JPH0143635B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper feeding device in a printer capable of feeding two types of printing paper, continuous paper and cut paper.

An example of this type of device capable of feeding two types of printing paper is a device proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-91028. Regarding the paper feeding device,
When a second paper feeder inserts a cut sheet while the first paper feeder is feeding continuous paper, the continuous paper is not attached to the first paper feeder. Since the first paper feeding device is held in the same position as it is and the transmission of driving force from the paper feeding motor to the first paper feeding device is cut off by the clutch mechanism, the drive shaft of the first paper feeding device is freely moved in the opposite paper feeding direction. Since it could rotate, the continuous paper could fall out of the first paper feeder due to its own weight.

An object of the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A platen 2 is fixed to a frame 1 of a printer serving as a printing device, and its front surface serves as a printing surface 3.

A guide shaft 4 extending parallel to the platen 2 is installed on the frame 1, and a carriage 5 is supported on the guide shaft 4 so as to be able to reciprocate. A printing head 6 is placed and fixed on the carriage 5, and while the carriage 5 reciprocates, a printing wire (not shown) built in the printing head 6 prints a continuous paper 7 or a single sheet on the printing surface 3. Printing is performed on the form 8 in a dot matrix.

A pin tractor 9 as a first paper feeding device consisting of a pair of left and right paper feeders is arranged below the platen 2, and the pin tractor 9 engages with feeding holes (not shown) on both sides of the continuous paper 7 to continuously convey the continuous paper 7. Paper 7 to printing side 3
and the printing head 6. Further, a paper detector 11 consisting of a limit switch, a photo sensor, etc. is arranged between the pair of pin tractors 9.

The configuration of the pin tractor 9 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-94144 entitled "Paper Feeding Apparatus" previously filed by the present applicant, so a description thereof will be omitted.

A pair of pull-out rollers 12 and 13 as a second paper feeding device are arranged above the printing position 10, and the continuous paper 7 and the cut sheet 8 are pulled upward by the cooperation of the pull-out rollers 12 and 13. It is configured as follows. Further, the pull-out rollers 12 and 13 are configured to be able to be separated so that the cut sheet 8 can be inserted into the printing position 10 below.

The pin tractor 9 and the pull-out roller 1
As shown in FIG. 5, gears 14 and 15 as a drive transmission mechanism having appropriate gear ratios are attached to one end side of the drive shafts 9a and 13a of No. 3 so as to be freely rotatable. Further, the drive shafts 9a, 13a are in pressure contact with the gears 14, 15.
First and second electromagnetic clutches 16 and 17 are fixedly attached as clutch mechanisms for coupling and interrupting rotation of the drive shafts 9a and 13a. The gear 14
A gear 19 fixed to the rotating shaft 18a of the paper feed motor 18 is engaged with the pin tractor 9 and the pull-out roller 13, which are connected to the common paper feed motor 1.
Rotationally driven by 8.

In front of the pin tractor 9, a paper pan 20 is arranged and fixed below the printing position 10, and approximately in the middle thereof, a plurality of guide pieces 21 are bent and extend obliquely toward the rear and downward. has been done.

A cut guide plate 22 is disposed on the rear surface of the paper pan 20 so as to be movable up and down, and is configured to be movable between a lower position shown in FIG. 1 and an upper position shown in FIG. 3.

When the ticket guide plate 22 is placed in the lower position,
When located outside the feeding range of the continuous paper 7 and at an upper position, it passes through the printing position 10 and its upper end is located directly below the pull-out rollers 12 and 13.

A plurality of positioning pieces 23 are bent and formed approximately at the center of the cut guide plate 22 at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction, and when the cut guide plate 22 is placed in the lower position, the positioning pieces 23 The guide piece 21
When the cut guide plate 22 is placed in the upper position, the positioning piece 23 is positioned below the guide piece 2.
1 and both pull-out rollers 1
The lower end of the cut sheet 8 inserted from between 2 and 13 can be received.

A paper cutter 24 is arranged and fixed above the pull-out roller 12, and its cutting edge 25 faces directly above both the pull-out rollers 12 and 13, and cuts the continuous paper 7 at its perforations (not shown). It is configured to obtain.

