JP2943405B2 - Printer paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feeder for transporting a print medium to a printing section, and more particularly, to a manual paper feed mechanism for allowing a user to insert the print medium with his / her own hand. The present invention relates to a paper feeding device for a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a laser printer, usually, paper sheets stacked and housed in a printer main body are automatically sent to a printing section based on a printing operation, and characters or characters are printed on the paper. Printing of symbols and the like is performed. However, in recent years, there has been a demand for a user to newly print on paper of a size other than the paper stacked or housed in the printer main body, paper of a different material such as an OHP sheet, or the back side of a printed paper. 2. Description of the Related Art Printers having a manual paper feed mechanism capable of inserting paper into a printer with their own hands have been developed.

In the manual paper feed mechanism, when a user inserts paper into his / her own hand into a manual insertion slot provided on the side of the printer, the paper is automatically conveyed to a printing unit at a predetermined timing. A manual feed tray that supports the inserted paper is attached to the manual feed slot.

[0004]

However, since a conventional laser printer is desired to be downsized and printing by a manual paper feed mechanism is not performed frequently, the manual feed tray protruding from the side of the printer main body is not used. Designed to be very small. Therefore, in the case of long paper, the operator must support the paper with his / her own hand so that the paper does not come off from the manual feed slot until the paper inserted in the manual feed slot is sucked into the printer body.

On the other hand, the laser printer does not start printing until one page of print data is transmitted from the host computer, and does not convey the paper inserted in the manual feed slot into the printer body until printing starts. . Therefore,
It takes time from the transmission of the print data to the actual start of printing, during which time the operator must support the paper. In particular, if the print data is graphic data, the transmission time of the print data is long, and it takes a very long time to create data for actual printing from the print data. The paper must be supported for a long time before it is printed, which makes manual printing very cumbersome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. As soon as a printing medium is inserted into a manual feed slot, a feed roller rotates and sucks the printing medium into a printer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feeding device for a printer that can easily perform manual printing without causing a print medium to fall from a manual feed slot even when an operator does not hold the print medium with his / her own hand. .

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, a paper feeder of a printer according to the present invention comprises: a manual insertion slot for a user to insert a print medium into the printer with his / her own hand;
A manual feed sensor that detects the presence or absence of a print medium manually inserted from the manual feed slot, and a print media that is provided downstream of the manual feed sensor in the paper transport direction and conveys the print media manually inserted from the manual feed slot into the printer. A feed roller, a registration roller disposed downstream of the feed roller in the paper transport direction and transporting the printing medium to the printing section, and a registration roller provided upstream of the registration roller in the paper transport direction and receiving the print medium immediately before the registration roller. A registration sensor that detects the presence or absence of a print medium, and a control unit that rotates the feed roller until the registration sensor detects a print medium when the manual feed sensor detects a print medium that is manually inserted from the manual feed slot. It is provided with.

[0008]

In the paper feeder of the present invention having the above configuration, when the manual feed sensor detects the print medium manually inserted from the manual feed slot, the control means controls the feed roller until the print sensor detects the print medium. The printing medium is rotated to convey the printing medium to just before the registration roller. Soshi
When starting printing, restart the feed roller rotation.
The print medium against the registration roller to
After correcting the skew of the body, rotate the registration roller to mark
The printing medium is transported to the printing unit.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a laser printer to which the present invention is applied.

A printing unit 11 is provided at the center of the body 10 of the laser printer, and a photosensitive drum 12 is provided at the center of the printing unit 11. The photosensitive drum 12 is rotatably supported, and around it,
Charging charger 13, developing device 14, transfer charger 15, separation neutralizing brush 16, cleaning device 1
7. Pre-exposure lamps 18 and the like are sequentially arranged. Above the photosensitive drum 12, a scanning optical unit 19 composed of a laser light emitter, a polygon mirror, and the like is provided. The scanning optical unit 19 irradiates a laser beam 20 onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 12. It has become.

An automatic sheet feeding means 21 is provided below the left end of the body 10.
Are arranged. The automatic paper feeding means 21 is provided with the standard paper P1.
And the standard paper P1 at the uppermost position in the cassette 22 and the standard paper P
1 is separated from the other standard paper P1 and is sent to a registration roller 30 described later.

