JP2008297043A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing device eliminating the need of taking time and efforts for adjusting work such as setting of a print starting position. <P>SOLUTION: The printing device A1 comprises a housing 1; a plurality of slots for installing paper feeding cassette 21, 22, 23, 24 opening to one side surface of the housing 1, and arranged in a vertical direction; and a paper feeding cassette 3 inserted and installed in the slots for installing paper feeding cassette 21, 22, 23, 24. Paper P loaded in the selected paper feeding cassette 3 is carried, and predetermined printing is carried on the paper P. The paper feeding cassette 3 is equipped with a sheet guide 31a capable of moving in a width direction of the paper P orthogonal to an inserting direction to the slots for installing paper feeding cassette 21, 22, 23, 24, and regulating the position of a side edge portion of the loaded paper P. In the printing device A1, when the paper feeding cassette 3 is installed in the slots for installing paper feeding cassette 21, 22, 23, 24, the position in the width direction of the paper P of the sheet guide 31a is regulated by a housing criterion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus in which printing paper is supplied from a plurality of paper feed cassettes.

  An example of such a printing apparatus is described in Patent Document 1. An example of such a printing apparatus is shown in front view in FIG. The printing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 includes a housing 91, a plurality of paper feeding cassette mounting slots 92 opened on the right side surface of the housing 91, and a plurality of paper feeding cassettes inserted into the plurality of paper feeding cassette mounting slots 92. 93, an electrophotographic printing mechanism 96, and a control mechanism 97. For example, sheets P having different sizes and orientations are loaded in the plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 93, for example. The printing apparatus X is configured to convey the paper P loaded in the selected paper feed cassette 93 to the electrophotographic printing mechanism 96 and perform predetermined printing on the paper P under the control of the control mechanism 97. Yes. The paper feed cassette 93 includes a sheet guide 94 for defining the position of the side edge of the paper P to be loaded. The sheet guide 94 is fixed to the paper feed cassette 93 in a state where the position of the sheet guide 94 is adjusted in the width direction of the paper P.

  However, in such a printing apparatus X, due to a position setting error in the width direction of the sheet P of the sheet guide 94, the reference position in the width direction of the sheet P is different for each sheet feeding cassette 93. . For this reason, in the printing apparatus X, the reference position in the width direction of the paper P supplied from each paper feed cassette 93 is different, and it is necessary to adjust the print start position to be constant before shipment. It was. In this adjustment operation, first, it is necessary to confirm each print start position when the paper P is supplied from each paper feed cassette 93 and printed. Next, it is necessary to set the control mechanism 97 so as to perform control so that the print start position becomes constant regardless of which paper feed cassette 93 supplies the paper P. As described above, this adjustment work requires time and labor.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-184191

  The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that does not require time and labor for adjustment work such as setting of a print start position.

  A printing apparatus provided by the present invention is inserted and mounted in a housing, a plurality of paper cassette mounting slots that are open on one side of the housing and are arranged in the vertical direction, and the paper cassette mounting slots. A printing apparatus configured to convey a sheet loaded in the selected sheet feeding cassette and perform predetermined printing on the sheet. The sheet cassette is movable in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the insertion direction with respect to the sheet cassette loading slot and includes a sheet guide for defining the position of the side edge of the sheet to be loaded. It is provided with sheet guide positioning means that engages with the sheet guide and defines the position of the sheet guide in the sheet width direction with respect to the housing when mounted in the sheet feeding cassette mounting slot. The features.

  According to such a configuration, since the position of the sheet guide in the sheet width direction can be defined on the basis of the housing, the reference position in the width direction of the sheet accommodated in each sheet guide of each sheet feeding cassette can be determined. Can be aligned. For this reason, it is not necessary to set the printing start position in the printing apparatus.

  In a preferred embodiment, the sheet guide positioning means includes a positioning pin provided in each sheet guide and a positioning member provided in the housing and engageable with the positioning pin.

