JPH01118460A - Sheet feeder for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable printing process by interrupting with a simple mechanism and to eliminate the apprehension of a paper jam by printing a single slip sheet while feeding both a continuous sheet and the single slip sheet in a state that the single slip sheet is superposed on the continuous sheet, and reversely feeding the continuous sheet, after the single slip sheet is printed, to its original position. CONSTITUTION:When a single slip sheet T is inserted into a sub passage 10 and a sensor 13 is turned ON, feed rollers 11, 12 at the side of the sheet T are driven to feed the sheet T into a main passage 6. When the sheet T is fed together with a continuous sheet R so that its preceding line is arrived at the opposite position to a printing head 1, the sheet T is printed and fed. Then, the sheet T which is completely printed is discharged together with the sheet R by discharge rollers 5. The number of input pulses to a pulse motor is counted again during this period, thereby measuring the feeding distance of the sheet R upon printing and discharging of the sheet T. After the sheet T is discharged, a tractor 3 and the rollers 5 are driven reversely at the measured feeding distance, the sheet R is returned at the distance corresponding to the feeding distance of the unprinted sheet R together with the sheet T, and the preceding line of the unprinted part faces the head 1.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a continuous paper printer used as an output device of a host device such as a host computer. The present invention relates to a transfer device.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, there have been two types of continuous paper printers that have been able to perform interrupt printing on cut sheets, as described below.

One is, as shown in Fig. 5, an inserter 5° equipped with a guide 3° for cut paper T and a feed roller 4° near the printing unit consisting of a print head 1°, a platen 2°, etc. This is what I did. The drive system of the inserter 5° is the tractor 6
It is independent from the drive system for continuous paper R such as ゜, and the feeding of continuous paper R is stopped until the cut paper T is inserted into the printing section, printed, and ejected. ing.

The other one is called the “continuous paper evacuation method”.
As shown in Fig. 6, when interrupt printing is performed on cut paper T, the transporting means for continuous paper R such as a tractor 6° is operated in reverse by button operation until the leading edge of continuous paper R comes off the platen 2°. After the continuous paper R is moved backward, a cut paper T is sent between the print head 1° and the platen 2°, where the continuous paper R is no longer present, and printing is performed on this cut paper T. In the figure, 7o is a guide that constitutes the insertion slot for the cut sheet T;
8o is a roller that presses the cut sheet T against the platen 2°.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the method using the first inserter 5°, the inserter 5° itself has an independent drive system, which is expensive. Because of this, there was a problem in that the location of the drive system on the printer body side was restricted.

In addition, in the second saving method, button operations are troublesome, and this operation is troublesome in actual business operations where continuous slips and single slip ledgers are processed alternately. Also,
Since continuous paper R and cut paper T are selectively fed to the printing section, paper jams are likely to occur in front of the printing section, and the guide and feeding mechanism in front of the printing section becomes complicated. There was a problem.

A possible solution to this problem is to feed the cut paper to the print side of the continuous paper and print on the cut paper stacked on top of the continuous paper as if printing on continuous paper. In this case, a portion of the continuous paper is ejected without being printed, resulting in a lot of waste.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and uses a simple mechanism to eliminate the need for troublesome operations and to eliminate paper waste. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper transport device for a printer that can perform interrupt printing.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. A sub-path that guides the cut paper so that it overlaps the printed side of the continuous paper in the passage, a transport means that transports the cut paper with the continuous paper stacked on top of the continuous paper, and a continuous paper that is operated by this transport means. and a measuring means for measuring the transfer amount of the cut sheet and the cut sheet, and a return control means for operating the transfer means in reverse by an amount corresponding to the transfer amount measured by the measuring means after printing on the cut sheet. Configured the printer's paper transport device.

<Function> According to the above configuration, when a cut sheet is inserted into the subpath,
This cut sheet is guided to the sub-path and is superimposed on the printing surface side of the continuous sheet in the main path.

Then, this cut sheet passes through a printing section while being transported by a transporting means together with the continuous sheet, during which printing is performed on the cut sheet. Of the continuous sheets, the portion where the cut sheet overlaps will be fed out without being printed, but the amount of feed of this unprinted portion is measured by a measuring means. After the paper has been printed and ejected, the transport means is reversely fed under the control of the return control means.
The continuous paper is pulled back by an amount corresponding to the feeding amount of the unprinted portion of the continuous paper. The first line of the unprinted portion of the continuous paper now faces the printing unit, and the next printing is performed on the continuous paper following the already printed portion.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the example shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a paper transport device of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This paper transport device includes a print head 1 and a platen 2 that constitute a printing section, a tractor 3 for transporting continuous paper R,
It includes a guide plate 4 for feeding the continuous paper R into the printing section, and a discharge roller 5.5 provided on the discharge side of the printing section.

The tractor 3 and the discharge roller 5 constitute a means for transporting the continuous paper R. Further, the guide plate 4, together with the tractor 3 and the discharge roller 5, constitutes a main path 6 that guides the continuous paper R through the printing section.

A plurality of guide plates 7°8.9 are provided in the main passage 6.
A sub-passage 10 consisting of
guides the cut sheet T so that it overlaps the printing surface (the left side in the figure) of the continuous sheet R in the main path 6 before the printing section. Therefore, the latter half of the main path 6 not only guides the continuous paper R, but also guides the continuous paper R and the cut paper T overlapped on the printing surface side when the cut paper T is fed through the sub-path 10. It is designed to guide the polymer in a polymerized state. Further, among the conveying means for the continuous paper R, the discharge roller 5 is configured to overlap the continuous paper R and the cut paper T overlapped on the printed surface side when the cut paper T is sent through the subpath IO. It is designed to be transported in the same condition.

