JP2752869B2 - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic printing apparatus, and more particularly to an electrophotographic printing apparatus for printing on continuous paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a conventional electrophotographic printing apparatus that prints out characters and graphics through respective processes of exposure, latent image formation, development and fixing generally uses continuous paper.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional printing apparatus for printing on such continuous paper.
Is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the sensor unit in the example of FIG. 3,
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the sensor unit of the example of FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a waveform chart showing an operation of the example of FIG.

In FIG. 3, an electrophotographic section 37 is a mechanism section for performing printing by an electrophotographic method, and develops and fixes latent images of characters and figures formed on a photosensitive drum by exposing a laser beam. Output printing is performed on printing paper (paper) 25 through the process, and the paper is discharged in the next step.

The paper 25 discharged from the electrophotographic section 37
The roller 23c and the cutter 27 and the roller 23a
-It is folded and stored in the stacker section 38 via 23b.

The characters and figures output and printed on the paper 25 are
Since the paper 25 is output in the unit of the user's business, it is necessary to cut the sheet 25 for each unit of the business. The cutting device 2 is positioned at a cutting position 26 of the sheet 25 (the position of the perforation provided on the sheet 25) just above
A method is used in which cutting is carried out by lifting up the cutting head 7.

At this time, the roller 23a is rotating,
The paper 25 before cutting is nipped and discharged between a roller 23b provided as an idle roller and opposed to the roller 23a. The discharged paper 25 is folded by its own weight and stored in the stacker unit 38.

The cut paper 25 is fed between the rollers 23a and 23b at the time of the next printing operation. At this time, the roller 23a is moving upward (in the direction of arrow A), and a gap is held between the roller 23a and the roller 23b, so that the leading end of the sheet 25 is easily inserted between them.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 29 sends an output signal 34 to the driver unit 24 in response to a command signal 31 from the host device. The operation is performed by driving the solenoid 30 with the output signal 34. When the solenoid 30 is driven, the sensor 22 operates and the sensor 2
The output signal of No. 2 is amplified by the amplifier 28 and transmitted to the controller 29 as the output signal 33. The control unit 29
By inputting this output signal 33, the solenoid 3
0 recognizes normal operation.

The sensor 22 operates as shown in FIG. That is, since the shielding plate 21 moves in the direction of arrow B in conjunction with the movement of the solenoid 30, the shielding plate 21 blocks the optical path between the light emitting surface 35 and the light receiving surface 36 provided on the sensor 22. As a result, the amount of light received on the light receiving surface 36 changes, and the electric signal sent from the light receiving surface 36 to the amplifier 28 changes.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 29 drives the solenoid 30 by validating the output signal 34, and when the solenoid 30 operates, the output signal 33 returns from the amplification unit 28 to the control unit 29. However, after waiting a time (t1) until the output signal 33 is stabilized, the control unit 29
After a certain period of time (t2) has elapsed, the output signal 34 is deactivated and the solenoid 30 is deactivated. Even if the elapsed time after the control unit 29 sends the output signal 34 to the driver unit 24 becomes t3 or more, the output signal 3
If the state of 3 is not stable, an alarm signal 32 (see FIG. 4) is output to the host device.

[0012]

In the conventional printing apparatus as described above, since the sensor becomes dirty with dust in the printing apparatus and the corresponding signal cannot be obtained even when the shielding plate is operated, the operation of the solenoid is not performed. Has a drawback that an alarm signal may be sent out due to the inability to detect the alarm.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising: an electrophotographic section for printing on continuous paper by an electrophotographic method; and a stacker for folding and storing the continuous paper discharged from the electrophotographic section. And a cutting unit provided between the electrophotographic unit and the stacker unit for cutting the continuous paper at a designated position; and a cutting device provided between the cutter and the stacker unit for clamping the continuous paper. A roller for moving one of the rollers, a sensor for detecting the movement of the solenoid by a light-emitting surface and a light-receiving surface, and interlocking with the movement of the solenoid. A printing plate comprising a shielding plate that operates to block an optical path between the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface.
A cleaning member is provided on both sides of the leading end of the shielding plate, the cleaning member being in contact with the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface, and further stores a value obtained by counting the number of pages continuously printed on continuous paper. Unit, a control unit that outputs a level signal having a value corresponding to the number of pages continuously printed by a signal from the storage unit, and a sensor that inputs the level signal and a signal obtained by amplifying an output signal of the sensor. And a comparator for outputting a signal to the control unit when a signal obtained by amplifying the output signal is larger than the level signal.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sensor unit according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the sensor unit according to the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 shows the operation of the circuit of FIG. It is a waveform diagram.

In FIG. 1, felts 3 are mounted on both ends of a front end of a shielding plate 1 which moves between a light emitting surface 5 and a light receiving surface 6 of a sensor 2. This felt 3 removes dust adhering to the light emitting surface 5 and the light receiving surface 6 when the shielding plate 1 is operated simultaneously with the solenoid to move the roller for discharging the printing paper (in the direction of arrow C). Perform cleaning.