  In a more preferred embodiment, the positioning pin includes a tapered portion that decreases in diameter toward the tip, and the positioning member includes a positioning hole with which the positioning pin can be engaged. According to such a configuration, the positioning pin can be easily fitted into the positioning hole by the tapered portion. That is, when the taper portion is in contact with the outer peripheral edge of the positioning hole, even if the positioning pin is slightly shifted in the width direction, the shift can be corrected.

  In a preferred embodiment, the positioning member can be adjusted in the paper width direction. According to such a configuration, the same positioning member can be used for the sheet guides of a plurality of types of paper feed cassettes loaded with different types of paper. For this reason, it is not necessary to design and manufacture many kinds of the positioning members, which is economically advantageous.

  In a preferred embodiment, two sheet guides are provided in each paper feed cassette so as to define the positions of both side edges of the loaded paper, and the two sheet guides are independently provided. It can move in the paper width direction. According to such a configuration, it is possible to define the positions of both side edges of a plurality of sheets of different sizes by adjusting the distance between the two sheet guides. For this reason, there is no need to make a plurality of sheet guides of different standards corresponding to different sizes of paper, which is economically advantageous.

  In a preferred embodiment, two positioning members are provided for each paper feed cassette mounting slot, and the positions of the two positioning members can be adjusted independently in the paper width direction. According to such a configuration, it can be preferably applied when two sheet guides are provided.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. The printing apparatus A1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes a housing 1, paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, 24, four paper feed cassettes 3, positioning members 41, 42, 43, 44, and paper feed rollers 5. , An electrophotographic printing mechanism 6 and a control mechanism 7 are provided.

  The casing 1 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped box that accommodates the positioning members 41, 42, 43, 44, the paper feed roller 5, the electrophotographic printing mechanism 6, and the control mechanism 7. Has been. The housing 1 has a rectangular hollow portion extending in the vertical direction to accommodate the positioning members 41, 42, 43, and 44, and is a connection projecting upward from the lower surface of the hollow portion. Pins 11a and 11b are provided.

  Each of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, and 24 is a rectangular parallelepiped hollow portion that opens to the right side surface of the housing 1 and extends toward the back. The paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, and 24 are arranged so as to overlap each other at a predetermined interval along the vertical direction. The paper feed cassette 3 can be inserted into any of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, and 24.

  The paper feed cassette 3 includes side surfaces 3a, 3b, and 3c that surround three sides, and a bottom surface 3d that contacts the side surfaces 3a, 3b, and 3c, and is formed in a box shape having open portions at the back and above. . The side surface 3 c is orthogonal to the side surfaces 3 a and 3 b, and is fitted in the opening portions of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23 and 24. The bottom surface 3d is in contact with the lower surface of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, 24 so that it can move smoothly. The paper feed cassette 3 includes sheet guides 31a and 31b in order to define the position of the paper P in the width direction. The sheet guides 31 a and 31 b define the paper P in a direction in which the width direction of the paper P loaded in the paper feed cassette 3 is orthogonal to the insertion direction with respect to the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23 and 24. Each paper feed cassette 3 is inserted in a drawer shape one by one in each of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, 24, and loaded with paper P of different sizes and orientations.

  The sheet guides 31a and 31b are spaced along the width direction of the paper P so that the distance between them can be changed according to the length of the paper P in the width direction. Further, the sheet guides 31a and 31b can move in a predetermined movement process along the width direction of the paper P in the paper feed cassette 3 by a slide mechanism (not shown). The sheet guide 31 a is directed toward a guide 32 a that abuts one side edge in the width direction of the paper P, a connecting portion 33 a that extends in a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P, and a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. And a projecting positioning pin 34a. The sheet guide 31 b is directed toward a guide 32 b that contacts the other side edge in the width direction of the paper P, a connecting portion 33 b that extends in a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P, and a direction that is orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. And a projecting positioning pin 34b. The guides 32a and 32b define the position of the paper P by sandwiching the paper P along the width direction. The connecting portions 33a and 33b connect the guides 32a and 32b and the positioning pins 34a and 34b. One end of the connecting portions 33a and 33b in the direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P protrudes further from the open portion at the back of the paper feed cassette 3, and this end is bent upward. Yes. The positioning pins 34a and 34b are provided at the ends bent upward. The positioning pins 34a and 34b are also formed to have a tapered portion 35 whose diameter decreases toward the tip.

