JP3444520B2 - Paper transport device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device used in a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a hopper that stores paper and a stacker that stores printed paper are provided. In the automatic paper feed mode, the paper in the hopper is fed to a front printer by a paper feed roller and an intermediate roller. There is an automatic paper feeder which stores a printed paper returned from a printer in a rear stacker via an intermediate roller and a paper discharge roller.

The intermediate roller described above is intended to deliver to the printer even when the paper in the hopper is short. Further, in the automatic paper feeding device also provided with a stacker, the intermediate roller aims to deliver to the printer even when the paper in the hopper is short, and to deliver the paper returned from the printer to the stacker. Therefore, the intermediate roller is arranged at a position where a part of the outer periphery of the intermediate roller protrudes in the sheet conveyance path.

In this case, the automatic paper feeding device delivers the paper in the hopper to the printer side at a constant speed upon paper feeding, and after the delivery, it is kept in a stopped state, and the paper feeding control thereafter is carried out to the printer side. I leave it to you. Further, when the printed paper is delivered by the back feed from the printer, the intermediate roller is driven to store the paper in the stacker at a constant speed.

Regarding paper feeding, control on the printer side is different from control on the automatic sheet feeding device side. That is, the automatic paper feeding device may convey the paper at a constant speed when the paper is delivered to the printer or when the paper is delivered from the printer, while the amount of print data on the printer is
Since the paper feed is controlled by the data such as the line feed mark and the page break mark included in the print data, the paper feed length and the paper feed timing are not constant.

Therefore, a case will be considered in which the printed sheet that is fed from the front inlet of the printer and printed is discharged toward the stacker of the automatic sheet feeder on the side opposite to the inlet by the control of the printer. In order to synchronize the paper feeding operation of the printer with the paper feeding operation of the automatic paper feeding device, a command for paper feeding must be exchanged between the printer and the automatic paper feeding device every time the paper is fed by one pitch. However, such control is not normally performed because it takes time. Therefore, when the paper is being conveyed under the control of the printer, the paper feeding roller, the intermediate roller, the paper discharging roller, etc. of the automatic paper feeding device are maintained in the stopped state.

Therefore, when the paper is fed from the manual feed slot in front of the printer (on the side opposite to the automatic paper feed device) without using the automatic paper feed device, it depends on the length of the manual feed paper. The paper fed from the slippage may reach the nip portion between the intermediate roller and the paper discharge pinch roller of the automatic paper feeder. In such a case, the paper cannot be fed any further, so when feeding a paper having a long overall length from the insertion slot, the automatic paper feeder is removed from the printer. However, the attachment and detachment work of the automatic paper feeder is very troublesome.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
When feeding paper from the printer's inlet, it is conceivable to retract the paper discharge pinch roller of the automatic paper feeder from the intermediate roller. However, this operation is an operation performed by the operator, so make a mistake. There is. For example, there is a case where the paper is fed from the manual insertion hole even though the paper discharge pinch roller is not retracted from the intermediate roller. In this case, the paper may reach the nip portion between the intermediate roller and the paper discharge pinch roller of the automatic paper feeder. In such a case, the paper cannot be sent any further.

Therefore, a detecting means for informing the printer side of whether or not the paper discharge pinch roller is separated from the intermediate roller is added to the automatic paper feeding device side, and the intermediate roller is used to detect the paper discharge pinch roller by this detecting means. It is conceivable that the printer side recognizes the separated state, and based on this recognition, the control for executing the sheet feeding operation from the manual insertion hole is performed. On the other hand, the connector that connects the printer and the automatic paper feeder is
It has multiple terminals for sending commands from the printer side to the automatic paper feeder and supplying power to the motor of the automatic paper feeder, etc. In order to inform the printer of the status of the means, the specifications of the connector must be changed, and the improvement will be large-scale.

Therefore, by providing the printer with a switch that is operated when the paper discharge pinch roller is separated from the intermediate roller, the status of the automatic paper feeder can be changed to the printer side without changing the connector specifications. Although it can be recognized with, the operation of separating the paper discharge pinch roller from the intermediate roller and the operation of switching the switch are
Since each operation is performed by the operator and both operations are not linked, there is a possibility that an operation error may occur and it cannot be said to be perfect.

According to the present invention, when a long sheet of paper is fed from the manual insertion port of the printer, the paper ejection pinch roller or the intermediate roller of the automatic paper feeding device is retracted from the paper ejection passage to ensure this state. The purpose of the present invention is to enable control on the printer side such that the paper is fed from the inlet after the recognition.