At this time, the control circuit operates as shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 9 receives the command signal 11 from the host device and outputs the level signal 10 based on the information (details will be described later) stored in the storage unit 4 to the comparison unit 7. On the other hand, the signal from the sensor 2 is amplified by the amplifier 8 and input to the comparator 7 as the output signal 13. Comparison section 7
Determines the output signal 13 of the amplifier 8 using the level signal 10 as a criterion, and sends the result to the controller 9.

As shown in FIG. 7, the level signal 10 is a signal indicating a constant threshold value. The output signal 13 is determined based on the threshold value of the level signal 10, and a signal lower than the threshold value is ignored as noise. You.

The signal determined to be valid by the comparison unit 7 is input to the control unit 9, and the control unit 9 determines that the solenoid operates normally, that is, the roller for discharging the printing paper operates normally according to the signal. Judge.

The storage unit 4 stores a value obtained by counting the number of pages continuously printed on continuous paper, and the value of the level signal 10 is determined according to the number of pages continuously printed on continuous paper. Change. Generally, dust increases in the sensor 2 in proportion to the number of pages printed on continuous paper. However, the roller for discharging the printing paper remains in the pressed state or the open state for a long time, and the movement of the shielding plate 1 is not performed. May not be done. In such a case, dust accumulates on the light emitting surface 5 and the light receiving surface 6 and the level of the output signal from the light receiving surface 6 decreases with time. To correct this, the number of pages continuously printed is counted, and the control unit 9 sets the value of the level signal 10 to a value corresponding to the number of pages.

If the control unit 9 does not input a signal from the comparison unit 7 even if the elapsed time after sending the output signal 14 to the driver unit becomes a predetermined time or more, the control unit 9 transmits the signal to the host device. An alarm signal 12 is output.

[0022]

As described above, the printing apparatus according to the present invention operates simultaneously with the movement of the solenoid to detect the movement of the solenoid for moving the roller for discharging the printing paper, so that the optical path of the sensor can be detected. Felts are provided on both sides of the tip of the shielding plate that blocks off the dust, and the felt removes dust adhering to the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface of the sensor so as to perform cleaning. A storage unit for storing a value obtained by counting the number of pages is provided, and a level signal output from the control unit is set to a value corresponding to the number of pages continuously printed on the continuous paper, and a signal obtained by amplifying the output signal of the sensor and the signal By comparing the level signal with the level signal in the comparing section, it is determined that the roller for discharging the printing paper has normally operated when the signal obtained by amplifying the output signal of the sensor is larger than the level signal. This has the effect of preventing the sensor from being soiled by dust in the printing apparatus and making it impossible to detect the operation of the solenoid, and the roller for discharging the printing paper has remained in the same state for a long time. Even when the dust of the sensor is not cleaned, the operation of the solenoid can be detected according to the accumulation state of the dust, so that there is an effect that transmission of an erroneous alarm signal can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of a sensor unit of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a conventional printing apparatus that performs printing on continuous paper.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the sensor unit in the example of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a sensor unit of the example of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a waveform chart showing the operation of the example of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a waveform chart showing an operation of the circuit of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1.21 Shielding plate 2.22 Sensor 3 Felt 4 Storage unit 5.35 Light emitting surface 6.36 Light receiving surface 7 Comparison unit 8.28 Amplification unit 9.29 Control unit 10 Level signal 11.31 Command signal 12.32 Alarm signal 13.14.33.34 Output signal 23a.23b.23c Roller 24 Driver unit 25 Printing paper (paper) 26 Cutting position 27 Cutting unit 30 Solenoid 37 Electrophotography unit 38 Stacker unit

Continuation of the front page (56) References Tokuhyo Hei 2-503189 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-89253 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-50146 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int) .Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 7/02 B41J 11/42 B41J 29/00 G03G 15/00 522

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrophotographic section for printing on continuous paper by an electrophotographic method, a stacker section for folding and storing the continuous paper discharged from the electrophotographic section, the electrophotographic section and the stacker section. And a set of rollers provided between the cutter and the stacker unit for nipping and transporting the continuous paper; and a set of rollers provided between the cutter and the stacker unit. A solenoid that moves one of the rollers of the set, a sensor that detects the movement of the solenoid by a light emitting surface and a light receiving surface, and operates in conjunction with the movement of the solenoid to operate the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface. A printing plate, comprising: a cleaning member that comes into contact with the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface on both surfaces of a front end portion of the shielding plate. . 2. A storage unit for storing a value obtained by counting the number of pages continuously printed on continuous paper, and a level signal of a value corresponding to the number of pages continuously printed on the basis of a signal from the storage unit. A control unit for outputting, and a signal obtained by inputting the level signal and a signal obtained by amplifying the output signal of the sensor and outputting a signal to the control unit when a signal obtained by amplifying the output signal of the sensor is larger than the level signal The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a comparison unit that performs the comparison.