Above the automatic paper feeding means 21, a manual paper feeding means 25 is arranged. The manual paper feeding means 25
A manual feed slot 26 formed on the left side surface of the machine body 10, a manual feed guide 27 protruding from the lower end of the manual feed slot 26 and guiding the manual paper P2 inserted into the manual feed slot 26 to a feed roller 28 described later; A feed roller 28 that feeds the manual paper P2 inserted into the feed roller 26 toward a registration roller 30, which will be described later, and a manual paper sheet provided in the body 10 between the manual feed port 26 and the feed roller 28, and inserted into the manual feed port 26. And a manual feed sensor 29 for detecting the presence or absence of P2. The medium to be printed of the present invention is constituted by the standard paper P1 and the manual paper P2.

Between the automatic paper feeding means 21 and the manual paper feeding means 25 and the printing section 11, the fixed-size paper P1 sent from the automatic paper feeding means 21 or the manual paper feeding means 25 is provided.
Alternatively, a registration roller 30 that conveys the manual paper P2 to the printing unit 11 is rotatably disposed. At a position Pa immediately before the registration roller 30 in the paper transport direction (hereinafter, this position is referred to as a standby position), the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 sent out from the automatic paper feeder 21 or the manual paper feeder 25 is located. A registration sensor 31 for detecting the presence or absence is provided. This registration sensor 31
Is standard paper P1 or manual paper P2 at the standby position Pa
This is to detect the presence or absence of.

On the downstream side of the printing unit 11 in the sheet transport direction, a heat fixing unit 32 is provided. The heat determining unit 17 includes a heat roller 33 heated by a heat source 33 a and a roller 34 that is in pressure contact with the heat roller 33. On the downstream side of the heat setting unit 32 in the sheet conveyance direction, a paper output tray 35 for storing printed standard paper P1 or manual paper P2.
Are formed so as to protrude from the right side surface of the body 10.

The separation roller 23 and the feed roller 28
, A registration roller 30, a printing unit 11, and a heat setting unit 32
And the paper discharge tray 35 are connected by a paper guide plate 36.

Next, the electrical configuration of the laser printer will be described with reference to FIG.

Control unit 40 for controlling the entire laser printer
Comprises a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 43, an input / output interface 44, an input port 45, an output port 46, and a bus 47 for interconnecting these. The input / output interface 44 is connected to a host computer 48. The print data output from the host computer 48 is input to the control unit 40 via the input / output interface 45.

The CPU 41 controls the operation of the laser printer. The ROM 42 stores various programs and data for controlling the operation of the laser printer, such as the programs shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. The RAM 43 temporarily stores the print data input to the control unit 40 and temporarily stores data generated during the printing operation.

The input port 45 has the manual feed sensor 2
9 and the registration sensor 31 are connected. Further, a drive motor 50 is connected to the output port 46 via a driver circuit 49. Further, the output port 46 is connected to the printing unit 11, the heat source 33a of the heat fixing unit 32, the first clutch 51, and the second clutch 52.

The drive motor 50 is connected to the photosensitive drum 12 and the roller 34 of the heat fixing unit 32 via a speed reduction mechanism (not shown), and the rotation of the drive motor 50 causes the photosensitive drum 12 and the roller 34 to move to predetermined positions. Rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 at speed.

The drive motor 50 is connected to the feed roller 28 via a speed reduction mechanism (not shown) and a first clutch 51.
And the registration roller 30 is connected via a deceleration mechanism (not shown) and a second clutch 52. When the first clutch 51 is connected and disconnected by the control unit 40, the rotation of the drive motor 50 is transmitted to the feed roller 28 or is cut off. Similarly, when the second clutch 52 is connected and disconnected by the control unit 40, the rotation of the drive motor 48 is transmitted to the registration roller 30 or cut off.

The operation of the laser printer according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. Note that the following Si (i = 1, 2, 3)
...) represent each step in the figure.

When the power of the laser printer is turned on, the control unit 40 performs predetermined initial settings, and thereafter executes the flowcharts shown in FIGS. When the power is turned on, the drive motor 50 is rotated, and the photosensitive drum 12 and the roller 34 are rotated at a predetermined speed.

