JPH0521273B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a reversing device for a sheet-like recording medium in a printer of an information processing device, an image input device, etc. The present invention relates to a device that automatically reverses media for processing and for aligning the order of ejected processed media.

Background of the Technology Printers and image input devices of information processing devices basically have a structure that performs input/output processing of information on only one side of the medium inserted. On the other hand, when performing input/output processing, it is necessary to process one side of the medium, turn it over by the human body, and reinsert the medium into the apparatus. Moreover, since it is necessary to correspond to each other the information input and output on the front and back sides of the medium, there is a problem that the operation is extremely complicated and goes against the requirements for automatic processing.

Additionally, current printers and image input devices are widely equipped with automatic media feeding devices to automatically process large numbers of sheet media.
In this case, there is a problem in that the order of the processed media discharged to the stacker is changed, and the media must be rearranged.

Purpose of the Invention Conventionally, in order to solve this problem, devices have been proposed that automatically turn the media inside out.
Conventional devices of this kind have a unique operation;
Moreover, the device tends to be large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-like medium reversing device that has a simple structure, can be configured compactly in terms of space, and can easily perform various operations according to required functions. It is an object.

Structure of the Invention Explaining using the reference numerals of the illustrated embodiments, the sheet-like recording medium reversing device of the present invention includes a branch path 20 in the medium path of the sheet-like medium from the medium supply port 14 to the medium discharge port 16. A substantially triangular prism-shaped guide body 19 is located at the branching position along the ridge lines X, Y,
It is provided so as to be swingable around an axis 25 parallel to Z. The three ridge lines X, Y, and Z of the guide body 19 are
media entry path 18 at each of the branch positions;
a, when the guide body 19 is oriented toward the medium discharge path 18b and the branch path 20, and is swung around the shaft 25, the three ridge lines It is positioned slightly offset from the feeding surfaces P, Q, R in the same direction around the axis 25. This bias direction can be changed by swinging the guide body 19.

Medium detection sensors 23 and 22 are provided in the medium discharge path 18b and the branch path 20 in proximity to the guide body 19, and in each of the passages 18a, 18b, 20,
The device is characterized in that roller devices 5, 13, and 21 for feeding the medium that face the guide body 19 and can rotate in reverse are provided, respectively.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in which a printer is equipped with a reversing device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a printer equipped with the reversing device of the present invention, in which 1 is a print head, 2 is a platen, 3 is a print processing section formed between the print head 1 and the platen 2, 4 and 5 are feed rollers placed before and after the print processing unit 3; 6 and 7 are medium detection sensors for paper feed detection and cueing placed immediately before the feed rollers 4 and 5; 8 is a sheet medium detection sensor; 9 is an automatic feeding device; 9 is a feed roller thereof; 10 is a paper feed table for continuous media and manual feeding media; 11 is a tractor for feeding continuous media; 12 is a stacker for discharging sheet media; 13 is a stacker for discharging sheet media; It is a discharge roller,
These are what conventional printers are equipped with. Note that 14 is a medium supply port, 15 is a continuous medium discharge port, 16 is a sheet medium discharge port, and 17 is a medium supply port.
18 is a path for continuous media, and 18 is a path for sheet media.

19 is a guide body of the present invention arranged in the medium path between the feed roller 5 and the discharge roller 13;
Reference numeral 20 indicates a branch path for sheet-like media formed directly below the guide body 19; 21 indicates a reversing roller that pinches and feeds the medium that has entered the branch path; and 22 indicates a reversing roller 21.
a medium detection sensor 23 disposed on the guide body side of the
24 is a medium detection sensor disposed on the guide body side of the discharge roller 13, and 24 is an opening provided on the lower surface of the housing to allow the sheet-like medium guided to the branch path 20 to hang down. Note that the feed rollers 4 and 5, the discharge roller 13, and the reversing roller 21 are structured to be driven in both forward and reverse directions based on a control signal.

