JP2009018539A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording device capable of operating a cutter at artificial timing without providing an exclusive switch while securing safety. <P>SOLUTION: The recording device (a printer 1) includes: a conveying means for conveying recording paper; a printing means for printing the recording paper; the cutter 12 for cutting the recording paper; a cover 3 provided in an openable/closable manner; and a cover operating member 6 for opening the cover 3. The cover operating member 6 can be put in a first state and a second state that can be alternatively selected. When the cover operating member 6 is in the first state, the cutter 12 is operated without opening the cover 3, and when the cover operating member 6 is in the second state, the cover 3 is opened without operating the cutter 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus including a cutter that prints on a recording paper wound in a roll shape and cuts the recording paper.

In a recording apparatus (such as a printer or a printing apparatus in a fax machine) provided with a cutter, the cutter operates according to a control command transmitted from the host computer, or operates at an artificial timing by an operation means provided in the printer. There is.
The recording apparatus of Patent Document 1 has a recording paper feeding means, a recording paper cutting means, and an operating means for controlling these means, and cuts the recording paper after the end of recording according to the operation of the operating means. To feed and discharge. In this recording apparatus, means for detecting the open / closed state of the cover member of the recording unit (printer unit) is provided, and when the cover member is in the open state by this detection unit, the operation of the cutting unit is interrupted, and the recording paper It is characterized by only feeding.
The facsimile with a cutter disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a cutter that cuts a roll of recording paper, a cutter driving unit that operates the cutter in response to a page end signal, and an external selection operation that performs the page end signal. An ON position that allows an input to the cutter driving means, and a switching means that switches to an OFF position that blocks the input.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-173978 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 04-67994

A recording apparatus provided with a cutter is known, and in such a recording apparatus, it is essential that the cutter does not operate when the cover is open to ensure safety (Patent Document 1). .
On the other hand, in the recording apparatus of Patent Document 2, a dedicated switch for the cutter operation is provided in order to operate the cutter at an artificial timing. However, there are not many opportunities to operate the cutter at artificial timing, and it can be said that providing a dedicated switch for operating the cutter is inferior in cost performance. On the other hand, some cutter operation switches are also used as specific keys on the operation panel. However, in this case, function switching is troublesome and operability is poor.
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that can ensure safety and can operate a cutter at artificial timing without providing a dedicated switch.

The cover in the recording apparatus includes a cover operation member for opening the cover.
The cover operation member has a first state and a second state that can be alternatively selected, and allows the cover operation member to also function as a cutter operation switch.
When the cover operating member is in the first state, the cutter is operated without opening the cover, and when the cover operating member is in the second state, the cutter is opened without operating the cutter.

Since the operation control function of the cutter is added to the operation member for opening the cover, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated switch for operating the cutter, and the cost of the product can be suppressed.
The cover operating member has a first state in which the cutter operates without opening the cover and a second state in which the cover opens without operating the cutter, so that when the cover member is in the open state Can securely operate the safety function for stopping the cutting operation of the cutter.

In a configuration in which a cutter operation control function is added in addition to the cover operation member, there is a risk of an accident that cuts normal paper if the cutter is operated by mistake. In the configuration in which the cutter operation control function is added to the cover operation member for opening, the operation member for opening the cover is mainly handled when an error such as a jam occurs even if the cutter is operated by mistake. Less likely to cut normal paper by mistake.
If the recording sheet is conveyed by a certain length by the conveying means prior to the cutter cutting operation, the dimension from the recording sheet leading edge to the recording start position can be made uniform.

〔Example〕
FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a printer 1 as a first embodiment. A cover 3 is attached to a main body case 2 by a hinge structure 4 so as to be opened and closed with a rear upper edge of the main body case 2 as an axis. A paper discharge port 5 is formed in the main body case 2, and a cover operation member 6 is disposed on the upper surface of the cover 3.
FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the printer 1 with the cover 3 opened. The cover 3 is integrally formed with a wall portion 7 above the paper discharge port 5. When the cover 3 is opened, the wall 7 above the discharge port 5 of the main body case 2 also moves upward, and above the paper discharge port 5. Is released.

