JP5622810B2 - Printer device - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printer apparatus that cuts and discharges printed paper.

  In a printer device used as a receipt or ticket issuing device, a predetermined item is printed on a long paper drawn from a roll paper wound in a roll shape, and then cut into a paper piece of a predetermined length. Are discharged.

  In this case, there is a possibility that the recipient of the sheet may interfere with the discharge of the sheet by holding and pulling the sheet that is being discharged or holding the discharge unit by hand. In such a case, printing failure or cutting failure may occur, or the cutter blade of the cutting mechanism may be damaged in some cases. As a countermeasure in such a case, there is a countermeasure in which the paper to be discharged is stored by forming a loop inside the printer apparatus until the printing and cutting of the paper is completed, and discharged to the recipient side after the paper is cut. Has been taken.

  Thus, when the printed paper is stored in the apparatus until it is cut to a predetermined length, if the printed paper is stored in a straight line, a large storage space is required, and the apparatus becomes large. For this reason, a paper having a storage space reduced by curving printed paper in a loop shape inside the apparatus has been proposed.

JP-A-11-123850

  In the above-described apparatus, when forming a loop by transporting paper, the loop is created downward. For this reason, when there is a large amount of print content on the paper and the printed paper loop becomes large, it is necessary to increase the height of the printer in order to accommodate the loop in the printer.

  It is also conceivable to form a loop below the printer body by inclining a paper guide which is a side wall of the loop forming portion. However, if the paper guide is tilted, friction will occur between the paper guide and the paper, which may cause paper jams during loop formation or paper ejection, so the paper guide should be used only when the output paper is long. It is desirable to incline.

  The present invention stores a paper to be discharged until the printing and cutting of the paper is completed by forming a loop inside the printer apparatus, and when the paper is cut and discharged to the recipient side, the output paper is long. The present invention provides a small-sized printer device that inclines a paper guide that is a side wall of a loop forming portion only in the case.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the paper discharge mechanism of the embodiment and the printer device using the same, the inclination angle of the paper guide, which is the side wall of the loop forming unit, is determined by the length of the paper printed and output by the printer. It is characterized by making it different.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram of the printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit configuration of the printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram illustrating a loop formation state of a sheet in the printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram illustrating a function of forming a loop using a space provided below the printer in the printer apparatus according to the first embodiment. The principal part block diagram explaining rotation of a paper guide in the printer apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a main part configuration diagram of a printer apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a printer apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a main part configuration diagram when a loop in a printer device according to a second embodiment is long. FIG. 9 is a main configuration diagram for explaining a state in which a sheet is sandwiched in a printer apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a main part configuration diagram when a loop is long in a printer device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining a sheet recoverable state in a printer apparatus according to a third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a main configuration of a printer 10 combined with a paper discharge mechanism. In this printer, the paper 11 is transported from the left side to the right side in the figure, so in the following description, the left side in the figure is the upstream side and the right side is the downstream side. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a roll paper wound around a winding shaft 12, and the winding shaft 12 is rotatably supported by the printer 10. An idler roller 13 is rotatably supported on the downstream side of the paper 11, and further, a platen roller 14 that is rotatable by a motor and a platen roller 14 that is opposed to the platen roller 14 with the paper conveyance path 15 interposed therebetween. The thermal print head 16 is arranged, and the platen roller 14 and the thermal print head 16 constitute a printing unit 17. The thermal print head 16 prints line by line in accordance with the conveyance of the paper 11 when the paper 11 is conveyed downstream on the paper conveyance path 15. The thermal print head 16 is pressed by the platen roller 14 and feeds the paper 11 to the downstream side by friction between the thermal print head 16 and the platen roller 14.

  A cutter 18 is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the printing unit 17. The cutter 18 has a fixed blade 19 and a movable blade 20. The paper 11 inserted in a slit (not shown) of the cutter 18 is directed toward the fixed blade 19, and the movable blade 20 is slid by driving a motor (not shown). Disconnect by moving.

  Here, the cutter 18 has been described as a so-called slide type cutter in which the movable blade 20 slides toward the fixed blade 19. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cutter 18 cuts the sheet by rotating the movable blade relative to the fixed blade. A rotary cutter may be used.