[0012]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A hopper that is placed behind the printer to store sheets in a stacked state, a stacker that is placed below the hopper to store printed sheets, a paper feed roller that feeds out the paper in the hopper, and always in one direction. An intermediate roller that is driven to deliver the paper sent out by the paper feed roller to the front printer, and conveys the paper returned from the printer toward the rear stacker, and the intermediate roller to the hopper. A sheet discharge pinch roller which is provided so as to be able to come in contact with and separate from the intermediate roller with a sheet discharge path between the sheet and a sheet which is arranged at an end portion of the hopper and delivered from the intermediate roller to the stacker. An automatic paper feeding device including a paper discharging roller for stopping the paper feeding roller, the intermediate roller, and the paper discharging roller, It has a retracting mechanism for separating the paper discharge pinch roller or the intermediate roller from the paper discharging path when the paper is fed from the outlet, and detects the operation of the retracting mechanism to discharge the paper in the paper discharging path. The printer is equipped with a detector for recognizing the retracted or advanced state of the paper pinch roller or the intermediate roller.

Therefore, when the paper is fed from the manual insertion port, when the paper ejection pinch roller or the intermediate roller of the automatic paper feeding device is retracted from the paper ejection path by the operation of the retraction mechanism, the state is changed to the printer side. It is possible to perform control on the printer side such that the paper is fed from the insertion hole after being recognized by the detection signal of the detector provided in the.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the automatic sheet feeding device is displaceable with a piece to be detected protruding from the housing to the printer side and detected by the detector at one end. The operating member is urged in one direction by the urging member so that the detected piece projects from the housing following the operation of the retracting mechanism.

Therefore, when the operating body is displaced following the operation of the retracting mechanism, the detected piece projects from the housing and is detected by the detector depending on its position. Therefore, the paper discharge pinch roller or the intermediate roller in the paper discharge passage. The state of withdrawal or advancing is detected by the detector via the actuating body. In this case, the actuating member follows the operation of the retracting mechanism by the urging force of the urging member, and the detected piece projects from the housing.
The actuating member can be displaced by an external force in the direction in which the detected piece is housed in the housing against the biasing force of the biasing member.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is a printer. Printer 1
A paper transport path 3 is formed in the main body case 2, and a print head (dots) mounted on a carrier (not shown) reciprocally driven in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport path 3 is formed in the paper transport path 3. The printer unit 4 and the flat platen 5 are arranged to face each other, and a printing unit 6 is provided, and two pairs of conveying rollers 7 are arranged in front of and behind the printing unit 6. ing. These conveying rollers 7 are forward / reverse rotatable motors (not shown) and clutches (not shown).
Are connected via. Further, a manual insertion port 8 connected to the paper transport path 3 is formed in front of the main body case 2 (on the left side in FIG. 1), and a manual insertion tray 9 is provided at the manual insertion port 8.

Further, a tractor 10 and a guide plate 11 for guiding the tractor sheet conveyed from the tractor 10 to the sheet conveying path 3 are provided in the lower rear portion of the main body case 2. When the tractor 10 is used, the guide plate 11 is rotated about the shaft 12 in a direction inclining downward toward the tractor 10, and cut sheets are used to eject printed sheets to a stacker described later. It is configured to rotate in a direction inclining upward toward the stacker when printing.

Next, an automatic paper feeder 13 is mounted behind the main body case 2 of the printer 1. In the housing 14 of the automatic paper feeder 13, a hopper 15 that stores a large number of sheets S, a stacker 16 that is arranged below the hopper 15 to store the printed sheets S, and a sheet in the hopper 15 are stored. Rotatable paper feed roller 17 that feeds S one by one
And a rotatable discharge roller 18 for discharging the printed paper S to the stacker 16. Further, in the housing 14, a paper feed path 19 for guiding the paper S sent by the paper feed roller 17 to the rear end of the paper transport path 3 on the printer 1 side, and printing returned from the rear end of the paper transport path 3 A paper discharge path 20 for guiding the completed paper S to the stacker 16 is provided, and an intermediate roller 21 is arranged between the paper supply path 19 and the paper discharge path 20. A paper feed pinch roller 22 is pressed against the upper outer periphery of the intermediate roller 21, and a paper discharge pinch roller 23 is pressed against the lower outer periphery thereof. The intermediate roller 21 serves to transfer the sheet S to the transport roller 7 of the printer 1 even when the sheet S is shorter than the distance between the transport roller 7 and the paper feed roller 17 behind the printer 1, and also to the printer 1. Printed paper S returned from side 1
It is provided to deliver the sheet to the paper discharge roller 18. Further, on the outer periphery of the upper portion of the paper discharge roller 18, the paper discharge roller 18
A pressing plate 18a for pressing the paper S is provided on the paper. A pressure roller may be used instead of the pressure plate 18a. In this case, the pressure contact plate 18a or the pressure contact roller is supported by the housing 14.

