JP2010218161A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact printer for carrying sheets to store the same smoothly. <P>SOLUTION: A storage unit comprises a curved carrying route 28 that curves preceding and following sheets P1, P2 carried out from a main carrying route 3 to carry the same. The curved carrying route 28 comprises: a first arc carrying route 26 that is connected to a carry-out side of the main carrying route 3; and a second arc carrying route 27 that is connected to a carry-out side of the first arc carrying route 26. The first and second arc carrying routes 26, 27 are arranged on the upper and lower of a line segment 66 as a center extending along a sheet carrying surface 65 in a first printing unit 5a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a printing apparatus mounted on an automatic teller machine, and more particularly to a structure of a storage unit that temporarily stores a plurality of printed sheets in a stacked state.

  In this type of printing apparatus, paper is transported along a transport path, transaction information is printed on the paper by a printing unit, and then the printed paper is discharged to a discharge unit to be received by a customer. .

In addition, a plurality of sheets of paper may be printed continuously. In this case, in order to make it easier for customers to receive the sheets, the plurality of printed sheets are temporarily stored in the storage unit in a stacked state. After that, they are collectively taken out from the storage unit and discharged to the discharge unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-156406 A

  However, conventionally, since the printed paper is dropped by its own weight and stored vertically in the storage unit, the storage unit requires a vertical space at least as long as the length of the paper. There was a problem that would become larger.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can be made compact and can be stored well without jamming the paper. It is in.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the preceding sheet conveyed along the main conveying path and the succeeding sheet following the preceding sheet are continuously printed by the printing unit, and then the main conveying path is used. In the printing apparatus for storing the preceding paper and the succeeding paper to be sent out in a state of being temporarily superimposed on the storage unit, and sending out the stored paper from the storage unit and discharging it, the storage unit includes the main conveyance path. A curved conveyance path that curves and conveys the preceding sheet sent out from the sheet and the subsequent sheet, and the curved conveyance path is connected to the carry-out side of the main conveyance path. It is comprised by the conveyance path | route and the 2nd circular arc conveyance path | route connected to the carrying-out side of this 1st circular arc conveyance path | route, The said 1st circular arc conveyance path | route and the said 2nd circular arc conveyance Path, characterized in that disposed above and below around a line extending along the sheet conveyance surface of the printing means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can be made compact and that can be satisfactorily stored without jamming paper.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing apparatus mounted in an automatic teller machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes roll paper loaded in the roll paper loading unit 2, and the leading end of the roll paper 1 is pulled out from the roll paper loading unit 2 and is conveyed along the main conveyance path 3. Yes. The paper is not limited to roll paper but may be fanfold paper. A curved conveyance path 28 is connected to the carry-out end side of the main conveyance path 3 as a storage unit for curving and conveying and stocking paper. The curved transport path 28 includes a first arc-shaped transport path 26 connected to the carry-out end side of the main transport path 3 and a second arc-shaped transport path 26 connected to the carry-out end side of the first arc-shaped transport path 26. And an arcuate conveyance path 27.

  In the main conveyance path 3, the first and second printing units 5a and 5b, the cutter unit 6, the first conveyance roller unit 7, and the second roller conveyance unit 8 are sequentially arranged along the conveyance direction. Has been.

  The first and second printing sections 5a and 5b include platens 11a and 11b and thermal heads 13a and 13b that are arranged to face each other via the main conveyance path 3. The thermal heads 13a and 13b are elastically biased toward the platens 11a and 11b by head springs (not shown). The platens 11 a and 11 b are rotated by a platen drive motor 14. The cutter unit 6 includes a cutter 17 and a cutter drive motor (not shown) that drives the cutter 17.

  The first transport roller unit 7 sandwiches and transports the roll paper 1, and includes a first drive roller 20 and a first pinch roller 21 that are opposed to each other with the main transport path 3 interposed therebetween. The pinch roller 21 is elastically biased toward the first drive roller 20 by a roller spring.

  The second conveyance roller unit 8 sandwiches and conveys the roll paper 1, and includes a second drive roller 23 and a second pinch roller 24 that are disposed to face each other via the main conveyance path 3. The second pinch roller 24 is elastically biased toward the second drive roller 23 by a roller spring. The first and second drive rollers 20 and 23 are rotated by a first drive motor 51.

  A flapper 25 urged by its own weight or a weak spring is provided on the downstream side of the second drive roller 23. One end portion of the flapper 25 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 25a. The flapper 25 is rotated up and down around the support shaft 25a to open and close the conveyance path.

  The first arcuate conveyance path 26 described above is provided on the downstream side of the flapper 25, and a third drive roller 29 and a fourth drive roller 30 are disposed in the first arcuate conveyance path 26. Yes. The third drive roller 29 and the fourth drive roller 30 are rotationally driven in the forward and reverse directions by the second drive motor 52.