A switching lever 27 as a switching switch is rotatably supported on one side of the frame 1 by a shaft 26, and in order to feed the continuous paper 7, the continuous paper 7 is moved to the position (a) shown in FIG. To reverse feed, move to position (b) shown in Figure 2, and to insert cut sheet 8, move to position 3 as shown in Figure 2.
In order to feed the cut sheet 8 to the position (c) shown in the figure and to the position (d) shown in FIG. 4, switches or levers (not shown) are operated.

In addition, the switching lever 27 and both pull-out rollers 12,
The detailed mechanism between the 13 and 13 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 55-94144 and Japanese Patent Application No. 55-94145 previously filed by the present applicant, so the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Reference numerals 28 and 29 in the figure are paper guide plates disposed between the platen 2 and the pin tractor 9 to guide the continuous paper 7.

A plastic collar 31 is attached to the drive shaft 9a of the pin tractor 9 at a position close to the frame 1, which can rotate integrally with the drive shaft 9a and has a cylindrical outer surface working surface 30. . A brake spring 32 is wound one or two times around the working surface 30, and one end of the brake spring 32 extending upward is hooked to a pin 33 fixed on the frame 1. The winding direction of the brake spring 32 is such that when the drive shaft 9a is rotated in the paper feeding direction, the brake spring 32 is unwound from the working surface 30, and when the drive shaft 9a is rotated in the opposite direction to the sheet feeding direction, the brake spring 32 is unwound from the working surface 30. This is a direction in which the frictional resistance between the brake spring 32 and the working surface 30 is increased.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, to feed the continuous paper 7, attach the front end of the continuous paper 7 to the pin tractor 9, and then use the switching lever 2.
7 is switched to the position (a) shown in FIG.
is operated, the gears 14, 15 and the drive shafts 9a, 13
Combine a. Further, a cut guide plate 22 is arranged at a lower position. In the above state, the paper feed motor 18 is rotationally driven, and the rotation is caused by the gears 14 and 1.
5 and electromagnetic clutches 16 and 17 to drive shafts 9a and 13a, and the pin tractor 9 and pull-out rollers 12 and 13 are rotated in the paper feeding direction.

At this time, since the drive shaft 9a of the pin tractor 9 is rotated in the paper feeding direction, the brake spring 32 on the collar 31 is about to be unwound from the action surface 30, so the brake spring 32 hardly controls the rotation of the drive shaft 9a. Not hinder. Through this operation, the continuous paper 7 mounted on the pin tractor 9 passes through the printing position 10 and reaches between the two pull-out rollers 12 and 13, and is pulled upward by the pull-out rollers 12 and 13 at a predetermined speed.

Note that since the rotational speed of both pull-out rollers 12 and 13 is slightly faster than the feeding speed of the pin tractor 9, both pull-out rollers 12 and 13 pull out the continuous paper 7 while slipping it at a speed faster than the feeding speed, and continuously The paper 7 is always kept stretched. Also, the front end of the continuous paper 7 is connected to the cutting edge 25 of the paper cutter 24.
When it reaches this point, a sensor (not shown) detects the front end, and based on the detection signal, the feeding of the continuous paper 7 by the pin tractor 9 and both pull-out rollers 12 and 13 is temporarily stopped. Furthermore, during printing, the pin tractor 9 and the pull-out rollers 12 and 13 are rotated by a predetermined amount every time printing for one print line is completed.
The continuous paper 7 is fed upward by one printing line.

Next, move the switching lever 27 from the position (a) shown in Figure 2.
When switched to position (b), the second electromagnetic clutch 17
is disengaged, the coupling of the gear 15 to the drive shaft 13a is interrupted, and the pull-out roller 13 is allowed to freely rotate.

When the paper feed motor 18 is reversely rotated in the above state, the front end of the continuous paper 7 passes through the freely rotating pull-out rollers 12 and 13 and is sent back to the pin tractor 9 side. When the drive shaft 9a rotates in the opposite paper feeding direction, the brake spring 32 wraps around the working surface 30 and the frictional resistance increases, but the driving force of the paper feed motor 18 is sufficiently large compared to the frictional resistance. The rotation of the drive shaft 9a is not hindered.
Then, when the front end of the continuous paper 7 passes the paper detector 11, the paper feed motor 18 is stopped in response to a detection signal from the paper detector 11. Therefore, the continuous paper 7 is held attached to the pin tractor 9.