Inside the housing 14, a motor (not shown) for driving the paper feed roller 17, the paper discharge roller 18, and the intermediate roller 21 is provided. The paper feed roller 17 and the paper discharge roller 18 are connected to the motor by a power transmission mechanism (not shown) so as to rotate clockwise, and the intermediate roller 21 is connected to the motor by a power transmission mechanism (not shown) so as to rotate counterclockwise. Has been done.

Further, in the printer 1, first and second paper sensors 24 and 25 are arranged on both sides of the printing unit 6. The first paper sensor 24 detects the leading edge of the paper S fed by the automatic paper feeder 13 when the intermediate roller 2
It is a sensor that informs the timing of stopping 1. The second sensor 25 is a sensor that detects the leading edge of the paper in order to set the print start timing when the paper is fed from the manual insertion opening 8.

The paper discharge passage 20 of the automatic paper feeder 13 is formed by arranging two guide plates 26 and 27 facing each other. The lower guide plate 27 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 28, and the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is rotatably supported at the free end of the guide plate 27.

As shown in FIG. 2, a retracting mechanism 29 for retracting the guide plate 27 from the intermediate roller 21 together with the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is provided inside the housing 14 of the automatic paper feeder 13. The retracting mechanism 29 is an operation lever 3 that rotates integrally with a support shaft 30 that is rotatably supported on one side outside the conveyance width of the sheet in the housing 14.
1 and an arm 32 connected to the rear end of the guide plate 27. Pin 3 is provided on the lower end of the operating lever 31.
3, the arm 32 is provided with recesses 34, 35 selectively engaged with the pin 33, and an arcuate surface 36 located between the recesses 34, 35. in this case,
The distance from the center of the support shaft 30 supporting the operation lever 31 to the one recess 34 is from the center of the support shaft 30 to the other recess 3.
It is set to be longer than the distance reaching 5. That is, in FIG. 2, in the state where the operation lever 31 is located at the position A, the pin 33 engages with the one concave portion 34 of the arm 32, the guide plate 27 advances toward the intermediate roller 21 side, and the paper discharge pinch roller. Although 23 is in pressure contact with the intermediate roller 21, when the operation lever 31 is rotated to the position B, the pin 33 engages with the other recessed portion 35 of the arm 32 to support the spindle 2.
In order to rotate the arm 32 counterclockwise about 8,
The guide plate 27 is configured to be retracted from the intermediate roller 21 together with the paper discharge pinch roller 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, an operating member 38 having a detection piece 37 formed at its lower end is rotatably supported by a support shaft 39 on one side of the housing 14 which is out of the width of conveyance of the paper. There is. Further, a link 40 is fixed to the support shaft 30 supporting the operation lever 31 of the retracting mechanism 29 so as to rotate integrally, and a two-folded link 41 abutting the link 40 and the operating body 38 is provided with the support shaft 42. Is rotatably supported on one side of the housing 14. The actuation body 38 is biased by a spring 44 which is a biasing member so that the detected piece 37 projects from the bottom of the housing 14. Reference numeral 45 denotes a detector for detecting the detected piece 37 protruding from the bottom of the housing 14. The detector 45 uses an optical sensor that detects the presence or absence of the detected piece 37 on the optical axis, but the detector 45 is not limited to this, and a mechanical switch or the like may be used. The detector 45 is provided on the main body case 2 of the printer 1. The housing 14
Locking pieces 43 that are locked in locking holes (not shown) formed on both sides of the upper surface of the main body case 2 of the printer 1 are formed on both sides of.

In such a structure, the automatic paper feeder 1
When the sheet S is fed from 3, the operation lever 31 is set to the position A as shown in FIGS. In this state, since the guide plate 27 advances toward the intermediate roller 21, the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is pressed against the intermediate roller 21.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the links 40 and 41 are located at the positions indicated by the solid lines, and the link 41 has the spring 44.
The rotational movement of the actuation body 38 in the clockwise direction due to the urging force is blocked. Therefore, the detected piece 37 is maintained in a state of being positioned inside the housing 14, and the detector 45 is set to the detected piece 3
A detection signal indicating that 7 is not detected is output. This detection signal indicates that the discharge roller pinch roller 23 is in pressure contact with the intermediate roller 21 and a control unit (not shown) on the printer 1 side.
Be recognized by. Based on this recognition, the control unit of the printer 1 permits the request for paper feeding from the automatic paper feeder 13 (request by the operation of the operator), but rejects the request for paper feeding from the manual insertion hole 8.

