JPH02188359A - Residual quantity informing device for roll paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the inutile use of a roll paper by detecting the residual length of the roll paper and calculating the residual quantity permitting cut by a calculation means and displaying the result of the calculation. CONSTITUTION:A detection mark is formed at a constant length position from the terminal edge of a roll-shaped recording paper 10. When the detection mark is detected by a photosensor 26, input into a control part 28 is performed. The length to the first cut by a cutter 24 after the detection of mark is obtained from the revolution speed of a platen driving motor 22, and the resisusl quantity is calculated by dividing said length by the length to the cut position from the terminal edge part. This operation is carried out each cutting time. The residual quantity permitting cut is displayed in the display part 17 and 19. Therefore, the recording paper 10 can be cut to the last part, and inutile use can be prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for notifying the remaining number of sheets of recording paper wound in a roll used in recording devices such as electronic copying machines and facsimiles. be.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art In various recording devices such as electronic copying machines and facsimile machines, roll paper is often used as recording paper due to space and cost considerations. Many of these recording devices currently in use are equipped with a device that notifies the user when the amount of recording paper remaining is running low.

As a conventional device of this kind, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-79
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 691, there is a method in which a detection mark is formed near the end of the recording paper, and a warning is issued when this mark is detected.

There were also devices that simply had a small window installed in a part of the recording device so that the user could see the detection mark.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional apparatus as described above, it merely warns that there is little recording paper remaining, and it is not possible to know with certainty when to replace the recording paper. This inconvenience is serious in the case of roll paper because, unlike recording paper that is separated one by one, it is not possible to replenish the recording paper when the remaining amount becomes low.

Therefore, the roll paper may be replaced even though it is still possible to record, or conversely, recording may be started even though there is very little paper left on the roll, resulting in running out of recording paper in the middle of recording.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a roll paper remaining amount notification device that can use recording paper economically and perform good recording without waste.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a detection means for detecting the remaining length of a roll paper, a calculation means for sequentially calculating the number of sheets that can be cut remaining from this detection information, and a display for displaying the calculation result of the calculation means. equipped with the means.

[Effect]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the calculation means divides the remaining length of the roll paper by the cutting interval to accurately calculate the number of sheets that can be cut after that, and further displays this information each time. This makes it possible to clearly notify the user when it is time to replace the roll paper.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of an electronic copying machine using the remaining amount of roll paper notification device according to this embodiment. As is well known, this electronic copying machine records characters written on the surface of a blackboard or the like on recording paper.

In the figure, an imaging section 2 is formed at the front of the upper part of the main body 1, and a handle 3 is formed at the rear of the imaging section 2 for easy carrying when moving. Further, an exposure opening 4 is formed on the front surface of the imaging section 2, and a lens cover 5 made of a transparent acrylic plate is attached to the opening 4 so as to be openable and closable. A diaphragm 6 that serves as both an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver is attached to the upper part of the lens cover 5.

This diaphragm 6 emits ultrasonic waves at an elevation angle of about 10 degrees to a blackboard (not shown), receives the ultrasonic waves reflected by the blackboard, and detects the distance from the main body 1 to the blackboard.

A start button 7 for starting imaging and a finder window 8 are provided on the top surface of the photographing unit 2. A horizontal size switching knob 9 is provided beside the finder window 8 to specify a horizontal print range. This horizontal size switching knob 9 corresponds to the three horizontal sizes of standard blackboards or whiteboards: 90 cm, 120 cm, and 180 cm, and is used to switch the print range according to each horizontal size. . Then, set the horizontal size switching knob 9 to the index '90J, r120'.

r180J, the print range setting frame is switched in the finder window 8 according to each size, and the image signal output from the COD image sensor built into the main body 1 is changed. Of these, only those in the area used for printing are effectively processed.

Further, the horizontal size switching knob 9 is set to the index "90J, r".
i20+, r180", the print is made on A4 size recording paper (recording paper length in the feeding direction is 29.7 cm), but if the index "180F I NEJ" When printing with the paper set, the length of the recording paper in the feeding direction is 38.0.
It is possible to switch to cm.

Two large and small MIIs 13 are provided on the side surface of the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable. Inside this 1111 is a built-in print unit that records a blackboard-like image within the print range. Further, an ejection port I5 is formed between the lower end of the lid 13 and the main body 1 to eject the thermal recording paper 10 on which an image has been recorded.

In addition, a display section 17.19 is provided on the side of the main body 1 to display the number of remaining printable sheets.
9.7cm) on the display section 17.
The remaining number of sheets at "80FTHE" (38.0cm) is displayed on the display section I9.

Next, in FIG. 0 for explaining the remaining amount of roll paper notification device according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. A detection mark 16 is formed at a position a certain length from the terminal end 14 as shown in FIG.

