JP2016069143A - Sheet thickness detecting device, printer equipped with sheet thickness detecting device, and sheet thickness detecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet thickness detecting device and a printer equipped with the sheet thickness detecting device in which sheet thickness detecting means can be arranged even in a bent portion of a sheet supply passage, and the arrangement space is not limited.SOLUTION: A sheet thickness detecting device 1 includes: a pressing member 2 for pressing an upper surface of a sheet P; a sheet thickness detecting lever 3 which is arranged with a space from the pressing member 2 along the direction (the arrow B direction) orthogonal to the sheet P supplying direction A and detects a height position of the upper surface of the sheet P by contacting the upper surface of the sheet P; and sheet thickness reading means 4 for detecting the thickness of the sheet P from the height position of the sheet P detected by the sheet thickness detecting lever 3. A shape of a tip to be a contact piece of the sheet thickness detecting lever 3 is formed so as to have the width decreased toward the tip.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet thickness detection apparatus, a printing apparatus including the sheet thickness detection apparatus, and a sheet thickness detection method capable of accurately detecting the sheet thickness even when the conveyance path is not a straight line.

In a printing apparatus, the gap between the print head and the platen is automatically adjusted in order to make the print density on a recording medium such as paper inserted between the print head and the platen constant.
For example, in the automatic gap adjustment device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the device is installed and activated, the platen rise control is performed based on the output of the sensor and the initial adjustment value. At this time, the automatic gap adjustment device measures the movement distance from the home position of the platen to the stop position, and corrects the initial adjustment value from the difference between the measured value and the initial movement distance in the memory. The platen is raised based on the value.

However, the automatic gap adjustment device disclosed in Patent Document 1 adjusts the position of the platen when the device is activated. After activation, the type of paper, the strength of the waist of the paper, and the weakness (winding and folding) When the strength changes, the positional relationship between the platen and the print head corresponding to the change cannot be adjusted.
In response to such a problem, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is provided. The printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a print head, a platen disposed at an interval from the print head, a supply unit that supplies paper between the print head and the platen, and the thickness of the paper. A sheet thickness detection unit that detects the image and a control unit that adjusts the interval according to the detection result of the sheet thickness detection unit.

JP-A-7-205499 JP 2000-198243 A

However, the printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a configuration in which a paper thickness detection unit that detects the thickness of the paper is provided. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a paper supply path through which the paper is conveyed horizontally / vertically, which causes a restriction on installation space.
Further, in the printing apparatus of Patent Document 2, when the paper thickness detection unit is provided at a bent portion of the paper supply path, when the paper is hard and has a waist, the paper is floated by the waist. As a result, there has been a problem that accurate sheet thickness detection cannot be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is capable of accurately measuring the thickness of a stiff sheet having hardness even in a bent portion of the sheet supply path and is subject to installation space restrictions. There are provided a sheet thickness detecting apparatus, a printing apparatus including the same, and a sheet thickness detecting method.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following means.
In other words, the paper thickness detection device of the present invention is arranged such that a pressing member that presses the upper surface of the paper to be supplied and the pressing member are spaced along the direction orthogonal to the paper supply direction. A paper thickness detection lever that detects the upper surface height position of the paper by contacting the upper surface, and a paper thickness reading that detects the thickness of the paper from the upper surface height position of the paper detected by the paper thickness detection lever And a tip shape that serves as a contact of the paper thickness detection lever is formed so that the width decreases toward the tip. The sheet thickness detection method of the present invention includes a step of pressing the upper surface of a sheet to be supplied by a pressing member, and a sheet thickness disposed at a distance from the pressing member so as to extend in a direction intersecting the sheet supply direction. A step of detecting a top surface height position of the paper by contacting a contact formed in a shape narrowing toward the front end of the detection lever to the top surface of the paper, and detecting by the paper thickness detection lever Detecting the thickness of the sheet from the height position of the upper surface of the sheet.