A printing mechanism 8 is disposed inside the main body case 2. The print mechanism 8 includes a transport unit 10 that transports the recording paper 9, a printing unit 11 that prints on the recording paper 9, and a cutter 12 that cuts the printed recording paper 9.
The recording paper 9 is wound around a roll 9a, and the recording paper 9 drawn from the recording paper 9 is fed forward (leftward in the figure) by the conveying means 10, printed by the printing means 11, and further fed out by a predetermined amount. Then, the conveyance of the recording paper 9 is stopped, and then the blank portion is cut by the cutter 12. When the recording paper 9 is stopped, the leading end portion of the printed recording paper 9 comes out of the paper discharge port 5, so that the cut recording paper 9 can be picked and taken out.

In this embodiment, the printing means 11 is a thermal head 13 and a platen 14, and the cutter 12 is a guillotine type in which the upper movable blade 16 moves up and down relative to the lower fixed blade 15 to cut the recording paper 9. Yes (Figure 3). Reference numeral 17 is a conveyance motor, and reference numeral 18 is a cutter driving motor. A conventionally known printing mechanism 8 composed of these components can be employed, and a series of operations thereof are under the control of the control device 19. The control device 19 receives print data and print start and print end signals from the parent device.
When supplying the recording paper 9, the cover 3 is opened and the roll 9a is replaced. At this time, since the upper wall portion 7 including the upper edge of the paper discharge port 5 is moved upward and the paper discharge port 5 is opened upward, the recording paper 9 drawn from the roll 9a is removed from the paper discharge port. Easy to set to 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, the main body case 2 and the cover 3 include an engagement structure 20 that engages with each other when the cover 3 is closed. That is, an engagement receiving protruding wall 23 is formed integrally with the upper surface of the side wall 21 of the main body case 2 so as to protrude toward the inside, and the upper portion protrudes outward. On the side, an engaging projection wall 26 having a lower portion inwardly bulging portion 25 protrudes downward and is integrally formed.
When the cover 3 is closed with respect to the main body case 2, the outward bulging portion 22 of the engagement receiving projection wall 23 and the inward bulging portion 25 of the engagement projection wall 26 are engaged with each other, and are closed in a normal use state. The state can be maintained. However, the engagement surface is an inclined surface, and the engagement depth is not large. The material of the cover 3 and the main body case 2 is a flexible synthetic resin, and the engagement receiving projection wall 23 and the engagement surface. Since the location of the abutment wall 26 is thin and easy to bend, this engagement state can be solved by applying a little force and rotating the cover 3 upward.

The cover operation member 6 (FIG. 5) includes a lever 27, a cam member 28, a shaft 29, a return spring 30, and a stopper protrusion 31, and is disposed in a recessed portion 32 on the upper surface of the cover 3.
The shaft 29 is pivotally supported by a substrate 33 attached along the inner surface of the side wall 24 (both sides) of the cover 3.
The lever 27 is fixed to the shaft 29 at the front end side in the front-rear direction and at the center in the left-right direction of the shaft 29. On the rear end side of the lever 27, there is a space for inserting a finger between the rear edge of the recessed portion 32.
In this embodiment, the cam member 28 is a member having a thin fan shape, and an upper portion having a narrow width is fixed to the shaft 29, and the cam member 28 is positioned to the lower side in the right direction in the rotation direction of the shaft 29 with respect to the lever 27. The distal end surface is an arc centered on the shaft 29. One cam member 28 is provided, and is fixed close to the side wall 24 only at one end of the shaft 29 (left side as viewed from the front in the figure).

One end of the return spring 30 is fixed to the substrate 33, and a linear portion on the other end side is attached to the shaft 29. Accordingly, the lever 27 is maintained at the horizontal position (normal position) in FIG. The return spring 30 always urges the lever 27 to return to the normal position when the lever 27 is rotated upward or downward. When the lever 27 is in the normal position, the cam member 28 is in a position where the tip does not protrude below the side wall 24.
The stopper protrusion 31 is fixed between the lower surface of the lever 27 at the normal position and the upper surface of the cam member 28.

