward the bottom surface side is further provided.

By providing a paper guide to the paper stopper that regulates the front edge of single-sheet paper, the front edge of the single-sheet paper conveyed by the conveyance section can be guided and guided to the bottom side, so even if the single-sheet paper has curls It can be loaded on the bottom in a neat and clean condition.
In addition, by providing a paper pressing unit that presses the surface of the single-sheet paper conveyed by the conveyance unit, curling of the single-sheet paper is suppressed to some extent before coming into contact with the paper guide unit, thereby preventing stacking failure due to the curl. it can.

  The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a stacker and a printer connected to the stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of roll paper used in the printer, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of single-sheet paper. . As shown in FIG. 1, the stacker 20 is configured to sequentially stack single sheets discharged from the printer 1 from below.

  The printer 1 includes a supply unit 2 that rotatably supports a roll paper 60 in which a long continuous paper 61 is wound in a roll shape, and a sensor 3 that detects the position of the continuous paper 61 drawn from the roll paper 60. The printing unit 4 that prints and conveys the continuous paper 61, and the ink ribbon 66 that feeds and winds the ink ribbon 66 to the printing unit 4, and the single-sheet paper 64 for each unit of the continuous paper 61 (see FIG. 3). ) As a cutting portion 6.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the continuous paper 61 is provided with a plurality of holes 62 formed in the central portion in the width direction of the continuous paper 61 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. A plurality of formed perforations 63 are provided. Further, the printer 1 prints on the continuous paper 61, and the cutting unit 6 cuts and discharges the single-sheet paper 64 shown in FIG.

  The supply unit 2 includes a paper supply shaft (not shown) that holds the roll paper 60, and pulls out the continuous paper 61 from the roll paper 60 by rotation of a platen roller 8 described later, and supplies the continuous paper 61 toward the printing unit 4. To do.

  The sensor 3 is a light transmission sensor, and includes a light emitting unit 3a that emits light toward the continuous paper 61 and a light receiving unit 3b that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 3a. 3b is disposed opposite the light emitting unit 3a with the continuous paper 61 interposed therebetween. The light emitted from the light emitting unit 3 a is received by the light receiving unit 3 b through the hole 62 of the continuous paper 61, thereby detecting the transport position of the continuous paper 61. In addition, position detection marks (not shown) are provided at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the continuous paper 61, and a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that detect the position detection marks are arranged in parallel, and the position of the continuous paper 61 is detected by the reflectance of light. It may be a light reflection type sensor.

  The printing unit 4 is disposed opposite to the thermal head 7 by applying heat to the ink ribbon 66 to transfer the ink to the continuous paper 61 and printing, and is rotated by being connected to a motor (not shown). A platen roller 8 for conveying the continuous paper 61 is provided.

  The ink ribbon unit 5 includes a ribbon supply unit 9 and a ribbon take-up unit 10, and holds the ink ribbon 66 wound in a roll shape from the ribbon supply unit 9 to the ribbon take-up unit 10 via the thermal head 7. Then, the ribbon take-up unit 10 connected to a motor (not shown) is driven to rotate, whereby the ink ribbon 66 after ink transfer is taken up on the ribbon take-up unit 10.

  The cutting unit 6 has a fixed blade and a movable blade that can move forward and backward with respect to the fixed blade, and cuts the continuous paper 61 into single-sheet paper 64 of a predetermined length. A so-called circle cutter having a movable blade rotating along the cutting edge of the fixed blade may be used.

The printer 1 includes a control unit (not shown). The control unit operates according to a ROM that stores a predetermined control program, a control program stored in the ROM, and a CPU that controls each unit. RAM for storing various necessary data, a conveyance control circuit for controlling the conveyance of the continuous paper 61 by the platen roller 8 by supplying a pulse signal to the motor, and printing of characters and figures to be printed supplied from the CPU A control signal corresponding to the data is generated and supplied to the thermal head 7 to perform a printing operation. Under the control of the CPU, the light emitting portion 3a of the sensor 3 is controlled to emit light toward the printing medium. In addition, a label detection circuit that receives an electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 3b, converts it into digital data and supplies it to the CPU, and setting information and the like are input. An interface for connecting an input unit for displaying and a display unit for displaying input information and error information, a calendar IC for measuring the current date and time, a flash ROM for storing various setting information of the printer 1, a handy scanner, etc. An external interface for connecting and receiving print data.
Each of these units is connected to the CPU via a data bus, and prints on the continuous paper 61 by the thermal head 7 in accordance with the print data received from the external interface under the control of the CPU, and the continuous continuous paper 61 by the cutting unit 6. Is cut as a single-sheet paper 64 of a predetermined length.

