JP3328949B2 - printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer. In particular, the present invention relates to improvement of a paper detection mechanism when there are two paper feed paths.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a paper detecting mechanism of a printer having two paper feeding paths, one described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-43016 is known. FIG. 9 shows the structure.

[0003] Referring to the claims of the utility model registration, this is provided with a transport path 3 for supplying paper to the platen 1, and a mountain-shaped projection 18 protruding into the transport path 3. The projection 18 biases the detection arm 16 which is deflected by the resistance of the paper in the return direction to be rotatably provided, and the paper detection switch 4 which is switched by the operation of the detection arm 16 is provided. An operating body 15 is rotatably attached to a lower portion of a paper discharge path 10 of a paper feeding device 9 for supplying paper toward the platen 1, and a lower portion of the operating body 15, which is stabilized by its own weight, is a vertex of the projection 18. The upper part of the operating body 15 is protruded into the paper discharge path 10 by being pressed by the one inclined surface 20 which is deviated from the vertical direction, so that the paper supply path (paper discharge path 10) is selectively mounted near the platen 1. What was made A.

According to such a mechanism, the presence or absence of a sheet can be detected by one sheet detection switch 4 regardless of whether the sheet is fed by the transport path 3 or the sheet feeding device 9.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional mechanism has the following problems.

The paper feeding device 9 is selectively provided. As shown in FIG. 9, when the paper feeding device 9 is mounted, the upper part 15a of the operating body 15 Cannot rotate in the clockwise direction (direction of the arrow 5) because of the contact with the wall surface, and the lower portion 15b of the operating body 15 projects into the transport path 3, so that the transport path 3 cannot be used. Even if the operating body 15 is configured to be able to rotate clockwise, the lower part 15b of the operating body 15 protrudes into the transport path 3 by its own weight. There is a problem in that the resistance of the operating body 15 due to its own weight acts greatly on the paper to be mixed, causing the paper to be skewed.

That is, the conventional apparatus uses only the paper discharge path 10 when the paper feeding device 9 is attached, and has a problem that the transport path 3 cannot be used.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to provide a printer having two paper feeding paths,
An object of the present invention is to enable the detection of paper in one paper feed path to be detected by one detection switch and to enable the use of both paper feed paths.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer having a first paper supply path and a second paper supply path for supplying paper to a printing unit. The tip of which is in contact with the sheet heading toward the printing section when the leading end is in the first sheet feeding path and rotates to operate the detection switch;
And when the second paper feed path comes into contact with the paper heading for the printing section, it turns in the direction of the first paper feed path and turns the first lever to operate the detection switch; and First
When the lever is pushed back by the lever and is in the non-rotation position, the first
And a second lever that does not protrude into the paper feeding path of the first lever.
And the second paper feed path is formed by a tractor unit that is detachable from the printer main body, and the second lever is connected to the tractor. It is characterized by being attached to the unit.

[0010]

The printer according to the first aspect of the present invention has the above-described structure, and operates as follows.

When paper is supplied from the first paper feed path,
The sheet comes into contact with the leading end of the first lever, and the first lever rotates. As a result, the detection switch is activated, and the first switch is activated.
The paper in the paper feed path is detected.

When paper is supplied from the second paper feed path,
The second lever comes into contact with the sheet, rotates in the direction of the first paper feed path, and rotates the first lever. As a result, the detection switch is operated, and the paper on the second paper feed path is detected.

The second lever rotates in the direction of the first paper supply path when paper is supplied from the second paper supply path, and when the paper is supplied from the second paper supply path, the first lever is in the non-rotational position. Since the paper does not protrude into the paper path, when the paper is not supplied from the second paper supply path, the second lever does not participate in the paper passing through the first paper supply path.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a printer having two paper feeding paths,
Paper detection in one paper feed path can be detected by one detection switch, and both paper feed paths can be used.

Further, according to the present invention, since the tip of the first lever is configured to be rotatable in the direction away from the printing unit, the back foot of the paper in the first paper feeding path is correspondingly rotated. The amount can be large.

Further, according to the present invention, the second paper feed path is formed by a tractor unit detachable from the printer main body, and the second lever is attached to the tractor unit. The number of parts in the printer body is reduced.

[0017]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

In these figures, reference numeral 30 denotes a printer main body (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a main body), which has a printing section 33 composed of a head 31 and a platen 32.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a first paper feed path, which is a sheet 4 fed from a paper feed cassette 40 by a paper feed roller 35.
1 is supplied to the printing unit 33. Reference numeral 36 denotes a paper discharge path, 37 denotes a paper discharge port, and 38 denotes a stacker.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a second paper feed path, which supplies the paper fed by the tractor 53 of the tractor unit 50 to the printing unit 33. The second paper feed path 51 is formed by a paper guide 52 formed in the main body 30 and a paper guide 54 formed in the tractor unit 50.

Reference numeral 60 denotes a first lever, and a leading end 61 is located in the first paper feed path 34. First lever 6
Numeral 0 indicates that the base 62 is attached to a shaft 71 of a detection switch 70 composed of a leaf switch, as shown in FIG. A spring (not shown) is mounted on the shaft 71. The first lever 60 is constantly biased by this spring to return to the neutral position N shown by a solid line, but is configured to be rotatable toward the operating position A and the operating position B against this biasing force. Have been. An actuator 72 that rotates together with the first lever 60 is provided on the shaft 71.
Is provided, and the rotation of the actuator 72 causes the first
The position of the lever 60 is detected. In the present embodiment, the first lever 60 is configured to detect only when the first lever 60 rotates from the neutral position N in the direction of the operating position A, and not to detect this when the first lever 60 rotates in the direction of the operating position B. I have. When the paper is conveyed toward the printing unit 33, the first lever 60 rotates in the direction of the operating position A with the leading end 61 abutting on the paper, whereby the paper is detected.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a second lever, which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 55 provided integrally with the tractor unit frame 50F as shown in FIG. The second lever 80 is not provided with any urging means, and is merely provided with a stopper 81 at the lower portion for restricting the counterclockwise rotation in the figure. Note that the clockwise rotation is such that the upper portion 82 has the tip portion 61 of the first lever.
It is regulated by contact with The upper part 82 of the second lever 80 is located in the second paper feed path 51, and the paper fed by the tractor 53 is
3, the upper portion 82 comes into contact with the sheet and rotates clockwise (in the direction of the first paper feed path).
The right side portion 83 of FIG. 4 turns the first lever 60 clockwise to operate the detection switch 70.