  According to the present invention, the pressing member that presses the upper surface of the supplied paper is disposed at a distance from the paper thickness detection lever along the direction orthogonal to the paper supply direction. When the paper thickness is detected by the lever, the paper is prevented from floating. Here, the tip shape serving as the contact of the paper thickness detection lever is formed so that the width decreases toward the tip, so that it can be brought into close contact with the stiff paper having hardness. Even in a bent portion of the paper supply path, it is possible to accurately detect the thickness of the paper.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the paper thickness detection apparatus of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a paper thickness detection device and a printing device including the same according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the sheet thickness detection device of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the paper thickness detection device of FIG. 2. (A) is the perspective view which expanded the paper thickness detection apparatus of FIG. 4, (B) is the perspective view which looked at (A) from the back side. It is a front view of a paper thickness detection device. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a front end portion of a paper thickness detection lever. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a paper thickness detection lever and a press member. (A) is a figure for demonstrating the bending which generate | occur | produces between press members, (B) is a figure which shows the problem at the time of making the front-end | tip of a paper thickness detection lever spherical, (C) is the paper thickness which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the front-end | tip of a detection lever. (A) is a side view showing a rear cam of the paper thickness detecting device, and (B) is a side view showing a state in which the paper thickness detecting lever of (A) is inclined with respect to the paper thickness. (A) is a diagram showing that the paper thickness detection device is in the “standby state”, and (B) is a diagram showing that the paper thickness detection device is in “measurement start”. (A) is a diagram showing that the paper thickness detection device is in “lever pressure contact”, and (B) is a diagram showing that the paper thickness detection device is in “measurement end”. (A) is a diagram showing the positions of the paper thickness detection lever and the pressing member when the paper thickness detection device is in the “standby state” and “start of measurement”, and (B) is the paper thickness detection device in “lever pressure contact”. FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating the positions of the paper thickness detection lever and the pressing member when “lever press contact” further proceeds. FIG. 4A is a sheet thickness detection apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 5A is a view when the pressing member is formed in a block shape, and FIG. 5B is formed so that the contact surface of the pressing member is curved. FIG. It is a paper thickness detection apparatus which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: It is a figure when only one set of pressing members is provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a minimum configuration of a sheet thickness detection apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
The sheet thickness detection device 1 includes a pressing member 2 that presses the upper surface of the sheet P supplied through the sheet supply path T, a sheet thickness detection lever 3 that detects the upper surface height position of the sheet P, and the sheet thickness detection lever 3. And a sheet thickness reading means 4 for detecting the thickness of the sheet P from the height position of the upper surface of the sheet P detected in (1).

The paper thickness detection lever 3 is disposed at a distance from the pressing member 2 along the direction (B direction) perpendicular to the supply direction A of the paper P, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the paper P to contact the upper surface of the paper P. Detect height position.
The pressing member 2 can be constituted by a plate-like or block-like member in addition to a rotating body made of a roller, for example. The pressing member 2 is provided on both sides of the paper thickness detection lever 3 along the arrow B direction, but may be provided on either side.

  The tip shape that forms the contact 5 of the paper thickness detection lever 3 is formed so that the width decreases toward the tip, and can be brought into close contact with the paper P having waist in the paper supply path T. it can.

As described above, in the sheet thickness detection device 1 according to the present invention, the pressing member 2 that holds the upper surface of the sheet P supplied through the sheet supply path T is moved along the direction orthogonal to the sheet P supply direction A. Since it is arranged at a distance from the detection lever 3, the pressing member 2 prevents the paper P from being lifted when the paper thickness is detected.
In the sheet thickness detection device 1 of the present invention, the sheet thickness detection lever 3 is installed at the side of the sheet thickness detection lever 3 so that the sheet thickness detection lever 3 is bent in the sheet supply path T (that is, The sheet P can also be provided at a location where the sheet P tends to rise due to its waist, and there is no restriction on the installation space when the sheet thickness detector 1 is installed.
Further, since the contact 5 of the paper thickness detection lever 3 is formed so that the width is reduced toward the tip, it is also brought into close contact with the surface of the paper P having a waist in the paper supply path T. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the thickness of the paper P.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows a printing apparatus 100 to which the present invention is applied, a sheet thickness detection apparatus 10 for detecting the sheet thickness of the sheet P supplied in the direction of arrow (A) through the sheet supply path T, and the sheet thickness detection. And a printing mechanism 11 provided in the middle of the paper supply path T located downstream (upper side in FIG. 2) of the apparatus 10.
In the printing mechanism 11, the printing state on the paper P is adjusted from the thickness of the paper P measured by the paper thickness detection device 10.
Specifically, the printing mechanism 11 includes a print head 50 that performs printing on the paper P, a platen 51 that is disposed on the back side of the paper P with a space from the print head 50, and detection by the paper thickness detection device 10. The print control unit 52 adjusts the distance between the print head 50 and the platen 51 based on the result.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, in the paper thickness detection device 10 according to the present embodiment, the pressing member 12 that presses the upper surface of the paper P toward the reference surface L in the paper supply path T, and the reference surface L A sheet thickness detecting lever 13 for detecting the upper surface height position of the sheet P, and a sheet thickness reading means for detecting the thickness of the sheet P from the upper surface height position of the sheet P detected by the sheet thickness detecting lever 13. 14 (described later).

