JP2016132132A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of cutting a printing medium at a cut-scheduled position up to a rear end of the printing medium.SOLUTION: A printer comprises: an ink discharge part 35 which discharges ink to fan-fold paper 100; an upstream side feeding roller pair 14 and a downstream side feeding roller pair 15 which are provided along a feeding path of the fan-fold paper 100 and feed the fan-fold paper 100; and a cutter 43 which is provided on the downstream side of the feeding path with respect to the downstream side feeding roller pair 15 provided on the most downstream side of the feeding path of the upstream side feeding roller pair 14 and the downstream side feeding roller pair 15 and cuts the fan-fold paper 100. A roller-cutter inter-distance L2 being a distance between the downstream side feeding roller pair 15 and the cutter 43 is shorter than an inter-roller distance L1 being a distance between the upstream side feeding roller pair 14 and the downstream side feeding roller pair 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus including a cutter that cuts a printing medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an ink jet printer that includes a printing unit that ejects ink onto a sheet, and a plurality of conveyance mechanisms (roller pairs) that are provided along a sheet conveyance path and feed the sheet (Patent Document 1). reference).

JP 2014-031235 A

The inventor has found the following problems.
In the printing apparatus, when a cutter for cutting a print medium is provided on the downstream side of the most downstream feed roller pair provided on the most downstream side of the feed path among the plurality of feed roller pairs, the cutter is separated from the most downstream feed roller pair. In some cases, it may be necessary to provide a remote location. Then, the distance between the most downstream feed roller pair and the cutter (hereinafter referred to as “the distance between the roller cutters”) is the distance between the feed roller pairs adjacent to each other with the most spacing among the plurality of feed roller pairs ( Hereinafter, it may be longer than “longest distance between rollers”. Thereby, even if the length from the cut planned location of a printing medium to a rear end is longer than the longest distance between rollers, it may be shorter than the distance between roller cutters. In this case, even if the printing medium is fed until the trailing edge of the printing medium reaches the most downstream feed roller pair, the printing medium is not cut at the planned cutting position, so the cutter cuts the printing medium at the planned cutting position. I can't. For this reason, the print medium cannot be used up to the end, and there is a risk of wasting it.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can cut at a planned cutting position to the rear end of a print medium and does not waste the print medium.

  The printing apparatus of the present invention includes an ink discharge unit that discharges ink to a print medium, a plurality of feed roller pairs that are provided along a print medium feed path, and that feed the print medium, and a plurality of feed roller pairs. A distance between the most downstream feed roller pair and the cutter, which is provided downstream of the most downstream feed roller pair provided on the most downstream side of the feed path and is provided downstream of the feed path and cuts the print medium. The distance between the roller cutters is shorter than the longest distance between the rollers, which is the distance between the pair of feed rollers adjacent to each other at the most interval among the plurality of pairs of feed rollers.

  According to this structure, the distance between roller cutters is shorter than the longest distance between rollers. Therefore, if the length from the planned cutting position of the print medium to the rear end is longer than the distance between the longest rollers, the distance between the roller cutters is longer than the distance between the roller cutters. By the time, the planned cutting point reaches the cutter. Therefore, the printing apparatus can cut the print medium at the planned cutting position up to the rear end of the print medium.

  In this case, it is preferable that the pair of feed rollers adjacent to each other with the most spacing among the plurality of feed roller pairs is provided at a position where the ink discharge unit is sandwiched in the feed path.

  In this case, the distance between the roller cutters is preferably ½ or less of the distance between the longest rollers.

  According to this configuration, the distance to which the print medium is fed is shortened from when the planned cut portion of the print medium reaches the cutter after reaching the most downstream feed roller pair. For this reason, the printing apparatus can shorten the time required to send the print medium.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include a paper jam detection unit that detects a paper jam state of the print medium between the most downstream feed roller pair and the cutter.

  According to this configuration, the printing apparatus can detect the occurrence of the paper jam state of the print medium.

  In this case, the feed roller pair preferably feeds the print medium backward after the print medium is cut by the cutter.

  According to this configuration, the printing apparatus can shorten the front margin, that is, the margin between the front end of the print medium and the front end of the print image, by the amount of reverse feeding of the print medium. Can be used.