First, the CPU 41 inputs an output signal of the registration sensor 31 through the input port 45, and determines whether or not the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 is present at the standby position Pa based on the output signal (see FIG. 4). S1). If the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 is present at the standby position Pa (S1: YES), S8 described later is executed. Standby position P
If there is no standard paper P1 or manual paper P2 in a (S
1: NO), the CPU 41 inputs an output signal of the manual feed sensor 29 via the input port 45, and determines whether or not the manual feed paper P2 is inserted into the manual feed slot 26 based on the output signal (S2). Manual paper P in the manual feed slot 26
If No. 2 is not inserted (S2: NO), S8 described later is used.
Execute If manual paper P2 has been inserted into manual feed slot 26 (S2: YES), CPU 41 outputs to output port 4
A signal is output to the first clutch 51 via the first clutch 6 to connect the first clutch 51, and the rotation of the drive motor 50 is transmitted to the feed roller 28 (S3). As a result, the feed roller 28 starts rotating, and sends out the manual paper P2 inserted into the manual insertion port 26 toward the standby position Pa.

Next, the CPU 41 starts counting time using its internal timer (S4), and again the input port 45.
An output signal of the registration sensor 31 is input through the control unit and it is determined whether or not the manual paper P2 has been sent to the standby position Pa (S5). If the registration sensor 30 detects that there is no paper, the manual paper P2 fed by the feed roller 28 has not yet reached the standby position Pa (S5: NO).
Determines whether the time measured by the internal timer has passed a predetermined time, and if the predetermined time has not yet passed,
Step S5 is executed.

When the manual paper P2 sent out by the feed roller 28 reaches the standby position Pa, the registration sensor 30
Detects the manual feed paper P2 (S5: YE).
S) or when the time measured by the internal timer elapses a predetermined time (S6: YES), the CPU 41 sets the first time.
The clutch 51 is disengaged and the feed roller 28 of the drive motor 50 is disengaged.
The rotation of the feed roller 28 is stopped, and the rotation of the feed roller 28 is stopped (S7). By the stop of the feed roller 28, the manual paper P2 inserted into the manual insertion slot 26 is sent out to the standby position Pa, and stops at the position where the leading end reaches the standby position Pa.

The manual feed sensor 29 and the registration sensor 3
1 is short, and even if the leading end of the manual paper P2 inserted into the manual feed slot 26 reaches the standby position Pa, the rear end is located upstream of the manual feed sensor 29 in the paper feeding direction. .

In this state, the CPU 41 waits for print data to be output from the host computer 48 (S
8). If the print data has not been output from the host computer 48 (S8: NO), S1 is executed. When the print data is output from the host computer 48, the control unit 40 inputs the print data via the input / output interface 44 and sequentially stores the data in the RAM 43 (S43).
9). Steps S1 to S10 are performed until a command to start printing, such as a page break command, is input, or print data for one page is stored in the RAM 43.
Is repeatedly executed (S10: NO).

When a command to start printing is input or when one page of print data is stored in the RAM 43 (S10: YES), the CPU 41 causes the RAM 43 to execute the printing.
Then, dot data for actually printing on paper is created based on the print data stored in (1) (S11). CP
U41 inputs the output signal of the manual feed sensor 29 via the input port 45, and determines whether or not the manual feed paper P2 is inserted into the manual feed slot 26 (S12).

If the manual paper P2 is not inserted into the manual insertion slot 26 (S12: NO), automatic paper feeding is performed by the automatic paper feeding means 21 (S13). In this automatic sheet feeding, only the sheet at the uppermost position among the many sheets stacked and accommodated in the cassette 22 is fed toward the registration roller 30 by rotating the separation roller 23.

On the other hand, if there is the manual feed paper P2 sent out to the standby position Pa by the manual feed means 25, the rear end is still located upstream of the manual feed sensor 29 in the paper transport direction. A signal indicating presence is output. Accordingly, the determination of the CPU 41 in S12 is YES, and the CPU 41 performs the first
The clutch 51 is connected and the feed roller 28 is rotated to feed the paper toward the registration roller 30 (S1).
4).

In S13 or S14, the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 fed by the automatic paper feeding means 21 or the feed roller 28 collides with the stopped registration roller 30. Thus, the skew of the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 is corrected.

After executing S13 and S14, the CPU 41 connects the second clutch 52 and transmits the rotation of the drive motor 50 to the registration roller 30 after a predetermined time has elapsed, and rotates the registration roller 30 clockwise in FIG. . By this rotation, the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 is printed by the printing unit 11.
(S15).