The sheet thickness detection lever 13 is formed in a substantially L shape as a whole when viewed from the rotational axis direction, and is provided in the apparatus main body 20 in a direction (B And a support shaft 21 along the direction), and is provided so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrows ab.
The contact 15 located at the forefront of the paper thickness detection lever 13 and in contact with the paper P is formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width decreases toward the tip as shown in FIGS. With such a shape, the sheet P having a waist on the reference plane L in the sheet supply path T can be brought into close contact (described later).
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet thickness detection device 10 is disposed in a sheet supply path T located at the lower part of the apparatus main body 20. Specifically, it is arranged in the vicinity of the bent path of the paper supply path T (reference numeral T ′ is attached to the bent portion). Further, the printing mechanism 11 is disposed on the vertical path after passing through the bent portion T ′ of the paper supply path T.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the sheet thickness detection lever 13 is supported so as to be swingable in the direction of the arrow ab about the support shaft 21, and is provided between the apparatus main body unit 20. The lever urging spring 22 urges the support shaft 21 as a center in the upward arrow a direction, and the urging member 15 contacts the surface of the paper P by the urging force.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the pressing member 12 is provided on each side of the sheet thickness detection lever 13 so as to be swingable about the support shaft 21. It has a support member 23 that is movably supported, a support roller 24 provided at the tip of the support member 23, and a roller biasing spring 25 that biases the support member 23.
The roller urging spring 25 is provided at the rear end portion of the support member 23, and urges the support roller 24 located at the front end portion of the support member 23 in the direction of the arrow a to support the support roller 24. In close contact with the upper surface of the paper P.
That is, the pressing member 12 serves to press the paper P against the reference surface L on both sides of the paper thickness detection lever 13. Each of the pressing members 12 is positioned coaxially with the support shaft 21 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 and is provided so as to be able to swing independently of the paper thickness detection lever 13. The support roller 24 can be brought into close contact with the surface of the paper P regardless of which part in the width direction of the paper P has a habit, depending on the hardness and stiffness of the paper.
Further, when the pressing member 12 and the paper thickness detection lever 13 are in the “standby position”, the retraction amounts from the reference surface L in the paper supply path T are indicated by reference numerals 12a and 13a in FIG. 13A, respectively. In addition, the evacuation amount 13a is set larger than the evacuation amount 12a. As a result, when the paper thickness detection lever 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow a from the “standby position”, the paper thickness detection lever 13 is pressed after the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12 presses the paper P against the reference plane L. The contact 15 is in close contact with the surface of the paper P.

  Further, the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12 is for pressing the paper P on both sides of the paper thickness detection lever 13 in order to reduce detection variation even if the paper P is a hard paper P having a waist. However, the material is preferably a rubber roller in order to ensure a nip width. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the support roller 24 can be configured by a non-rotating plate-like or block-like member.

However, although the support roller 24 is composed of a rubber roller, it is possible to press the paper P flexibly. However, as shown by a symbol M in FIG. The sheet P may bend at the 13 contact points.
For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9B, if the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 has a semicircular shape with the same curvature as the support roller 24, the paper P between the support rollers 24 The contact 15 at the tip of the paper thickness detection lever 13 comes into contact with the bent portion before the paper P is pushed in due to the influence of the bending of the paper P, and the force for pushing the paper P is dispersed and cannot be pushed in.
Further, since the pressing force of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is weakened, the bent portion of the paper P cannot be corrected, and the paper P is detected thick. Therefore, in order to improve the floating of the paper P between the support rollers 24, the paper thickness detection lever 13 of the present embodiment has a contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 as shown in FIG. 9C. Compared with a contact formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width decreases toward the leading end, and thus a semicircular contact, there is no contact with the bent portion of the paper P, and the paper P can be reliably pushed in easily ( The pressing direction is indicated by the symbol m), and the detection variation can be reduced.
The reason why a rotatable rubber roller is used as the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12 is that, in the same way as the paper thickness detection lever 13, when the paper P floating by rotation is pressed against the reference surface, the paper feed path T is used. This is to prevent the movement of the moving paper P from being obstructed.