  In this case, the print medium is a fanfold paper that has a plurality of perforations provided at substantially equal intervals in the length direction and is folded along each perforation, and the cutter is at the position of the perforations, It is preferable to cut the print medium.

  According to this configuration, the printing apparatus performs the printing process on each section between the perforations, and even when the last two sections are reached, the last sewing machine that is the planned cutting section At the eye, the print medium can be cut by a cutter.

It is a figure which shows the fanfold paper provided to the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a printing process by the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 2. It is a figure for demonstrating the printing process by the printing apparatus which concerns on the comparative example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The printing apparatus 1 performs printing on the fanfold paper 100 by an inkjet method. In the following, the drawings will be described using “front”, “rear”, etc., but these directions are for convenience of description, and the implementation of the present invention is not limited to these directions. .

  The fanfold paper 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The fanfold paper 100 is a belt-like continuous paper as a whole, and a plurality of perforations 101 extending in the paper width direction are provided at substantially equal intervals in the length direction. Here, a section between the perforations 101 is called a section 102. The fanfold paper 100 is alternately folded along the perforations 101 so that a plurality of sections 102 form a layer. The sections 102 can be separated at the perforation 101, and the separated sections 102 are used as a cut sheet. In addition, a plurality of sprocket holes 103 are provided at substantially equal intervals along the length direction at both ends of the fanfold paper 100 in the paper width direction.

  The printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The printing apparatus 1 includes an apparatus case 2, a medium feeding unit 3, a platen 4, a printing unit 5, a paper jam detection unit 6, a cutting unit 7, and a discharge tray 8.

  A supply port 11 is provided on the rear surface of the device case 2, and a discharge port 12 is provided on the front surface of the device case 2. The fanfold paper 100 is taken into the device case 2 from the supply port 11 and discharged from the discharge port 12.

  The medium feeding unit 3 feeds the fanfold paper 100 from the supply port 11 toward the discharge port 12. Further, the medium feeding unit 3 can also feed the fanfold paper 100 backward from the discharge port 12 toward the supply port 11. The medium feed unit 3 includes a tractor 13, an upstream feed roller pair 14, a downstream feed roller pair 15, a feed motor 16, and a power transmission mechanism 17.

  The tractor 13 is provided in the vicinity of the supply port 11. The tractor 13 is provided at each end of the fanfold paper 100 in the paper width direction. The tractor 13 includes a drive sprocket 18, a driven sprocket 19, and a tractor belt 21. The drive sprocket 18 is rotated by the power transmitted from the feed motor 16 via the power transmission mechanism 17. The tractor belt 21 is stretched between the drive sprocket 18 and the driven sprocket 19. A plurality of tractor pins 22 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tractor belt 21 at substantially equal intervals. The tractor pin 22 engages with the sprocket hole 103 of the fanfold paper 100. When the tractor belt 21 travels with the tractor pin 22 engaged with the sprocket hole 103, the fanfold paper 100 is fed.

  The upstream feed roller pair 14 is provided between the tractor 13 and an ink discharge unit 35 described later. The upstream feed roller pair 14 includes an upstream drive roller 23 and an upstream driven roller 24. The upstream drive roller 23 is rotated by the power transmitted from the feed motor 16 via the power transmission mechanism 17. The upstream driven roller 24 rotates following the upstream drive roller 23.

  The downstream feed roller pair 15 is provided between the ink ejection unit 35 and a cutter 43 described later. In other words, the downstream feed roller pair 15 is adjacent to the upstream feed roller pair 14 with the ink discharge portion 35 interposed therebetween. The downstream feed roller pair 15 includes a downstream drive roller 25 and a downstream driven roller 26. The downstream drive roller 25 rotates when the power from the feed motor 16 is transmitted via the power transmission mechanism 17. The downstream driven roller 26 is driven to rotate with respect to the downstream drive roller 25.