In this state, the intermediate roller 21 and the paper discharge roller 18 are driven, and when the paper feed roller 17 is rotated by the paper feed command, the paper S in the hopper 15 is sent out by the paper feed roller 17, and this is fed to the intermediate roller 21. Is delivered to the carrying roller 7 on the printer 1 side. Paper S fed from hopper 15
When the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the first sheet sensor 24, the intermediate roller 21 is stopped in response to the detection signal of the first sheet sensor 24, and the sheet is conveyed thereafter by the control of the printer 1.

On the printer 1 side, the conveying roller 7 conveys the sheet S from the rear side to the front side of the inlet 8 side, and in the process, the print head 4 prints data on the sheet S. When the manual insertion port 8 is selected as the discharge destination, the transport roller 7 is driven in the same direction as before, and the paper S is transported toward the manual insertion port 8. When the stacker 16 is selected as the discharge destination, the transport roller 7 is reversed after the printing is completed. As a result, the printed sheet S is discharged from the rear end of the sheet transport path 3, but the sheet S stretches due to the strength of its waist, so that it does not face the upper sheet feed path 19 and the lower sheet discharge path 19. 20 is passed to an intermediate roller 21 rotating counterclockwise,
Then, the sheet is discharged to the stacker 16 by the sheet discharge roller 18 which rotates in the clockwise direction. In this case, the guide plate 11 is pivoted upward about the shaft 12 and placed along the paper discharge passage 20.

When the paper is fed from the manual insertion hole 8, the operation lever 31 is rotated from the position A to the position B. As a result, the pin 33 of the operating lever 31 is disengaged from the concave portion 34 of the arm 32 and engages with the concave portion 35, and the arm 32 is guided by the guide plate 27
Since it rotates counterclockwise around the support shaft 28,
The paper discharge pinch roller 23 is retracted from the intermediate roller 21. By the rotation operation of the operation lever 31 from the position A to the position B at this time, the link 40 is rotated clockwise as shown by an imaginary line, so that the link 41 is rotated clockwise by the urging force of the spring 44. It is pressed by the operating body 38 and rotates counterclockwise. That is, the operating body 38 follows the operation of the retracting mechanism 29, and the detected piece 37 is moved to the housing 14.
Of the detector 45 to block the optical axis of the detector 45. The detection signal of the detector 45 that switches at this time is the intermediate roller 2
The control unit on the printer 1 side recognizes that the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is retracted from the printer 1. With this recognition,
The control unit of the printer 1 rejects the sheet feeding request from the automatic sheet feeding device 13, and permits the sheet feeding request from the manual insertion slot 8.

As a result, even when a long sheet S is fed from the manual insertion slot 8, the intermediate roller 21 and the paper discharge pinch roller 23 can feed the paper without blocking the path. After printing, the paper discharge roller 18 is driven to drive the paper S
May be discharged to the stacker 16, or the conveying roller 7 may be reversed and the sheet may be conveyed again toward the manual insertion slot 8.

As described above, withdrawal of the paper discharge pinch roller 23 from the intermediate roller 21 is performed by the operation of the operation lever 31 by the operator, and the operation of the operating body 38 which is interlocked with the operation of the operation lever 31. Detector 4
5, the printer 1 surely recognizes whether the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is retracted from the intermediate roller 21, and based on the recognition, the paper feed from the manual insertion slot 8 is permitted. Control can be performed.

As described above, since the detector 45 for recognizing the state of the paper discharge pinch roller 23 on the printer 1 side is provided on the printer 1 side, the printer 1 and the automatic paper feeding device 13 are existing. It can be connected using a connector. Further, the detector 45 is not manually operated, and the detection signal is switched depending on the position of the operating body 38 that follows the operation of the operation lever 31 operated by the operator. Therefore, the paper discharge pinch roller 23 with respect to the intermediate roller 21 is switched.
The state of can be surely recognized. Based on this recognition, it is possible to avoid an erroneous operation of feeding the paper S from the manual insertion hole 8 in a state where the intermediate roller 21 and the paper discharge pinch roller 23 are in contact with each other.

When the operating lever 31 is rotated to the position B and the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is retracted from the intermediate roller 21, the detected piece 37 is moved from the housing 14 to the printer 1.
The detection target piece 37, which protrudes to the side, is removed from the printer 1 in this state and is exposed to the outside at that time.
Even if the device touches an external device, the actuating body 38 can rotate against the biasing force of the spring 44, so that the detected piece 37 can be retracted inside the housing 14. As a result, damage to the detected piece 37 can be prevented.