18 is a thermal head for recording image information; 20
is a platen placed at a position facing the thermal head 18 with the recording paper 10 in between.

This platen 20 supports the recording paper IQ and
It is configured to be rotationally driven by a platen drive motor 22 to send out the recorded recording paper 10 to the outside from the discharge port 15. 24 is the set length f (29.7 cm or 38.0 cm) of the recording paper 10 that is ejected to the outside.
) is a cutter that cuts with

26 is a photosensor that detects the detection mark 16 on the recording paper 10, and supplies a detection signal to the control section 28. The control unit 28 includes a display unit 17.1 that displays the number of remaining recordable sheets.
9 is connected to the storage section 32 and further to the horizontal size switching knob 9. Then, the control section 28 calculates the remaining recordable number of sheets based on the signal from the horizontal size changeover switch 9.

The storage unit 32 stores the number of remaining recordable sheets displayed on the display units 17 and 19, respectively. The backup power supply is designed to prevent the stored contents from being erased even after the main switch is turned off.

Next, regarding calculation of the remaining recordable number of recording paper 10,
This will be explained with reference to FIG. In Figure 4, detection mark 1
The positional relationship of the recording paper 10 at the time of detection of No. 6 (A) and at the time of the first cutting thereafter (B) is shown, respectively. Although the recording paper 10 is shown extended in the vertical direction in this figure, it goes without saying that it is actually wound around eight rods 12.

The control unit 28 determines in advance the length Lo from the detection mark 16 to the cutter 24 and the length from the trailing edge 14 of the recording paper IO to the detection mark 16, that is, the mark 16.
The length L+ from the trailing edge 14 of the recording paper 10 to the cutting position at the time of detection is input. When the photo sensor 26 detects the detection mark 16, the platen drive motor 2
2, find the length L2 that the recording paper 10 has been fed until the first cut after detecting the mark 16, and then subtract L2 from this length to find the end of the recording paper 10 at that point. 1
Calculate the length from 4 to the cutting position. And L
, two types of cutting lengths for recording paper IO! (29.7cm
, 38.0 cm), and the integer value obtained by rounding down the quotient below the decimal point is calculated as the initial remaining recordable number of sheets.

Thereafter, each time the recording paper 10 is cut, the remaining length of the recording paper 10 is calculated, and the two types of remaining recordable number of sheets at that time are calculated.

Next, the overall operation and effect of the embodiment configured as above will be explained.

In advance, place the main unit l on a desk placed in front of a blackboard (not shown).
, frame it with the finder window 8, and turn on the main switch. After this, start button 7
When pressed, focusing is performed by the diaphragm 6, and the light from the aperture 4 is received by a light receiving element (not shown) to form an image signal. Then, while the recording paper 10 is being transported by the platen 20, the thermal head 18 is
The image is recorded at a predetermined position.

Thereafter, when the detection mark 16 is detected by the photosensor 26, the control section 28 calculates two types of remaining recordable number of sheets by the above-mentioned calculation operation and displays them on the display sections 17 and 19, respectively.

Note that if the cutting interval of the recording paper lO is constant, the number of remaining recordable sheets can be easily calculated using the device shown in FIG.
can be displayed.

That is, a counter 34 that decrements by 1 each time the cutter 24 operates is connected to the control unit 40, and after calculating the initial remaining recordable number of sheets in the same manner as in the embodiment described above, the counter 34 is decremented by 1 each time the cutter 24 operates.
The count value of 4 is displayed on the display section 30 as the number of remaining recordable sheets.

The present invention has been explained above using an electronic copy machine as an example5, but the present invention is not limited to this in any way, and can be fully applied to other machines that use roll paper, such as copy machines. be.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention has a special effect in that roll paper can be used economically and good recording can be performed without waste.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a remaining amount notification device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the operation of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the electronic copying device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. 10 ・ ・ 14 ・ ・ 16 ・ ・ 20 ・ ・ 22 ・ ・ 24 ・ ・ 26 ・ 28 ・ ・ 30 ・ ・ 32 ・ ・ 34 ・ ・・Recording paper, end section, detection mark, platen, platen drive motor, cutter, photo sensor, control section, display section, storage section, counter. In the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. (A) (B)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A remaining amount notification device for roll paper that is cut to a predetermined length and used, comprising a detection means for detecting the remaining length of the roll paper, and a calculation means for sequentially calculating the number of sheets that can be cut remaining from this detection information. , and display means for displaying the calculation result of the calculation means. (2) The detection means comprises a detection mark formed at a position a certain length from the end of the roll paper, and a sensor for detecting the mark.
Remaining amount of roll paper notification device as described in section.