  In the paper thickness detection lever 13 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9C, the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width decreases toward the tip. At this time, the contact surface with the paper P in the most advanced portion may be a flat surface or a curved surface (indicated by reference numeral 15a in FIGS. 7 and 8).

  Next, referring to FIGS. 5 and 10 to 13, the thickness of the paper P is adjusted by the cam mechanism 16 for driving the paper thickness detection lever 13 and the pressing member 12 in conjunction with each other and the paper thickness detection lever 13. A configuration for reading will be described.

As described above, the paper thickness detection lever 13 is attached to the upper arrow a about the support shaft 21 by the lever urging spring 22 provided between the apparatus main body 20 and the apparatus as shown in FIG. At this time, the upper portion of the sheet thickness detection lever 13 is in contact with the pin 31 of the cam gear 30 disposed on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 20.
The cam gear 30 is provided so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow cd about the rotation shaft 30a, and in the vicinity of the peripheral edge thereof, a pin 31 that contacts the side of the rear end of the paper thickness detection lever 13. Is arranged. The cam gear 30 is rotationally driven by a stepping motor 32 provided in the apparatus main body 20.

Further, a cam 33 is provided on the back surface of the cam gear 30 as shown in FIGS.
The cam 33 is formed integrally with the cam gear 30 and is fixed to the rotary shaft 30a, and contacts the contact surface 37 of the sensor arm 36 that is rotatably provided on the apparatus main body 20 via pins 34 and 35. Is done.
The movement path of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is provided with a lever passage detection sensor 38 for detecting passage of the rear end portion of the paper thickness detection lever 13, and the apparatus main body 20 is provided with a cam sensor 39. The cam sensor 39 detects the amount of rotation of the cam 33 after passing the paper thickness detection lever 13 by the lever passage detection sensor 38.
Then, the thickness of the paper L when the paper P is arranged on the reference surface L is measured together with the position of the reference surface L by the rotation amount of the cam 33 measured by the cam sensor 39. The paper position is separately detected by a sensor (not shown).

In such a cam gear 30, when the pin 31 is moved in the same direction by rotating in the direction of the arrow c from the "standby position" shown in FIG. Following the pin 31, the sheet thickness detection lever 13 is moved in the direction of arrow a as shown in FIGS. 11 (B) and 12 (A).
As a result, the paper thickness detection lever 13 moves from the “standby position” shown in FIG. 11A to the “pressure contact position” shown in FIG. 12A and is positioned at the tip of the paper thickness detection lever 13. The contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is brought into close contact with the surface of the paper P on the reference surface L.
Further, after the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is brought into close contact with the surface of the paper P, the rotation of the paper thickness detection lever 13 in the direction of arrow a is restricted. When the cam gear 30 further rotates in the direction of the arrow c, the sheet thickness detection lever 13 and the pin 31 are separated from each other, and the measurement of the sheet thickness is completed in this state. Here, as shown in FIG. 12B, when the paper P is on the reference surface L, the paper thickness detection lever 13 moves to the arrow (C), and the paper is on the reference surface L. When there is no P, the paper thickness detection lever 13 moves to the arrow (d).
12B, after the measurement of the sheet thickness is completed, the cam gear 30 is moved in the direction of the arrow d by driving the stepping motor 32, and the pin 31 is pressed to return to FIG. Return the paper thickness detection lever 13 to the “standby position” shown.

With the configuration as described above, when moving from the “standby position” shown in FIG. 11A to the “pressure contact position” shown in FIG. When there is the paper P, first, the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12 comes into contact with the surface of the paper P as shown in FIGS.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 13C, the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 comes into contact with the surface of the paper P, and the rotation of the paper thickness detection lever 13 in the direction of arrow a is restricted. At this time, since the pair of pressing members 12 are arranged on both sides of the paper thickness detection lever 13, the paper P is lifted when the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 comes into contact with the surface of the paper P. Is prevented.
Note that the difference in operation between the pressing member 12 and the paper thickness detecting lever 13 is that the retracting amount 13a of the paper thickness detecting lever 13 is greater than the retracting amount 12a of the pressing member 12, as shown in FIG. This is because it is set larger.