Next, move the switching lever 27 from the position (b) shown in Figure 3.
When switched to the (c) position, the pull-out roller 12 is separated from the other pull-out roller 13, and the cut guide plate 22 is placed in the upper position.

In the above state, the cut paper 8 is inserted downward through the gap between the two pull-out rollers 12 and 13, and its lower end is placed on the positioning piece 23 of the cut guide plate 22.

Thereafter, when the switching lever 27 is switched from the position (c) to the position (d) shown in FIG.
3 returns to sandwich the cut sheet 8 between the two pull-out rollers 12 and 13, and then the cut sheet guide plate 22 is returned downward.

Further, by disengaging the first electromagnetic clutch 16, the transmission of the rotational force of the paper feed motor 18 to the drive shaft 9a is interrupted. As a result, the pin tractor 9 attempts to rotate in the opposite paper feeding direction due to the weight of the continuous paper 7, but the rotation in the opposite paper feeding direction is prevented by the brake spring 32 on the collar 31. That is, although the frictional resistance force of the brake spring 32 when the drive shaft 9a rotates in the opposite paper feeding direction is sufficiently smaller than the driving force of the paper feed motor 18, the continuous paper 7 is attached to the pin tractor 9. It is set to be large enough to hold. Further, the gear 14 is rotated freely by the operation of the second electromagnetic clutch 17.
is transmitted to the drive shaft 13a via the drive shaft 13a, and the cut sheet 8 is sent downward by the rotational drive of the pull-out roller 13. When the front end of the cut sheet 8 reaches the cutting edge 25, the sensor detects the front end, and after feeding the cut sheet 8 downward by a predetermined amount, the paper feed motor 1
8 is reversely rotated, and both pull-out rollers 12 and 13 are reversely rotated to send the cut sheet 8 upward. When the front end of the cut sheet 8 is detected again by the sensor, the rotation of the pull-out rollers 12 and 13 is stopped. Thereafter, the cut sheet 8 is sequentially fed upward by the rotation of both pull-out rollers 12 and 13 every time printing of one print line is completed.

Note that when feeding the cut sheet 8, the pull-out rollers 12 and 13 are rotated so as to feed the continuous sheet 7 at the same speed.

Therefore, when the paper feed device in this embodiment interrupts printing on the continuous paper 7 and inserts the cut paper 8, the rotational force of the paper feed motor 18 to the pin tractor 9 is reduced by disengaging the first electromagnetic clutch 16. When transmission of It is designed to prevent the paper from falling off, and printing on the continuous paper 7 can be resumed immediately after interrupt printing on the cut paper 8 is completed.

As explained above, in the paper feeding device of the present invention, when cutting cut paper is interruptedly printed during printing of continuous paper, the continuous paper that has been retracted and held in the first paper feeding device is transferred to the first paper feeding device. This makes it extremely easy to perform interrupt printing on cut sheets.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view of the paper feeding device according to the present invention when continuous paper is fed, Fig. 2 is a side view when continuous paper is fed backwards, Fig. 3 is a side view when cut paper is inserted, and Fig. 4 5 is a side view when feeding single sheets, FIG. 5 is a view of the drive transmission mechanism viewed diagonally from above, and FIG. 6 is a partial oblique view showing the brake mechanism. In the figure, 7 is a continuous sheet, and 8 is a single sheet. 9 is a pin tractor as a first paper feeding device; 9a is a drive shaft; 10 is a printing position; 12 and 13 are pull-out rollers as a second paper feeding device; 14 and 15 are drive transmission mechanisms. 16 is a first electromagnetic clutch as a clutch mechanism, 18 is a paper feed motor, 27 is a switching lever as a changeover switch, and 32 is a brake spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first paper feeding device driven by a drive shaft to feed continuous paper; and a second paper feeding device that feeds cut paper and discharges printed continuous paper. at least one paper feed motor that drives the first and second paper feed devices; a changeover switch for selecting between continuous paper feeding and cut paper feeding; and the paper feed motor. transmission of rotation to the drive shaft via a clutch mechanism, and when the changeover switch selects a cut sheet, the clutch mechanism is disengaged to cut off transmission of driving force to the drive shaft. A paper feeding device comprising: a mechanism; and a brake mechanism that prevents the drive shaft from rotating in a direction opposite to paper feeding.