1 to 4 are diagrams showing the detailed structure of the guide body 19 portion, and each of FIGS. 1 to 4 is a diagram showing different embodiments of the present invention. The guide body 19 has a triangular prism shape extending in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and has three guide surfaces A, B, and C and three ridge lines X, Y, and Z. The substantially flat upper guide surface A is approximately parallel to the sheet medium path 18 in the printer, and the lower guide surfaces B and C are located between the sheet medium path 18 and the branch path 20. It may have a concave curved surface so that the medium can be bent and guided smoothly. When viewed from this guide body 19, the path 18 of the sheet-like medium
is separated into a medium entrance path 18a on the upstream side (left side in the figure) of the guide body 19 and a medium discharge path 18b on the downstream side (right side in the figure), and there are three paths extending radially from the guide body 19 together with the branch path 20. A passage will be formed. and each passage 18a, 20 and 18
A feed roller 5, a reversing roller 21, and an ejection roller 13 are disposed on b, and along with an appropriate guide plate (not shown), a regular medium feeding surface P,
Q and R are formed. Here, the normal medium feeding surface is defined as a normal medium feeding surface in a steady state where no external force is applied to the medium.
This is the surface on which the medium passing through each passage is located.

The guide body 19 is mounted so that its three ridge lines X, Y, and Z are slightly offset from the regular medium feeding surfaces P, Q, and R in each of the passages 18a, 20, and 18b. . For example, in the image shown in Figure 1, the ridge lines X, Y, and Z are located slightly clockwise from the media feeding surfaces P, Q, and R, and in the image shown in Figure 2, the edges are slightly offset counterclockwise. It is in.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the medium sent out from the feed roller 5 toward the guide body 19 moves as shown by the arrow b in the figure based on the deviation between the ridge line X and the medium feeding surface P. It is guided and handed over from the feed roller 5 to the reversing roller 21 and introduced into the branch path 20. When the rear end of the medium is detected by the sensor 22, the reversing roller 21 reverses and sends the medium upward. Then, due to the deviation between the medium feeding surface Q and the ridge line Y of the branch path, the medium is guided as shown by arrow c, transferred from the reversing roller 21 to the discharge roller 13, and introduced into the medium discharge path 18b.

Here, when the media are discharged to the stacker 12, the media are stacked in the stacker in the processing order with only one side processed and then discharged, but the rear end of the media is detected by the sensor 23. If the ejection roller 13 is reversed when the medium is detected, the medium passes through the upper surface of the guide body 19 due to the deviation between the medium feeding surface R and the ridge line Z, and enters the medium entrance path 18a in a reversed state. will be sent back,
It is possible to print on the back side. The medium printed on the back side passes through the paths indicated by arrows b and c to the ejection roller 13.
is discharged to the stacker 12. At this time, the medium is turned over again, so the medium printed on the back side is placed in the stacker 12 in the reverse order from when it was supplied.
It will be piled up inside.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the ridgeline X of the guide body,
Since the Y and Z bias directions are opposite to those shown in FIG. 1, the medium sent out from the feed roller 5 passes through the upper surface of the guide body 19 and is sent into the medium discharge path 18b. When printing on the back side, when the rear end of the medium is detected by the sensor 23, the discharge roller 13 is reversed and the medium is guided to the branch path 20 as indicated by arrow c'. Then, when the sensor 22 detects the rear end of the medium, the reversing roller 21 is reversed, and the medium is sent back to the medium entrance path 18a as indicated by arrow b' to perform printing on the back side. The medium with the back side printed is directly discharged to the stacker 12 via the path indicated by the arrow a'.

That is, when either of the configurations shown in FIG. 1 or 2 is adopted, it is possible to automatically reverse the medium and print on both sides, but in the embodiment shown in FIG. The processed media are stacked in stacker 12 in the order in which they were supplied, and the double-sided media are stacked in stacker 1 in the reverse order that they were supplied.
In the case shown in Figure 2, media treated on both sides are stacked in the order in which they were supplied, and media treated on only one side are stacked in the reverse order. .