When the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 comes into contact with the surface of the paper P, the calculation means C (not shown) detects when the paper thickness detection lever 13 detected by the lever passage detection sensor 38 stops / passes. Then, from the rotation amount of the cam gear 30 measured by the cam sensor 39, the swing amount of the sheet thickness detection lever 13 in the direction of arrow a (the swing amount indicated by symbol R in FIG. 12B) is calculated. Thereafter, the calculation means C calculates the thickness of the paper P located in the paper supply path T from the swing amount R of the paper thickness detection lever 13, and then uses the thickness data of the paper P as the print control of the printing mechanism 11. By supplying to the unit 52, the interval between the print head 50 and the platen 51 is adjusted.
The thickness detection of the paper P is not limited to the above, and may be a method in which the amount of movement of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is directly read by optical means such as an image sensor, and the paper thickness reading method is limited. Is not to be done.

Further, the above-described operations of FIGS. 11A and 11B and FIGS. 12A and 12B are repeated every time the paper P continuously arranged through the perforations is supplied to the paper supply path T. Detect thickness in paper units.
Further, the sheet thickness reading means 14 for detecting the thickness of the sheet P from the upper surface height position of the sheet P detected by the sheet thickness detection lever 13 from the lever passing detection sensor 38, the cam sensor 39, and the calculation means C described above. Is configured.

As described above in detail, in the paper thickness detection device 10 of the printing apparatus 100 shown in the first embodiment, the pressing member 12 that presses the upper surface of the paper P on the reference surface L is orthogonal to the paper P supply direction A. Since the sheet thickness detection lever 13 is disposed at a distance along the direction (arrow B direction), the pressing member 12 prevents the sheet P from being lifted when the sheet thickness is detected.
In the sheet thickness detection apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the pressing member 12 is provided on the side of the sheet thickness detection lever 13, so that the sheet thickness detection lever 13 is bent at the sheet supply path T. In other words, the sheet P can be provided at a location where the sheet P is about to float up due to its waist, and the installation space is not restricted when the sheet thickness detecting device 10 is installed.
Further, in the paper thickness detection device 10 of the first embodiment, the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width decreases toward the tip, so that there is a waist in the paper supply path T. The sheet P can be brought into close contact with the surface, and the thickness of the sheet P can be accurately detected.
That is, in the paper thickness detection device 10 according to the first embodiment, the tip shape of the contact 15 of the paper thickness detection lever 13 is trapezoidal so that the support roller 24 is pressed when pressed by the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12. It is possible to measure the thickness of the paper P by pressing the paper P against the reference surface L without being affected by the paper deflection (waving) formed between them. Then, based on the thickness data of the paper P detected by the paper thickness detection device 10, the printing mechanism 11 can perform clear printing under the optimum printing conditions according to the thickness of the paper P.

Furthermore, in the paper thickness detection apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, the paper P is pressed by the support roller 24 of the pressing member 12 made of a rubber roller before the thickness of the paper P is measured by the paper thickness detection lever 13. Even if the pressing force is increased, damage (indentation) to the paper P is eliminated, and the paper P can be pressed against the reference surface L stably and reliably.
That is, by adding the pressing member 12, the paper P can be held on the reference surface L without depending on only the pressing force of the paper thickness detection lever 13, and damage to the paper P can be minimized. it can.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B and FIG.
The sheet thickness detection device 40 shown in the second embodiment is different from the sheet thickness detection device 10 shown in the first embodiment in the configuration of the pressing member.
That is, the pressing member 2 of the first embodiment is configured by a rotating body made of, for example, a roller, but is not limited thereto, and the pressing member is made of a non-rotating body made of a low friction material such as a fluororesin. Or a block-like member.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14A, the tip member 42 of the pressing member 41 may be formed in a block shape, and further, as shown in FIG. The contact surface 43 of the block-shaped tip member 42 may be formed in a spherical shape.
Further, the pressing member 41 is not limited to be provided on both sides of the paper thickness detection lever 13, and may be provided on either side of the side of the paper thickness detection lever 13 as shown in FIG. 15. .