  On the other hand, on both sides of the front substrate 35 fixed to the inside of the front wall 34 of the main body case 2, the front ends of the arms 36 are pivotally supported around a shaft 37, respectively, and a contact sensor 38 a (first Detector), 38b (second detector). The arm 36 is always urged in a horizontal posture by a leaf spring 39 having a base fixed to the front substrate 35. When the cover 3 is closed, the contact sensors 38a and 38b are pressed in contact with a contact piece 40 formed to protrude inward from the side wall 24 (both sides) (ON state).

  The contact sensors 38a and 38b are related to the cutter driving circuit on the program processing (software) in the control device 19. When both the contact sensors 38a and 38b on both sides are OFF, the cutter driving circuit is shut off. Can drive the cutter. This program processing is simple and a conventionally known one can be used.

  The cover operating member 6 has a first state in which the lever 27 is pushed to a first position from the state where the lever 27 is in the normal position (FIG. 5), as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the lever 27 can be lifted around the shaft 29 to be in the second state, and the first state and the second state can be selected by the user of the printer 1. One can be selected.

  When the cover operating member 6 is in the first state (FIG. 6), the lever 27 is rotated rightward until it comes into contact with the stopper projection 31, and the cam member 28 is also rotated in the same direction. The cam surface at the tip of the lever protrudes below the lower edge of the cover 3, and the arm 36 on the main body case 2 side is rotated clockwise about the shaft 37. For this reason, the contact sensor 38a at the tip of the arm 36 is separated from the contact piece 40 of the cover 3 and is in the OFF state. In this embodiment, since the cam member 28 is fixed only to the left end of the shaft 29, it is only the left contact sensor 38a of the left and right sides that is turned OFF by depressing the lever 27.

  In this printer 1, the control device 19 determines that the cover 3 is closed when either of the contact sensors 38a, 38b on the left and right sides is "ON", and when both are "ON" A program for driving the cutter 12 when it is determined that the recording paper is manually cut when either one of the cutters 12 is "OFF" from the [ON] state after the printing is finished in the printing operation. Has been. When both the contact sensors 38a and 38b are turned off, it is determined that the cover 3 is open, and the processing program for cutting off the driving of the cutter 12 is provided.

  When the cover operating member 6 is in the second state (FIG. 7), the upper surface of the cam member 28 is in contact with the stopper protrusion 31 from below by rotating the lever 27 upward (rotating counterclockwise). Since the tip of the cam member 28 moves above the lower edge of the cover 3, the left contact switch 38a is pushed by the contact piece 40 and is turned ON together with the right contact sensor 38b.

When the lever 27 is lifted upward from this state, the cover 3 can be opened around the hinge structure 4 (FIG. 2) at the rear end by releasing the engagement structure 20 with the main body case 2. Then, since both the left and right contact sensors 38a and 38b are turned off, the drive of the cutter 12 is cut off by the control device 19 and the state where the cover 3 is opened can be maintained safely.
When the cover 3 is closed after the roll 9a of the recording paper 9 is replaced, both the left and right contact sensors 38a and 38b are turned on, and normal printing and cutter operation are possible.

The chart of FIG. 8 is an outline in which this series of operations is summarized focusing on the driving of the cutter.
Assume that the printer 1 is in an operating state in which the recording paper 9 is set, the cover 3 is closed, and the switch is turned on. As a cutter driving process, the control device 19 first initializes a flag in step S1 after the start in order to distinguish that this cycle is the first time in the current process (f = 0).
Since the cover 3 is closed, the left contact sensor 38a is ON (step S2), and the next right contact sensor 38b is also ON (step S3). Therefore, in step S4, it is confirmed whether a print command is received from the parent device. If there is a print command, printing is performed (step S5). When printing is completed and a print completion signal is received, the cutter 12 is driven to cut the printed recording paper 9, and the current process is terminated.

  In the next process, the same process as in the previous time is followed. However, if a print command has not been received in step S4, the flag is set to f = 1 in step S7, and the process returns to step S2. In this embodiment, the left contact sensor 38a can be set to the first state (contact sensor 38a is OFF) by the cover operating member 6. In this case, the left contact sensor 38a is ON in step S2. Since the cover operating member 6 is not in the first state, that is, in the normal state, the process proceeds to step S3. In this embodiment, when the cover 3 is closed, the right contact sensor 38b is always ON. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S4 as it is to confirm the presence or absence of a print command, and the above operation is repeated. That is, after the printer 1 is in operation, when the left contact sensor 38a is ON, the printer 1 is in a standby state in which a cycle for circulating the steps S2, S3, S4, and S7 is repeated after waiting for a print command.

