JP2719566B2 - Digital printing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital printing apparatus capable of automatically printing a required number, symbol, or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, the security of a security is confirmed by a seal stamped on the security. For this reason, the seal is engraved on metal with a special design, and its use and storage are the tightest, and surveillance for counterfeiting and plagiarism is strict. The date, symbol, and number printed on the security are used as a means for confirming the authenticity of the security by using a unique printing machine. At the present stage, a printing machine used in tandem with the seal on the securities uses a conventional mechanical number change printing machine.

Generally used microcomputer printers can only print on paper of a single thickness, and the characters and figures to be printed can be controlled by a program and copied arbitrarily, so complete control is achieved. If this is applied to securities, etc., maintaining creditworthiness tends to be a problem. There will be technical or legal disadvantages there.

Also, taking the postal handling system at the post office as an example, the sender of the postal matter must first measure the postal matter and calculate the postage in order to send the postal matter. You need to buy a postage stamp and put a postage stamp on it, then put it in a post, or wait for your turn and give it to a staff member. After receiving the postal matter, the post office checks whether there is excess weight or shortage, presses a stamp, and then sorts the delivery. Although such processing methods have been adopted for a longer time than ever, every country has been trying to improve the extra time and waste of human resources related to mail, but it is still being improved. I can't find a perfect solution.

A state-of-the-art semi-automatic postage processing device recently developed in developed countries (see FIG. 9) is composed of an electronic balance A, an electronic calculator B dedicated to calculating the postage, and a postal symbol printing machine C. Open the lid of the processor and adjust the date ring manually. After that, the postal matter is weighed by weighing it on the electronic balance A, and the required charge is settled by the computer B while comparing the weight, the delivery point, the mailing type and the mailing service method with the charge regulations, and the amount is indicated by the postal code. input via the keyboard of the printing machine C, are immediately postage display ticket print and press the inter-Kii C _2, pasted on the postal matter after the sender of the payment. Judging from the above operations, mail processing appears to be improved by being automated by a microcomputer, but in practice this system is not a consistent task. Since the settlement operation of the electronic computer B is manually performed, mistakes are likely to occur during the operation of the input keys.
In addition, the postal symbol printing machine C manually adjusts the date at least once a day, and the adjustment operation on the next day after a holiday tends to cause errors due to an illusion, and these mistakes greatly affect the improvement of postal processing work. .

Furthermore, the printing area of the postage paper has a certain limit, and the space for the operation mechanism is very small. In the mechanical structure, two sets of concentric shafts provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the main shaft are each connected to an electromagnetic coil to apply a continuous and complicated electromagnetic transmission gear system. The part controlling the conversion operation can be said to be a great technical improvement. However, this is the limit of the development of the postal symbol printing machine C, and can be said to be a bottleneck in the development technology. This is because it is difficult to develop a four-digit or more numbering device with this structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the disadvantages of the conventional print processing system and to improve the central processing unit (CP) of the microcomputer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital printing device that can change the number according to an arbitrary command of U) and print the number and symbol on articles having different thicknesses.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a print head (27) and a spindle (250) supporting the print head (27).
5), a spindle driving device (256) that rotationally drives the spindle (2505), a plurality of wheels (271) disposed on the outer surface of the print head (27), and the plurality of wheels (2
A plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-253N) for respectively driving the plurality of wheels (271) so as to drive 71).
A central processing unit (10) for controlling the spindle drive device (256) and controlling the plurality of wheel drive devices (253A-253N); and a plurality of control devices respectively provided on the plurality of wheels (271). A gear (2712), and the plurality of gears (27
A plurality of first rack devices (2713) each meshing with 12)
And a plurality of elongated second rack devices (2504) having a mating end forming a rack and an extended end forming a recess (2506), wherein the meshing end of the second rack device (2504) is The plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-253N) mesh with the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-25).
3N), the extended end of the second rack device (2504) is disposed longitudinally away from the meshing end, and the first rack device (2713) is connected to the first rack device. An arc-shaped hook arm (2715) extending from (2713) to the second rack device (2504);
The arcuate hook arm (2715) has a free end that engages the recess (2506) in the extended end of the second rack device (2504), and the free end of the hook arm (2715) The first rack device (2713) is engaged with the second rack device (2504) by a portion, and the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A to 253N) simultaneously drive the plurality of wheels (271). The plurality of second rack devices (2504) and the plurality of wheel drive devices (253A to 253N) are arranged at predetermined intervals around the main shaft (2505). The gist is a digital printing device.

