JPH05186090A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the whole of a device compact, and reduce the installation area thereof, and load various sheet material, which are exhausted after the recording, orderly per sort of the papers. CONSTITUTION:A sheet judging means 4 for detectig the rigidity (stiffness) of various sheet material S such as the ordinary paper S1 and post card S2 to judge the type of the sheet material S is provided, and furthermore, a sheet sorting means 5 for sorting the exhausting direction of the sheet material S in response to a result of the judgement of the sheet judging means 4 is provided to discharge the sheet material S having the weak rigidity such as an ordinary paper S1 under the nearly vertical condition and discharge the sheet material S having the strong rigidity such as a post card S2 under the nearly horizontal condition. The whole of a device is thereby made compact, and the installation area thereof is reduced, and furthermore, the sheet material S discharged after the recording are loaded orderly according to a type thereof to facilitate the handling thereafter.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus in which sheet materials having various thicknesses are mixed and recording is performed on the sheet materials.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording apparatus for recording various sheet materials such as plain paper and postcards, and recording on the sheet material,
A recording apparatus having a configuration as shown in FIG. 8 has been proposed and implemented. When the recording device is used in a horizontal position,
There are cases where it is used in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 8,
It is a relatively small one.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 50 denotes a recording apparatus main body, which is used in a vertically placed state as described above and performs recording on various sheet materials S such as plain paper and postcards. Further, in consideration of the rigidity of the various sheet materials S, the transportation path thereof is configured to be substantially linear so that the sheet material S can be easily transported. Further, when the recording apparatus 50 is not used, the outer lid 50b, which also functions as a discharge tray, is superposed on the inner lid 50a to become compact, for example, the recording apparatus 50.
It can be carried by a user by putting it in a dedicated storage bag, which is excellent in portability and portability.

As shown in FIG. 9, the internal structure of the recording device 50 is a recording head 5 for recording on a sheet material S.
1 and a recording unit including a platen roller 52 for supporting and transporting the sheet material S, a discharge roller 53 having a peripheral speed slightly higher than that of the platen roller 52, and the discharge roller 53. It is composed of a discharge part composed of a rotating spur 54. Of the sheet materials S, S1 is plain paper and S2 is a postcard. 55a is a paper feed port for manually feeding the sheet material S,
Reference numeral 55b is a paper discharge port for discharging the recorded sheet material S.

Here, the supply and discharge of the plain paper S1 and the postcard S2 which are the sheet materials S will be described. Plain paper S1 is paper feed port 1
The paper is manually fed from a to reach the recording unit including the recording head 51 and the platen roller 52, and recording is performed, and then the paper is ejected from the paper ejection port 1b by the ejection unit including the ejection roller 53 and the spur 54. It is loaded on the outer lid 50b which also serves as a tray. The same applies to the case of postcard S2.

[0006]

However, in the recording apparatus which also serves as a tray for discharging the plain paper S1 and the postcard S2, which are the sheet materials S on which the recording is made, as in the above-mentioned conventional example, in the recording tray of the discharge tray, If plain paper of size A3 or A4 is used, it is necessary to provide a tray of a size larger than the sheet size.
There is a drawback that the entire device becomes large and the installation area becomes large. Further, since various sheet materials S discharged after recording are stacked on the same discharge tray, the sheet material S on the discharge tray becomes complicated and there is a drawback that the handling is inconvenient.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose of the present invention is to make the entire apparatus compact, to reduce the installation area, and to eject various kinds after recording. The present invention intends to provide a recording apparatus in which the sheet materials of (1) are stacked in order for each paper type.

[0008]

Means for solving the above-mentioned problems and applied to the embodiments described below are, in a recording apparatus for recording on various sheet materials, a means for reducing the rigidity of the various sheet materials. It is characterized in that it is equipped with a sheet discriminating means for discriminating the type. Further, the sheet distribution means is arranged to distribute the discharge directions of the various sheet materials according to the discrimination result of the sheet discrimination means.

[0009]

According to the present invention, means for discriminating the type of the sheet material is provided by detecting the rigidity (strength) of various sheet materials such as plain paper and postcards, and the sheet discriminating means is further provided. By also providing a sheet allocating means for allocating the discharge direction of the sheet material according to the determination result, the sheet material with low rigidity such as plain paper is discharged in a state close to vertical,
It is possible to discharge a highly rigid sheet material such as a postcard in a nearly horizontal state.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a recording apparatus to which the above means is applied will be illustrated and described below with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment In this embodiment, A4 size plain paper S1 (about 210 mm × 297 mm size) and postcard S2 (1
A recording apparatus compatible with two types of sheet materials S of about 00 mm × 148 mm size) will be described. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the recording apparatus to which the above-mentioned means is applied, which best shows the features of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a recording apparatus for recording on various sheet materials S, taking into consideration the rigidity (strength) of the sheet materials S such as plain paper S1 and postcards S2. ,
In order to make it easy to convey the sheet, the conveying path is formed in a substantially linear shape.

