JP2011255514A - Sheet processing apparatus and sheet information reading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing apparatus and a sheet information reading device that can efficiently clean a liquid injection surface with a comparatively simple configuration, and can achieve cost reduction.SOLUTION: The sheet processing apparatus includes: a conveyor which conveys sheets along with a transfer path; and an apparatus body equipped with a carriage part which detachably holds a liquid injection part which injects liquid to the sheets conveyed. The liquid injection part loaded in the carriage part is covered with a cover member which is detachably prepared and constitutes part of the apparatus body, and in the part covered by the cover member of the apparatus body, a cleaning part which cleans a liquid injection surface of the liquid injection part is arranged.

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a sheet processing apparatus that ejects a liquid such as ink onto a sheet, and a sheet information reading apparatus that includes the sheet processing apparatus and reads information on a sheet.

  As a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects liquid, for example, an ink jet recording head that ejects ink droplets is known. Such an ink jet recording head can perform predetermined recording on a sheet or the like by discharging ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles.

  In general, in such an ink jet recording head, ink, paper powder, dust, or the like may remain in the vicinity of a nozzle (ink discharge port). If the ink or the like is left in the vicinity of the nozzle in this way, various problems such as nozzle clogging, ink ejection failure, or deterioration in print quality may occur. In order to avoid these problems, for example, it is desirable to clean the nozzle surface appropriately according to the frequency of use.

  Here, the above-described ink jet recording head is mounted as a print head in an information reading apparatus that reads information on a sheet while conveying the sheet, and is used for, for example, printing processing on a sheet from which information has been read (see Patent Document 1). ). Specifically, the reading device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a magnetic ink character reading device for acquiring magnetic ink character data by reading a magnetic pattern such as a magnetic ink character, and reading a magnetic ink character. Thereafter, predetermined printing is performed on the back surface of the sheet.

JP 2006-065779 A

  In the magnetic ink character reading device disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, when a liquid ejecting apparatus such as the above-described ink jet recording head is employed as the print head, it is necessary to clean the nozzle surface as described above. For this, it is conceivable to separately provide a wiping means for cleaning the nozzle surface. However, such a countermeasure causes a complicated structure of the apparatus and an increase in the size of the apparatus, resulting in an increase in cost. There is a problem.

  The above-described problem does not occur only in the magnetic ink character reading device, and may occur in the same manner when the liquid ejecting head is mounted on other reading devices, sheet processing devices, and the like.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus and a sheet information reading apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning a liquid ejecting surface with a relatively simple configuration and realizing cost reduction.

  The sheet processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object includes: a conveying unit that conveys a sheet along a conveying path; and a carriage unit that detachably holds a liquid ejecting unit that ejects liquid onto the conveyed sheet. An apparatus main body provided, and the liquid ejecting section mounted on the carriage unit is covered with a cover member that is detachably provided and constitutes a part of the apparatus main body. The portion covered with the cover member is provided with a cleaning unit for cleaning the liquid ejecting surface of the liquid ejecting unit. The present invention is also widely applied to a sheet information reading apparatus that includes such a sheet processing apparatus and reads sheet information.

  According to the present invention, a sheet processing apparatus and a sheet information reading apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning the liquid ejection surface with a relatively simple configuration can be realized at low cost.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the sheet information reading apparatus according to the first embodiment. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet information reading apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of a manuscript. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the sheet information reading apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the sheet information reading apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing when the print head according to the first embodiment is replaced. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a waist portion illustrating a print head cleaning operation according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a waist portion illustrating a print head cleaning operation according to the first embodiment. Schematic which shows the structural modification of the cleaning part which concerns on other embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a sheet information reading apparatus having a sheet processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example of a document. 4 and 5 are enlarged perspective views of main parts of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet information reading device 10 of the present embodiment is a magnetic ink character reading device (check scanner) for reading a document S such as a check, also called a check. Although not shown, the sheet information reading apparatus 10 is connected to a host computer (information processing apparatus) via a communication unit such as a communication cable so as to be controlled from the host computer.

  Here, an example of the document S read by the sheet information reading apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described. Specifically, the manuscript S shown in FIG. 3 is a bill handled by a financial institution such as a bank. This document S is printed with magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) characters by magnetic ink. By reading the MICR characters with an information reader (document processing device), a plurality of documents can be sorted by bank, account, and amount.・ Classified into record information by payment date. Then, the image of the original S and the MICR character information are transferred as electronic files to a host computer installed in the centralized center, and the payment processing of the amount is performed based on the information received by the host computer in the centralized center.