The digital printing device provided by the present invention completely controls the change and adjustment of the amount, date, or sequence number required for property processing by a program of a microprocessor,
At the time of setting, it is possible to print a symbol having an amount, a date, or an array number on articles having different thicknesses, and the printing process can be performed simply, quickly and accurately.

In the present invention, the work of printing numbers and symbols is performed entirely by a microprocessor, and when used in cooperation with the surrounding facilities, many works related to printing technology can be performed in an automation area which is almost completely unmanned. And related peripheral affairs are improved.

The present invention provides an apparatus capable of continuously stamping articles having different thicknesses in a number printing process.

As described above, the cylindrical print head installed in the microcomputer-based digital printing apparatus provided by the present invention has at least one set of number wheels, and a tuning operation gear is arranged on each side of each number wheel. The tuning operation gear is tuned by the linear movement of the first rack device. Further, the first rack device is fitted into the concave tank hole at the meshing end of the second rack device by an arcuate hook arm integrally formed integrally, and the second rack device is slidably mounted on the outer periphery of the print head main shaft. It is installed in a vertically elongated groove, and the second rack device is driven by the driving device at a position close to the extended end.
The rack device is configured to be slidable on the printhead spindle. The width of the transition of the drive with respect to the second rack device is fully controlled and operated by a microprocessor program. The number setting is also performed in accordance with the above-mentioned method, and the selection and use of the number to be set for each number wheel of the print head is completely controlled by the program of the microprocessor, and after the number selection of the number wheel is completed, the spindle of the print head is completed. The drive unit rotates according to the instruction of the microcomputer, and in cooperation with the point at which the transmission system sends the object requiring printing to the lower part of the print head according to the instruction of the microcomputer, the print head simultaneously rotates the required number symbol by a rotating method. Stamp to the set location on the property.

As described above, the number selection setting of each number wheel of the print head, which is a feature of the present invention, is achieved by driving the above-mentioned driving device, for example, each second rack device associated with each stepping motor. Controls the associated rack devices in coordination with the alternating operation of the encoder and the detection device to which each belongs, and each rack device independently controls the arc-shaped extension arm to operate the associated first rack device. To control and adjust one number of the number wheel. Since the operation of each of the above drive systems is all controlled by a microcomputer program, the control unit installed on the print head of the printing device has been greatly simplified, and the volume used has been reduced.
The number change speed becomes fast and accurate. This point is also the main point where the present invention broke through the technical bottleneck of the conventional printing apparatus and succeeded.

As another feature of the present invention, the vertical operation of the second rack device that transmits the number wheel in the vertically long recess of the print head main shaft and the horizontal operation of rotating the set position of the print head main shaft are three-dimensionally configured. ing. At least one portion on the main shaft is formed in a relatively small diameter portion, and the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion and the height of the tooth groove bottom of the rack device are made the same. The vertical movement between the tooth spaces of the two-rack device and the tooth ridges of the gears on the step motor can proceed smoothly, and furthermore, they do not interfere with each other. This is another important point of the technical improvement in the present invention.

According to yet another feature of the present invention, the digital microcontroller unit of the number wheel of the print head achieves the most accurate, quick and elaborate purpose by the simplest structure, and is also manufactured. It is easy and robust, has few failures, and allows easy replacement and maintenance of parts.

