JPH0530032Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] This invention relates to a card feed guide device in a printer such as a time recorder or a card reading device that inserts a card with a predetermined format along a card guide and prints out the card.

[Prior art and its problems] For example, in a card feed guide device for a printer such as a time recorder, a card such as a time card is inserted along the card guide, and predetermined data such as arrival and departure times are recorded at a predetermined insertion position. It is configured to print. The feeding of the card to the printing position or the feeding operation after printing is performed by a card feeding roller disposed at an intermediate position of the card guide.

A brief explanation of the time recorder shown schematically in FIG. 8 as a printer with the above-mentioned conventional configuration is as follows.
1 is a card guide, 2 is a roller shaft installed horizontally in the middle of the card guide 1 and rotatably supported at both ends by a fixed frame 3, and 4 is a card feeder mounted on the roller shaft 2. The time card K is inserted along the card guide 1 in the direction of the arrow, and is further sent toward the printing position by the feed roller 4.

Note that the roller shaft 2 and the feed roller 4 are similarly arranged on the back side of the card K.
is fed while being held between a pair of front and rear rollers 4.

In the above conventional example, the roller shaft is immovably supported on the fixed frame 3, and a single roller is placed on one side of the card so as to correspond to the card K at the center position, as shown in FIG. It has a similar structure.

Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 9, in the card K, the center area X where the roller 4 passes must be made into a non-printing area, so the printing area Y is separated into left and right sides, and its format design is restricted. There's a problem. In other words, in the case of a time recorder, the card format is usually ``Date'', ``Attendance'', ``Outing'', ``Re-entry'', and ``Exit'', each with a print area of a predetermined number of digits in the printing line direction. Each column such as "Number of hours" is required. but,
In the above case, there is a non-printing area in the center of the card, so if the center column straddles that area, you will be forced to make format corrections such as shifting that column left and right. This is practically impossible depending on the number of digits of the printer, the required width of the column, etc., and in any case, there is an inconvenience in terms of format design.

Furthermore, in the case of a format that requires continuous printing in the printing line direction within the card, there is the problem that there is no room for the above-mentioned correction.

On the other hand, if we intentionally adopt a format in which the center area It is also difficult to eliminate this problem, making it difficult to use in practice.

Furthermore, in the case of a card format as shown in FIG. 9, the width W of the printing area Y is wide including the non-printing area X, so the mechanical parts such as the printing head for printing in the area are also Accordingly, the size of the printer has increased accordingly, and there has been a problem in that it has hindered the overall miniaturization of the printer.

Regarding the above-mentioned problem, if the feed rollers are arranged so as to correspond to both ends of the card, the printing area problem can be solved, but since the rollers are holding the card at two points, for example, if the card is in the area state, When inserted, the card is fed while maintaining this state, and as a result, the left and right side edges of the card come into strong contact with the card guide, increasing the load on the card feeding mechanism and causing the card to be fed. There was a problem that defects occurred. Further, even if the card is fed straight, the card may be tilted during feeding due to an error in the diameter of the left and right rollers, and the same problem as described above occurs in this case as well.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, allows the card to be fed smoothly at all times, increases the degree of freedom in card format design, and contributes to the miniaturization of the entire printer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a card feeding guide device for a printer that can perform the following steps.

[Summary of the invention] In order to achieve the above object, this invention basically consists of a pair of left and right feeders placed on the roller shaft at positions corresponding to both ends of the card inserted along the card guide. A roller is attached, and both ends of the roller shaft are supported on a fixed frame so that they can slide in the axial direction, and spring members are provided at each end to elastically hold the roller shaft at a predetermined center position. The present invention proposes a card feeding guide device for a printer having a configuration characterized by the following features.