  The feed motor 16 is a drive source for the tractor 13, the upstream feed roller pair 14, and the downstream feed roller pair 15. The power transmission mechanism 17 includes a drive pulley 27, a tractor side driven pulley 28, a roller side driven pulley 29, a feed timing belt 31, a clutch 32, and a gear train (not shown). The drive pulley 27 is fixed to the motor shaft of the feed motor 16. The tractor-side driven pulley 28 is fixed to the shaft portion 34 together with the clutch 32. The roller side driven pulley 29 is fixed to the roller shaft of the upstream drive roller 23. The feed timing belt 31 is stretched between a drive pulley 27, a tractor side driven pulley 28, and a roller side driven pulley 29. The clutch 32 is configured by a planetary gear mechanism, and switches the rotation direction of the drive sprocket 18 according to the rotation direction of the tractor-side driven pulley 28. The gear train transmits the power of the feed motor 16 input to the roller-side driven pulley 29 to the downstream drive roller 25.

  In the power transmission mechanism 17 configured as described above, when the feed motor 16 rotates forward and backward, the drive pulley 27, the tractor side driven pulley 28, and the roller side driven pulley 29 rotate counterclockwise in the drawing. As a result, the tractor belt 21 travels counterclockwise, and the upstream drive roller 23 and the downstream drive roller 25 rotate counterclockwise. As a result, the fanfold paper 100 is sent toward the discharge port 12. Further, in the power transmission mechanism 17, when the feed motor 16 rotates forward and reverse, the drive pulley 27, the tractor side driven pulley 28, and the roller side driven pulley 29 rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure. As a result, the tractor belt 21 travels clockwise, and the upstream drive roller 23 and the downstream drive roller 25 rotate clockwise. As a result, the fanfold paper 100 is fed back toward the supply port 11.

  The platen 4 is provided between the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the downstream feed roller pair 15. The platen 4 supports the fanfold paper 100. The printing unit 5 includes an ink discharge unit 35, a carriage 36, and a carriage moving mechanism 37. The ink ejection unit 35 includes a plurality of inkjet heads 33 corresponding to, for example, four colors of CMYK inks. The carriage 36 has a plurality of inkjet heads 33 mounted thereon. The carriage moving mechanism 37 reciprocates the carriage 36 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the feeding direction of the fanfold paper 100, that is, in the left-right direction. The carriage moving mechanism 37 includes a carriage motor 38 and a printing side timing belt 39. The carriage motor 38 serves as a drive source for driving the printing side timing belt 39. A carriage 36 is fixed to the printing side timing belt 39.

  The paper jam detection unit 6 detects the paper jam state of the fanfold paper 100 between the downstream feed roller pair 15 and the cutter 43. The paper jam detection unit 6 includes an optical sensor 41 and a control unit 42. The optical sensor 41 is provided between the downstream feed roller pair 15 and the cutter 43. As the optical sensor 41, for example, a reflective photo interrupter can be used. The optical sensor 41 detects the presence or absence of the fanfold paper 100 between the downstream feed roller pair 15 and the cutter 43. The control unit 42 determines whether or not a paper jam condition has occurred based on the output result from the optical sensor 41. For example, the control unit 42 is in a state where the optical sensor 41 detects “no” of the fanfold paper 100, and after the medium feeding unit 3 starts feeding the fanfold paper 100, a predetermined time elapses. If the optical sensor 41 does not detect “present” of the fanfold paper 100, it is determined that a paper jam condition has occurred. In addition, the control unit 42 does not stop even when a predetermined time elapses after the medium feeding unit 3 starts the reverse feed of the fanfold paper 100 in a state where the optical sensor 41 detects “presence” of the fanfold paper 100. If the optical sensor 41 does not detect “no” of the fanfold paper 100, it is determined that a paper jam condition has occurred.

  The cutting unit 7 includes a cutter 43 and a cutter motor 44. The cutter 43 includes a fixed blade 45 and a movable blade 46, and cuts the fanfold paper 100 in the paper width direction by scissors. The cutter motor 44 serves as a drive source for operating the movable blade 46. The discharge tray 8 supports the fanfold paper 100 discharged from the discharge port 12.

