JP3668333B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a continuous paper printing apparatus, and more particularly, to a printing apparatus having a function of automatically feeding continuous paper and automatically discharging continuous paper when the paper is replaced.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The automatic feeding of the conventional printing apparatus is as follows.
That is, conventionally, an operator holds the leading end of continuous paper (hereinafter abbreviated as paper) stored in a continuous paper box (hopper) and hangs it on the pin of the tractor as the first conveying means, and sets the paper on the tractor. After that, the automatic paper feed start switch provided on the operator panel of the printing apparatus is pushed down to give an instruction for automatic paper feeding (auto load). After that, the printing apparatus automatically turns on the tractor and the scuff flora as the second conveying means. In order to check the operation of the paper transport system, the autoload is performed to transport the paper until the front end of the paper reaches the stacker.
[0003]
Also, the conventional paper discharge method that accompanies paper replacement is that the operator cuts paper near the hopper and removes unused paper together with the continuous paper box, while printed paper drives the tractor and scuff flora. Then, it was discharged into the stacker, and the discharged paper was taken out and replaced.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional automatic paper feeding, the paper from the photosensitive drum to the stacker is transported to the stacker at the same time as printing is started and is not printed, so this portion of paper is wasted.
In addition, when the paper is replaced, the paper is cut in the vicinity of the hopper, so that unprinted paper from the hopper to the photosensitive drum is discharged together with the printed paper to the stacker, and the paper is similarly wasted. .
[0005]
This waste is a problem that cannot be ignored by users who frequently change the type of paper.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and minimizes paper waste.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, when automatically feeding the continuous paper to the printing apparatus, the head of the continuous paper is so as to stop the sheet in position passing through the scuff roller.
That is, the apparatus according to claim 1 includes a printing unit that performs a series of printing operations for transferring and fixing an image on an image carrier onto a continuous sheet, and a continuous unit disposed upstream of the printing unit and housed in a hopper. A first conveying unit that conveys a sheet to the printing unit; a second conveying unit that is disposed downstream of the printing unit and conveys the continuous sheet to the stacker; the first conveying unit and the printing unit; And a sheet conveyance control unit disposed between the sheet detection unit and the sheet conveyance control unit. The sheet conveyance control unit detects the leading edge of the continuous sheet from the sensor based on a detection signal from the sensor. and to convey the continuous paper to stop at position passing through the second transport means.
[0007]
According to the configuration described above, since the sheets are not conveyed to the stacker, it is possible to eliminate the waste of sheets from the scuff flora to the stacker. When replacing the paper, first, the printed paper is transported to the stacker, the paper is cut at the boundary line between the printed part and the unprinted part, the printed paper is discharged to the stacker, and the transport means is reversed. The unprinted paper was collected in a hopper and the paper was changed.
The sheet conveyance control unit includes distance counter means that counts when the sensor detects the leading edge of the continuous sheet, and time counter means that counts when the sensor does not detect the leading edge of the continuous sheet. And when the count value of the time counter means exceeds a preset specified value, the power supply to the first and second conveying means can be stopped.
[0008]
Yet the paper transport control unit, the sheet replacement instruction to convey the printed continuous paper stacker direction, after the continuous paper is cut, configured to reverse feeding continuous paper unprinted hopper direction It is preferred that
[0009]
According to the configuration described above, only printed paper can be discharged to the stacker, and unprinted paper can be collected, so that waste of paper can be eliminated.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the printing apparatus of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a continuous paper, and 2 is a hopper in which the paper 1 is folded and stored. Reference numeral 3 denotes a tractor as a first conveying means. Reference numeral 4 denotes a driving device (motor) for driving the tractor 3. A sheet guide 5 guides the sheet 1 to the tractor 3. A sensor 6 detects the presence or absence of the paper 1. The sensor 6 detects the sheet edge by detecting the edge of the sheet. Reference numeral 7 denotes a photosensitive drum as an image carrier, which carries a toner image formed by image forming means (not shown) on the surface of the photoreceptor while rotating. A transfer unit 8 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum surface to the sheet 1. A fixing unit 9 heats the toner image transferred to the paper 1 and fixes it on the paper 1. Reference numeral 10 denotes a scuff flora as a second conveying means. Reference numeral 11 denotes a driving device (motor) that rotates the scuff flora 10. The scuff flora 10 is rotated by the driving device 11 so as to be over-fed from the upstream conveying means during normal rotation, and the paper 1 is nipped by a roller and pulled out, and at the same time, sent out downstream. Reference numeral 12 denotes a sensor that rotates following the paper 1 at the position of the scuff flora 10 and detects paper jam. Reference numeral 13 denotes a swing guide for folding the paper 1. A paper guide 14 guides the paper 1 discharged from the scuff roller 10 to the swing guide 13. Reference numeral 15 denotes a stacker for storing printed sheets 1. Reference numeral 16 denotes a paper conveyance control unit which controls the driving devices 4 and 11 from information of an operator panel (not shown) and each sensor.