  The third drive roller 29 and the fourth drive roller 30 are arranged to face the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34. The third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are pulled up by a tension spring and separated from the third drive roller 29 and the fourth drive roller 30.

  A cam 54 is provided in the vicinity of the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34, and a leaf spring 67 is provided between the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 and the cam 54. The fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are pressed against the third drive roller 29 and the fourth drive roller 30 by the leaf spring 67 being pushed by the rotation of the cam 54 and pushed down against the urging force of the tension spring. Is done. The cam 54 is rotated by a cam drive motor 55, and the third and fourth driving rollers 29 and the fourth driving roller 30 with respect to the third driving roller 29 and the fourth driving roller 30 based on the amount of rotation of the cam 54 by the amount of deflection of the leaf spring 67. The pinch rollers 33 and 34 are pressed weakly or strongly to pinch and convey the paper.

  In the vicinity of the above-described flapper 25 and a flapper 36 described later, first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 for detecting the leading end portion of the conveyed paper are disposed, respectively. The cam 54 is rotated based on the detection of 22 or 35.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, chevron-shaped continuous concave and convex portions 29a and 30a are formed along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral end portions of the third driving roller 29 and the fourth driving roller 30, respectively. Has been. Even if the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 come into contact with the third driving roller 29 and the fourth driving roller 30 with a weak force by forming the uneven portions 29a and 30a, the paper In contrast, a stable conveying force can be applied.

  A flapper 36 is provided on the downstream side of the fourth drive roller 30, and the lower end portion of the flapper 36 is rotatably provided via a support shaft 36a. The flapper 36 is rotated in the left-right direction by a flapper drive motor 37, whereby the conveyance path is switched to the second arcuate conveyance path 27 side or the collection conveyance path 46 side.

  The second arcuate conveyance path 27 described above is provided on the downstream side of the flapper 36, and a stopper 39 is provided on the second arcuate conveyance path 27 to stop the abutted end of the conveyed paper. Is provided. The stopper 39 is supported by the lower end portion of the stopper arm 40, and the stopper arm 40 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions according to the length of the sheet by the stopper driving motor 41. The stopper 39 moves along the second arcuate conveyance path 27 by the rotation of the stopper arm 40, that is, when the length of the sheet is long, the second arcuate conveyance path as shown in FIG. When the paper length is short and the paper length is short, the paper is moved to the upstream side of the second arcuate conveyance path 27 to stop the paper as shown in FIG.

  The rotation center 40 a of the stopper arm 40 is located closer to the second arcuate conveyance path 27 than the radius center of the second arcuate conveyance path 27. As a result, the radius of the second arcuate conveyance path 27 can be increased, and the sheet curvature is minimized to prevent sheet conveyance jam. In this case, since the radius centers of the stopper arm 40 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27 are different, the stopper 39 and the stopper arm 40 are configured to slide to vary the radius of the stopper 39.

  On the other hand, a fifth pinch roller 43 is provided on the oblique upper side of the second drive roller 23 provided in the main conveyance path 3. The fifth pinch roller 43 is brought into contact with and separated from the second drive roller 23 by a third drive motor 53. Above the second drive roller 23 and the fifth pinch roller 43, a discharge port (discharge unit) 44 for discharging the paper is provided, and this discharge port 44 is opened and closed by a shutter 56. . The shutter 56 is operated by the third drive motor 53. A discharge detection sensor 58 for detecting discharged paper is provided below the shutter 56.

  In addition, a recovery drive roller 48 and a pinch roller 49 that is biased and pressed against the recovery drive roller 48 by a spring are disposed in the recovery transport path 46 switched by the second flapper 36 described above. Yes. A recovery unit 50 is provided below the recovery drive roller 48 and the pinch roller 49. The recovery drive roller 48 is rotationally driven by the second drive motor 52 described above.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a drive control system of the printing apparatus described above.

  The first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 and the discharge detection sensor 58 described above are connected to a control unit 60 as control means via a detection signal circuit. The control unit 60 is connected to the platen drive motor 14, the first to third drive motors 51, 52, 53, the cam drive motor 55, the flapper drive motor 37, and the stopper drive motor 41 through a control circuit. .