  In the first cycle of the first process (f = 0 state), if the left contact sensor 38a is OFF in step S2, the process proceeds to step S8. However, since the flag is f = 0 here, the process proceeds to step S9. Then, an alarm is presented and the current process is terminated. The alarm indicates that the cover 3 is not properly closed at the beginning of the operation of the printer 1, and the process of driving the cutter is repeated from the beginning.

In step S2, the left contact sensor 38a is OFF, but when the flag is f = 1, it has once passed through step S7, that is, the cover 3 has been normally closed and the printer 1 has been operated. Therefore, the process proceeds from step 8 to step S10 to confirm whether the right contact sensor 38b is ON. When it is ON, it means that the cover operating member 6 is in the first state with the cover 3 closed, so that the process proceeds to step S6 to drive the cutter 12, and the current process is terminated.
When the right contact sensor 38b is also OFF in step S10, it means that the cover 3 is open. Therefore, in order to prevent danger, the process reaches step S11 and the process for driving the cutter is interrupted.

  As described above, since the operation control function of the cutter 12 is added to the cover operating member 6 for opening the cover 3, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated switch for operating the cutter 12. Further, as described above, the cover operating member 6 has a first state in which the cutter 12 operates without opening the cover 3 and a second state in which the cover 3 opens without operating the cutter 12. Therefore, the cutter 12 can be driven at an artificial timing, and when the cover 3 is in the open state, the cutting operation by the cutter 3 can be stopped and the safety function can be functioned reliably.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows the second embodiment, and shows the front end portion of the cover 3 in the printer 1. The printer 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment. When the cover 3 is closed, the contact sensors 38a and 38b (first and second detectors) attached to the left and right sides of the main body case 2 are both turned on, and when the cover 3 is opened, these are turned off. Become. When either one of the contact sensors 38a, 38b is ON by the control device 19, the cover 3 is kept closed and the cutter 12 can be driven. When both are OFF, the cutter is driven. Is configured to be blocked. In this embodiment, the closed state of the cover 3 is locked by an electromagnetic actuator.

The configuration relating to the driving of the cutter includes the cover operating member 6 (FIG. 9) slidably disposed on the side surface of the cover 3, the contact sensors 38a and 38b, and the control device 19.
The cover operating member 6 includes a slide lever 41 and its contacts A, B, and C (also shown in FIG. 9), and the slide lever 41 can be slid to three positions: a lock position, a cut position, and an open position. . To move from the locked position to the open position, the cut position is passed. When in the locked position, the ON state of the contact sensors 38a and 38b is transmitted to the control device 19 by the contact C as being ON, and the cover 3 is maintained in the locked state, and has been printed following the normal printing operation. Recording paper 9 is cut by the cutter 12 (normal state).

When the slide lever 41 is in the cut position (first position), the contact B blocks the ON signal from the contact sensor 38a located on the left side of the main body case 2 among the contact sensors 38a and 38b (the first position). Status). The control device 19 determines that this state is a manual cutter driving request and drives the cutter 12. At this time, since the other contact sensor 38b maintains the ON state, the locked state between the cover 3 and the body case 2 is not released, and the cutter 12 is always driven with the cover 3 closed.
If the slide lever 41 is returned to the lock position after the recording paper 9 is manually cut, the printer is in a normal state.

When the slide lever 41 is in the open position (second position), the contact A blocks the ON signal from both the contact sensors 38a and 38b. The control device 19 determines that this state is a request to open the cover 3, and drives the electromagnetic actuator in the release direction so that the cover 3 can be opened. At the same time, when the ON signals from both the contact sensors 38a and 38b are cut off, the driving process of the cutter is cut off (second state). Therefore, when the cover 3 is opened, the cutter 12 does not operate, and the roll 9a of the recording paper 9 can be exchanged safely.
If the slide lever 41 is returned from the open position to the cut position and the lock position without opening the cover 3, the respective functions can be used again.

