JPH0373746A - Display of left quantity of paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the left quantity of paper with high precision from the output of the prescribed feed quantity of the paper for calculation and the detection output of the turning angle of the paper in roll form by constituting a display of left quantity of paper so that the revolution angle of the paper in roll form is detected by the prescribed feed quantity of the sent-out paper and calculation-displaying the left quantity of the paper. CONSTITUTION:A feed quantity measurement part 40 outputs a prescribed transfer quantity of paper, and the turning angle of the shaft of the paper in roll form for the prescribed transfer quantity is detected from the output of a shaft turn angle detection part 30. In other words, when the left quantity of the paper in roll form is much, the circumferential length is long, and the turn angle is small, and as the left quantity becomes less, the circumferential length reduces, and the turning angle increases. Therefore, the left quantity of the paper in roll form is calculated by a calculation part 50 from the output value of the shaft turn angle detecting part 30 and the feed quantity measurement part 40, and can be displayed by a display part 60.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a paper remaining amount display method for displaying the remaining amount of a roll of paper that is transferred while being pressed by a roller.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of paper remaining amount display method has directly touched the paper to check the remaining amount and displays the measured amount.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing a conventional example. 7th
In the figure, a roll of paper 10 is moved and sent out by a feeding mechanism of a recording section 20. Paper 10 is on the surface of paper 10.
A pressing arm 91 that moves in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation is pressed using spring stress. An information transmission line 92 is connected to the moving end of the pressing arm 91, and transmits the moving position of the pressing arm 91 to a remaining amount indicator 93. The remaining amount indicator 93 is the information transmission line 9
Display according to the amount of movement in step 2. Depending on the positional relationship between the paper 10 and the remaining amount indicator 93, the mechanism becomes complicated.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, the conventional paper remaining amount display method is configured to transmit and display the change in the position of the cylindrical surface of the roll paper to the remaining amount indicator using the information transmission line. Due to the positional relationship between the two, there are problems in that the information transmission mechanism is complicated, the remaining amount indicator is limited to a location that is difficult to see, and it is difficult to increase the accuracy of remaining amount.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper remaining amount display method that solves the above problems by displaying the remaining paper amount by detecting the predetermined length of the transported paper and the rotation angle of the rolled paper. It is in.

[Means to solve the problem]

The basic structure of the paper remaining amount display method according to the present invention is to detect and output the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft in the paper remaining amount display method that displays the remaining amount of rolled paper that is transferred while being pressed by a roller. a shaft rotation angle detection unit that presses the transferred paper and measures the amount of rotation of the roller that rotates to output the amount of paper transferred; and the shaft rotation angle detection unit and the feed amount measurement unit, respectively. The printer has a remaining amount calculation section that inputs the output value of the remaining amount of paper, calculates and outputs the remaining amount of paper, and a remaining amount display section that inputs and displays the output value of the remaining amount calculation section.

One of the specific means of the shaft rotation angle detection section is a code fixed to the rotation shaft of the roll paper and having radial straight line marks at approximately equal intervals on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation shaft with the rotation shaft as the center point. and a sensor that reads the rotating linear marker at a fixed position and outputs it as code information of the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft.

Another specific means of the shaft rotation angle measuring section is that the shaft rotation angle measuring section is fixed to the rotation shaft of the paper roll and has a disk shape with the rotation axis as the center point on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis. A flange that has at least one side of the periphery with roughly equally spaced unevenness, and a lever that extends over the uneven area of this flange and moves back and forth as the flange rotates.The lever movement on the uneven area is determined by the sign information of the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft. It has a sensor that outputs as .

One of the specific means of the feed amount measuring unit is to extract the amount of rotation of a roller that presses the paper to be transferred and rotates from the step information of a step motor that rotates the roller.