Embodiment An embodiment of a digital printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

To facilitate understanding of the description of the present invention, all the similar members or units shown in the respective embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals for convenience of mutual comparison.

First, the entire structure of the machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to a system diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, a micro central processing unit (CPU) 1
0 is composed of the following units. That is, the main program 101, the control circuit module 102, C
Interface circuit 103 connected to RT display 104, electronic scale interface circuit 104 connected to platform scale 11, printer interface circuit 105 connected to printer 12, interface card 106, CPU
Or a modem interface function 10 for connecting to the monitor 15
7. The asynchronous interface unit 108 connected to the card reader 13, and the CPU 10 and the control interface module 20 are connected via a parallel data bus. The control interface module 20 includes the following units. That is, the sensor circuit 21, the keyboard interface circuit 22, the input key 221, the setting position of the driving device, the sensor circuit 23, the driving circuit 24, the driving circuit 25 of the driving device, and the driving circuit 25 of the driving device therein.
Are controlled by the main shaft drive device 256, the first transmission device 251, the second transmission device 252, the first number wheel drive device 253A, the second number wheel drive device 253B,..., The Nth number wheel drive device. Including 253N. The hardware controlled by the position setting sensor circuit 23 includes a position setting device 234 of the spindle drive device, a first number wheel position setting device 231, a second number wheel position setting device 232, and the like.

Next, an overview of the working state of the system of the present invention will be described. For example, a mail is placed on the electronic balance 11 of the front peripheral facility of the present invention, and the weight is displayed on the CRT 14 through the CPU 10. At this time, the CPU 10 receives materials such as the mail delivery type, delivery distinction, and additional service conditions of the above-mentioned mail according to the instruction of the input key 221, and is transmitted to the CPU 10 via the keyboard interface circuit 22. Along with the data, the required postage amount is calculated based on the postage calculation standard and displayed on the CRT 14. When the sender pays the charge by the card reader 13 with a credit card or inserts coins, the CPU 10 instructs the drive circuit 24 and the drive circuit 25 of the drive to operate, and the first and second transmissions 251, 252 operate by tuning operation. And send it to the location where you want to stamp your mail. At this time, each number wheel drive unit 253
A, 253B... 253N receives the transmission of the driving circuit 25 of the driving device and rotates the number wheel, and at the same time, senses the setting position of the number wheel of the setting device sensor circuit 23 of the driving device. After confirmation through the devices 231, 232, 233, etc., the above-mentioned respective numeric wheels are selected by the instruction of the CPU 10 to select the required numerals for the printing portion. Then, the CPU 10 further instructs the drive circuit 25 of the drive device to operate, and the spindle drive device Rotate 256 to stamp the post stamp and the required digital on the mail in a rotary printing scheme. or,
Upon confirmation of the spindle drive device position setting device 234, the spindle drive device 256 automatically returns to the original position after the work is completed, and enters a next work start standby state. The stamped mail is immediately forwarded to another postal facility's mail delivery processing facility for dispatch and delivery processing.