It should be noted that when the paper S is fed from the manual insertion port 8, the paper discharge pinch roller 23 is retracted from the intermediate roller 21, but the intermediate roller 21 is moved from the paper discharge pinch roller 23. You may make it evacuate.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the paper sent from the hopper by the paper feed roller is transferred to the printer in front by the intermediate roller, and the printed paper returned from the printer is discharged to the intermediate roller and the paper discharge. An automatic paper feeding device is provided that delivers the paper to the paper ejection roller of the stacker at the rear by using the pinch roller, and stops the paper feeding roller, the intermediate roller, and the paper ejection roller to feed the paper from the front inlet of the printer. When paper is to be ejected, the paper ejecting pinch roller or the intermediate roller has a retracting mechanism that retracts from the paper ejecting path. The operation of the retracting mechanism is detected to retract the paper ejecting pinch roller or the intermediate roller in the paper ejecting path. Since the printer is equipped with a detector that recognizes the state of advancement, when the paper is fed from the insertion slot, the retract mechanism operates to eject the pinch roller or the intermediate pinch roller of the automatic paper feeder. When the printer is retracted from the paper discharge path, the state can be surely recognized by the detection signal of the detector provided on the printer side, and based on the recognition, the paper is fed from the inlet. Control can be performed on the side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the automatic sheet feeding device is displaceable with one end formed with a piece to be detected projected from the housing toward the printer and detected by the detector. Since the operating member is urged in one direction by the urging member so that the detected piece projects from the housing following the operation of the retracting mechanism,
When the actuating body is displaced following the operation of the retracting mechanism, the detected piece projects from the housing depending on its position and is detected by the detector, so that the ejecting pinch roller or the intermediate roller in the ejecting path is retracted and advanced. The state can be reliably detected by the detector via the actuating body. In this case, the actuating member follows the operation of the retracting mechanism by the urging force of the urging member, and the detected piece projects from the housing. Therefore, the detected piece is housed in the housing against the urging force of the urging member. The actuating body can be displaced in the direction by an external force. As a result, the evacuation mechanism is operated to switch the state of the paper discharge path of the automatic paper feeder, and the detected paper piece is projected from the housing toward the printer, and the automatic paper feeder is removed from the printer. Even if the detected piece exposed to the outside comes into contact with an external device, the actuating body rotates against the urging force of the urging member, so that the detected piece can be retracted inside the housing. Thereby, damage to the detected piece can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing an overall schematic structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing the configuration of a retracting mechanism of an automatic paper feeding device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing the relationship between the retracting mechanism of the automatic paper feeder, the operating body, and the detector on the printer side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 printer 8 way 13 Automatic paper feeder 15 hoppers 16 stacker 17 Paper feed roller 18 Paper ejection roller 20 Paper output passage 21 Intermediate roller 23 Paper ejection pinch rollers 29 Retraction mechanism 37 Detected piece 38 Actuator 45 detector

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 29/22 B41J 13/00 B65H 11/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hopper disposed behind the printer for storing sheets in a stacked state, a stacker disposed under the hopper for storing printed sheets, and a sheet feeding roller for feeding the sheets in the hopper. An intermediate roller that is always driven in one direction to deliver the sheet sent out by the sheet feeding roller to the printer in the front and convey the sheet returned from the printer toward the stacker in the rear, A paper discharge pinch roller which is provided so as to come into contact with and separate from the intermediate roller with a paper discharge path extending from the intermediate roller to the hopper interposed therebetween, and a paper which is arranged at an end portion of the hopper and passed from the intermediate roller. An automatic paper feeding device provided with a paper discharging roller for discharging the
When the paper feed roller, the intermediate roller, and the paper discharge roller are stopped and the paper is fed from the front insertion slot of the printer, the paper discharge pinch roller or the intermediate roller is connected to the paper discharge path. The printer is provided with a detector having a retracting mechanism for separating the printer from the printer, and detecting the operation of the retracting mechanism to recognize the retracted or advanced state of the paper discharge pinch roller or the intermediate roller in the paper discharge passage. Characteristic paper transport device. 2. The automatic paper feeding device comprises a displaceable actuating member having a piece to be detected, which is projected from a housing thereof toward a printer and detected by a detector, formed at one end thereof, and the actuating member operates as a retracting mechanism. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detected piece is urged in one direction by an urging member so that the detected piece projects from the housing.