One of the specific means of the remaining amount calculation section is to calculate the number of code information for each predetermined amount of rotation received from the shaft rotation angle detection section for each predetermined amount with respect to the predetermined amount input from the paper feed amount measurement section. , output as paper remaining amount value.

[Effect]

In the paper remaining amount display method using the above-mentioned means, a feeding amount measurement section outputs a predetermined amount of paper to be transferred, and a shaft rotation angle detection section outputs the rotation angle of the shaft of the rolled paper with respect to this predetermined amount of transfer. Therefore, when the remaining amount of rolled paper is large, the circumferential length is long and the rotation angle is small, while as the remaining amount of paper is reduced, the circumferential length is short and the rotation angle becomes large. That is, the remaining amount of paper in the roll can be known and displayed from the output values of the shaft rotation angle detection section and the feed rate measurement section.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the same components as those in FIG. 7, which shows an example of the conventional system, are given the same numbers and symbols, and their explanations will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, a roll-shaped recording paper 10 is transferred by pressure rotation of a roller 21 of a recording section 20. As shown in FIG.

To display the remaining amount of the roll paper 10, a shaft rotation angle detection section 30. A feed amount measuring section 40°, a remaining amount calculation section 50, and a remaining amount display section 60 are involved.

The shaft rotation angle detection unit 30 detects and outputs the rotation angle of the paper shaft of the rolled paper 10. For example, when markers are provided at equal intervals of 15 degrees for one rotation of 360 degrees, the rotation angle of the paper shaft 11 can be detected in multiples of 5 degrees by detecting and outputting the markers.

The feed amount measurement unit 40 calculates and outputs the feed amount based on the circumference length and rotation angle of the roller 210 that feeds the paper 10. For example, the feeding amount measuring unit 40 outputs the time when the feeding amount measurement starts and the point when the measurement starts from this point and reaches a predetermined feeding amount. Therefore, when outputting pulses continuously, each pulse interval corresponds to a predetermined feeding amount of 100 sheets of paper.

The remaining amount calculating section 50 receives a pulse to send a predetermined amount of paper from the feeding amount measuring section 40 and a pulse from the shaft rotation angle detecting section 30 to the paper shaft 11.
It receives pulses detected at every predetermined rotation angle, calculates and outputs the remaining amount.

Now, the shaft rotation angle detection unit 30 divides the rotational circumference of the paper shaft 11 into P at equal intervals and generates and outputs angle detection pulses, while the feed amount measurement unit 40 divides the rotation circumference of the paper shaft 11 into P parts at equal intervals, and outputs the angle detection pulses. Outputs the feed pulse.

Under this condition, the remaining amount calculation unit 50 which has received n angle detection pulses within the predetermined feed rate pulse interval calculates based on the following formula when the roll remaining amount of 1° of paper is the outer diameter dimension a.

π·n FIG. 2 is a time chart showing an example of the predetermined feed rate pulse and the angle detection pulse. In Figure 2, the angle detection pulse interval is 15°, that is, the rotational circumference is P = 24 (3
60''/15), and when the predetermined shipping charge L=π mark, the outer diameter dimension a for the angle detection pulse count value n=4.8 is determined as 60 and 3 cm, respectively.

The remaining amount display section 60 shown in FIG. 1 displays the output of the remaining amount calculation section 50 on a display surface using a lamp or a graphic.

Next, a specific example of the shaft rotation angle detection section will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the first embodiment.

The shaft rotation angle detection unit 31 shown in FIG. 3 irradiates an encoder 311 fixed to a paper shaft 11, which is a rotation shaft interlocked with a winding frame of a roll-shaped paper, and a straight line mark 312 on the encoder 311 to emit reflected light. It has a sensor 313 that detects. The encoder 311 has a plane perpendicular to the paper axis 11, and a large number of straight line marks 312 are drawn at equal intervals radially around the rotation axis on this plane. The linear marker 312 reflects the irradiation light from the sensor 313. The sensor 313 illuminates the linear marker 312 from a fixed position, and when the paper shaft 11 rotates as the paper feeds, the sensor 313 illuminates the linear marker 312.
crosses. Therefore, the sensor 313 detects the linear marker 312 and outputs a pulse. Straight sign 312 is sensor 3
The accuracy can be increased by increasing the number within the range of 13 detection capabilities.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the second embodiment.