  When the printing apparatus 1 configured as described above receives an instruction to execute printing, first, the medium feeding unit 3 reversely feeds the fanfold paper 100 toward the supply port 11. As a result, the fanfold paper 100 is cut by the cutter 43 in the previous printing process, so that the front end of the fanfold paper 100 at the position of the cutter 43 is positioned upstream of the ink ejection unit 35 (predetermined value). To the cue position). Subsequently, the printing apparatus 1 performs printing on the fanfold paper 100 by the printing unit 5 while feeding the fanfold paper 100 toward the discharge port 12 by the medium feeding unit 3. Further, the printing apparatus 1 feeds the fanfold paper 100 toward the discharge port 12 by the medium feeding unit 3 until the perforation 101 behind the section 102 where printing is performed reaches the position of the cutter 43. When the perforation 101 comes to the position of the cutter 43, the printing apparatus 1 stops feeding the fanfold paper 100 and cuts the fanfold paper 100 at the position of the perforation 101 by the cutter 43. Separate the printed part of. As a result, the printing apparatus 1 ends a series of printing processes.

  With reference to FIG. 3, a description will be given of a case where the fanfold paper 100 has already been separated from the rear end side to the third section 102 and printing is performed on the two rear end sections 102. . Here, the distance between the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the downstream feed roller pair 15 (more precisely, between the nip position by the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the nip position by the downstream feed roller pair 15) Is referred to as the distance L1 between the rollers. As the fanfold paper 100, the last section 102 remaining after the front end side is cut off at the last perforation 101 by the cutter 43 is also provided between the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the downstream feed roller pair 15. In order to be able to send it in such a way as to pass, a section length D which is the length of one section 102 is longer than the inter-roller distance L1. Further, the distance between the downstream feed roller pair 15 and the cutter 43 (more precisely, the distance between the nip position by the downstream feed roller pair 15 and the cutting position by the cutter 43) is the distance between the roller cutters. It is called L2. The distance L2 between the roller cutters is ½ or less of the distance L1 between the rollers.

  As described above, when the printing apparatus 1 receives an instruction to execute printing, the leading end of the fanfold paper 100 is predetermined from the state in which the leading end of the fanfold paper 100 is at the position of the cutter 43 (see FIG. 3A). The fanfold paper 100 is reversely fed toward the supply port 11 by the medium feeding unit 3 so as to reach the cueing position (see FIG. 3B). Subsequently, the printing apparatus 1 performs printing on the second section 102 from the rear end side of the fanfold paper 100 while feeding the fanfold paper 100 toward the discharge port 12 (see FIG. 3C). . Thereafter, the printing apparatus 1 feeds the fanfold paper 100 toward the discharge port 12 by the medium feeding unit 3 until the last perforation 101 comes to the position of the cutter 43 (see FIG. 3D).

  Here, as described above, since the distance L2 between the roller cutters is shorter than the distance L1 between the rollers, the length from the rearmost perforation 101, which is the planned cutting position C, to the rear end of the fanfold paper 100. However, it is longer than the distance L1 between rollers, and is longer than the distance L2 between roller cutters. Therefore, the perforation 101 that is the planned cutting position C reaches the cutter 43 until the trailing end of the fanfold paper 100 reaches the downstream feed roller pair 15. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can cut the fanfold paper 100 with the cutter 43 at the position of the perforation 101. After the fanfold paper 100 is cut, the printing apparatus 1 performs the printing after the fanfold paper 100 is also fed back to the last section 102 (see FIG. 3E) (FIG. 3F). reference).

  A printing apparatus 1A according to a comparative example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the printing apparatus 1A of the comparative example, the distance L2 between roller cutters is longer than the distance L1 between rollers. For this reason, when printing is performed on the two sections 102 on the rear end side, the length from the rearmost perforation 101, which is the planned cutting position C, to the rear end of the fanfold paper 100 is between the rollers. Although longer than the distance L1, it is shorter than the distance L2 between roller cutters. In this case, the printing apparatus 1 </ b> A prints the second section 102 from the rear end side in the same manner as the printing apparatus 1 (see FIGS. 4A to 4C), and then the fanfold paper 100. Even if the fanfold paper 100 is fed until the rear end reaches the downstream side feed roller pair 15, the perforation 101, which is the planned cutting position C, does not reach the cutter 43 (see FIG. 4D). For this reason, the printing apparatus 1 </ b> A cannot cut the fanfold paper 100 by the cutter 43 at the position of the perforation 101.