  By the way, the above-described series of processing needs to be completed within a short period of time, for example, within one day after depositing a document from a user, and prompt processing is required. For this reason, many financial institutions do not perform manuscript processing for each head office or branch, but only provide manuscripts, for example, a department called a centralized center, and use a large information reader capable of high-speed processing in the centralized center. In some cases, a large amount of originals are processed at once.

  On the other hand, with the recent development of communication technology, individual information such as MICR characters and images of originals is read for each branch, and the read information is transmitted as an electronic file to the centralized center. On the basis of this, a business form has been adopted in which the amount of money is processed before the manuscript reaches the centralized center. Such processing using electronic data eliminates the need to collect manuscripts received from customers at the centralized center on the same day, reducing bill transportation work between the centralized center and each branch, thereby reducing costs. This makes it possible to quickly process a document.

  In order to cope with such work, in the sheet information reading apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the read signal waveform obtained by reading the magnetic ink character represented on the document S by the magnetic head, and the basic waveform data for magnetic ink character authentication. Is recognized and character recognition is performed to realize rapid document processing. As will be described in detail later, after character recognition is performed, a print mechanism disposed downstream of the magnetic head is used to print an electronic payment or the like on a document from which magnetic ink characters have been read (predetermined Predetermined printing or the like).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet information reading apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a hopper (original placing part) 30 provided at the end of the apparatus body 20 in a state where a bundle of originals S is erected. From here, the document S is fed into the apparatus main body 20 one by one, and the magnetic information of the document S is read and discharged while the document S is transported along the transport path 21.

  Specifically, a hopper 30 for placing a document S such as a check is provided at the end of the apparatus main body 20 of the sheet information reading apparatus 10. The hopper 30 is provided with a feeding roller 31 that is a feeding means for feeding the document S into the apparatus main body 20 and a document placement detection sensor 32 that detects whether or not the document S is placed. Yes. A pressing plate 33, which is a means for urging the document S toward the feeding roller 31, is provided on the side of the hopper 30 that faces the feeding roller 31.

  At a discharge port from the hopper 30 (feed port into the apparatus main body 20), a feed roller 34 for feeding the document S to the transport path 21, and one sheet of document S fed opposite the feed roller 34 are fed. Separation rollers 35 for separating the sheets one by one are arranged as document separation means. Further, on the downstream side of the feed roller 34 and the separation roller 35, a conveyance roller pair 36 that conveys the document S sent to the conveyance path 21 toward the downstream side is provided.

  Further, a document edge detection sensor 37 for taking a timing for reading the surface image of the document S and the magnetic ink characters is disposed on the downstream side of the conveying roller pair 36. Further downstream, a surface reading sensor 38 for reading the surface image of the document S, a permanent magnet 39 for aligning the magnetization directions of the magnetic ink characters printed on the document S, and a magnetic head 40 for reading the magnetic ink characters, Is arranged. A pressing roller 41 is provided at a portion facing the magnetic head 40 to make the portion on which the magnetic ink characters of the document S are printed adhere to the magnetic head 40.

  Further, on the downstream side of the pressing roller 41, a pair of conveying rollers 42, 43, and 44 are arranged as conveying means at predetermined intervals, respectively, so that the document S can be conveyed further downstream. . On the downstream side of the pair of conveying rollers 44, a back surface leading edge detection sensor 45 is disposed for taking a timing for reading a back surface image of the document S, a timing for printing on the back surface of the document S, and the like. On the downstream side of the back surface leading edge detection sensor 45, the original S from which the magnetic ink characters were read is created from the read magnetic ink characters such as the date and the name of the financial institution where the original S was brought in. A print head (endorser) 60 serving as a printing unit for printing information and the like is detachably provided on the carriage 46. An image reading sensor 47 for reading an image image on the back surface of the document S (back image image after printing) is disposed further downstream than the carriage 46 that holds the print head 60.

  The document S that has been subjected to various processes in the order described above is discharged out of the apparatus main body 20 via the discharge roller pairs 48 and 49. In the present embodiment, a flapper 50 is provided immediately after the discharge roller pair 48 to distribute the document S discharged from the magnetic ink character data read by the magnetic head 41. The flapper 50 is controlled to sort the discharged document S into the discharge trays 51a and 51b based on an instruction from the host computer or a predetermined sorting standard.

  The above-described sheet information reading apparatus 10 is for communicating with a computer (not shown) connected via an interface cable in order to control the entire drive motor 65 and the like that drive the various roller groups. A controller unit 66 is provided.

