JP2532749Y2 - Guide device for traveling medium - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a guide device for a traveling medium in a processing apparatus for performing processing such as recording, reproduction (reading), printing, punching, etc. on a medium such as a card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a processing device for performing processing such as recording, reproduction, printing, and punching on a medium such as a card while running the medium, a card reader for processing a prepaid card, an automatic ticket gate for processing a ticket, etc. It has been known. As a means for running the medium, the belt cannot be conveyed because of the provision of the processing unit in the medium passage, and a roller conveyance method has to be adopted.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, an example of an apparatus for processing a prepaid card as a medium will be described. In these figures, reference numeral 30 denotes a medium passage, and an upper guide member 31 for guiding the upper surface of the card C and a lower guide member provided at an appropriate distance therefrom for guiding the lower surface of the card C. 32. The card C is transported by the transport roller pair 33 in a predetermined direction.

The transport roller pair 33 includes a drive roller 33a which is driven to rotate in the transport direction of the card C, and a driven roller 33b which is driven to rotate by being urged against the roller. The drive roller 33 a has a part of the peripheral surface protruding into the medium passage 30 from a roller notch 32 a formed in the lower guide member 32. One driven roller 33b
A part of the peripheral surface of the roller guide 31 protrudes from the roller notch 31 a formed in the upper guide member 31 into the medium passage 30.

[0005] A printing unit 34 for performing printing processing on the card C is provided in the medium passage 30. The printing unit 34 has a part of the peripheral surface protruding into the medium passage 30, and is provided with a platen roller 34 a that is driven to rotate in the card transport direction, and that is capable of moving forward and backward with respect to the peripheral surface of the roller 34 a. And a print head 34b. The print head 34b is moved between a printing position where printing is performed on the card C while pressing the card C against the roller 34a by a driving device (not shown), and a retreat position where the card C is separated from the roller and does not hinder the traveling of the card C as illustrated. It is provided movably.

The transport roller pair 33 only needs to hold the side edge of the card C to be transported. Therefore, the transport roller pair 33 is provided near the side edge of the medium path 30.
Are provided substantially over the entire width of the medium passage 30. To this end, the medium passage 30 includes an upper guide member 31A provided to be continuous with the upper guide member 31 and a lower guide member provided to be continuous with the lower guide member 32 with the print unit 34 as a boundary. 32A. On the opposing edges of the upper guide members 31 and 31A, inclined surfaces 31b and 31Aa that are bent in a direction away from the medium passage 30 are formed.

On the opposite edges of the lower guide members 32, 32A, there are formed inclined surfaces 32b, 32Aa which are bent away from the medium passage 30. Slope 31A
a, 32Aa is between the guide members 32A and the roller 34a when the card C is traveling to the right in FIG. 3, and indicia
It is provided to prevent intrusion between the character head 34b and the guide member 31A. Inclined surfaces 31b, 32b
Is to prevent the card C from entering between the guide members and the magnetic heads and rollers when traveling to the left in FIG. The print head 34b includes an inclined surface 31Aa,
The slit portion D formed by 31b advances and retreats.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the condition of possession and storage of a medium that is repeatedly used such as a prepaid card differs from person to person, and deformation such as "warping" or "breaking" occurs. Tends to. When such a card C is fed into the medium passage 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, if the leading end of the card C is curled upward, the card C may enter the gap A or be caught by the inclined surface 31Aa. Occur. Platen roller 34a and inclined surface 32
Since the gap with Aa is formed relatively narrow, the degree of entry of the card into this gap is small.
Since it is the path for the print head 34b to advance and retreat, it cannot be made very small. For this reason, in the case of a card C that is curled upward, especially in the case of a thin card, there is a problem that the degree of gripping on the inclined surface 31Aa and penetration into the gap A increases. Such a problem occurs not only in a print head but also in a guide device of a medium processing apparatus provided with a recording / reproducing magnetic head provided in a medium passage and a punch unit for punching a small hole in a medium.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a guide device for a traveling medium that can smoothly travel even on a deformed medium.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a guide for a traveling medium.
In the device, a medium such as a card is transported by a transport roller,
In a traveling medium processing apparatus that performs recording and reproduction of information, printing, punching, and the like, a guide member that guides an upper surface or a lower surface of the medium includes a first guide member and a second guide member that are positioned in front and rear in a traveling direction of the medium. Separated into the opposing first
An inclined surface is formed at an opposite edge of the second guide member so as to be inclined away from the medium passage, and one of the first and second guide members has a side end of the inclined surface. Opposite edge
The guide side across the opposed inclined surfaces of the first and second guide members formed at the position, the medium side <br/> edges of the media passage side of the guide side at the sides of the respective inclined surfaces it characterized in that to face the passage.

[0011]

When the medium run by the transport roller is deformed, the medium is guided by the inclined surface or the guide side edge of the guide member, so that the medium enters the gap between the print head and the inclined surface, for example. Is blocked.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the medium passage 1 is composed of a guide member for guiding the upper surface of a card C as a medium and guide members 2 and 3 for guiding the lower surface of the card. The guide members for guiding the upper surface of the card C are separated from each other at the portion where the print head 4 is provided, and the first guide member 5 and the second guide member 6 are provided before and after in the traveling direction of the card. Consists of The print head 4 is movable between a print position where the drive unit (not shown) advances into the medium passage 1 and a standby position where it is retracted from the passage as shown.