According to the present invention having the above configuration, when a card is fed in an inclined state by the rollers and the side edge of the card comes into contact with the card guide, the reaction force of the load resistance generated there is transmitted through the rollers to the roller axis. Since the roller shaft is configured to slide in the axial direction against the spring member, the load resistance does not increase excessively and a smoother feeding operation can be obtained.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the feed roller is arranged to correspond to both sides of the card and the roller is released from the center area of the card, card format design is easy and the printing width can be reduced. , it becomes easier to design a smaller printer.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is embodied as a time recorder, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 of the drawings.

First, a basic embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the figure, 10 is a card guide, 11 is a roller shaft installed horizontally in the middle of the card guide 10, 12 is a roller shaft 11, and each end 11 of the roller shaft 11 is
13 is a fixed frame supported rotatably and slidably in the axial direction; 13 is a pair of card feeding rollers mounted on the roller shaft 11 at positions on both sides spaced from the center position S of the card guide 10; It is. Both rollers 13 are made of a rubber material and have the same diameter, and the time card K is inserted into the card guide through the card insertion slot 14.
It has a configuration corresponding to the side part of (Fig. 2).

Further, as a feature of the present invention, spring members are provided at both ends 11a of the roller shaft 11. That is, the spring member 15 is attached to the end portion 11a of the roller shaft.
It is formed into a curved state by an elastically deformable thin plate spring between the fixed frame 12 and the fixed frame 12, and is configured to be fitted into the roller shaft 11 at the center.

Both spring members 15 are set to have a uniform spring force on the left and right sides, and when no external force acts on the roller shaft, the roller shaft 11 is moved to the center position, that is, the card K is moved to the center position S via both rollers 13, 13. It is elastically held in a guiding position along the

Note that the roller shaft 11, the pair of rollers 13, 13 attached to it, and the spring members 1 at both ends
The components 5 and 15 are arranged in the same way on the back side of the card K, and the card K is fed while being held between the front and rear rollers 13, but in the figure, only the front side is arranged. It is shown.
Further, one of the front and rear roller shafts is connected to a drive means such as a drive motor as a drive side, but illustration thereof is omitted here.

In such a configuration, the time card K is inserted from the card insertion slot 14 in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG.
When the card is being fed further downward toward the printing position, if the card is tilted with respect to the center position S and the side edge of the card comes into contact with the card guide, the load resistance caused by that contact will be reversed. According to the reaction force, a force is applied to the roller shaft 11 via the roller 13 in the axial direction (rightward direction) indicated by the arrow R.
The force of is applied.

Due to the axial force, the roller shaft 11 elastically deforms the left spring member 15 and slides to the right. This movement of the roller shaft is transmitted to the card K via the roller 13, and as a result, the card K also moves together with the card K, so that it is spaced apart from the card guide 10 without being pressed too much against the card guide 10. In other words, the center position is actively guided.

In this way, the card K is configured to allow sliding movement of the roller shaft in the axial direction by elastic deformation of the left and right spring members, so that the card K is always smoothly fed without increasing load resistance. is carried out.

Further, in the time recorder having the above configuration, a card K having the format shown in FIG. 3 can be used. That is, in the card K, since the roller 13 that engages with this corresponds to the side area E of the card, unlike the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 9, there is no need to leave the center area as a non-print area. The printing area Y can be set using the entire main part of the card without being divided into left and right sides.

Therefore, it is easy to design the format of the printing area, and since the printing width W does not include the non-printing area in this case, it can be made smaller than in the case of FIG. This makes it easier to downsize the design.

Next, a more specific embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 will be described.

In FIG. 4, 20 is a card guide forming a slit-shaped card insertion slot 21, and 22 and 23 are roller shafts arranged front and back in parallel with the card insertion slot 21. axis 2
2 constitutes a driving side, and the other roller shaft 23 constitutes a driven side. The drive-side roller shaft 22 is connected to a drive motor 28 on a fixed frame 27 by meshing a gear 24 fixed thereto with a gear 26 on a motor shaft 25.