The shaft rotation angle detection section 32 shown in FIG. and a sensor 323 that detects unevenness from the uneven portion 322 provided on the flange 321
has. The flange 321 forms a disk needle centered on the rotation axis, and the circumferential end of the flange 3210 is an uneven portion 322 having unevenness at equal intervals. The sensor 323 is located on the uneven portion 322
The lever 324 has a lever 324 that traces the unevenness, and the reciprocating movement of the tip as the lever 324 traces the unevenness generates an angle detection pulse. An optical sensor or a microswitch may be used to convert the reciprocating movement of the lever 324 into an angle detection pulse of an electric signal, and the means is not limited.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the feed amount measuring section will be explained.

The feeding amount measurement unit 41 shown in FIG. 5 obtains the rotation amount of the motor from the motor 22 that is directly connected to the roller 21 that sends out the paper. In the recording unit 20 shown in FIG. 1, a roller 21 interlocking with a recording element transports the paper 10 accurately. The roller 21 is rotated by a roller shaft directly driven by a motor 22.

When the motor 22 is a step motor, the step code, which is a rotation synchronization signal, is used as the rotation amount by the rotation amount measurement unit 41.
1 will be notified. The rotation amount measurement unit 411 converts the rotation amount into a predetermined paper movement amount and outputs a pulse-shaped electric signal as a predetermined feed amount pulse. Since the pulse interval of the predetermined feed rate pulse indicates the predetermined amount of movement of the paper, the remaining amount of paper can be determined by knowing the rotation angle of the paper shaft rotated between the predetermined feed rate pulses.

In this embodiment, the linear sign reflects the irradiated light from the sensor in FIG. 3, but the encoder may have a wheel shape and the spoke portions may be formed as reflectors. In addition, in FIG. 4, the convex portion of the uneven portion may be a reverse slope, and an optical sensor may be used that emits light in a direction parallel to the rotation axis.

The shaft rotation angle detection unit has been illustrated and explained as outputting angle detection pulses that detect rotating parts at equal intervals, but it is also possible to use a flange that is directly connected to the paper shaft and rotates, or a rotary plate that rotates in conjunction with the paper shaft, or a rotating plate that rotates on the surface and continuously moves the distance. The shaft rotation angle may be detected using an analog quantity by using the distance meter to be measured by using one of the predetermined feed rate pulses output by the feed rate measurement unit as a measurement start signal and the next pulse as a measurement end signal. .

Although it has been explained that the remaining amount calculation unit calculates and outputs the remaining amount using a predetermined feed amount pulse, it may be only two types, the caution amount and the dangerous amount, in which the remaining amount is low. A small number of outputs simplifies the remaining capacity display. Of course, with the analog input described above,
It is also possible to output analog quantities.

For the remaining amount display section, a step-by-step display using lamps, LEDs, etc. is practical. For example, there are 10 levels, and the 8th level is green, the 9th level is yellow, and the 100th level is red. Alternatively, it may be selected and displayed from the output of the remaining amount calculation section.

In the above embodiment, the predetermined feed rate pulse is the step motor 2.
2, the predetermined feed amount is created by counting the step code for driving the step motor 22. However, the step code for driving the step motor 22 itself may be output.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the relationship between step codes and angle detection pulses. This embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6 together with FIGS. 4 and 5. now,
While the shaft rotation angle detection section 32 (FIG. 4) divides the rotation angle of the paper shaft 11 into P at equal intervals and generates angle detection pulses,
When the rotation amount measuring section 411 of the feeding amount measuring section 41 outputs the drive pulse for driving the motor 22 as a step code, the remaining amount calculating section (shown in FIG. 1) 50 calculates the amount of paper to be transported according to one of the step codes. By counting n step codes during one angle detection pulse, the outer diameter dimension a, which is the remaining amount of paper in a roll, can be calculated by the following formula.

