JP4393671B2 - Media skew prevention mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a medium skew prevention mechanism in an apparatus for conveying a medium such as a certificate or a slip.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Banks and companies that deliver goods use devices that print information such as certificate issuers, numbers, slip requesters, and delivery destinations on paper media such as certificates and slips. This type of printing apparatus stores a paper medium such as a slip or a certificate to be printed in an internal storage unit, conveys the paper medium in the storage unit to the printing unit, performs printing, and then outputs the paper medium to the outside. It has become.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When a paper medium such as a slip is transported to a printing position, the slip may be transported obliquely, and there is a problem that the slip is printed out of the position to be printed.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to prevent a medium from being conveyed obliquely.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is a skew feeding prevention mechanism when transporting a medium to a predetermined position, and includes a curved transport path, a reference roller provided on an inlet or outlet side of the curved transport path, and the curved A plurality of levers inserted into a plurality of slits of a conveyance path and applied with a rotational force in a direction in which the end of the medium abuts against the reference roller by a spring; the medium is sandwiched between the reference rollers; and the curved conveyance When being conveyed from the outside to the inside of the path, the plurality of levers are pressed by the front end portion of the medium and moved in the conveyance direction, and then the rear end portion of the medium is separated from the reference roller, When the medium is not sandwiched between the reference rollers inside the curved conveyance path, the front end of the medium is transported up to that time by the repulsive force of the springs of the plurality of levers. And is pressed in the opposite direction, the rear end portion of the medium is characterized in that it is uniformly abutment with the reference roller.
[0008]
According to the present invention, when the medium is not sandwiched between the reference rollers inside the curved conveyance path, the medium is pressed in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction by the plurality of levers. The rear end can be uniformly abutted against the reference roller.
Further, the medium bends substantially uniformly along the curved surface of the conveyance path, and the medium is fed out in the direction of the reference roller by a force that restores the bent medium to the original state.
[0009]
When the reference roller and the curved conveyance path are arranged on the medium conveyance path at a position that has passed the printing unit, and the feeding unit is in a free state in the conveyance path where the medium passes through the printing unit and the medium is curved. The medium may be returned in the direction of the printing unit, and the end surface of the medium may be abutted against the reference roller.
[0010]
By comprising in this way, the mechanism for preventing skew feeding can be provided in a part different from the conveyance path, so that the conveyance path can be configured more compactly.
The feeding portion can be constituted by, for example, a plurality of levers and an elastic member. A curved plate-like member is provided with a plurality of slits, a plurality of levers are inserted into the slits, an elastic member is connected to the plurality of levers, and a force is applied to feed the medium toward the reference roller by the plurality of levers. You may do it.
[0011]
By feeding the medium with a plurality of levers, it is possible to prevent the skew of the medium having various widths. Moreover, since it can be comprised with elastic members, such as a lever and a spring, a structure becomes simple.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013]
The printing apparatus 11 includes storage units 12 and 13 that store media such as slips and certificates having different sizes or specifications, feeding rollers 14 and 15 that respectively feed out media from the storage units 12 and 13, and the medium has a magnetic stripe or the like. In this case, the MS unit 16 for writing predetermined data to the magnetic stripe, the transport rollers 17 and 18 driven by a motor or the like, and the pinch rollers 19 and 20 for feeding the medium in contact with the transport rollers 17 and 18 respectively. The print head 21, the platen 22 that fixes the medium when printing, the skew correction mechanism 23 that corrects the skew of the medium, the stacker 24 that stores the printed medium, and rejected due to some defect. And a reject unit 25 for storing the medium.