  In this embodiment, the guides 32a of the sheet guides 31a in the paper feed cassettes 3 inserted in the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, and 24 are in the same position in the width direction of the paper P. It is configured. That is, the reference position of the paper P is defined by each guide 32a. One of the guides 32b varies in position in the width direction depending on the size and orientation of the paper P.

  The positioning members 41, 42, 43, 44 are disposed in the back of the paper cassette loading slots 21, 22, 23, 24, respectively. The positioning member 41 is composed of plate members 41 a and 41 b having a predetermined thickness along a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. The plate members 41a and 41b are provided with positioning holes 45a and 45b and connecting holes 46a and 46b, respectively. The plate members 41a and 41b are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval. The distance between the positioning holes 45a and 45b is determined by the distance between the sheet guides 31a and 31b in the paper feed cassette 3 inserted into the paper feed cassette mounting slot 21. The positioning holes 45a and 45b are formed to engage with the positioning pins 34a and 34b.

  The positioning member 42 is connected to the bottom of the positioning member 41, and is composed of plate members 42a and 42b having a predetermined thickness along a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. The plate members 42a and 42b include positioning holes 45a and 45b, connecting holes 46a and 46b, and connecting pins 47a and 47b, respectively. The distance between the positioning holes 45a and 45b in the plate members 42a and 42b is determined by the distance between the sheet guides 31a and 31b in the paper feed cassette 3 inserted into the paper feed cassette mounting slot 22. The positioning member 41 and the positioning member 42 are connected by engaging the connecting pins 47 a and 47 b of the positioning member 42 with the connecting holes 46 a and 46 b of the positioning member 41.

  The positioning member 43 is connected to the lower side of the positioning member 42 and includes plate members 43a and 43b having a predetermined thickness along a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. The plate members 43a and 43b include positioning holes 45a and 45b, connecting holes 46a and 46b, and connecting pins 47a and 47b, respectively. The distance between the positioning holes 45a and 45b in the plate members 43a and 43b is determined by the distance between the sheet guides 31a and 31b in the paper feed cassette 3 inserted into the paper feed cassette mounting slot 23. The positioning member 42 and the positioning member 43 are connected by the connecting pins 47 a and 47 b of the positioning member 43 engaging with the connecting holes 46 a and 46 b of the positioning member 42.

  The positioning member 44 is connected to the bottom of the positioning member 43, and is composed of plate members 44a and 44b having a predetermined thickness along a direction orthogonal to the width direction of the paper P. The plate members 44a and 44b include positioning holes 45a and 45b, connecting holes 46a and 46b, and connecting pins 47a and 47b, respectively. The spacing between the positioning holes 45a and 45b in the plate members 44a and 44b is determined by the spacing between the sheet guides 31a and 31b in the sheet feeding cassette 3 inserted into the sheet feeding cassette mounting slot 24. The positioning member 43 and the positioning member 44 are connected by engaging the connecting pins 47 a and 47 b of the positioning member 44 with the connecting holes 46 a and 46 b of the positioning member 43. Further, the positioning member 44 is fixed to the housing 1 by the connection holes 46 a and 46 b engaging with the connection pins 11 a and 11 b of the housing 1. For this reason, the positioning members 41, 42 and 43 are also fixed to the housing 1.

  As well shown in FIG. 3, the positioning holes 45a in the positioning members 41, 42, 43, and 44 are arranged in a line in the vertical direction and are engaged with the positioning pins 34a. Each positioning hole 45b is formed in accordance with the position of each positioning pin 34b. The positioning means according to the present invention includes positioning pins 34a and 34b and positioning holes 45a and 4b.

  The paper feed roller 5 is disposed above the vicinity of the openings of the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, and 24, takes in the paper P from the paper feed cassette 3, and goes to the electrophotographic printing mechanism 6. Can be transported.

  The electrophotographic printing mechanism 6 can, for example, transfer toner onto the paper P using a transfer drum or the like, heat and fix the toner onto the paper P using a fixing unit, and send the paper P to the outside.