A platen roller 7 is provided between the guide members 2 and 3.
Are arranged. On the opposing edges of the guide members 2, 3, inclined surfaces 2 a, 3 a that are bent away from the medium passage 1 are formed. The second guide member 6 has the same structure as the upper guide member 31 shown in FIG. 3, and includes a slope 6 a facing away from the medium passage 1 at a portion close to the print head 4.
Is formed. Further, the second guide member 6 and the guide member 2
A pair of transport rollers (not shown) (see reference numeral 33 in FIG. 3)
In a predetermined direction.

The first guide member 5 has an inclined surface 5a bent at a direction away from the medium passage 1 at an edge facing the inclined surface 6a. An inclined surface 5b is formed on the other edge of the first guide member 5 facing a punch unit (not shown), for example. The side edges 5aa, 5ab, 5ba, 5bb of the inclined surfaces 5a, 5b are located above both side edges of the medium passage 1. First guide member 5
On both side edges, are formed mounting portions 5c and 5d for mounting the member to an immobile member (not shown).

Both ends of each of the mounting portions 5c and 5d are
Extending along the direction of travel of the medium,
a, 5cb, 5da, and 5db. The side edges on the medium passage side of these guide side portions, in the illustrated case, the lower edges thereof are referred to as guide side edges 5cc, 5cd, 5dc, and 5dd.
Upper and lower side edges Cb, Cc of the card C traveling in the medium path 1
Is provided at a position opposed to.

The inner side surfaces of the guide side portions 5ca, 5da are close to the side edges 5aa, 5ab of the inclined surface 5a, and the inner side surfaces of the guide side portions 5cb, 5db are the side end portions of the inclined surface 5b. It is arranged as close as possible to the edges 5ba, 5bb.
The guide side edges 5cc and 5dc are located lower than the upper edge 5ac of the inclined surface 5a, and the guide side edges 5cd and 5dd.
Are located lower than the upper edge 5bc of the inclined surface 5b.

As shown in FIG. 1, the guide side portions 5ca and 5da extend to a position straddling the inclined surface 6a of the opposing second guide member 6. And guide side edge 5cc, 5
dc (only one is shown) is positioned lower than the upper edge 6ab of the inclined surface 6a. Guide sides 5ca, 5d
The inner surface of a is brought close to the side edge of the inclined surface 6a.

The guide device configured as described above is fixed to an immovable portion of the processing device via mounting holes formed in the mounting portions 5c and 5d, and forms the medium passage 1.

In FIG. 1, it is assumed that a card C whose leading edge Ca is curled upward in the longitudinal direction is traveling rightward. 5cc of the guide side edge of the guide side 5ca
If there is no such card, this card will enter between the inclined surface 5a and the print head 4. However, both side edges Cb and Cc of the running card C have their leading edges Ca abutting on the guide side edges 5cc and 5dc, and are guided by them to travel in the direction of arrow a. Guide side edge 5cc, 5dc
Is located lower than the upper edge 5ac of the inclined surface 5a, the card leading edge Ca guided by the side edges 5cc and 5dc is continuously guided by the inclined surface 5a.

Therefore, the deformed card C is guided and travels without being caught in the gap formed between the guide members 5 and 6 which are separated in front and rear in the traveling direction. When the card C travels to the left in FIG. 1, when the leading edge in the traveling direction of the card is deformed, the leading edge is guided by the guide side edge 5cc and then the inclined surface 6a.
Is taken over and guided.

By the way, a card warped in the width direction of the running direction (a card whose side edge is curled upward or downward) may run off one guide side edge. In this case, the side edge of the card that is off the guide side edge is guided by the inclined surface 5a. Since the insertion of a card that has been extremely deformed in the card width direction is restricted at the entrance of the medium, such a card is not sent. The card C shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which the front end portion is deformed in the card longitudinal direction (running direction), but the guide side edges 5cc and 5dc for such a deformed card have a high value.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which the print head 4 is arranged above the medium passage. However, when a processing unit such as a print head is arranged below the medium passage 1, a guide member is provided. Of course, the guide members 5 and 6 are provided instead of the guide members 2 and 3 in FIG.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the guide member is separated before and after in the running direction, the deformed medium can be guided stably without jamming. Also,
Since the guide side edge is formed by extending a part of the guide member, the number of parts can be reduced and the mounting position accuracy can be easily obtained because of the integral structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a traveling medium guide device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a structure of a first guide member.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of a conventional traveling medium guide device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure of a guide member of the above guide device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Medium passage 4 ... Print head 5 ... 1st guide member 5a ... Slope 5aa, 5ab ... Side edge 5ca, 5da ... Guide side part 5cc, 5dc ... Guide side edge 6: second guide member 6a: inclined surface 7: platen roller C: card as medium Ca: leading edge

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A traveling medium processing apparatus for conveying a medium such as a card by a conveying roller and recording / reproducing information, printing, punching, etc., comprising: a guide member for guiding an upper surface or a lower surface of the medium; First and second guide members located forward and backward in the direction
The first and second guide members are separated from each other at the opposite edge portions of the first and second guide members, and are formed with an inclined surface inclined in a direction away from the medium passage, and one of the first and second guide members is formed. The first member is provided on the guide member at a position facing the side edge of the inclined surface .
A guide side portion is formed over the opposite inclined surface of the second guide member, and a side edge of the guide side portion on the side of the medium passage faces the medium passage on the side of each of the inclined surfaces. Guide device for traveling medium.