Then, the CPU 41 performs printing on the fed sheet based on the dot data created in S11 (S16). This printing process is performed as follows.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 12 rotating in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 is charged by a charging charger 13 and a laser beam 20 is scanned by a scanning optical unit 9 based on the dot data. Irradiated toward 12. The surface of the photosensitive drum 12 charged with the laser beam 20 is sequentially exposed. The exposure image by the laser beam 10 is converted into a visible image by the developing device 14 and then fed into the standard paper P1 or the manual paper P2 conveyed and supplied from the manual paper feed unit 25 or the automatic paper feed unit 21.
The image is transferred upward by the transfer charger 15.

The fixed-size paper P1 or the manual paper P2 after the image transfer is transferred to the photosensitive drum 1 by the separation neutralizing brush 16.
After being separated from the surface of the printer 2, it is conveyed to a heat fixing unit 32 having a heat roller 33, and is fixed to an image by the heat roller 33 and is discharged to a discharge tray 35 outside the machine body 10. After the image transfer, the photosensitive drum 12 continues to rotate, and after the residual toner is removed by the cleaning device 17, the photosensitive drum 12 is uniformly exposed by the pre-exposure lamp 18 to prepare for the next printing operation.

When the printing process is completed, the CPU 41 disengages the first clutch and the second clutch, and stops the rotation of the feed roller 28 and the registration roller 30 (S17).
Then, S1 is executed again. Until the power is shut off, S1 to S17 are repeatedly executed.

As described above, in the laser printer according to the present embodiment, when the manual paper P2 is inserted into the manual feed slot 26 before the printing is started after the power is turned on, the inserted manual paper P2 is immediately placed in the standby position. Since the paper is fed out to Pa, the operator need not support the manual paper P2 inserted in the manual feed slot 26 so as not to come off from the manual feed slot 26 as in the conventional apparatus. Then, when printing is started, the manual feed paper P2 at the standby position Pa is sent out toward the printing unit 11, and printing is performed on the manual feed paper P2. Therefore, the laser printer according to the present embodiment can easily perform printing by manual feeding.

Also, by the time the printing operation is started, the manual feed slot 2
If the manual paper P2 is not inserted into the sheet 6, the standard paper P1 is sent out by the automatic paper feeding means 21 at the start of printing,
Printing is performed on the standard paper P1.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the paper feeder of the printer of the present invention, the feed roller rotates immediately after the print medium is inserted into the manual feed slot, and the print medium is transferred to the printer. The print medium is not dropped from the manual feed slot even if the operator inhales the print medium and the operator does not hold the print medium with his / her own hand . When starting printing,
The print medium collides with the registration rollers to tilt the print medium.
After correcting the line, rotate the registration roller to
Is being conveyed to the printing unit.
Even if the printing medium is held by the feed roller,
When driving the distroller, check that the skew of the printing medium
The printing section is actually straightened and does not cause jams
In addition, the printing medium can be satisfactorily conveyed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a laser printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the laser printer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the laser printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the laser printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 printing unit 26 manual feed slot 28 feed roller 29 manual feed sensor 30 registration roller 31 registration sensor 40 control unit P1 standard paper P2 manual paper

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A manual feed slot for a user to insert a print medium into a printer with his / her own hand, a manual feed sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium manually inserted from the manual feed slot, and the manual feed sensor A feed roller that is disposed downstream of the paper conveyance direction and conveys the print medium manually inserted from the manual feed slot into the printer; and is disposed downstream of the feed roller in the paper conveyance direction to print the print medium. And a registration roller for conveying the sheet to the paper feeding section, and the registration roller is provided upstream of the registration roller in the sheet conveyance direction.
A registration sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the print medium immediately before the registration roller; and when the manual feed sensor detects the print medium manually inserted from the manual feed slot, the feed roller until the registration sensor detects the print medium. Control means for rotating the feed roller, when starting printing, restart the rotation of the feed roller
The print medium stopped at the position of the registration sensor.
The printing medium is conveyed and collided with the registration roller to
After correcting the skew of the body, rotate the registration roller
A paper feeder for a printer, comprising: a conveyance control unit configured to convey a print medium to a printing unit .