  The control mechanism 7 is for controlling the driving of the paper feed roller 5 and the electrophotographic printing mechanism 6.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus A1 will be described.

  As described above, in the printing apparatus A1, the position of each sheet guide 31a can be determined by inserting each positioning pin 34a into each positioning hole 45a. Since the positioning holes 45a are formed in the plate materials 41a, 42a, 43a, 44a fixed to the housing 1, they are unchanged unless the plate materials 41a, 42a, 43a, 44a are changed to different ones. For this reason, the position of the sheet guide 31a in the width direction of the sheet P is constant in any sheet feeding cassette 3. Along with this, the reference position of the paper P loaded in any paper feed cassette 3 becomes constant. In the printing apparatus A1, the reference position of the paper P carried out to the electrophotographic printing mechanism 6 does not shift. Since the reference position of the paper P does not shift, it is not necessary to adjust the control mechanism 7 so that the print start positions are aligned. Therefore, the printing apparatus A1 can be shipped with less labor.

  When the paper feed cassette 3 is inserted into the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, 24, the positioning pins 34a, 34b and the positioning holes 45a, 45b may be displaced in the width direction of the paper P. If this deviation is smaller than the radii of the positioning holes 45a and 45b, the tapered portions 35 of the positioning pins 34a and 34b abut against the outer peripheral edges of the positioning holes 45a and 45b. For this reason, the positioning pins 34a and 34b move so that the tapered portion 35 follows the outer peripheral edges of the positioning holes 45a and 45b, and the position of the paper P in the width direction is corrected. Accordingly, in the printing apparatus A1, when the paper feed cassette 3 is inserted into the paper feed cassette mounting slots 21, 22, 23, 24, the sheet guides 31a, 31b are automatically positioned accurately.

  Since the interval between the sheet guides 31a and 31b can be changed according to the width direction length of the paper P, only one kind of sheet guides 31a and 31b is prepared. For this reason, printing apparatus A1 can hold down the cost at the time of the manufacture. Further, the same sheet guides 31a and 31b can be continuously used when it is necessary to change the size of the paper P loaded in the paper feed cassette 3 after shipment.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a main part of a printing apparatus A2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the printing apparatus A2, the sheet guides 31a and 31b and the positioning holes 45a and 45b are arranged so that the reference position of the sheet P is the center in the width direction of the sheet P, and other configurations are the same as those of the printing apparatus A1. . FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 in the printing apparatus A1.

  In the printing apparatus A2, the positions of the sheet guides 31a and 31b and the positioning holes 45a and 45b are determined so that the center positions in the width direction of the paper P loaded in each paper feed slot 3 are aligned. In such a printing apparatus A2, as with the printing apparatus A1, the positions of the sheet guides 31a and 31b are determined by the positioning pins 34a and 34b engaging with the positioning holes 45a and 45b. The position of each positioning hole 45a, 45b is unchanged unless the plate members 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, 43a, 43b, 44a, 44b are changed to different ones. For this reason, the position of the sheet guides 31a and 31b is always the same in each paper feed cassette 3, and the reference position of the paper P loaded in each paper feed cassette 3 is also constant. Also in the printing apparatus A2, the reference position of the paper P carried out to the electrophotographic printing mechanism 6 does not shift. Since the reference position of the paper P does not shift, it is not necessary to adjust the control mechanism 7 so that the print start positions are aligned. Therefore, the printing apparatus A2 can be shipped with less labor.

  FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a main part of a printing apparatus A3 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the printing apparatus A3, positioning holes 45a and 45b and additional positioning holes 48a and 48b are formed in the plate materials 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, 43a, 43b, 44a, and 44b. Other configurations are the same as those of the printing apparatus A1. FIG. 5 corresponds to a part of FIG. 3 in the printing apparatus A1.