  As described above, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can cut the fanfold paper 100 by the cutter 43 at the position of the perforation 101 because the distance L2 between the roller cutters is shorter than the distance L1 between the rollers. it can. In particular, the printing apparatus 1 performs a printing process on each section 102 of the fanfold paper 100, and even when the last two sections 102 are reached, the cutter 43 is used at the position of the last perforation 101. The fanfold paper 100 can be cut. Therefore, the fanfold paper 100 can be used without waste.

In the printing apparatus 1, since the distance L2 between the roller cutters is ½ or less of the distance L1 between the rollers, the cutter 43 after the perforation 101 of the fanfold paper 100 reaches the downstream feed roller pair 15. The distance at which the fanfold paper 100 is fed is shortened before reaching. Moreover, in the printing apparatus 1, since the distance L2 between roller cutters is 1/2 or less of the distance L1 between rollers, after the fanfold paper 100 is cut by the cutter 43, the leading edge of the fanfold paper 100 is predetermined. The distance at which the fanfold paper 100 is fed back toward the supply port 11 is shortened so as to reach the cue position. For this reason, the printing apparatus 1 can shorten the time required to send the print medium, and can improve the throughput of the printing process.
In addition, the distance L2 between roller cutters is so preferable that it is short. That is, the distance L2 between roller cutters is more preferably 1/3 or less of the distance L1 between rollers, and more preferably 1/5 or less.

  When the printing apparatus 1 starts the printing process, the fanfold paper 100 is directed toward the supply port 11 so that the leading edge of the fanfold paper 100 is located upstream of the downstream feed roller pair 15, that is, to a predetermined cueing position. Reverse. The printing apparatus 1 can shorten the front margin, that is, the margin between the front end of the fanfold paper 100 and the front end of the print image, and can effectively use the fanfold paper 100.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various configurations can be employed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, this embodiment can be changed into the following forms.

In addition to the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the downstream feed roller pair 15, other feed roller pairs may be provided. In this case, the distance L2 between roller cutters should just be shorter than the longest distance between rollers which is the distance between adjacent pairs of feed rollers that are spaced apart from each other among a plurality of pairs of feed rollers. As the fanfold paper 100, one having a section length D longer than the longest distance between rollers is used.
In addition, when only two pairs of feed roller pairs are provided like the upstream feed roller pair 14 and the downstream feed roller pair 15 in this embodiment, the inter-roller distance L1 that is the distance between them is “ Corresponds to the “longest distance between rollers”.

  The cutter 43 may be manually operated. The print medium is not limited to the fanfold paper 100, but may be other continuous paper such as roll paper, or may be cut paper.

1: Printing device 14: Upstream feed roller pair 15: Downstream feed roller pair 35: Ink ejection unit 43: Cutter 100: Fanfold paper L1: Distance between rollers L2: Distance between roller cutters

Claims (6)

An ink ejection unit that ejects ink onto the print medium;
A plurality of feed roller pairs provided along a feed path of the print medium, for feeding the print medium;
A cutter that is provided downstream of the feed path than the most downstream feed roller pair provided downstream of the feed path among the pair of feed rollers, and cuts the print medium;
The distance between roller cutters, which is the distance between the pair of most downstream feed rollers and the cutter, is the distance between the longest rollers, which is the distance between the pair of feed rollers adjacent to each other at the most interval in the pair of feed rollers. A printing apparatus characterized by being shorter than that.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of feed rollers adjacent to each other with the most space among the pair of feed rollers is provided at a position sandwiching the ink discharge unit in the feed path. .   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the roller cutters is ½ or less of the distance between the longest rollers.   The paper jam detection part which detects the paper jam state of the said print medium between the said most downstream feed roller pair and the said cutter was further provided, The Claim 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Printing device.   The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the feed roller pair reversely feeds the print medium after the print medium is cut by the cutter. The print medium is a fanfold paper having a plurality of perforations provided at substantially equal intervals in the length direction and folded along each perforation,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter cuts the print medium at a position of the perforation.

Images