  On the downstream side of the cutter 18, a loop forming unit 21 is disposed that stores paper to be discharged by forming a loop inside the printer 10 until printing and cutting of the paper 11 are completed. Here, the loop forming portion 21 includes an upper paper guide 22 and a feed roller 23, and the upper paper guide 22 has a flat plate-like first guide portion 22a and an arc-shaped second guide portion 22b. A protrusion 27 is provided between the upper paper guide 22 and the feed roller 23 on the arc. The protruding portion 27 is provided so as to always come into contact with the feed roller 23, and the protruding portion 27 and the feed roller 23 sandwich the sheet 11 that has been conveyed and inserted between them. A lower paper guide 24 extending downward from the main body of the printer 10 is provided below the upper paper guide 22, and a lateral paper guide 30 is provided so as to face the lower paper guide 24. A discharge port 25 is provided on the downstream side of the feed roller 23 in the printer 10. These idler roller 13, platen roller 14, thermal print head 16, cutter 18, upper paper guide 22, feed roller 23, lower paper guide The printer 10 is composed of a printer cover 26 that covers 24 and the discharge port 25.

  A rotation support shaft 29 is provided below the lower paper guide 24, and this rotation support shaft 29 is supported by a main body frame (not shown).

  The printer 10 is provided with a solenoid 31, and the solenoid 31 is connected to the lower paper guide 24 via a solenoid arm 32. That is, as will be described later, when the solenoid 31 is energized, the solenoid arm 32 moves. The lower paper guide 24 connected to the solenoid 31 rotates about the rotation support shaft 29 as a rotation center.

  FIG. 2 shows the control unit 50 of the printer 10 described above. The control unit 50 includes means for controlling each of paper conveyance, printing, paper cutting, and paper discharge.

  The control unit 50 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer that links with the host computer 51 and executes various controls. A central processing unit (MPU) 52 of the control unit 50 performs various controls and calculations such as paper conveyance control, printing control, paper cutting control, and paper discharge control according to a program. The MPU 52 includes a timer 53 as means for performing time setting and time control.

  A ROM 54 and a RAM 55 are installed as main storage means for storing a control program executed by the MPU 52 and data during control or calculation. The ROM 54 is a read-only memory having a control program, a table, and the like, and the RAM 55 is an occasional write memory that stores data in the middle of calculation.

  Further, the control unit 50 is provided with an input / output unit (I / O) 56 for taking in various input data from the host computer 51 and taking out the control output of the control unit 50 to the host computer 51. Yes. The I / O 56 is linked to the MPU 52, the ROM 54, and the RAM 55 through a bus.

  The I / O 56 is connected with first, second, third, fourth and fifth drivers 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 as means for taking out the control output.

  The printer 10 also has a display 62 that displays various types of information including paper out and error display.

  The driver 57 supplies necessary drive output to the printing mechanism 17. The driver 58 supplies a drive output to the cutter 18. The driver 59 supplies a drive output to the feed roller 23. The driver 60 supplies a display drive output for causing the display 62 to perform various displays. The driver 61 supplies a driving output to the solenoid 31.

  The printing unit 17 includes the thermal print head 16 and the platen roller 14 described with reference to FIG. The platen roller 14 is driven to rotate in synchronization with a printing operation by a motor (not shown) based on a control output as a printing command means of the MPU 52. The thermal print head 16 prints on the paper 11 based on print data from the host computer 51.

  The MPU 52 of the control unit 50 drives the cutter 18 via the driver 58 to cut the paper 11.

  The MPU 52 of the control unit 50 rotates and stops the feed roller 23 via the driver 59.

  The MPU 52 of the control unit 50 displays various states of the printer 10, error contents, and the like on the display device 62 via the driver 60.

  The MPU 52 of the control unit 50 energizes the solenoid 31 via the driver 61 and rotates the lower paper guide 24 attached to the solenoid 31 via the solenoid arm 32.

  In addition, the printer 10 is provided with a paper length determination unit 63, which confirms the print data sent from the host computer 51 and determines how long the paper length is when printing on the paper 11. This is a determination part, and is provided between the host computer 51 and the control unit 50 of the printer 10.

  Next, the operation of the printer 10 will be described. The control unit 50 performs paper conveyance and printing operation according to the program stored in the ROM 54. First, the paper 11 is pulled out, and after passing through the idler roller 13, it is set so that the leading end is positioned between the thermal print head 16 and the platen roller 14. In this state, when a print request from the host computer 51 shown in FIG. 2 is input, the control unit 50 operates the print unit 17 in response to the print request, and the print data sent from the host computer 51 is transferred to the paper 11. Print on top. Printing is performed in cooperation with the thermal print head 16 and the platen roller 14, and the paper 11 printed by the thermal print head 16 is conveyed toward the cutter 18 by the rotation of the platen roller 14. At that time, the feed roller 23 rotates in the X direction.

  The printed paper 11 is inserted into a slit (not shown) between the fixed blade 19 and the movable blade 20, and then passes through the cutter 18 and is conveyed toward the upper paper guide 22. The leading edge of the conveyed paper 11 comes into contact with a flat plate-like first guide portion 22 a provided on the upper paper guide 22. Due to this contact, the paper 11 is inserted into the path indicated by the broken line in FIG.

