JP3920639B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention particularly relates to a printer that inserts a print medium from a paper insertion port on the back of the printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
[Prior art]
Labels used in printers include narrow roll labels used for foods and fanfold labels in which wide unit labels used for logistics are folded in zigzags and stacked. The label setting work for the printer is different.
A narrow roll-shaped label is loaded on a label supply shaft inside the printer main body, while a wide fanfold-shaped label is placed outside the printer and inserted from a paper insertion opening on the back of the printer. A printer using such a wide fanfold label will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 shows a perspective view from the front of the printer, and FIG. 5 shows a perspective view from the back of the printer. The printer 30 includes a printer main body 31 and a lid 32, and the lid 32 can be opened and closed in the vertical direction around a hinge 35 provided on the back surface of the printer main body 31. The paper jam that occurs can be cleared. The printer main body 31 has a display unit 9 and an operation switch group 7 on the front side of the printer on the paper discharge port 6 side, and a paper insertion port 2 and an interface connector 28 on the back side of the printer. The switch group 7 includes an online change-over switch 33 and a feed switch 34, and performs a predetermined operation when the switch group 7 is pressed, and displays a predetermined operation content on the display unit 9. When paper is set by such a printer, a fanfold label 11 as a paper is inserted from the paper insertion port 2 on the back of the printer, and a paper conveyance path formed between the paper insertion port and the paper discharge port. By inserting the paper to a certain position and depressing the feed switch 34 disposed on the front surface of the printer, the paper is conveyed to the fixed position.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the feed switch 34 is disposed only on the front side of the printer on the side of the paper discharge port 6, the paper setting is very troublesome. That is, when the lid 32 is opened for paper setting, the lid 32 rises around the hinge 35 on the back of the printer main body 31 and hinders the visibility to the front side and the paper setting operation. One end of a wide fanfold label 11 is held and inserted through the paper insertion slot 2 on the back of the printer, and the fanfold label 11 is held in parallel with the paper transport path while the other hand is used to feed a feed switch on the front of the printer. 34 must be pressed. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, the end of the other end which is not held by the hand of the fanfold label 11 hangs down due to the weight of the fanfold label 11, and is parallel to the paper transport path (appropriate) It is difficult to set the paper (in the position), causing a paper jam.
[0004]
In particular, when a wide label having a two-layer or three-layer base material structure is used, the wide label becomes heavy, and thus it is more difficult to hold the wide label parallel to the paper conveyance path with one hand. . As a method for solving this problem, it is conceivable to mount an automatic paper feeding mechanism for automatically setting paper on the printer, but this increases the cost of the printer.
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and provides a printer capable of easily setting paper by providing a paper feed switch in the vicinity of the paper insertion slot.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a printer including an insertion port for inserting paper and a discharge port for discharging paper, and an input unit including at least a first paper transport input unit provided in the vicinity of the discharge port; A second paper conveyance input unit provided in the vicinity of the insertion port, and a conveyance control unit for controlling the paper conveyance based on signals input from the first and second paper conveyance input units. Features.
[0007]
Further, the first paper transport input unit and the second paper transport input unit are logically connected.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the same parts as those in FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the printer 1 mainly includes a paper insertion port 2, a conveyance unit 3, a paper sensor unit 4, a printing unit 5, a paper discharge port 6, a switch group 7, a second feed switch 8, a display unit 9, and a control unit. 10 is provided.
[0009]
The paper insertion slot 2 is for inserting a fanfold label 11 disposed outside the printer into the printer, and the inserted fanfold label 11 is guided to the transport unit 3.
[0010]
The transport unit 3 is composed of a pair of rollers 12 and 12 and rotates in the direction of the arrow by driving a motor (not shown) to transport the fanfold label 11 toward the print unit 5.
[0011]
The paper sensor unit 4 is a reflection sensor 13 having a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and is for recognizing a paper position by detecting an identification mark (not shown) on the back surface of the fanfold label 11.
[0012]
The print unit 5 includes a print head 14 and a platen roller 15, and the print head 14 positions and prints a sheet at a predetermined position in response to the identification mark detection signal from the reflection sensor 13. The platen roller 15 is rotated by the rotational force of the motor 17 transmitted through the belt 16, and the fanfold label 11 is conveyed by sandwiching the fanfold label 11 between the print head 14 and the platen roller 15, and the paper is discharged. Discharge from outlet 6. The pair of rollers 12 and 12 and the platen roller 15 rotate synchronously.
[0013]
The switch group 7 includes an online changeover switch 33 and a feed switch 34 as a first paper conveyance input unit, and is located in front of the printer on the paper discharge port 6 side.
[0014]