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the guide body 19 is mounted so as to be swingable around its longitudinal axis 25, and the ridge lines X, Y, Z of the guide body 19 and the medium feeding surface of each passage are If the direction of deviation of P, Q, and R can be changed, the state shown by the imaginary lines in Figures 3 and 4 when performing single-sided processing, and the state shown by the solid line in the same figure when performing double-sided processing, will be obtained. Due to the principle explained in Figures 1 and 2, it is possible to automatically turn the inserted media inside out and perform double-sided processing as needed, and the ejected media can be processed both in single-sided and double-sided processing. stacker 1 in the order as supplied.
It becomes possible to discharge in 2.

Here, in the case shown in FIG. 3, the guide body 19 is manually oscillated, and the oscillation shaft 2 of the guide body
5 is provided with a knob 26, and a detent mechanism is provided using recesses 27, 28 on the circumferential surface of the knob 26 and a pressure ball 29, so that the guide body 19 can be held at the position indicated by the imaginary line and the position indicated by the solid line in the figure. and
The one shown in FIG.
The guide body 19 is made to swing via a lever 33 fixed to the guide body 19. In particular, in the case shown in FIG.
9 can be easily oscillated, so even if, for example, media for single-sided processing and media for double-sided processing are mixed, this can be detected based on the content of the information to be printed, and the media can be processed on both sides. It is possible to process the back side by reversing the media and sending it back, and also to discharge the media in the order in which they were fed.
Furthermore, if a second stacker is provided below the branching path 20, it becomes possible to select the processed media and distribute the media to two stackers for discharge. Furthermore, the medium detection signals of the sensors 22 and 23 and the rotation direction of the rollers 5, 21 and 13, that is, the path 1
Since the direction of the guide body 19 can be changed in accordance with the feeding direction of the medium at 8a, 20 or 18b, it is possible to reverse and discharge a very versatile medium.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a sheet-like medium supplied to a printer or an image input device is controlled by a swinging motion of a guide body, a medium detection sensor provided in a medium discharge path and a branch path, and The forward and reverse operations of the three reversible roller devices facing the guide body allow input/output processing to only one side of the medium, input/output processing to both the front and back sides of the medium, and supply of the processed medium to the stacker. Four types of correspondence are possible: forward discharge and reverse supply order discharge, and combinations thereof can be selected arbitrarily, and it is also possible to easily select the processing and discharge mode for each medium. and
A device that can meet the demands of various media processing is obtained, and these various operations can be performed only by a combination of the swinging movement of the guide body and the forward and reverse movements of the three roller devices based on the paper detection by the sensor. Since it can be realized in this manner, the structure of the device can be extremely simple and the device can be made compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 are the first to fourth diagrams of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing essential parts of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing an example of a printer equipped with the apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 3 is a print processing unit, 4 and 5 are feed rollers,
13 is a discharge roller, 14 is a medium supply port, 16 is a sheet-like medium discharge port, 18 is a sheet-like medium path, 18a is a medium entrance path, 18b is a medium discharge path,
19 is a guide body, 20 is a branch path, 21 is a reversing roller, 22, 23 are medium detection sensors, 25 is a swing shaft of the guide body, 26 is a knob, 27, 28, 29 are a detent mechanism, 30 is a solenoid, 31 is the return spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A branch path 20 is provided in the medium path of the sheet-like medium from the medium supply port 14 to the discharge port 16, and at the branch position, a substantially triangular prism-shaped guide body 19 is arranged around an axis 25 parallel to its ridge lines X, Y, and Z. The three ridge lines X,
Y and Z are directed toward the medium entrance path 18a, medium discharge path 18b, and branch path 20 at the branch position, respectively, and when the guide body 19 is swung around the shaft 25, the three ridge lines X, Y, and Z are positioned slightly offset in the same direction around the shaft 25 from the normal medium feeding surfaces P, Q, and R of the medium in each of the passages, and the direction of this offset can be changed by swinging the guide body 19. , medium detection sensors 23 and 22 are provided in the medium discharge path 18b and the branch path 20 in proximity to the guide body 19, and each of the paths 18
A reversing device for a sheet-like recording medium in an information processing apparatus, in which reversible roller devices 5, 13, and 21 for feeding the medium are provided at a, 18b, and 20.