Regarding the overall arrangement of the digital printing device of the present invention,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. For the sake of simplicity, this embodiment will be described with reference to the process of stamping a postal matter. In this embodiment, the structure is roughly divided into a mail transmission system and a post stamp system. The transmission system is distributed between the upper and lower surfaces of the reference work surface A1 and includes a front peripheral facility, an electronic weighing device 11, a main driving device of the transmission system, a first transmission device such as a step motor 251 and the like, and timing belts 2510 and 2511. The first to operate independently of each other via the
A transmission roller 2512 and a second transmission roller 2513 (see FIG. 8A), an idle roller 2514 disposed above the first transmission roller 2512 and provided with a traction spring, and similarly an upper part of the second transmission roller 2513. The idler roller 2515 and the like provided with a traction spring are also included in the transmission system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the post stamp system includes a spindle drive device such as a second step motor 256 and pulleys 2561 and 251,
63, a timing belt 2562, a main shaft 2505, a number of vertical transmission second rack devices 2504 installed on the main shaft, a group of step motors 253A ... 253N which mate with the transmission rack device to synchronize and operate the rack device. And a transmission gear 253A4 associated therewith, the ink device 40 (see FIGS. 8A and 8B), the print head 27 and its idle roller 2516, and the like. The print head 27 is a postage stamp numeral wheel device 271,
It includes a date stap wheel device 272 and a fixed stamp wheel device 273 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) for advertising figures and the like. Furthermore, the fourth
As shown in the figure, the postage numeral wheel device 271 of the print head 27 includes a character wheel 2711, a tuning operation piece gear 2712, a piece rack device (hereinafter referred to as a first rack device) 2713 for driving the gear, and a first piece. A slide guider that supports the rack device 2713 and slides freely at that location
2714, an arc-shaped hook arm 2715 extended from the first rack device 2713 is included. The lower end of the arc-shaped hook arm 2715 is provided with a terminal recess 2506 of a transmission rack device (hereinafter referred to as a second rack device) 2504 installed in a vertical groove of the spindle.
253A …… 253N
Drive of the second rack device 2504, arc-shaped hook arm 2715,
The first rack device 2713 operates the character wheel 2711 via the tuning operation gear 2712. During this time, the spindle
When the mail stamping operation is completed by the 2505, the encoder 234A having a fixed groove on the shaft of the spindle drive device 2561 and the set position sensor device 234 are installed so that the post can be accurately returned to the original position. Similarly, an encoder 253A1 with a large number of grooves and a set position sensor device 231 are installed between each step motor and gear so that the step motor groups 253A to 253N can check the accuracy of the drive operation of the character wheel 2711. At the same time, the CPU 10 can normally control the current position of each of the step motors 253A to 253N.

Before the mail requiring printing has not yet entered the transmission system, the print head device and the transmission system are in the state shown in FIG.8A, and the print head 27 has the unadjusted number wheel in the position of the zero numeral. . The motor 251 is the main drive source of the transmission system, and synchronizes the first roller 2512 and the second roller 2513 via timing belts 2510 and 2511, respectively, and at the same time, the first idle roller 2514 with the traction spring and the traction spring Is relatively cooperated with the second idle roller 2515 provided with, so that the postal matter L passing therethrough and each roller can adjust and maintain an appropriate frictional force, thereby making the transmission of the postal matter L convenient.

On the process between the first transmission roller 2512 and the print head 27, a set position light sensing device 403 is installed, and when the mail L is circulated and passes through the sensing device 403, the CPU 10 immediately instructs the print head to operate. Then, the required number is accurately stamped at the set position of the mail L. Also print head 27
A third idler roller 2516 provided with a traction spring is also provided at the lower portion of the print head 27 so that the mail L passing through the lower portion of the print head and the stamp of the character wheel of the print head 27 can be brought into contact with each other clearly. The stamp is stamped (see FIG. 8B).

The ink applied to the character wheel 271 of the print head is performed by the ink device 40. The ink device 40 includes an ink delivery roller 41 as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B.
The ink delivery roller 41 is provided by a spring
The pulling of 42 causes the print head 27 to come into contact with the outer periphery, and the adjustment screw 43 maintains an appropriate gap between the two, and the ink is delivered when the number symbol convex portion of the character wheel on the print head 27 rotates and elapses. An appropriate amount of ink is applied in contact with the roller 41, and is further continuously rotated to stamp the article. As described above, the supply of ink in each working cycle of the print head 27 is performed by the operation of the electromagnetic coil 48 from the pump 44 of the ink device 40, and the ink tank
A fixed amount of ink is pumped from inside 45, and the ink is evenly dropped onto the ink supply roller 47 via the pipe 46 and the ink diffusion flat mouth 49 at the end of the pipe. The ink supply roller 47 comes into contact with the ink delivery roller 41 under the action of gravity and provides a uniform amount of ink as the delivery roller 41 rotates.