A second feed switch 8 serving as a second paper conveyance input unit is a switch for conveying the fanfold label 11 inserted from the paper insertion slot 2 to the printing unit 5 side. Rotate in the direction of the arrow. The second feed switch 8 is disposed on the back of the printer on the paper insertion slot 2 side. The feed switch 34 as the first paper transport input unit and the second feed switch 8 as the second paper transport input unit are connected by a so-called OR circuit. That is, when one of the feed switch 34 on the front surface of the printer body 31 or the second feed switch 8 on the back surface is pressed, the rollers 12 and 12 are rotated so that the fanfold label 11 is conveyed to the printing unit 5 side. It has become.
[0015]
The display unit 9 is a display such as an LCD, and displays the current output status, printer setting information, and the like.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the control unit 10 of the printer 1 according to the embodiment of FIG.
[0017]
The control unit 10 temporarily stores a ROM (read only memory) 21, a CPU (central processing unit) 20 that operates according to a predetermined control program stored in the ROM 21 and controls each unit, and print data and commands. A RAM (random access memory) 22, a conveyance control unit 23 that controls driving of the motor 17, a paper detection unit 24 that detects the position of the fanfold label 11 based on a signal output from the paper sensor 4, and a received command The print control unit 25 that sends desired data to the print head 12 to perform printing based on the print data and the print settings and commands received from the host computer 29 connected via the interface 28 are displayed on the display unit 9. Input from the display control unit 26 and the switch group 7 or the second feed switch 8 as an input unit. When the print data and commands are sent from the host computer 29 via the interface 28, the input control unit 27 for controlling the received instructions and the data bus 19 to which these units are connected are received. And the fanfold label 11 is printed according to the command.
[0018]
Next, a paper setting operation in the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0019]
In the same figure, the front end of the fanfold label 11 arranged on the back of the printer is pulled out, both ends in the width direction of the fanfold label 11 are held with both hands, inserted through the insertion port 2 of the printer 1, and held with both hands. The fanfold label 11 is inserted into the pair of rollers 12 and 12 until the tip of the fanfold label 11 contacts. While holding both ends of the fanfold label 11 with both hands, the second feed switch 8 is pressed with the index finger of the right hand to rotate the pair of rollers 12 and 12 in the direction of the arrow.
[0020]
The fanfold label 11 is conveyed in the direction of the printing unit 5 by the rotation of the pair of rollers 12 and 12, and an identification mark (not shown) on the back surface of the fanfold label 11 is detected by the reflection sensor 13, and the detection signal is detected as a sheet. The rotation of the motor 17 is controlled by the feed conveyance control unit 23 to the unit 24. As a result, conveyance of the fanfold label 11 is stopped at an appropriate printing start position, that is, a position where the tip of the fanfold label 11 reaches the printing unit 5, and paper setting is completed.
As described above, since the second feed switch is provided on the paper insertion port side of the printer, it is possible to press the second feed switch while holding the paper with both hands at the time of paper setting, and the feed switch in the lid opening operation of the printer Since the pressing is not hindered, the paper can be set easily.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the feed switch is provided in the vicinity of the paper insertion opening for inserting the paper, even if the cover is opened, the feed switch is not obstructed, so the paper can be set easily. It becomes.
Also, a switch group including a feed switch is provided in the vicinity of the printer insertion port for inserting paper from the paper insertion port of the printer, and a second feed switch is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge insertion port. The feed switch and the second feed switch Since a logical OR connection is used, the paper sheet transport operation can be performed from either the paper discharge port side or the paper insertion port side switch.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the printer. FIG. 3 is a back view of the printer for explaining a paper setting operation by the printer. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the front of the printer showing a conventional printer. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the back of the printer showing the printer.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer, 2 paper insertion slot, 3 conveyance part, 4 paper sensor, 5 printing part, 6 paper discharge port, 7 input part (switch group), 8 2nd paper conveyance part (2nd feed switch), 9 display part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Control part, 11 Fanfold-like label, 12 rollers, 13 Reflection sensor, 14 Print head, 15 Platen roller, 16 Belt, 17 Motor, 19 Data bus, 20 CPU, 21 ROM, 22 RAM, 23 Conveyance control part, 24 paper detection unit, 25 print head control unit, 26 display control unit, 27 input control unit, 28 interface, 29 host computer, 30 printer, 31 printer main body, 32, lid 33, online changeover switch, 34 feed switch,
35 Hinge

Claims (2)

A printer including an insertion port for inserting paper and a discharge port for discharging paper, and an input unit including at least a first paper transport input unit provided in the vicinity of the discharge port;
A second paper conveyance input section provided in the vicinity of the insertion port ;
A printer comprising: a conveyance control unit configured to control sheet conveyance based on signals input from the first and second sheet conveyance input units . 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the first paper transport input unit and the second paper transport input unit are logically connected.

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