The single-sheet paper 64 cut by the cutting unit 6 is sequentially stacked on the stacker 20 arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction of the continuous paper 61 of the printer 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the stacker, and the configuration of the stacker will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.
The stacker 20 mainly includes a stacker body 21, a transport unit 22, a drive unit 23, a sheet pressing unit 24, a full stack detection unit 25, and a sheet stopper 26.
The stacker body 21 has a bottom surface portion 27 on which the single-sheet paper 64 is stacked, and a side surface portion 28 that guides the single-sheet paper 62 by contacting one end in the width direction.
A plurality of long holes 29 for exposing a plurality of conveyance belts 34 of the conveyance unit 22 described later are formed in the bottom surface portion 27 along the conveyance direction of the single-sheet paper 64. Further, the bottom surface portion 27 is inclined such that the downstream side in the transport direction of the single sheet 64 is lower than the upstream side. Note that the drive unit 23 is disposed inside the bottom surface portion 27.
The side surface portion 28 includes a guide hole 30 formed in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface portion 27, and a guide plate 31 that guides the movement of the sheet pressing portion 24 that can move along the guide hole 30. A full stack detection unit 25 is disposed inside the stacker main body 21 (end portion position away from the bottom surface portion 27 of the guide hole 30).

The conveying unit 22 is connected to a motor 32 that is a driving unit 23 via a timing belt, and is connected to a driving roller 33 that is driven to rotate as the motor 32 is driven, and a driving roller 33 via a conveying belt 34. 1, a conveyance roller 35, 35 that rotates in synchronization with the drive roller 33, and a position where the conveyance belt 34 abuts the single-sheet paper 64 against the sheet stopper 26 by rotating the drive roller 33 counterclockwise in FIG. 1. Transport to.
In addition, a pulling roller 36 that presses the surface of the single-sheet paper 64 is provided above the driving roller 33, and the single-sheet paper 64 is reliably pulled into the stacker 20 by sandwiching the single-sheet paper 64 between the pull-in roller 36 and the conveyance belt 34. It has become.

  The sheet pressing unit 24 corrects the curling of the single-sheet paper 64 curled in the roll direction of the roll paper 60 and is connected to a weight (not shown) provided inside the stacker body 21. The curl is corrected to a horizontal state by pressing the single sheet 64 against the bottom surface portion 27 side by the weight of the weight. The sheet pressing unit 24 is lifted by a plurality of single-sheet sheets 64 that are sequentially stacked, and is configured to be movable along the guide holes 30.

  The full stack detection unit 25 is a micro switch that is positioned in the vicinity of the uppermost end of the guide hole 30 and generates a detection signal by contacting the paper pressing unit 24. The detection signal of the micro switch is a signal indicating that no more single-sheet paper 64 can be stacked on the bottom surface portion 27 of the stacker 20 (full stack), and is transmitted to a control unit (not shown), and the motor 32 is based on this signal. Stop.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the paper stopper, and the configuration of the paper stopper will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the paper stopper 26 has a paper front stopper 37 and a paper side guide 38 that can be attached to and detached from the paper front stopper 37. The sheet front surface stopper 37 includes a magnet (not shown) at a bottom position where the sheet front surface stopper abuts the bottom surface portion 27, and is configured to be detachable from the bottom surface portion 27, which is partially formed of a metal plate, and is stacked on the bottom surface portion 27. Depending on the length of the single sheet 64, the position of the sheet front stopper 37 in the sheet conveyance direction can be fixed at an arbitrary position. Further, a positioning groove 39 is provided on the surface of the sheet front stopper 37 on which the front end of the single sheet 64 abuts, and a convex portion (not shown) of the sheet side guide 38 is engaged with the positioning groove 39 so that the sheet side guide 38 is engaged. Can be positioned at an arbitrary position in the width direction of the paper front surface stopper 37. An engaging portion 40 is provided at the upper end of the paper side guide 38, and the paper side guide 38 can be more firmly fixed to the paper front stopper 37 by the engaging portion 40. With the above configuration, the single-sheet paper 64 discharged from the printer 1 can be neatly stacked by being aligned by the paper stopper 26.

  A paper guide 41 is provided at the lower end of the paper front stopper 37. The sheet guide unit 41 has a slope 42 that increases as it goes away from the bottom surface 27 (lower as it approaches the bottom surface 27), contacts the front end of the single-sheet paper 64 that is transported by the transport unit 22, and The single-sheet paper 64 is guided downward (bottom side). That is, by guiding the front end of the single-sheet paper 64 to be curled in the direction in which the front end and the rear end of the single-sheet paper 64 are warped to the bottom surface side by the inclined surface 42, it is possible to prevent sheet folding or stacking failure during loading. .