  The print head 60 is held by the carriage 46 and is electrically connected to the controller unit 53 via a contact portion (not shown) provided on the carriage 46.

  Here, in the present embodiment, as described above, after the print head 60 that is an ink jet recording head is mounted via the carriage 46, the print head 60 (carriage 46) and its peripheral portion are the main body of the apparatus. It is covered with the opening / closing cover 70 which is a detachable cover member which constitutes a part of the cover.

  Specifically, in the present embodiment, a cleaning unit 52 for cleaning an ink ejection surface 60b (see FIG. 7 described later) as a liquid ejection surface of the print head 60 is provided at a position adjacent to the carriage 46. Yes. Such a cleaning unit 52 is covered with an opening / closing cover 70 together with the carriage 46 described above and the print head 60 mounted on the carriage 46.

  That is, the print head 60 and the cleaning unit 52 are entirely covered by the opening / closing cover 70 during normal use of the sheet information reading apparatus 10, and cannot be touched by the operator while the apparatus is operating. ing. The opening / closing cover 70 can be attached and detached in the direction of arrow A during the maintenance of the apparatus (see FIG. 1). The print head 60 is detachable in the direction of arrow B after the opening / closing cover 70 is removed (see FIG. 4).

  Here, with reference to FIG.4 and FIG.5, the structure of the cleaning part 52 is demonstrated in detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the print head 60 can be replaced when the operator opens the opening / closing cover 70, and at the same time, the ink discharge surface 60 b of the print head 60 can be cleaned using the cleaning unit 52. Become. Such a cleaning unit 52 is provided inside the conveyance path 21. For example, in the present embodiment, the conveyance path 21 is provided along the outer peripheral portion of the apparatus main body 20 so as to surround the inside of the apparatus main body 20, and the cleaning unit 52 and the print head 60 are provided inside the conveyance path 21. ing. Accordingly, since the cleaning unit 52 and the print head 60 (carriage 46) are in a close positional relationship, the opening / closing cover 70 can efficiently cover the position at a time.

  In addition, the cleaning section 52 is provided with a guide groove (guide section) 53 that can slide while the protrusion 60 a of the print head 60 is engaged. The operator can manually slide the print head 60 along the guide groove 53 to clean the ink discharge surface 60a.

  Specifically, a wiper (blade portion) made of an elastic material for wiping paper dust, residual ink, and the like attached to the ink discharge surface 60b of the print head 60 is formed in a portion sandwiched between the guide grooves 53 of the cleaning portion 52. ) 54 and a porous member (ink absorber) 55 serving as a cleaning member for pressing the ink discharge surface 60b cleaned by the wiper 54 and sucking out residual ink from the ink discharge surface 60b, respectively, along the slide direction. It is also attached.

  Further, the porous member 55 is disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to the guide groove 53, and when the print head 60 is slid along the guide groove 53, a constant contact pressure (wiping pressure) is obtained. It is comprised so that. That is, the upper surface of the porous member 55 is an inclined surface 55a that is inclined like a downhill in the direction opposite to the sliding direction of the print head 60 (the direction of arrow C in FIG. 5).

  In the present embodiment, the height and the inclined surface of the porous member 55 are such that the ink ejection surface 60b of the print head 60 is in sliding contact (contact) from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction of the porous member 55. An inclination angle of 55a is set. As a result, as the print head 60 moves in the sliding direction, the pressure with which the porous member 55 contacts the ink ejection surface 60b of the print head 60 gradually increases, and the deposits can be efficiently removed from the ink ejection surface 60b. .

  In the present embodiment, an effect of sucking the remaining ink from the nozzles can be expected by bringing the print head 60 and the porous member 55 into close contact with each other. Although the case where the inclined surface 55a is provided on the porous member 55 has been described here, for example, a plurality of contact walls (a plurality of grooves orthogonal to the sliding direction) are provided in the sliding direction on the surface of the porous member. Alternatively, the above-described inclined surface 55a may not be provided by appropriately adjusting the elasticity by changing the material of the porous member 55 or the like.

  In the cleaning unit 52 having such a configuration, the above-described porous member 55 is provided in a replaceable manner. That is, the used porous member 55 after wiping off the residual ink to some extent can be replaced with a new one. In the present embodiment, the wiper 54 is fixed to the cleaning unit 52, but the wiper 54 may also be provided in the same manner as the porous member 55. Moreover, in this embodiment, although the cleaning part 52 is provided so that a part of apparatus upper part may be comprised, the whole may be provided so that attachment or detachment is possible with the porous member 55 and the wiper 54 which were mentioned above. Or you may make it clean only with the porous member 55, without providing the wiper 54. FIG.