(Overall Structure) The basic internal structure of the recording apparatus 1 is, as shown in FIG. 1, a recording head 2a for recording on the sheet material S, and a conveyance while supporting the sheet material S. A recording unit 2 including a platen roller 2b for performing the discharge, and a discharging unit 3 including a discharging roller 3a having a peripheral speed slightly higher than that of the platen roller 2b and a spur 3b that is rotated by the discharging roller 3a. It further comprises a sheet discriminating means 4 for discriminating the type of the sheet material S, and a sheet allocating means 5 for allocating the discharge direction of the sheet material S discriminated by the sheet discriminating means 4. ing. 1a is the sheet material S
Is a paper feed port for manually feeding paper, and 1b is a paper ejection port for ejecting the printed sheet material S. Further, 6 is a first discharge tray for discharging the plain paper S1, and 7 is a second discharge tray for discharging the postcard S2.

(Sheet Discriminating Means) The sheet discriminating means 4
Is a discriminating guide 4a for guiding the sheet material S when discriminating the type of the sheet material S, a discriminating roller 4b provided in the middle of the discriminating guide 4a, a discriminating arm 4c for supporting the discriminating roller 4b, and A spring 4d for generating a predetermined torque in the discrimination arm 4c, and the discrimination arm 4c
It is composed of a stopper 4e and a micro switch 4f for detecting the rotational displacement of the discriminating arm 4c, and is provided between the paper feed port 1a and the recording section 2. Incidentally, 4g is a fulcrum around which the discriminating arm rotates, and 4h is a spring hook for hooking the other end of the spring 4d.

Next, the method of discriminating the sheet material S in the sheet discriminating means 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the plain paper S1 is fed into the sheet discriminating means 4, and FIG. 3 is a sheet discriminating means 4
FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a state in which a postcard S2 has been sent to. In the figure, when the sheet material S fed from the paper feed port 1a is fed to the sheet discriminating means 4, if the sheet material S is plain paper S1, as shown in FIG. Since the rigidity (strength) of the plain paper S1 sandwiched between the plain paper 4b and the plain paper S1 is weaker than the pressing force of the spring 4d for pressing the discrimination roller 4b against the plain paper S1, the discrimination arm 4c does not move, and therefore the micro The switch 4f does not operate, so that it can be detected that the sheet material S is the plain paper S1. If the sheet material S is a postcard S2, the rigidity (strength) of the postcard S2 sandwiched between the discrimination guide 4a and the discrimination roller 4b as shown in FIG.
However, since the pressing force of the spring 4f pressing the discriminating roller 4b against the postcard S2 is stronger, the discriminating arm 4c is pushed up and accordingly the micro switch 4f is actuated, whereby the sheet material S is detected as the postcard S2. can do. Therefore, the sheet discriminating means 4 can discriminate whether the sheet material S is the plain paper S1 or the postcard S2.

(Sheet Distributing Means) As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet distributing means 5 is rotated by a predetermined angle about a fulcrum 5c to change the discharging direction of the sheet material S, and a paper path arm 5a. And a solenoid 5b for driving the paper path arm 5a, and is provided between the discharge section 3 and the paper discharge port 1b. In this embodiment, the micro switch 4f of the sheet discriminating means 4 is used.
The sheet material S is distributed by the sheet allocating means 5 according to the signal, that is, the determination result of the plain paper S1 or the postcard S2.

Next, the distribution operation of the sheet material S by the sheet distribution means 4 will be described. First, when the determination result is plain paper S1, the solenoid 5b is driven to a position as shown in FIG. 1 to bend the conveying direction of the plain paper S1 that has passed through the discharging portion 3 in the direction of arrow a and discharge it. The plain paper S1 is discharged from the paper outlet 1b and is stacked on the first discharge tray 6.
Next, when the determination result is the postcard S2, the solenoid 5b is driven in the opposite direction (not shown), and the conveyance direction of the postcard S2 that has passed through the discharge unit 3 is not bent (the arrow b direction). ), The horizontally conveyed postcard S2 is ejected from the ejection port 1b in a substantially linear state, and is stacked on the second ejection tray 7.