[0014]
The medium stored in the storage unit 12 or 13 is fed to the transport path by the feed roller 14 or 15 and transported to the print head 21 by the transport rollers 17 and 18. The medium conveyed to the position of the print head 21 passes through the print head 21 and is conveyed to the skew correction mechanism unit 23. The skew correction mechanism unit 23 includes two curved plate-shaped guides, a reference roller, and a lever that abuts the medium against the reference roller, and the end surface of the medium is abutted against the reference roller by the lever. Thereby, the skew of the medium is corrected.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is a left side view of the skew correction mechanism 23, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the skew correction mechanism unit 23 includes two reference rollers 31 and 32, pinch rollers 33 and 34 that are in contact with the reference rollers 31 and 32, respectively, and a conveyance path for the medium 35. The curved plate-like guides 36 and 37, a lever 38, and a coil spring (elastic member) 49 that applies a force to the lever 38 in a direction in which the medium 35 abuts against the reference rollers 31 and 32 are provided. The reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34 are made of, for example, rubber. As an elastic member for applying an urging force to the lever 38, a leaf spring, rubber or resin spring, or other elastic body may be used.
[0016]
The lever 38 is made of, for example, a steel plate, plastic, or the like, and includes four levers 38a to 38d as shown in FIG.
The pinch roller 33 is rotatably attached to the attachment plate 39, and the attachment plate 39 is rotatably attached to the shaft 40 of the adjustment plate 42. Further, one end of a coil spring 41 is fixed to the attachment plate 39, and the other end of the coil spring 41 is fixed to the adjustment plate 42. The adjustment plate 42 is fixed to the apparatus main body with screws or the like.
[0017]
That is, the mounting plate 39 is given a force that rotates clockwise around the shaft 40 by the coil spring 41, and as a result, the pinch roller 33 comes into pressure contact with the reference roller 31.
[0018]
Similarly, the pinch roller 34 shown in FIG. 3 is rotatably attached to the attachment plate 43, and the attachment plate 43 is rotatably attached to the shaft 44 of the adjustment plate 46. Furthermore, one end of a coil spring 45 is fixed to the attachment plate 43, and the other end of the coil spring 45 is fixed to the adjustment plate 46. The adjustment plate 46 is fixed to the apparatus main body with screws or the like. A force that presses the pinch roller 34 against the reference roller 34 is also applied by the coil spring 45.
[0019]
The reference roller 32 is configured to be wide, and the pinch roller 34 comes into contact with the reference roller 32 when the mounting position of the mounting plate 46 is shifted according to the width of the medium.
[0020]
In FIG. 2, the lever 38 is provided with a through hole, and the through hole is inserted into a shaft 48 provided in the mounting plate 47. One end of the coil spring 49 is fixed to a portion opposite to the portion where the lever 38 presses the medium 35, and the other end of the coil spring 49 is fixed to the apparatus main body.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 3, the lever 38 includes four levers 38a to 38d. Four slits 51a to 51d are provided at positions corresponding to the levers 38a to 38d of the guides 36 and 37, and the levers 38a to 38d are The structure is such that it does not come into contact with the guides 36 and 37 when rotated.
[0022]
The levers 38a and 38b are made by bending a single steel plate into a U-shape with a press or the like, and two through holes for inserting the shaft 48 are provided in the vicinity of the bent portion. One end of a coil spring 49 is attached to the center of the levers 38a and 38b opposite to the portion that presses the medium 35, and the other end of the coil spring 49 is fixed to the apparatus main body.
[0023]
Similarly, the levers 38c and 38d are made by bending a single steel plate into a U-shape with a press or the like, and are provided with two through holes for inserting the shaft 48. Further, one end of a coil spring 50 is attached to the central portion of the lever 38c and 38d opposite to the portion that presses the medium 35, and the other end of the coil spring 50 is fixed to the apparatus main body.
[0024]
As a result, the levers 38 a to 38 d are given a force that rotates clockwise by the coil springs 49 and 50, so that the medium 35 can be pressed in the direction of the reference rollers 31 and 32.
[0025]
Next, FIG. 4 is a top view of the attachment portion of the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34.
The adjustment plate 42 that adjusts the attachment position of the pinch roller 33 is provided with a long hole in the vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the shaft 53) in FIG. 4. By adjusting the attachment position of the adjustment plate 42 up and down, The attachment position of the pinch roller 33 can be moved in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 53. Thereby, the surface connecting the pinch roller 33 and the pinch roller 34 can be adjusted to be parallel to the shaft 52.