FIG. 8B shows a state in which a property requiring printing is printed through the print head. As can be seen from the effects of the first, second, and third idle rollers 2514, 2515, and 2516 and the individual springs provided thereon, the print head 27 of the present invention has a considerable thickness. Is the same as the case of printing on a single layer or one sheet, and a clear stamp effect can be obtained.
This is one of the innovative features of the present invention.

For the present invention, the above description is for ease of understanding.
Although the print head having only one character wheel shown in FIG. 4 has been described as an example, in a practical application, four or more character wheels in a two-set arrangement work simultaneously. In this case, one set of character wheels can be set as a date-change character wheel, and another set can be set as a charge (or price) change character wheel (see FIG. 2).

The meshing state between the character wheel driving devices 253A to 253N and the second rack devices 2504A to 2504N is as shown in FIG. It is possible to drive a second rack device of the book, which drives eight number wheels, which allows the programming of the number change. Similarly, the reprogramming of the 10- and 12-digit number wheels is also done in the sixth
The present invention can be implemented with a configuration as shown in FIGS.
Further, the use of the arrangement of the character wheel having a larger number of digits than that of the above embodiment is not mentioned as an embodiment. However, if the technical means developed by the present invention is used, the object can be naturally attained.

As mentioned above, with the technical success of operating each opposing individual number wheel by each individual drive of the drive, the number of character wheels in the present invention can be arbitrarily increased and expanded as practically necessary. The problem can be easily solved if the diameter of the print head and the size of the second rack device are appropriately adjusted and arranged. This part is omitted because it does not relate to the essential matter of the present invention.

Here, it is necessary to further explain that the portion where the print head main shaft 2505 contacts the transmission gear 253A4 of the step motor is
As shown in FIG. 4, the outer diameter is formed particularly in the small-diameter portion 2505B, and the outer peripheral surface thereof is aligned with the tooth groove bottom of the second rack device 2504 at the same altitude plane.
After 3A to 253N complete the position setting, the printhead spindle 2505
Transmission gear of each step motor when the shaft rotates in the axial direction
253A4 drives the second rack device 2504 with a numberable number wheel on the printhead by allowing the 253A4 to slide alternately over the four sets of second rack device 2504 areas and the two smaller diameter sections 2505B. Then, the print head 27 can be completed by sliding in the vertical direction on the main shaft 2505 and rotating the main shaft in the axial direction after reaching the set position. This simple method complicates the structure formation. Can be avoided. This point is an important point that the present invention has solved the conventional technical development bottleneck, and is one of the important features of the present invention.