  Here, a procedure for cleaning the print head 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 are DD cross-sectional views in FIG. Specifically, in order to clean the print head 60, first, as shown in FIG. 4, the opening / closing cover 70 is removed, and the print head 60 is pulled in the direction of arrow B and removed from the carriage 46.

  Then, the removed print head 60 slides the protrusion 60a of the print head 60 in the direction of arrow E along the guide groove 53 as shown in FIG. Then, the wiper 54 first contacts the ink ejection surface 60b. Since the wiper 54 has elasticity, when it is in contact with the ink discharge surface 60b, it is bent and deformed as shown in FIG.

  The edge portion 54a of the wiper 54 scrapes and cleans paper dust, foreign matter, residual ink, and the like attached to the ink ejection surface 60b. Next, the ink ejection surface 60 b comes into contact with the porous member 55. Since the porous member 55 is attached to the guide groove 53 at a predetermined angle as described above, the load when the print head 60 is slid is gradually increased. Therefore, the operation when the operator slides the print head 60 is stable, and the porous member 55 is reliably pressed against the ink ejection surface 60b. This stabilizes ink suction from the ejection holes (nozzle holes) on the ink ejection surface 60b.

  Further, even if the volume of the porous member 55 is increased, the area in contact with the ink discharge portion 60b can be minimized, so that the amount of absorbed ink can be increased, and the life of the cleaning portion 52 itself is extended. be able to. By such a cleaning operation, the foreign matter that has entered the inside of the ink ejection hole is also sucked out and removed together with the ink, thereby completing the cleaning.

  As described above, according to the sheet information reading apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the print head 60 is disposed inside the opening / closing cover 70 that opens and closes to be attached and detached, and the cleaning unit 32 is provided inside the opening / closing cover 70. By providing, the efficiency of the cleaning work can be improved. Specifically, after the user opens and closes the opening / closing cover 70 and attaches / detaches the print head 60, the cleaning unit 52 can immediately start the cleaning operation of the ink ejection surface 60b of the print head 60 as it is. For this reason, a series of work efficiencies ranging from attachment / detachment of the print head 60 to cleaning of the ink ejection surface 60b can be improved. For example, by opening one open / close cover 70, the attachment and detachment of the print head 60 and the cleaning can be efficiently performed at the same timing, so that troublesome operations during the attachment and detachment and cleaning of the print head 60 can be reduced. Further, since the print head 60 is housed in the apparatus main body 20, the surrounding documents and the like are hardly contaminated. And since the cleaning part 52 is normally covered with the opening-and-closing cover 70, it becomes less likely that an operator touches accidentally and soils a hand.

  In the present embodiment, the print head 60 and the cleaning unit 52 are arranged inside the opening / closing cover 70. For this reason, the cleaning unit 52 is not contaminated by foreign matter such as dust or dust (including paper dust), and the cap mechanism that prevents the ink discharge surface 60b of the print head 60 from drying, or the recovery that cleans the ink discharge surface 60b. It is not necessary to provide a special mechanism such as a unit separately. Thereby, the structure of an apparatus can be simplified. Therefore, it is possible to realize a configuration that can easily reduce the size of the device while preventing the size of the device from increasing. Further, the device cost and the manufacturing cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts. Further, the operator can easily clean the ink ejection surface 60b of the print head 60 efficiently without having to prepare a cleaning tool (paper for wiping, brush, etc.) separately.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 2 and the like, an operation of the sheet information reading apparatus 10 described above when the document S is conveyed will be described with an example. First, when the documents S are bundled and stacked on the hopper 30, the documents S are pressed against the paper feed roller 31 by the pressing plate 35. Then, the stack sensor 32 recognizes that the document S is stacked on the hopper 30. Thereafter, when a host computer connected via a communication cable (for example, an interface cable) is operated to send a document reading instruction to the controller unit 53, the paper feed roller 31 rotates and the document S is moved into the apparatus main body. Be fed.

  Next, the fed document S is transported to the transport path by the feed roller 36. At this time, when a plurality of originals S are fed by the paper feed roller 31, they are separated and conveyed one by one by a separation roller 37 disposed facing the feed roller 36. The conveyed document S is sent to the surface image reading sensor 38 after passing the document leading edge detection sensor 37. Here, the image reading timing is determined by the document leading edge detection sensor 37 that has passed first. The original S from which the image on the surface has been read is conveyed toward the magnetic head 40 on the downstream side after the magnetization directions of the magnetic ink characters are aligned by the permanent magnet 39. In the present embodiment, the permanent magnet 39 is used to align the magnetization. However, another magnetization alignment means such as an electromagnet may be used.