  The feed roller 23 stops rotating when the leading edge of the paper 11 reaches a position sandwiched between the protrusion 27 and the feed roller 23. However, the platen roller 14 continues to rotate. For this reason, the sheet 11 is continuously fed even though the leading end of the sheet 11 is stopped. As a result, the paper 11 becomes a loop as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the loop is created by stopping the rotation of the feed roller 23 when the leading edge of the paper 11 reaches the position sandwiched between the protruding portion 27 and the feed roller 23. The sheet 11 does not necessarily have to be stopped, and the sheet 11 in the portion sandwiched between the feed roller 23 and the protruding portion 27 provided in the upper paper guide 22 based on the conveyance speed of the sheet 11 by the platen roller 14 and the thermal print head 16. If the transport speed is slowed, a loop can be created by the speed difference.

  When creating a loop, if the loop becomes longer, it is desirable that the loop enter a loop retracting section 28 provided below the printer 10. However, when the printed paper 11 becomes long and does not fit in the loop retracting unit 28, the printer 10 can be made small by entering the lower loop retracting unit 33 provided below the printer 10. This state is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower paper guide 24 is inclined to allow the loop to enter the lower loop retracting portion 33.

  However, when the printed paper 11 is short and has a length that does not need to be entered into the lower loop retracting portion 33 when the loop is created, the lower paper guide 24 is considered in consideration of the occurrence of friction between the paper guide and the paper. It is desirable not to incline.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, the printer 10 has a paper length determination unit 63.

  When print data is sent from the host computer 51 to the printer 10, the data is sent to the paper length determination unit 63. From the print data, the paper length determination unit 63 determines whether the loop needs to enter the lower loop saving unit 33 as shown in FIG. 4 or not when it is created.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the lower paper guide 24 of the printer 10 is normally urged in the Y direction by a spring (not shown) around the rotation support shaft 29 and is in an upright state in the vertical direction. .

  When the sheet length determination unit 63 determines that the loop needs to be inserted into the lower loop retracting unit 33 when creating the loop, the input / output unit 56 of the printer 10 is connected to the solenoid via the driver 61. A drive signal is sent to 31. When the solenoid 31 receives this drive signal, the solenoid 31 is energized, so that the solenoid arm 32 of the solenoid 31 is pulled to the right in FIG.

  Since the solenoid arm 32 and the lower paper guide 24 are connected as described above, the lower paper guide 24 rotates about the rotation support shaft 29 in the Z direction in FIG. This state is shown in FIG. The determination of the size of the loop by the paper length determination unit 63 and the rotation of the lower paper guide 24 are performed before the printing on the paper 11 by the printing unit 17 is started.

  Thereafter, the printer 10 performs printing on the paper 11.

  As described above, when the loop is created by the paper length determination unit 63, the lower paper guide 24 is inclined only when it is determined that the loop needs to enter the lower loop retracting unit 33. It is possible to enter the lower loop retracting unit 33. When the paper is short, the lower paper guide 24 stands upright, and it is possible to reduce friction between the paper and the lower paper guide 24 when the paper is discharged during loop formation, and it is possible to prevent paper jams. .

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment. In the second embodiment, a collection box 34 is provided below the loop retracting unit 28.

  In recent years, customers are paying more for payment when purchasing goods. Since the customer himself / herself performs payment, the customer must also receive the paper 11 output from the printer 10. At this time, if the paper 11 after printing is forcibly discharged from the discharge port 25, the paper 11 falls below the printer 10. For this reason, a loop is created by the loop forming unit 21 in the printer 10 until printing is completed, and when the printing is completed, the leading edge of the paper 11 is taken out from the discharge port 25 to some extent and pulled out by the customer.

  When payment is made using a credit card or the like at the time of payment, information for identifying the customer is written on the paper 11 as a receipt. For this reason, if the customer does not take the receipt paper 11, it is necessary to collect the receipt paper 11 in the printer 10 so that it is not handed over to other customers.

  When collecting, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotation of the feed roller 23 is stopped when the printing is completed and the leading edge of the paper 11 reaches a position where the leading edge of the paper 11 has come out from the discharge port 25 to some extent, and is provided in the printer 10. The timer 53 is started. The timer 53 counts until a paper sensor (not shown) detects that the paper 11 has been removed from the printer 10.

If the time measured exceeds a predetermined time, it is determined that the customer has not taken home the receipt 11, and the receipt 11 is collected in a collection box 34 provided in the printer 10.
Usually, the collection box 34 to be collected is often provided below the printer 10.