Therefore, the plain paper S1 is bent by the paper path arm 5a of the sheet sorting means 5 after passing through the discharge portion 3, and is bent on the first discharge tray 6 dedicated to the plain paper S1 which is inclined substantially vertically. Therefore, even if the sheet material S has a large sheet size, the installation area of the entire apparatus becomes very small. In addition, the postcard S2 that has passed through the discharge unit 3 is discharged in a substantially straight line without bending the discharge direction, and the second postcard S2 dedicated to the horizontal direction that is provided in the same direction as the conveying direction is provided.
Since the sheets are stacked on the discharge tray 7, it is possible to prevent the sheet material S from being jammed. Further, by discriminating and ejecting the various sheet materials S for each paper type, the subsequent handling of the sheet material S ejected after recording is easy.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Since the basic structure of the device is substantially the same as that of the above embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. The sheet discriminating means, which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, will be described below.

The sheet discriminating means 8 in the present embodiment does not have the discriminating roller 4b in the discriminating arm 4c like the sheet discriminating means 4 in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the discriminating arm 8c as shown in FIGS. A raised portion 8b is provided on the sheet, and the type of the sheet material S is determined by utilizing the buckling property of the plain paper S1 which is the various sheet materials S and the buckling property of the postcard S2. It is configured as follows.

Next, the method of discriminating the sheet material S in the sheet discriminating means 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In the figure, when the sheet material S fed from the paper feed port 1a is fed to the sheet discrimination means 8, if the sheet material S is plain paper S1, the plain paper S1 is discriminated as shown in FIG. The arm 8c abuts against the protruding portion 8b and buckles, and the protruding portion 8b passes through the path as shown in the figure.
Since it passes between b and the discriminating guide 8a, the discriminating arm 8c does not move, and therefore the microswitch 8f does not operate, which makes it possible to detect that the sheet material S is plain paper S1. Further, when the sheet material S is a postcard S2, as shown in FIG. 5, the rigidity (strength) of the postcard S2 is a spring that presses the discrimination arm 8c having the protruding portion 8b in the arrow direction. Since it is stronger than the pressing force of 8f, the discrimination arm 8c is pushed up, and accordingly, the micro switch 8f operates, whereby the sheet material S
Can be detected as a postcard S2. Therefore, the sheet discrimination means 8 can discriminate whether the sheet material S is the plain paper S1 or the postcard S2.

[Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the recording apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Since the basic structure of the device is substantially the same as that of the above embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. The sheet discriminating means, which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, will be described below.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the sheet discriminating means in this embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a view of the sheet discriminating means as shown in FIG. 6 viewed from the direction of the arrow in the figure. In the sheet discriminating means 9 in the present embodiment, the concave discriminating guide 9a is shown in FIG.
In the state shown in Fig. 5, the discrimination roller 9b is installed in the center of the concave portion, the discrimination roller 9b is applied in the direction perpendicular to the sheet material S conveying direction, and its displacement is detected by the microswitch 9f. , The type of the sheet material S is determined.

[0024]

As described above, the type of the sheet material is discriminated by detecting the rigidity (strength) of various sheet materials such as plain paper and postcards by the sheet discriminating means. Since the sheet allocating means distributes the discharge direction of the sheet material according to the discrimination result of the sheet discriminating means, the sheet material with low rigidity such as plain paper is ejected in a state close to the vertical, and the postcard or the like is ejected. Sheet material with high rigidity can be discharged in a state that is almost horizontal, which is almost the same as the conveying direction, which makes the entire device compact and the installation area can be reduced. The sheet materials are stacked in order for each paper type, and the subsequent handling is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion in the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion in a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a sheet discriminating means portion in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a recording apparatus of a conventional technique.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a basic internal configuration of a recording apparatus of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

S ... Sheet material S1 ... Plain paper S2 ... Postcard 1 ... Recording device 1a ... Paper feed port 1b ... Paper ejection port 2 ... Recording section 2a ... Recording head 2b ... Platen roller 3 ... Ejection section 3a ... Ejection roller 3b ... Spurs 4 ... Sheet discrimination means 4a ... Discrimination guide 4b ... Discrimination roller 4c ... Discrimination arm 4d ... Spring 4e ... Stopper 4f ... Micro switch 4g ... fulcrum 4h ... Springing 5 ... Sheet distribution means 5a ... Paper path arm 5b ... Solenoid 6 ... First ejection Tray 7 ... Second discharge tray 8 ... Sheet discriminating means 8a ... Discrimination guide 8b ... Projection portion 8c ... Discrimination arm 8d ... Spring 8e ... Stopper 8f ... Micro switch 8g ... Support point 8h ... Spring support 9 ... Sheet discrimination means 9a ... Discrimination Guide 9b ... Judgment roller 9c ... Judgment arm 9d ... Spring 9e ... Stopper 9f ... Micro switch 9g ... fulcrum 4h ... spring hook

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording on various sheet materials, comprising a sheet discriminating means for discriminating the type of the various sheet materials from the difference in rigidity thereof. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet sorting unit that sorts the discharge directions of the various sheet materials according to the determination result of the sheet determining unit.