  In the case of the second embodiment, when moving from the lock position to the open position, the cutter 12 is driven during the movement because it moves through the cut position (first position) to the open position (second position). There is a risk. In order to prevent this, in order to cut the recording paper 9 artificially, the slide lever 41 is not shifted to the first state unless the slide lever 41 is held at the cutting position for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second). In other words, when the cover operating member 6 passes through the first position within a predetermined time and reaches the second position, the cutter 12 is not operated.

  The chart of FIG. 10 shows the process. A timer is arranged in step S7, and after the first detector (left contact sensor 38a) is turned off in step S1, the second detector (right It is checked whether or not a predetermined time (1 second) has elapsed until the contact sensor 38b) is turned off. If the predetermined time elapses, the cutter is driven (step S5). If the second detector is turned OFF before the predetermined time, the first and second detectors are both turned OFF. Cut off. That is, the operation of the slide lever 41 in this case has the same result as that it is determined that the cutter 3 is not manually driven for the purpose of opening the cover 3.

The above is an example.
When cutting the recording paper 9 by driving the cutter 12 at an artificial timing with the cover operating member 6 in the first state, the recording paper 9 is sent out by a certain length by the conveying means 10 prior to cutting. Sometimes. If it does in this way, printing can be started to the predetermined correct position from the front-end | tip of the recording paper 9 at the time of replacing the roll 9a.
The contact sensors 38a and 38b are shown as examples of the first and second detectors. As long as the opening and closing of the cover 3 can be detected, those based on other principles such as an optical type and a magnetic type can be used. .
The printing method (thermal, dot) and paper type (roll, fold) adopted by the printer are not limited to those in the embodiments.

FIG. The front view by the cross section which showed the outline of the cover, the main body case, and the inside. The front view which expands and shows the outline of a mechanism part. The side view by the cross section for demonstrating the engagement structure of a cover and a main body case. The side view by the cross section for demonstrating the mechanism of the front part of a printer (normal state). The side view by the cross section for demonstrating the mechanism of the front part of a printer (1st state). The side view by the cross section for demonstrating the mechanism of the front part of a printer (2nd state). The chart which showed the processing flow of a control device (example 1). The front view for description which showed a part of cover (Example 2). The chart which showed the processing flow of a control device (example 2).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Main body case 3 Cover 4 Hinge structure 5 Paper discharge port 6 Cover operation member 7 Upper wall part 8 Print mechanism 9 Recording paper 9a Roll 10 Conveying means 11 Printing means 12 Cutter 13 Thermal head 14 Platen 15 Fixed blade 16 Movable blade 17 Conveying motor 18 Cutter driving motor 19 Control device 20 Engaging structure 21 Side wall (main body case)
22 outward bulging portion 23 engagement receiving projection wall 24 side wall (cover)
25 bulge portion 26 engagement protrusion wall 27 lever 28 cam member 29 shaft 30 return spring 31 stopper projection 32 recessed portion 33 substrate 34 front wall 35 front substrate 36 arm 37 shaft 38a left contact sensor 38b right contact sensor 39 leaf spring 40 Contact piece 41 Slide lever

Claims (7)

Conveying means for conveying recording paper, printing means for printing on the recording paper, a cutter for cutting the recording paper, a cover that can be opened and closed, and a cover operation member for opening the cover In the recording device,
The cover operation member has a first state and a second state that can be alternatively selected,
When the cover operating member is in the first state, the cutter operates without opening the cover,
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the cover operating member is in the second state, the cutter is opened without operating the cutter. The first state is a case where the cover operating member is located at a first position;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second state is a case where the cover operation member is located at a second position.   The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cover operating member passes through the first position and moves to the second position.   The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cutter does not operate when the cover operation member passes the first position within a predetermined time and reaches the second position.   The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover operation member includes a first detector that operates when the cover operation member is in the first state.   The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the cover operation member includes a second detector that operates in the second state.   7. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the cover operating member is in the first state, the recording unit conveys the recording sheet by a predetermined length before cutting the recording sheet by the cutter. .

Images