  The control unit 60 includes the platens 11a and 11b and the first to fourth drive rollers 20, 23, 29, and the above-described platens 11a and 11b based on the detection signals of the first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 and the discharge detection sensor 58. 30, the drive of the collection drive roller 48, the shutter 56, the pinch roller 43, the cam 54, the flapper 36, and the stopper 39 are controlled.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the platen drive motor 14 is driven from a state in which the leading end side of the roll paper 1 is sandwiched between the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b. By this driving, the roll paper 1 is sandwiched and conveyed by the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b, and transaction information is printed on the front and back surfaces of the roll paper 1 by the heat generated by the thermal heads 13a and 13b. The printed roll paper 1 is nipped and conveyed by the first drive roller 20 and the first pinch roller 21 as shown in FIG. 5 and then further the second drive roller 23 and the second pinch roller 24. And nipped and conveyed. The conveyed roll paper 1 passes through the flapper 25 by pushing up the flapper 25 at the tip, and then the gap between the third drive roller 29 and the third pinch roller 33 and the fourth drive roller 30 and the second drive roller 30. It passes through a gap between the four pinch rollers 34. At this time, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30. When the leading end of the roll paper 1 is detected by the second detection sensor 35, the cam drive motor 55 is activated and the cam 54 is operated. Accordingly, the plate spring 67 is bent, and the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are brought into contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 through the roll paper 1 with a weak pitch force, and the roll paper 1 Nipping and conveying. When the roll paper 1 is conveyed for a predetermined distance, the cutter 17 is operated to be cut and conveyed as paper P1. At this time, the stopper driving motor 41 is operated, and the stopper 39 is moved along the second arcuate conveying path 27 through the stopper arm 40 in accordance with the length of the sheet P1. As shown in FIG. 6, the conveyed paper P <b> 1 stops with its leading end abutting against the stopper 39. At this time, the rear end of the sheet P1 is in a position that has passed through the flapper 25.

  After the stop of the first sheet P1, the roll paper 1 is conveyed while being sandwiched between the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b in the same manner as described above, and the roll paper 1 is generated by the heat generated by the thermal heads 13a and 13b. Transaction information is printed on the front and back of The roll paper 1 is nipped and conveyed by the first drive roller 20 and the first pinch roller 21, and is nipped and conveyed by the second drive roller 23 and the second pinch roller 24. By this conveyance, as shown in FIG. 7, the roll paper 1 passes through the flapper 25 by pushing up the flapper 25 at the leading end thereof, and further along the gap between the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 and the preceding paper P1. Are transported. At this time, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 by the tensile force of the tension spring. The cam drive motor 55 is operated based on the detection of the leading end of the roll paper 1 by the second detection sensor 22 to operate the cam 54, and the leaf spring 67 bends and the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 are bent. , 34 come into contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29, 30 with a weak pitch force via the preceding paper P1 and the succeeding roll paper 1, and the conveyance of the roll paper 1 is continued. When the roll paper 1 is conveyed by a predetermined distance, the cutter 17 is operated and cut by the same length as the preceding paper P1, and is conveyed as the paper P2.

  When the sheet P2 is conveyed, the stopper 39 remains stopped, and the leading end of the sheet P2 comes into contact with the stopper 39 and stops as shown in FIG. By this stop, the rear ends of the preceding paper P1 and the succeeding paper P2 are aligned. When there are third and subsequent sheets, printing and conveyance are repeated in the same manner to print and store a predetermined number of sheets.

  Next, the case where the sheets P1 and P2 stocked as described above are discharged will be described.

  In this case, first, the third drive motor 53 is operated from the state shown in FIG. 8, and the shutter 56 is opened. Next, the cam drive motor 55 is actuated to rotate the cam 54, the amount of deflection of the leaf spring 67 is increased, and the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 have a strong pinch force. Are pressed against the driving rollers 29 and 30. After this pressure contact, the second drive roller 23 is rotated forward and the third and fourth drive rollers 29, 30 are rotated reversely. As a result, the sheets P1 and P2 in the first and second arcuate conveyance paths 26 and 27 are conveyed toward the discharge port 44 as shown in FIG. When the conveyance direction leading edge of the sheets P1 and P2 passes the fifth pinch roller 43 by this conveyance and is detected by the discharge detection sensor 58, the third drive motor 53 is activated and the fifth pinch roller 43 is moved to the second pinch roller 43. Is pressed against the driving roller 23. The sheets P1 and P2 are nipped and conveyed by this pressure contact, and are stopped when the leading end in the conveyance direction is carried out from the discharge port 44 by a predetermined length. The sheets P1 and P2 whose front end side is discharged to the discharge port 44 are received by the user. At the time of receipt, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 so that the user can easily remove the sheets P1 and P2. And the fifth pinch roller 43 is in a pinched state.

  The sheets P1 and P2 carried out from the discharge port 44 by a predetermined length are detected by a discharge detection sensor 58. When this detection state continues for a predetermined time or more, it is determined that the user has not taken out the sheets P1 and P2 from the discharge port 44 and is collected.