  In the printing apparatus A3, the side edge on the guide 32a side in the width direction of the paper P is the reference position of the paper P as in the printing apparatus A1. The positioning pins 34a of the sheet guides 31a are engaged with the positioning holes 45a so that the reference positions of the paper P are aligned vertically in the paper feeding slots 3. The positioning holes 45a are arranged in a row in the vertical direction. The position of each sheet guide 31 b is determined by the size of the paper P loaded in each paper feed slot 3. The positioning pin 34a engages with one of the positioning holes 45b and 48b. The positioning holes 45b and 48b correspond to the sheets P having different lengths in the width direction.

  In such a printing apparatus A3, as in the printing apparatus A1, the reference position of the paper P does not deviate for each paper feed cassette, so there is no need to adjust the control mechanism 7. Further, in the printing apparatus A3, an additional positioning hole 48b is formed in each of the plate materials 41b and 42b. For this reason, the positioning members 41 and 42 of the printing apparatus A3 can correspond to two types of paper P without replacing the plate materials 41b and 42b with another plate material. Thus, since each positioning member 41, 42, 43, 44 can cope with a plurality of types of paper P without replacing the plate material, the number of necessary plate materials can be reduced and the manufacturing cost of the printing apparatus A3 can be reduced. it can.

  Further, in the printing apparatus A3, since the additional positioning holes 48a are formed in the plate members 41a and 42a, the center position in the width direction of the paper P can be used as the reference position as in the printing apparatus A2.

  The printing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The specific configuration of each part of the printing apparatus according to the present invention can be variously changed in design. For example, the method for connecting the positioning members according to the present invention is not limited to using a connection pin and a connection hole. Moreover, although the case where the positioning hole is one per positioning member and the case where it is two is shown in the said embodiment, you may be 3 or more.

  In the above embodiment, the sheet guide is composed of two parts, but an integrated sheet guide may be used. In this case, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of types of sheet guides according to the length of the paper P in the width direction.

  Further, the plate members 41a, 42a, 43a, 44a and the plate members 41b, 42b, 43b, 44b can be obtained by making the connection pins 11a, 11b movable in the width direction of the paper P or by arranging a plurality of similar connection pins in parallel. May be independently movable along the width direction of the paper P. This reduces the need to replace the plate material when changing the type of paper P loaded in the paper feed cassette 3.

1 is a front view of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the III-III line of FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing of the printing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a part of principal part sectional drawing of the printing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the conventional printing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

A Printer 1 Housing 11a, 11b Connecting pins 21, 22, 23, 24 Slot for paper feed cassette 3 Feed cassette 31a, 31b Sheet guide 32a, 32b Guide 33a, 33b Connecting portion 34a, 34b Positioning pin 35 Tapered portion 41, 42, 43, 44 Positioning members 45a, 45b Positioning holes 46a, 46b Connecting holes 47a, 47b Connecting pins 48a, 48b Additional positioning holes 5 Feed roller 6 Electrophotographic printing mechanism 7 Control mechanism

Claims (6)

A housing,
A plurality of paper feed cassette mounting slots that open on one side of the housing and are arranged vertically;
A paper cassette inserted into the paper cassette mounting slot and mounted;
A printing apparatus configured to convey a sheet loaded in a selected sheet feeding cassette and perform predetermined printing on the sheet;
The paper feed cassette is movable in the paper width direction perpendicular to the insertion direction with respect to the paper feed cassette mounting slot, and includes a sheet guide for defining the position of the side edge of the paper to be loaded. And
When the sheet cassette is mounted in the sheet cassette mounting slot, sheet guide positioning means is provided that engages with the sheet guide and defines the sheet width direction position of the sheet guide with respect to the housing. A printing apparatus characterized by that.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet guide positioning unit includes a positioning pin provided in each sheet guide and a positioning member provided in the housing and engageable with the positioning pin. .   The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the positioning pin includes a tapered portion that decreases in diameter toward the tip, and the positioning member includes a positioning hole with which the positioning pin can be engaged.   The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the positioning member can be adjusted in a paper width direction.   Two sheet guides are provided in each paper feed cassette so as to define the positions of both side edges of the paper to be loaded, and these two sheet guides are independently movable in the paper width direction. The printing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein   6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein two positioning members are provided for each sheet cassette mounting slot, and the two positioning members can be independently adjusted in the paper width direction. .

Images