As described above in detail, in the paper thickness detection device 40 shown in the second embodiment, the pressing member 41 that presses the upper surface of the paper P on the reference surface L is moved along the direction orthogonal to the supply direction A of the paper P. Since it is disposed at a distance from the thickness detection lever 13, the pressing member 41 prevents the paper P from being lifted when the paper thickness is detected.
Furthermore, in the paper thickness detection device 40 shown in the second embodiment, the pressing member 41 that presses the upper surface of the paper P is formed of a non-rotating body made of a low friction material such as a fluororesin. 41 prevents the sheet P from floating when the sheet thickness is detected.

  In addition, although a part or all of said embodiment can be described also for the following additional remarks, it is not restricted to the following.

(Appendix 1)
The tip shape serving as the contact of the paper thickness detection lever is formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width is reduced toward the tip.
(Appendix 2)
The paper thickness detection lever and the pressing member are provided so as to swing in the same direction via a support shaft, and are operated to swing in a direction in which the paper thickness detection lever and the pressing member swing away in the direction away from the paper and in contact with the paper. The press contact position is repeated.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the concrete structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change etc. of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are included.

  The present invention relates to a paper thickness detection device capable of accurately detecting a paper thickness even when a conveyance path is not a straight line, and a printing apparatus including the paper thickness detection device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper thickness detection apparatus 2 Press member 3 Paper thickness detection lever 4 Paper thickness reading means 5 Contact 10 Paper thickness detection apparatus 11 Printing mechanism 12 Press member 13 Paper thickness detection lever 14 Paper thickness reading means 15 Contact 16 Cam mechanism 20 Apparatus Main body 21 Support shaft 24 Support roller 38 Lever passage detection sensor 39 Cam sensor 40 Paper thickness detection device 41 Press member 100 Printing device A Paper supply method L Reference surface T Paper supply path P Paper

Claims (9)

A pressing member for pressing the upper surface of the supplied paper;
A paper thickness detection lever that is disposed at a distance from the pressing member so as to extend along a direction intersecting the paper supply direction, and detects the upper surface height position of the paper by contacting the upper surface of the paper;
Paper thickness reading means for detecting the thickness of the paper from the upper surface height position of the paper detected by the paper thickness detection lever,
The paper thickness detection device according to claim 1, wherein a tip shape which is a contact of the paper thickness detection lever is formed so that a width thereof decreases toward the tip.   The paper thickness detection lever and the pressing member are individually swingable about a support shaft orthogonal to the paper supply direction, and are urged to the side in contact with the paper by the urging means. The sheet thickness detection device according to claim 1, wherein   3. The sheet thickness detection device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet thickness detection lever contacts the surface of the sheet after the pressing member presses the sheet. 4.   The sheet thickness detection device according to claim 1, wherein two sets of the pressing members are provided at an interval so as to sandwich the sheet thickness detection lever.   5. The sheet thickness detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member includes a support roller that rotates with the roller surface in contact with an upper surface of the sheet.   The sheet thickness reading means includes a position of the sheet thickness detection lever at a standby position that is swung in a direction away from the sheet, and a position of the sheet thickness detection lever at a pressure contact position that is swung in a direction in contact with the sheet. The paper thickness detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the paper supplied to the paper supply path is calculated from the difference between the two.   The sheet thickness reading means includes a detection signal of a lever passage detection sensor provided on a rear end side of a sheet thickness detection lever located on the opposite side to the side in contact with the sheet, and a movement amount of the sheet thickness detection lever. The paper thickness detection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the paper thickness supplied to the paper supply path at the press contact position is calculated based on a detection signal from a cam sensor that detects the paper. A paper thickness detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A printing mechanism provided in the middle of a paper supply path located downstream of the paper thickness detection device and having a platen and a print head,
The printing mechanism adjusts a printing state on the paper based on the thickness of the paper measured by the paper thickness detection device. Pressing the upper surface of the supplied paper with a pressing member;
A contact formed in a shape whose width becomes narrower toward the front end of the front end of the paper thickness detection lever disposed at a distance from the pressing member so as to extend in a direction intersecting the paper supply direction. Detecting the upper surface height position of the paper by contacting the upper surface;
Detecting the thickness of the paper from the position of the height of the upper surface of the paper detected by the paper thickness detection lever.

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