[0026]
Further, the adjustment plate 46 for adjusting the attachment position of the pinch roller 34 is provided with a long hole in the left-right direction in FIG. In this embodiment, since the width of the reference roller 32 in the direction of the axis 52 is widened, the pinch roller 34 can be brought into an appropriate position with respect to various width media by changing the mounting position of the adjusting plate 46. Can be fixed.
[0027]
Next, the operation of correcting the skew of the medium 35 of the skew correction mechanism 23 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
Now, it is assumed that the medium 35 is transported from the right side in FIG. At this time, the medium 35 is sandwiched between the conveyance roller 18 driven by the motor and the pinch roller 19 that is in pressure contact with the conveyance roller 18, and is conveyed leftward in FIG. 2. When the leading edge of the medium 35 comes into contact with the reference rollers 31 and 32, the medium 35 is sandwiched between the reference rollers 31 and 32 that are rotated counterclockwise by a motor (not shown) and the pinch rollers 33 and 34 that are in pressure contact with the reference rollers 31 and 32. And is sent out between the curved guides 36 and 37.
[0028]
When the medium 35 is sent out between the curved guides 36 and 37 by the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the left end surface of the medium 35 (as viewed from the front in FIG. 2) contacts the levers 38a to 38d, the medium 35 is connected to the guide 36. The levers 38a to 38d are pressed in the counterclockwise direction while being bent by an amount corresponding to the gap between the levers 37 and 37. Finally, the right end surface (rear end surface) of the medium 35 is detached from the reference rollers 31 and 32, and the medium 35 becomes free. When the medium 35 is conveyed leftward for a certain time, the motor that drives the reference roller 31 stops rotating. The time until the motor stops is set to a time longer than the conveyance time until the trailing edge of the longest medium is removed from the reference roller 31.32.
[0029]
Since the levers 38a to 38d are given a clockwise rotational force by the coil springs 49 and 50, when the medium 35 is in a free state, the medium 35 is sent out in the direction of the reference rollers 31 and 32 by the levers 38a to 38d. The right end surface of the medium 35 abuts against the contact surface 53 of the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34.
[0030]
At this time, since the medium 35 is in a free state in the guides 36 and 37, even if the medium 35 is inclined, the end surfaces of the medium 35 are evenly placed on the reference rollers 31 and 32 by the levers 38a to 38d. The medium 35 is fed out until it hits, and the end surface of the medium 35 becomes parallel to the contact surface 52 of the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34, and the skew of the medium 35 is corrected.
[0031]
When the medium 35 hits the contact surface between the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34 and is further pressed in the direction of the reference rollers 31 and 32 by the levers 38a to 38d, the medium 35 is moved between the guides 36 and 37. Deflection only for the gap.
[0032]
In this state, when the reference rollers 31 and 32 are driven by a motor and rotated in the clockwise direction, the medium 35 deformed along the curved surfaces of the guides 36 and 37 causes the medium 35 to be restored to the original state. It is fed out in the direction of the reference rollers 31 and 32. At this time, by driving the motor to rotate the reference rollers 31 and 32 in the clockwise direction, the medium 35 can be conveyed to the position of the print head 21 with the skew corrected.
[0033]
According to this embodiment, even if the medium 35 is conveyed obliquely, the medium 35 can be conveyed to the position of the print head with the skew corrected, so that the medium 35 such as a certificate or a slip can be appropriately used. Can be printed at the position.
[0034]
In addition, since a guide having a curved shape is provided at a position where the guides 36 and 37 have passed through the print head 21 on the conveyance path, a mechanism for correcting skew is arranged in an empty space different from the conveyance path. This makes it possible to effectively use the space of the printing apparatus and reduce the size of the apparatus.
[0035]
Furthermore, since a plurality of levers 38a to 38d for abutting the medium 35 against the reference rollers 31 and 32 are provided, it is possible to cope with a plurality of types of media having different widths.