−A a= @n π Therefore, set the angle detection pulse interval to 15°, that is, P=2
4 and the predetermined feed rate l=π/40 cm, the outer diameter dimension a for each of the step code count n=5.13 is determined as 3 cm and 7.8 cm.

That is, the remaining amount of paper can be determined by the count value of the step code for a predetermined rotation angle of the roll-shaped paper shaft. When counting the drive pulses of a step motor,
Since the count value n increases, the remaining amount level can be set finely. Also, regarding the count value n and the outer diameter dimension a, the decrease rate of the outer diameter dimension increases as the remaining amount decreases due to the paper thickness.
Since it is linearly proportional, it is easy to set the remaining amount in stages.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the paper remaining amount display method according to the present invention is configured to detect the rotation angle of μmm-shaped paper at a predetermined amount of paper to be sent out, and calculate and display the remaining amount of paper. As a result, the output of the predetermined feed amount of paper for calculating the remaining amount and the detection output of the rotation angle of the rolled paper can be obtained independently, and the division amount and predetermined feed amount in the shaft rotation angle detection section are increased to obtain the predetermined amount. This has the effect of increasing the accuracy by increasing the number of angle detection palaces in the feed rate.

10...Paper, 11...Paper shaft, 21
...Roller, 22 ...Motor 3
0,31.32...Axis rotation angle detection section, 40,
41... Feed amount measurement unit, 50... Remaining amount calculation unit, 60... Remaining amount display unit, 311...
・Encoder, 312... Straight line sign, 313, 32
3... Sensor 321... Flange, 322... Uneven portion, 324... Lever 411... Rotation amount measuring section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a paper remaining amount display method that displays the remaining amount of rolled paper that is transferred while being pressed by a roller, shaft rotation angle detection that detects and outputs the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft. a feeding amount measuring portion that outputs the amount of rotation of the roller that presses the transferred paper and rotates as the amount of paper transferred;
A remaining amount calculation section inputs the output values of the shaft rotation angle detection section and the feed amount measurement section to calculate and output the remaining amount of paper, and a remaining amount calculation section inputs and displays the output value of this remaining amount calculation section. 1. A paper remaining amount display method characterized by having an amount display section. 2. An encoder in which the shaft rotation angle detection unit according to claim 1 is fixed to the rotation shaft of a roll of paper and has radial straight line marks approximately equally spaced about the rotation shaft on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation shaft. 2. The remaining paper amount display system according to claim 1, further comprising: a sensor that reads the rotating linear marker at a fixed position and outputs code information of the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft. 3. The shaft rotation angle measuring section according to claim 1 is fixed to the rotation shaft of the rolled paper, and has a disk shape with the rotation axis as the center point on a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis, and is arranged on the outer peripheral edge of the disk. A flange has at least one side of unevenness at approximately equal intervals, and a lever is extended to the uneven part of this flange and moves back and forth as the flange rotates.The lever movement on the uneven part is output as sign information of the rotation angle of the rolled paper shaft. 2. The remaining paper amount display method according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor. 4. The feeding amount measuring section according to claim 1 is characterized in that the amount of rotation of the roller that presses the paper to be transferred and rotates is counted and outputted by a synchronization signal of a drive section that rotates the roller. Remaining paper amount display method. 5. The remaining amount calculation section according to claim 1 calculates the number of code information for each predetermined rotation amount received from the shaft rotation angle detection section for each predetermined amount input from the paper feed amount measurement section, for each predetermined value, 2. The paper remaining amount display method according to claim 1, wherein the remaining paper amount display method is output as a paper remaining amount value.