In the present invention, each number of the character wheel is adjusted by using a step motor which is independent of each other, and driving a rack device corresponding to each individual device via each related control sensing device according to a command of a microcomputer. Was achieved, and the structure of the print head was greatly simplified. Although this can be said to be one of the major contributions in the technology, it is also an important point that the present invention has escaped from the conventional technical category.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, each character wheel on the print head of the present invention, its tuning operation gear,
Transmission between the rack device 2713 and the rack device 2504 is achieved by the clever arrangement of the multi-layered arc-shaped hook arms 2715 and the neatly arranged turning motion direction therebetween, and the gears reciprocate horizontally. The acting force is smoothly converted to a circumferential movement of the character wheel with a minimum frictional force. The structure in which the rack device 2504 is slidably mounted in the concave portion 2505A on the main shaft is such that two fishing rings 2508 to 2508 on the outer periphery of the main shaft fit at appropriate positions near the meshing portion of the step motor transmission gear and the main shaft. This is achieved by mounting, so that the entire rack device can be smoothly mounted on the main shaft without using an additional fixed unit. This method is important in achieving full automation of the main shaft character wheel in the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view showing the general arrangement of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional view showing the print head of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a print head number adjusting mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an arrangement sectional view of a stepping motor for adjusting the number of the eight-digit numeral wheel of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the arrangement of a stepping motor for adjusting the number of a 10-digit numeral wheel according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the arrangement of the stepping motor in the 12-digit numeral wheel of the present invention. 8A and 8B are side views showing the formation of a print structure according to the present invention. 8A shows a state in which the mail has not yet been transmitted into the structure, and FIG. 8AB shows a state in which the mail has just been transmitted and stamped. FIG. 9 is an explanatory perspective view of the latest semi-automatic postage processing device currently used by the post office. 10 Microprocessor (CPU) 101 Main program 102 Control circuit module 103 Interface circuit 104 Electronic scale interface circuit 105 Printer interface circuit 106 Interface card 107 Modem interface function 108 … Non-synchronous interface circuit 11 …… Scale 12 …… Printer 13 …… Card reader 14 …… CRT display 15 …… Monitor 20 …… Control interface module 21 …… Sensor circuit 22 …… Keyboard interface circuit 221 …… Input key 23: Set position sensor circuit 24: Drive circuit 25: Drive circuit 251: First transmission 252: Second transmission 253A to 253N: Wheel drive of No. 1 to No. N characters Driving device 253A1… Encoder 253A4… Transmission gear 256… Spindle drive device 231 to 233… Sensor device for wheel setting position of No.1 to No.N characters 234 …… Sensor device for spindle drive device setting position 234A… … Encoder 2504… Second rack device 2505 …… Spindle 2505A …… Spindle recess 2505B …… Spindle small diameter portion 2506 …… Recess 2508 …… Fishing ring 251 …… Motor 2510 …… Timing belt 2511 …… Timing belt 2512 …… First transmission roller 2513 Second transmission roller 2514 Idle roller 2515 Idle roller 2516 Idle roller 2561 Pulley 256 Step motor 2562 Timing belt 2563 Pulley 27 Print head 271 …… Postage stamp wheel device 2711 …… Character wheel 2712 …… Synchronous operation flaky gear 2713 …… First luck Device 2714 Slide guide 2715 Arc-shaped hook arm 272 Date stamp wheel device 273 Advertising stamp wheel device 40 Ink device 403 Setting position light sensing device 41 Ink delivery roller 42 Traction spring 43 Adjustment nut 44 Pump 45 Ink tank 46 Pipe 47 Ink supply roller 48 Electromagnetic coil 49 Ink diffusion flat mouth A Electronic balance B Computer C … Postal symbol printing machine C ₁ … Keyboard C ₂ … Interkey L… Postal matter

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A print head (27) and said print head (2)
7) a spindle (2505) for supporting the spindle, a spindle drive (256) for rotating and driving the spindle (2505), and the print head (2505).
7) a plurality of wheels (271) arranged on the outer surface of
A plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-253N) that respectively drive the plurality of wheels (271) so as to drive the plurality of wheels (271); and the main shaft driving device (256).
And the plurality of wheel drives (253A-25
3N) and a plurality of gears (2712) respectively provided on the plurality of wheels (271).
A plurality of first rack devices (2713) meshing with the plurality of gears (2712), respectively; and a plurality of elongated second racks having a meshing end formed with the rack and an extended end formed with the recess (2506). Device (2504), wherein the meshing end of the second rack device (2504) is meshed with the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-253N), and is provided by the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A-253N). Each is driven,
The extended end of the second rack device (2504) is disposed longitudinally away from the meshing end, and the first rack device (2713) is connected to the second rack device (2713) by the second rack device (2713). An arc-shaped hook arm (2715) extending to the rack device (2504), wherein the arc-shaped hook arm (2715) is connected to the concave portion (25) at the extended end of the second rack device (2504).
06) having a free end to engage with said hook arm (2715)
The first rack device by the free end of the first rack device (2713)
Are engaged with the second rack device (2504), and the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A to 253N) are respectively connected so as to simultaneously drive the plurality of wheels (271). The second rack device (2504) and the plurality of wheel driving devices (253A to 253N)
05) A digital printing device, which is arranged at predetermined intervals around the device.