  A loading operation by the stacker configured as described above will be described. The single-sheet paper 64 discharged from the printer 1 is sandwiched between the drawing roller 36 and the conveyance belt 34 and is conveyed to the sheet stopper 26 side by the conveyance belt 34. While the single-sheet paper 64 is being conveyed, a part of the front side of the single-sheet paper 64 is pressed toward the bottom surface 27 by the sheet pressing unit 24, and curling of the single-sheet paper 64 is suppressed. If the curl is tight, the curl may not be corrected even if the surface of the single-sheet paper 64 is pressed by the sheet pressing unit 24, and the single-sheet is formed on the bottom surface side along the slope 42 of the sheet guide unit 41 of the sheet front stopper 37. The leading edge of the sheet 64 is guided, and the single sheet 64 is stacked on the bottom surface portion 27. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which a plurality of single sheets 64 are stacked (the sheet side guide 38 is omitted in the drawing), and the single sheets 64 are sequentially stacked from below as shown in FIG.

  Here, the difference in loading state between the conventional configuration and the configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 shows a conventional stacker, and FIG. 8 shows the stacker of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional stacker does not have a sheet guide portion in the sheet front stopper 37, so that the single sheet 64 moves along the sheet front stopper 37 when the tip of the curled single sheet 64 abuts against the sheet front stopper 37. Since the single sheet 64 is pressed by the sheet pressing unit 24 and moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, the stacking failure state shown in FIG. If another single sheet 64 is transported next in such a stacking failure state, stacking defects are induced one after another, and there is a possibility that the single sheet 64 may be bent or jammed. In particular, when the perforation 63 is formed on the single-sheet paper 64, the perforation 63 is likely to be bent.

  The stacker 20 of the present invention can prevent the stacking failure as described above by the sheet guide portion 41 of the sheet front stopper 37 at the leading end of the curled single sheet 64 as shown in FIG. That is, whether or not the single-sheet papers 64 can be aligned and stacked (prevents stacking failure) is determined by the guiding direction of the leading end portion of the single-sheet paper 64, and therefore the single-sheet paper 64 conveyed to the paper stopper 26 side is the target. A paper guide 41 is provided at a contact position (a region of the predicted maximum curl amount).

  FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the sheet pressing unit, which is characterized in that a plate-like plate 43 is attached to the sheet pressing unit 24, and the other configurations are the same. The description and illustration are omitted. As shown in FIG. 9, a plate-like plate 43 is attached to the paper pressing portion 45, and most of the surface of the single-sheet paper 64 can be pressed by this plate 43. By pressing the single-sheet paper 64 toward the bottom surface portion 27 side, curling of the single-sheet paper 64 can be further suppressed. The plate 43 is configured to be detachable, and is attached when the single-sheet paper 64 is long and easily curled (or the curl is tight), so that the single-sheet paper 64 in a curled state can be stacked. The plate 43 is made of metal, and curling can be further suppressed by pressing the single-sheet paper 64 against the bottom surface portion 27 by the weight of the plate. Further, by changing to the plate 43 having a different weight or area, it is possible to cope with single-sheet papers having various shapes, materials, and lengths.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to a suitable number, position, shape, and the like in practicing the present invention.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a stacker and a printer connected to the stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view of roll paper used in the printer. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of single-sheet paper loaded on the stacker. It is a schematic perspective view of the same stacker. It is a schematic perspective view of the paper stopper of the stacker. FIG. 6 is a side view of the stacker showing a state in which a plurality of single-sheet papers 64 are stacked. It is a schematic perspective view of the conventional stacker. It is a schematic perspective view of the stacker of the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the paper pressing part of other embodiments.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Supply part 3 Sensor 4 Printing part 5 Ink ribbon unit 6 Cutting part 7 Thermal head 8 Platen roller 9 Ribbon supply axis 10 Ribbon take-up axis 20 Stacker 21 Stacker main body 22 Conveying part 23 Drive part 24 Paper pressing part 25 Full stack Detection part 26 Paper stopper 27 Bottom face part 28 Side face part 29 Long hole 30 Guide hole 31 Guide plate 32 Motor 33 Driving roller 34 Conveying belt 35 Conveying roller 36 Pull-in roller 37 Paper front face stopper 38 Paper side surface guide 39 Positioning groove 40 Engaging part 41 Paper guide part 42 Slope 43 Plate 45 Paper holding part 60 Roll paper 61 Continuous paper 62 Hole 63 Perforation 64 Single sheet paper 66 Ink ribbon

Claims (3)

A bottom surface for loading single-sheet paper,
A transport unit that transports a single sheet to the bottom surface;
A sheet stopper that is positioned in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface part and regulates the front edge of the single-sheet paper conveyed by the conveyance unit;
A stacker characterized in that the paper stopper is provided with a paper guide portion for guiding the leading edge of a single sheet to the bottom surface side. The stacker according to claim 1, wherein the sheet guide unit has a slope that guides a leading edge of a single sheet toward the bottom surface. The stacker according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet pressing portion that presses a surface of the single-sheet paper conveyed to the conveyance unit toward the bottom surface portion.

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