  Next, the document S conveyed to the magnetic head 40 is pressed against the magnetic head 40 by the pressing roller 41 and the magnetic ink characters are read. The timing of reading the magnetic ink characters at this time is taken by the document leading edge detection sensor 37, and sampling of the output from the magnetic head 40 is started.

  Thereafter, the original S from which the magnetic ink characters have been read is conveyed toward the print head 60 through the back surface leading edge detection sensor 45 by the conveyance roller pairs 42, 43, 44. Here, the back end detection sensor 45 takes a timing and prints the date instructed from the controller unit 66, the character information such as the name of the financial institution in which the document S is brought in, or the information obtained from the magnetic ink character reading result. Printing is performed by the head 60. Then, it is guided to the back surface reading sensor 47. At this time, the back side image of the document S is read by the back side reading sensor 47 with the timing at the back side leading edge detection sensor 45.

  The controller unit 53 outputs an instruction to a drive mechanism that drives the flapper 50 based on the magnetic ink character data read in advance, and operates the flapper 50 in advance in accordance with the passage timing of the document S to carry it. Switch the road. The document S is discharged to one of the discharge trays 51a and 51b by the discharge roller 49. When all the documents S stacked on the hopper 30 are discharged, the document stack detection sensor 32 detects that there is no document and the reading operation is automatically stopped.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated in detail based on Embodiment 1, this invention is not limited to Embodiment 1 mentioned above. For example, in the above-described first embodiment, the structural example in which the cleaning unit 52 is provided on the upper portion of the apparatus main body has been described. A cleaning unit 52A may be provided. As a result, the operator can clean the print head 60 while holding the opening / closing cover 80 in one hand, so that the operator can clean the print head 60 in a more comfortable posture. Therefore, it is possible to effectively reduce the load on the operator.

  In the first embodiment described above, the sheet information reading apparatus having a magnetic ink character reading function, specifically, a check scanner has been described as an example. However, the present invention is a sheet information reading function having a magnetic ink character reading function. It is not limited to a device. For example, a wide range of sheet information reading devices such as an image reading device such as a document scanner having an imprinter function for reading image information of a document and printing an image reading date and a management number on the document. It can be applied to the cleaning part of the liquid ejection surface.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sheet information reading apparatus 20 Apparatus main body 21 Conveyance path 30 Hopper 40 Magnetic head 46 Carriage 50 Flapper 52 Cleaning part 55 Porous member 60 Print head 60a Protrusion part 60b Ink discharge surface 70 Opening and closing cover

Claims (9)

An apparatus main body provided with conveying means for conveying the sheet along the conveying path, and a carriage unit that detachably holds a liquid ejecting unit that ejects liquid onto the conveyed sheet;
The liquid ejecting unit mounted on the carriage unit is covered with a cover member that is detachably provided and constitutes a part of the device main body, and the portion of the device main body covered with the cover member includes A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a cleaning unit that cleans a liquid ejecting surface of the liquid ejecting unit.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit is entirely covered with the liquid ejecting unit by the cover member.   The said cleaning part hold | maintains the cleaning member in the upper end part on the opposite side to the lower side fixed to the said apparatus main body, The said cover member serves as the member which covers the said cleaning member, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. The sheet processing apparatus according to 1 or 2.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning member is made of a porous member that absorbs liquid.   5. The guide part for sliding the liquid ejecting unit to slide the liquid ejecting surface against the cleaning member is provided at an upper end of the cleaning unit. The sheet processing apparatus according to the description.   The blade part which contacts the said liquid ejection surface is provided in the upper end part of the said cleaning part in the slide movement direction upstream of the said guide part, The any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned. Sheet processing equipment.   The sheet according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning unit includes a cleaning member that cleans the liquid ejecting surface with an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to a sliding direction of the liquid ejecting unit. Processing equipment. A conveyance path for conveying the sheet in an upright posture standing substantially vertically by the conveyance means is provided so as to surround the inside of the apparatus main body along the outer peripheral portion of the apparatus main body,
A reading unit provided on the upstream side of the conveyance path and outside the conveyance path to read information on one side of the sheet;
The carriage unit is disposed inside the conveyance path and downstream of the conveyance path, and from the liquid ejecting unit mounted on the carriage unit, in addition to the sheet on which information is read by the reading unit. So that the liquid is jetted to the direction side,
The cleaning unit is provided in a portion adjacent to the carriage unit inside the conveyance path,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is a member that covers the carriage unit and the cleaning unit.   A sheet information reading apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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