The operation will now be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5, when there is no paper in either of the first and second paper feed paths 34 and 51, the first lever 60 is in the neutral position and the second lever 80 is in the neutral position.
Is the second paper feed path 51 by the tip 61 of the first lever.
And does not protrude into the first paper feed path 34.

When the paper is supplied from the first paper supply path 34, the paper 41 (only a part of which is shown) comes into contact with the leading end 61 of the first lever 60, and the first lever 60 is moved by an imaginary line. Rotate as shown. As a result, the detection switch 70 is operated, and the paper in the first paper feed path 34 is detected. At this time, since the second lever 80 does not protrude into the first paper feed path 34, it does not participate in the paper 41 passing through the first paper feed path.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the sheet 56 is supplied from the second sheet supply path 51, the upper part 8 of the second lever 80
2 comes into contact with the sheet, and turns in the direction of the first sheet feeding path 34 to turn the first lever 60. As a result, the detection switch 70 is operated, and the paper 56 in the second paper feed path 51 is detected. In this embodiment, even when the second lever 80 rotates in the direction of the first paper feed path 34, the second lever 80 is configured not to protrude into the first paper feed path 34. In this case, The second lever 80 may project into the first paper feed path. When the sheet is removed from the second sheet supply path 51 and the contact between the sheet and the second lever 80 is released, the first lever 60 returns to the neutral position. It is pushed back and returns to the position shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the printer of this embodiment, the detection of the paper in the two paper feed paths 34 and 51 can be detected by the single detection switch 7, and the two paper feed paths 34 and 51 can be detected. Can also be used.

Also, in such a printer, 2
Large characters that span lines (so-called double- and quadruple-size characters)
When printing, it is necessary to feed the paper back. According to the printer of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, after the paper rear end 41a has passed through the first lever 60,
Even if the paper 41 is back-fed as indicated by the arrow C, the first lever 60 is configured to be rotatable in the counterclockwise direction (the direction away from the printing unit), so that the back-feed amount is reduced by that amount. It can be large and a reliable printing operation can be obtained.

The tractor unit 50 is configured to be detachable from the main body 30.
When 0 is removed, a component 90 forming the first paper feed path 34 is mounted instead, as shown in FIG. In this case, this printer can be used even if it is installed vertically as shown. Reference numeral 91 denotes a back-out reverse feed path. This reverse feed path 91 can also be used as a third paper feed path. Reference numeral 92 denotes a manual feed guide at that time. When the printer is placed sideways, the manual feed guide 92 comes into contact with the printer installation surface parallel to the paper feed cassette 40 and rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 93 to serve as a backout guide. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 157 denotes a metal partition plate for separating the mechanical unit A from the electric unit B, and also serves as a shield plate for the electric unit B together with the front bent portion 159 of the metal base frame 158. A rack 161 that meshes with a gear 160 that operates an ink ribbon take-up mechanism mounted on the carriage 105 is formed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the present invention.

For example, a case has been described in which sheets are fed by a tractor to the second sheet feeding path.
The present invention can be applied to a case where paper is fed from a paper feed cassette or a case where paper is fed manually as in the case of the paper feed path of FIG.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the sheet is supplied from the second sheet feeding path, the second lever is operated.
The detection switch is turned via the first lever by rotating in the direction of the first sheet feeding path.
When the paper is not supplied from the second paper feed path, the second lever does not participate in the paper passing through the first paper feed path.
The paper detection of one paper feed path can be detected by one detection switch, and both paper feed paths can be used.

Further, since the leading end of the first lever is configured to be rotatable in a direction away from the printing unit, the back foot amount of the paper in the first paper feeding path can be increased by that much. it can.

Further, the second paper feed path is formed by a tractor unit detachable from the printer main body, and the second lever is attached to this tractor unit. Be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating an embodiment of a printer according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of a first lever and a detection switch.

FIG. 4 is also a tractor unit frame and a second
FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the same.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view when a component replacing the tractor unit is mounted.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 Printer main body 33 Printing unit 34 First paper feeding path 50 Tractor unit 51 Second paper feeding path 60 First lever 70 Detection switch 80 Second lever

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-67346 (JP, A) JP-A-2-97052 (JP, U) JP-A-5-68992 (JP, U) (58) Investigation Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 11/00-11/70 B65H 7/00-7/20 B65H 43/00-43/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer having a first paper supply path and a second paper supply path for supplying paper to a printing unit, wherein the leading end of the printer is located on the first paper supply path and contacts the paper toward the printing unit. A first lever that contacts and rotates to operate the detection switch;
When the second paper feed path comes into contact with the paper heading toward the printing unit, the first paper feed path is rotated in the direction of the first paper feed path to rotate the first lever to operate the detection switch; And a second lever that does not protrude into the first paper feed path when pushed back and is in the non-rotation position. The first lever has a second lever whose tip end is in the non-rotation position. The second paper feed path is formed by a tractor unit that is detachable from the printer main body, and is configured to be rotatable in a direction away from the printing unit by pushing the lever away. A printer attached to a printer.