A plurality of sets (two sets in this example) of feed rollers 11 and 12 are provided in the middle of the sub-path 10, and a sensor 13 is provided at the entrance of the sub-path 10 to detect insertion of the cut sheet T. ing.

The control unit 14 inputs print data from a higher-level device such as a computer, controls the printing operation of the print head 1, the feeding operation of the tractor 3 and the discharge roller 5, and also controls the selection of cut sheets by operating the selection switch 15. When the T interrupt printing mode is selected, the print head 11, tractor 3, and discharge roller 5 are activated in response to the detection signal of the sensor 13.
In addition to each operation, the feed rollers 11 and 12 for cut paper T
It is designed to control the feeding operation of the

Next, the operation when interrupt printing is performed on the cut sheet T in the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 3 and the flowchart in FIG.
This will be explained based on the operation explanatory diagrams in FIGS. (A) to (D).

When interrupt printing is to be performed on the cut sheet T, the operator first operates the selection switch I5. In step S1, it is determined whether the selection switch 15 has selected the interrupt printing mode. If the interrupt printing mode is selected, the determination is Yes, and the process advances to step S2 to determine whether the sensor 13 of the sub-path 10 is on, that is, the sensor 13 detects whether the cut sheet T is inserted into the sub-path 10. is detected, and waits until the cut sheet T is inserted. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4(A), printing on the continuous paper R is stopped at the line feed position, and transport of the continuous paper R is also stopped. In FIG. 4(A), Ra indicates the printed area on the continuous paper R, and Rb
indicates the first line of the unprinted part.

When the cut sheet T is inserted into the subpath IO and sensor 1=7-3 is turned on, the process advances to step S3, and step S
3, the feed roller 11 on the cut paper T side. +2 to feed the cut sheet T into the main passage 6.

Now, the cut paper T overlaps the printing surface side of the continuous paper R, but at this time, the tractor 3 and the ejection roller 5 are being driven in synchronization with the feed rollers 11 and 12 on the cut paper T side. , until the cut paper T reaches the continuous paper R,
The printed portion Ra of the continuous paper R is ahead of the cut paper T. The cut sheet T overlaps the continuous sheet R and is transported together with the continuous sheet R.

During this time, in step S4, the number of input pulses to the pulse motor that is the drive source of the transport means such as the tractor 3 is counted, and in step S5, the sensor 13 is turned off, that is, the sensor 13 detects the passage of the cut sheet T. The transport of the cut sheets T and the continuous sheets R and the counting of the amount of transport are continued until then. In this way, the amount of transport of the continuous sheet R from when the cut sheet T is inserted until it passes the sensor 13 is measured.

The cut sheet T is transported together with the continuous sheet R, and as shown in FIG.
As shown in B), when the first line reaches the position facing the print head 1, printing on the cut sheet T and transport are performed in step S6.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4(C), the cut paper T is sequentially transferred to the continuous paper R by the ejection roller 5 starting from the portion where printing has been completed.
It is discharged along with the In the same figure, Ta is a cut sheet T
The printed part is shown. In step S7, during this time,
The number of input pulses to the pulse motor is counted again, and the amount of transport of the continuous paper R accompanying printing on the cut paper T and ejection is measured.

In this way, the interrupt printing on the cut sheet T is completed, so in step S8, the interrupt printing mode is canceled and the process returns.

Thereafter, the process returns to the main routine and when the interrupt print routine is entered again, the interrupt print mode has been canceled, so the determination in step S1 is No, and the process moves to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the previous process was interrupt printing. If interrupt printing was not performed last time, the process jumps to step Sll, but if interrupt printing was performed last time, step 310 Then, the tractor 3 and the discharge roller 5 are driven in the opposite direction by the transfer amount measured in steps S4 and S7 described above.

As a result, the continuous paper R is pulled back along with the cut paper T by the amount that was sent out without printing, and the first row Rh of the non-printed portion of the continuous paper R faces the print head 1. and,
In step Sll, paper transport corresponding to printing on continuous paper R is started again. Now, as shown in FIG. 4(D), the next printing is performed on the continuous paper R in a manner connected to the already printed portion Ra.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention prints on the cut paper while superimposing the cut paper on the printing surface side of the continuous paper and transports it, and after printing on the cut paper, the continuous paper Since the cut paper and continuous paper are fed in a superimposed state, the transport means for continuous paper can be used as is, and the simple mechanism prevents interruptions. Print processing is possible.

Furthermore, since the continuous paper is once sent out and then returned to its original position, the continuous paper is always maintained in the state set in the transport means or the printing unit, so there is no risk of paper jams.

Furthermore, with the present invention, since the continuous paper automatically returns to the original continuous printing mode, there is no need to perform any troublesome operations, and furthermore, there is no need for a part of the continuous paper to be sent out without printing. , no paper wastage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 relate to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram corresponding to the claims of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of one embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an interrupt printout thereof. A flowchart showing the operation, and FIGS. 4(A) to 4(D) are explanatory diagrams of the operation. Both FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic configuration diagrams of conventional examples. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Print head, 2...Platen, 3...Tractor, 1l-4...Guide plate, 5...Ejection roller, 6...
・Main path, lO...Sub-path, R...Continuous paper, T.
...Single paper. Applicant: Brother Industries, Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A main path that guides the continuous paper through the printing section, a sub-path that guides the cut paper so that it overlaps the print side of the continuous paper in this main passage, and a sub-passage that guides the cut paper so that it overlaps with the print side of the continuous paper in this main passage, and the cut paper that is stacked on the continuous paper. a transporting means for transporting both sheets of paper in the same state; a measuring means for measuring the amount of continuous paper and cut paper transferred by this transporting means; 1. A paper transport device for a printer, comprising: return control means for causing the transport means to reversely feed by the amount that the paper is transported.