  When the loop becomes long, if the tip of the loop enters the collection box 34 at the time of creating the loop, the paper 11 may be damaged by rubbing against the side wall of the collection box 34 or the like. In order to avoid this, when the loop of the paper 11 becomes large, it is necessary to keep the lower paper guide 24 upright. The paper length judgment unit 63 determines whether it is necessary to keep it upright.

  In the second embodiment, when it is determined in the state shown in FIG. 6 that the customer has not taken back the paper 11 as a receipt, the lower paper guide 24 is rotated to immediately open the upper part of the collection box 34. When standing upright, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper 11 is sandwiched between the lower paper guide 24 and the horizontal paper guide 30 and may be damaged and cannot be collected in the collection container 34.

  In this case, the lower paper guide 24 is kept tilted, the feed roller 23 is rotated in the X direction, and the paper 11 is taken out of the printer 10 from the discharge port 25. Thereafter, when it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the tip of the loop has reached a position higher than the height A in FIG. 8, the rotation of the feed roller 23 is stopped.

  Thereafter, the solenoid 31 is energized to erect the lower paper guide 24 so that the upper side of the collection box 34 opens.

  Thereafter, when the feed roller 23 is rotated in the direction opposite to the X direction, the paper 11 is collected in the collection box 34 by its own weight.

  In this way, when the paper 11 is discharged from the discharge port 25 so that the tip of the loop is above the height of A, and then the feed roller 23 is rotated in the direction opposite to the X direction, the paper 11 has the lower paper guide 24 and the horizontal paper guide 30. Recovery is possible without being caught between the two.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the rotation support shaft 29 of the lower paper guide 24 is provided on the upper side unlike the second embodiment.

  This will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, the recovery of the sheet 11 when the rotation support shaft 29 of the lower paper guide 24 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. When the paper 11 is discharged from the discharge port 25 until the loop tip is above the line, and then the feed roller 23 is rotated in the direction opposite to the X direction, the paper 11 is sandwiched between the lower paper guide 24 and the horizontal paper guide 30. It can be recovered without any problem.

  However, since the next printing cannot be started until the collection is completed, it is desirable to complete the collection as soon as possible.

  Even when the rotation support shaft 29 of the lower paper guide 24 according to the third embodiment is on the upper side, if the customer determines that he / she has not taken the paper 11 as a receipt, the paper 11 is collected in the collection box 34. . However, even if the lower paper guide 24 is rotated in the state shown in FIG. 11, it is not sandwiched between the lower paper guide 24 and the lateral paper guide 30 as shown in FIG.

  Further, when the paper 11 is discharged from the discharge port 25 until the tip of the loop is above the line B shown in FIG. 10 and then the feed roller 23 is rotated in the reverse direction to the X direction, the paper 11 can be collected in the collection box 34. It becomes.

  As described above, in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the time for the end of the loop to reach the A position and the B position is different. In the case of the same loop size, the time for the tip of the loop to reach above the B position is shorter than the time for the tip of the loop to reach above the A position. The third embodiment is faster. This makes it possible to start the next printing quickly.

  Also, in the time for collection to the collection box 34, the time for entering the collection box from the A position takes longer than the time for the tip of the loop of the paper 11 to enter the collection box from the B position. From this part as well, the collection time is earlier in the third embodiment. This is because the rotation center of the lower paper guide 24 is on the upper side.

  As described above, as shown in the third embodiment, the rotation support shaft 29 of the lower paper guide 24 is provided on the upper side, so that the recovery can be achieved more than the case where the rotation support shaft 29 of the lower paper guide 24 is provided on the lower side. Time can be shortened.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

10: Printer 11: Paper 17: Print section
18: Cutter
21: Loop forming part
22: Upper paper guide
23: Feed roller 24: Lower paper guide 28: Loop retracting section 30: Horizontal paper guide

Claims (3)

A platen roller for transporting paper,
A print head disposed opposite the platen roller;
A cutter for cutting the paper;
A feed roller arranged to grip and convey the leading edge of the paper;
A loop forming portion formed between the feed roller and the platen roller,
A print length determination unit for calculating a print paper length when printing on the paper;
The loop forming unit, the provided feed roller side, a paper guide for guiding the sheet conveyance direction upstream side than the tip portion of the paper below the loop forming unit,
When the printing length determination unit determines that the printing sheet length when printing on the sheet is longer than a preset sheet length, the paper guide is inserted so that the tip of the loop is inserted into the loop forming unit. A paper guide rotating part for rotating
A printer device comprising: The printer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printer further includes a collection container for collecting the printed paper in the printer when the printed paper is not removed within a preset time . The printer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper end side of the paper guide rotates .

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