[0011]
Next, a conventional automatic paper feeding method will be described below.
First, the operator holds the front end of the paper 1 stored in the continuous paper box, hooks sprocket holes provided on both sides of the paper 1 to the tractor pins, and sets the paper 1 on the tractor 3. Next, an automatic sheet feeding start switch on an operator panel (not shown) of the printing apparatus is pressed down to instruct automatic sheet feeding (auto loading).
[0012]
Upon receiving the autoload instruction, the paper conveyance control unit 16 activates the driving device 4 that drives the tractor 3 and the driving device 11 that drives the scuff roller 10 to convey the paper downstream. Next, when the sensor 6 detects the head of the sheet 1 sent, the sheet conveyance control unit 16 determines the autoload sheet length stored in the internal storage device such as the ROM, that is, the position of the sensor 6. The distance data to the scuff roller 10 is read out, and the driving devices 4 and 11 are further driven by the amount of data, and the paper 1 is conveyed downstream by the tractor 3 and scuff roller 10.
[0013]
The conveyed sheet 1 passes through the photosensitive drum 7, the transfer unit 8, and the fixing unit 9, reaches the scuff roller 10, and is nipped. The paper transport speed of the scuff flora 10 is set slightly earlier than the paper feed speed of the tactor 3, and the paper 1 is pulled. Accordingly, the sheet 1 is fed in a state of tension between the scuff flora 10 and the tractor 3. Since the paper is tensed, it is possible to prevent transfer misalignment at the photosensitive drum and paper contamination at the fixing unit when printing is started.
[0014]
After the driving of the driving devices 4 and 11 is completed, the paper transport control unit 16 looks at the state of the sensor 12, and when the sensor 12 is rotated following the paper 1, automatic paper feeding is correctly performed. The process is terminated. On the other hand, if the sheet has never been rotated, it is determined that the sheet 1 is jammed at some point and the automatic feeding cannot be normally performed, and an error is displayed and the process ends.
[0015]
Next, the operation of the paper transport control unit 16 will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of automatic paper feed processing executed by the paper transport control unit.
The paper transport control unit 16 waits for an autoload command from the operator (# 1).
When the autoload command arrives, the drive device 4 is energized and driven to rotate the tractor 3 in the forward direction. At the same time, the drive device 11 is energized to rotate the scuff flora 10 in the same direction as the tractor 3 and slightly faster than the conveying speed (# 2). Subsequently, the time monitoring counter provided in the sheet conveyance control unit 16 is reset to zero (# 3).
[0016]
Next, by looking at the output of the paper detection sensor 6, it is determined whether the paper 1 has been conveyed to the paper detection sensor 6 (# 4).
Here, when the sensor 6 has detected a sheet, the value of the distance from the sensor 6 to the scuff roller 10 stored in the memory built in the sheet conveyance control unit 16 is also used as the sheet conveyance control. The data is loaded into the distance counter built in the unit 16 (# 5). Subsequently, the driving devices 4 and 11 are driven in the positive direction for a certain time, and at the same time, the distance counter is decremented by 1 (# 6).
[0017]
Next, it is determined whether the value of the distance counter is zero (# 7). If the counter value is not zero, the driving devices 4 and 11 are further driven for a certain time, and the distance counter is decremented by 1 (# 6). If the distance counter value is zero, the driving of the driving devices 4 and 11 is stopped, and the tractor 3 and the scuff roller 10 are stopped (# 8).
Next, the output of the jam detection sensor 12 is checked to determine whether a paper jam has occurred (# 9). If the jam detection sensor 12 does not detect a jam, the automatic paper feeding process is normally terminated. On the other hand, if a jam has been detected, an error is displayed (# 13), and the automatic paper feed process is terminated.
[0018]
If the sensor 6 has not detected a sheet in step # 4, the time monitoring counter is incremented (# 10), and it is determined whether the value of the time counter exceeds a specified value (# 11). If the value of the time counter does not exceed the specified value, the process returns to step # 4 again. On the other hand, if the value of the time counter exceeds the specified value, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the paper conveyance by the tractor 3, the energization of the driving devices 4 and 11 is stopped, and the scuff roller 10 and the tractor 3 are stopped. (# 12), an error occurrence is displayed (# 13), and the automatic paper feeding process is terminated.
[0019]
As described above, in automatic paper feeding, automatic paper feeding is stopped at a position immediately after the top of the paper passes through the scuff flora, so that the paper up to the stacker is not required as in the prior art, and the waste of paper is reduced.
Further, there is an excellent effect that the time for transporting to the stacker is not required and time is reduced.
[0020]
In addition, although the above embodiment demonstrated the case where a scuff roller was used as a 2nd conveyance means, this is good also as a tractor with a sprocket.
Further, the first and second transport means may be the same scuff flora, the first transport means may be a scuff flora, and the second transport means may be a tractor with a sprocket.
[0021]
Further, although the photosensitive drum has been described as the image carrier, this may be a belt-like photosensitive film.