  When collecting, the paper P1, P2 as shown in FIG. 10 is brought into pressure contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29, 30 so that the third and fourth pinch rollers 33, 34 have a strong pinch force. Is further transported for a predetermined distance in the discharge direction, and is stopped when the lower end portion in the transport direction passes through the flapper 36. After that, the flapper drive motor 37 is operated to rotate the flapper 36 leftward about the fulcrum 36a to switch the conveyance path to the collection conveyance path 46 side. From this state, the second drive roller 23 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 and the recovery drive roller 47 are rotated in the forward direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the sheets P1 and P2 are conveyed downward and sent to the collection conveyance path 56, and further sent to the collection unit 50 and collected as shown in FIG.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the first arcuate conveyance path 26 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27 constituting the curved conveyance path 28 are formed on a sheet conveyance surface 65 in the first printing unit 5a. Are arranged vertically with a line segment 66 extending along the center. That is, the first arc-shaped transport path 26 is disposed on the upper side of the line segment 66, and the second arc-shaped transport path 27 is disposed on the lower side of the line segment 66.

  Thus, by arranging the first arc-shaped transport path 26 and the second arc-shaped transport path 27 above and below the line segment 66 as a center, it becomes possible to widely use the internal space of the apparatus. The one arcuate conveyance path 26 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27 can be arranged so as to be gently curved.

  Accordingly, the sheet can be conveyed while being gently curved, and the sheet can be satisfactorily stored without being jammed in the first arcuate conveyance path 26 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27.

  For example, when the first arc-shaped transport path 26 and the second arc-shaped transport path 27 are all disposed on the lower side of the line segment 66, the first arc-shaped transport path 26 and the second arc-shaped transport path 26 are limited to a narrow space. The second arcuate conveyance path 27 must be curved, and the curve is sharpened accordingly. For this reason, the paper is bent sharply, and a jam may occur in the first arc-shaped transport path 26 and the second arc-shaped transport path 27, and there is a possibility that it cannot be stored well.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the first and second arc-shaped transport paths 26 and 27 constitute the curved transport path 28, and the sheet P <b> 1 is formed along the curved transport path 28. , P2 are conveyed and stored in a curved state, the vertical height of the paper storage portion can be reduced, and the size can be reduced.

  In addition, the first arcuate conveyance path 26 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27 are arranged up and down around a line segment 66 extending along the sheet conveyance surface 65 in the first printing unit 5a. The arcuate conveyance path 26 and the second arcuate conveyance path 27 can be arranged so as to be gently curved, and the sheets can be stored well without jamming.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, you may delete some components from all the components shown by embodiment mentioned above.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the state which the stopper of FIG. 1 moved to the upstream of the 2nd circular-arc-shaped conveyance system path. The perspective view which shows the 3rd and 4th drive roller of FIG. 1, and the 3rd and 4th pinch roller. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a drive control system of the printing apparatus in FIG. 1. The figure which shows the state in which the roll paper printed in FIG. 1 is sent to the curved conveyance path | route from the main conveyance path, and is cut. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet cut in FIG. 5 is conveyed and stored in a curved conveyance path. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet following the sheet stored in FIG. 6 is fed into a curved conveyance path. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the succeeding sheet in FIG. 7 is stored in a curved conveyance path. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of sheets stored in a curved conveyance path in FIG. 8 are discharged to a discharge port. The figure which shows the sheet | seat discharged | emitted by the discharge port in FIG. The figure which shows the state in which the paper of FIG. 10 is sent into a collection | recovery part. The figure which shows the state in which the paper sent in FIG. 11 is further sent to the collection | recovery part, and is collect | recovered.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Main conveyance path (conveyance path), P1 ... Preceding paper, P2 ... Subsequent paper, 5a, 5b ... Printing part (printing means), 26 ... First arcuate conveyance path, 27 ... Second arcuate conveyance path 28, curved conveyance path (storage section), 29, 30 ... drive roller, 33, 34 ... pinch roller, 39 ... stopper, 65 ... paper conveyance surface, 66 ... line segment.

Claims (3)

After the preceding sheet conveyed along the main conveying path and the succeeding sheet following the preceding sheet are continuously printed by the printing unit, the preceding sheet and the succeeding sheet sent out from the main conveying path are temporarily stored in the storage unit. In the printing apparatus that stores the stacked sheets and sends out the stored sheets from the storage unit.
The storage unit is configured by a curved conveyance path that curves and conveys the preceding sheet sent out from the main conveyance path and the subsequent sheet,
The curved conveyance path includes a first arc-shaped conveyance path connected to the carry-out side of the main conveyance path and a second arc-shaped conveyance path connected to the carry-out side of the first arc-shaped conveyance path. And consists of
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first arcuate conveyance path and the second arcuate conveyance path are arranged vertically with a line segment extending along a sheet conveyance surface in the printing unit as a center.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a driving roller and a pinch roller that are disposed in the first arcuate conveyance path and sandwich and convey the sheet.   It is provided in the second arcuate conveyance path, moves along the sheet conveyance direction according to the length of the sheet, and stops by bringing the preceding sheet conveyed and the leading end of the subsequent sheet into contact with each other. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper.

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