In addition, since the guides 36 and 37 are curved, when the medium 35 is pressed by the levers 38a to 38d and hits the reference rollers 31 and 32, the medium 35 bends in the guides 36 and 37, and the medium 35 is When returning to the direction of the print head 21, the medium 35 is fed in the direction of the reference rollers 31 and 32 by a force that restores the bent state to the original flat state. Thereby, when the end surface of the medium 35 is sandwiched between the reference rollers 31 and 32 and the pinch rollers 33 and 34, the medium 35 is more reliably sent in parallel with the reference rows 31 and 32.
Further, since the attachment position of the adjustment plate 42 to which the pinch roller 33 is attached can be adjusted in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 52, the medium is caused by the positional deviation of the left and right pinch rollers 33 and 34 due to variations in component dimensions. It can prevent that 35 is conveyed diagonally. Even when printing is performed obliquely because the print head 21 is mounted at an inclination, or when the medium 35 is conveyed obliquely due to variations in the diameters of the left and right reference rollers 31, 32, etc. Since correction can be performed by adjusting the attachment position of the pinch roller 33, printing can be performed at an appropriate position on the medium 35.
[0036]
In the embodiment described above, the curved guides 36 and 37 are arranged at positions where the print head 21 has passed through the conveyance path. However, even if the guides 36 and 37 are arranged at positions before passing through the print head 21. good.
[0037]
The method of feeding the medium 35 in the guides 36 and 37 in the direction of the reference roller 31 is not limited to the method of pushing the medium 35 by the levers 38a to 38d, but the entire end surface of the medium 35 is a planar member, or other You may make it push with a shape-shaped member.
[0038]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the guides 36 and 37 are curved, but this is not a limitation, and guides having a substantially planar shape can also be used.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, even when the medium is inclined, the end face of the medium can be abutted against the reference roller in parallel, and the skew of the medium can be corrected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a left side view of a skew correction mechanism.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a skew correction mechanism.
FIG. 4 is a top view of a mounting portion of a pinch roller.
[Explanation of symbols]
31, 32 Reference rollers 33, 34 Pinch rollers 36, 37 Guides 38a-38d Lever 49, 50 Coil springs 51a-51d Slit

Claims (5)

A curved transport path;
A reference roller provided on the side that becomes the entrance or exit of the curved conveyance path;
A plurality of levers inserted into the plurality of slits of the curved conveyance path and provided with a rotational force in a direction in which the end of the medium abuts against the reference roller by a spring;
When the medium is sandwiched between the reference rollers and conveyed from the outside to the inside of the curved conveyance path, the plurality of levers are pressed by the front end portion of the medium and moved in the conveyance direction, and then When the rear end portion of the medium is separated from the reference roller and the medium is not sandwiched between the reference rollers inside the curved conveyance path, the repulsive force of the springs of the plurality of levers A medium skew prevention mechanism, wherein the front end portion of the medium is pressed in a direction opposite to the transport direction so far, and the rear end portion of the medium is uniformly abutted against the reference roller. The reference roller and the curved conveyance path are arranged at a position passing through the printing unit on the medium conveyance path,
After the medium passes through the printing unit, the plurality of levers return the medium to the printing unit when the rear end of the medium is not sandwiched between the reference rollers, and the medium 2. The medium skew prevention mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a rear end portion of the medium abuts against the reference roller. The plurality of levers bend the medium in the curved conveyance path in a state where the rear end portion of the medium is in contact with the reference roller, and use the deflection of the medium in the direction of the reference roller. 3. The medium skew prevention mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the medium is fed out. Providing a second roller in contact with the reference roller;
The mounting position of the second roller in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the reference roller can be adjusted by adjusting the mounting position of the second roller. Media skew prevention mechanism. The reference roller has a certain width in the rotation axis direction, and the second roller can be adjusted in the rotation axis direction so that a plurality of media having different lateral widths can be prevented from skewing. The medium skew prevention mechanism according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.

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