Next, an embodiment of the second invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.
When printing is finished and a different type of continuous paper is exchanged, first, the operator presses a paper exchange switch on an operator panel (not shown). When the paper replacement switch is pressed, the paper transport control unit 16 drives the tractor 3 and the scuff roller 10 as the transport means by the driving devices 4 and 11, discharges the printed paper 1 to the stacker 15, and then temporarily Stop paper transport.
[0022]
Next, the sheet 1 is cut at the boundary between the printed and unprinted forms of the sheet 1, and the printed sheet 1 is placed on the stacker 15. When the sheet is cut manually, the operator cuts the sheet 1 in the case of manual operation, and in the case of automatic, the sheet 1 is cut using an automatic cutter that is generally used in front of the stacker 15 (not shown).
Next, in the case of automatic operation, in the case of manual operation, the operator again presses a paper replacement switch on an operator panel (not shown) to instruct the paper conveyance control unit 16 to perform reverse feed, and upon receiving this instruction, the paper conveyance control unit 16 reversely drives the driving devices 4 and 11 to return the separated unprinted paper 1 to the hopper side, and when the sensor 6 for detecting the head of the paper 1 detects the head of the paper, 11 is stopped. At this time, the top of the sheet is stopped on the tractor 3, the sheet 1 is removed from the tractor 3, and the sheet 1 is replaced with the next sheet together with the box.
[0023]
Next, the operation of the paper transport control unit 16 at the time of paper replacement will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a sheet exchange process executed by the sheet conveyance control unit.
The paper transport control unit 16 waits for a paper replacement command from the operator (# 21).
When the sheet replacement command arrives, the drive device 4 is energized, the tractor 3 is rotated in the forward direction, the drive device 11 is also energized, in the same direction as the tractor 3 and slightly faster than its conveying speed. The scuff flora 10 is rotated (# 22). Subsequently, the distance data from the transfer unit to the stacker is loaded into the distance counter in the sheet conveyance control unit 16 (# 23), and the distance counter is decreased by 1 every time the driving devices 4 and 11 are driven in the positive direction for a predetermined time. (# 24).
[0024]
Next, it is determined whether the distance counter value is zero (# 22). If the distance counter value is not zero, the process returns to step # 24. If the distance counter value is zero, the activation of the drive devices 4 and 11 is stopped (# 26).
Next, a paper cutting instruction is sent to an automatic paper cutter (not shown) (# 27), and a response for cutting completion is waited (# 28).
[0025]
When the cutting completion response arrives, the driving devices 4 and 11 are reversed, and the tractor 3 and the scuff flora 10 feed the paper back to the hopper side (# 29).
Next, by looking at the output of the sensor 6, it is determined whether or not the sheet is fed back and is no longer on the sensor (# 30). If the sensor 6 does not detect the absence of paper, the detection is repeated until the absence of paper is detected. If the sensor 6 detects the absence of paper, the driving devices 4 and 11 are stopped (# 31), and the paper is removed. The paper is removed from the tractor and removed, and the paper exchange process is terminated.
[0026]
As described above, when the paper is replaced, all the unprinted paper can be collected, so that waste of paper can be eliminated.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the waste of paper and perform the automatic paper feeding in a short time in automatic paper feeding.
Further, it is possible to eliminate waste of paper when replacing paper.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an automatic paper feed process executed by a paper transport control unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a sheet replacement process executed by a sheet conveyance control unit according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Continuous paper 2 Continuous paper box (hopper)
3 First transport means (tractor)
4 Drive unit (motor)
5 Paper guide 6 Sensor 7 Photosensitive drum 8 Transfer section 9 Fixing section 10 Second transport means (scuff flora)
11 Drive device (motor)
12 Jam detection sensor 13 Swing guide 14 Paper guide 15 Stacker 16 Paper transport controller

Claims (3)

A printing unit that performs a series of printing operations for transferring and fixing the image on the image carrier onto continuous paper;
First conveying means for conveying a continuous sheet disposed upstream of the printing unit and stored in a hopper to the printing unit;
A second transport unit disposed on the downstream side of the printing unit to transport the continuous paper to the stacker side;
A sensor that is disposed between the first transport unit and the printing unit and detects a leading edge of the continuous paper;
A paper conveyance control unit,
The sheet conveyance control unit based on the detection signal from the sensor, said continuous paper tip transporting the continuous paper to stop at position having passed through the second transport means from the sensor Characteristic printing device. The paper conveyance control unit
Distance counter means for counting when the sensor detects the leading edge of the continuous paper;
Time counter means for counting when the sensor does not detect the leading edge of the continuous paper,
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the count value of the time counter means exceeds a preset specified value, energization to the first and second transport means is stopped. Printing device. The sheet conveyance control unit conveys a printed continuous sheet in a stacker direction by a sheet replacement command , and reversely feeds an unprinted continuous sheet in a hopper direction after the continuous sheet is cut. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 .

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