A pair of card feeding rollers 29, 29 mounted on the driving side roller shaft are attached to the driven side roller shaft 23.
A pair of card feed rollers 30, 3 mounted on
0, and are positioned so as to sandwich and feed the side of a card (not shown) to be inserted into the card insertion slot 21.

Ends 22a, 23a of each roller shaft 22, 23
is rotatably and axially slidably supported by a fixed frame 27, and this support structure has a similar configuration, one of which will be described later with reference to FIG. And these roller ends 22a, 23
A spring member 31 made of a thin plate spring similar to that in the previous embodiment is inserted between the fixed frame 27 and the roller shaft 2.
2 and 23 are elastically held at predetermined positions (center positions) in the axial direction.

Note that the roller shaft 23 on the driven side has both ends 2
In the vicinity of 3a, a coiled spring is wound around a pulley 32 that is slidably attached to the shaft, and the end of the spring is suspended from a fixed frame 27, thereby biasing the roller shaft 23. The other roller 2 to which the rollers 30, 30 above correspond
9 and 29 to obtain card clamping force. Therefore, in order to adopt this configuration, the end of the roller shaft on the driven side is supported with respect to the fixed frame 27 so as to be able to move slightly in the front and rear directions by, for example, a long groove. Since the configuration of the points is self-evident, illustration thereof will be omitted.

In such a configuration, when a time card (not shown) is inserted in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. The print head 34 is placed below the print head 34 and the platen 35 is placed opposite to the print head 34. The print head 34 is located below the print head 34 and the platen 35 is placed opposite to the print head 34. The print head 34 is located below the print head 34 and the platen 35 is placed opposite to the print head 34. The card is then sent upward toward the card insertion slot 21.

During the above-mentioned card feeding operation, if the card feeding deviates from the center position and contacts the card guide 20, the spring member 31 acts, and each roller shaft 22 ，
23 is allowed to move in the axial direction, the side edges of the card are not brought into excessive contact with the card guide, and a smooth feeding operation can be obtained.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a common support structure for the ends of the roll shafts 22 and 23 will be explained, taking the end 23a of one of the roll shafts 23 as an example.

The roll shaft end portion 23a is supported by the fixed frame 27 via a bearing 36, and an E-type retaining ring 37 is attached to the tip portion protruding from the bearing. The spring member 31 is inserted between the roller shaft and the bearing 36, and its elastic deformation allows the roller shaft to move in the axial direction indicated by the arrow.

Note that the pulley 32 shown in the figure, which is mounted on the roller shaft end 23a adjacent to the bearing 36, is not provided on the end 22a of the other roller shaft 22. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the roller shaft 23 is configured to be able to move slightly in the front and back direction with respect to the fixed frame 27, but this can be done by making the bearing hole of the fixed frame that supports the bearing 36 into an elongated hole. Since it can be easily formed using a method, specific illustration thereof will be omitted.

Note that the spring member 31 is formed by forming a thin plate spring into a curved spring shape, so that the center portion 31a is fitted into the end of the roller shaft and is brought into contact with the bearing 36.
The peripheral edge portion 31b is configured to be in contact with the flat washer 38. When the roller shaft rotates, the spring member 31 rotates relative to the bearing 36, but the contact portion between the spring member 31 and the bearing 36 is extremely small due to this shape, and therefore, the rotational resistance is also preferably small.

As a modified example, as schematically shown in FIG. 7, the spring member 31 is formed of a leaf spring, the base end of which is supported by the fixed frame 27, and
An end portion 23 whose free end is a roller shaft with a sharp point shape.
A configuration in which it contacts a is also possible.

With this configuration as well, the elastic deformation of the leaf spring 31 allows the roller shaft to move in the axial direction, and the rotational resistance can be reduced.

Furthermore, the spring member 31 is not limited to the embodiments and modifications described above, and other shapes such as coil springs can also be used, but the structure of the embodiment described above is particularly desirable.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, according to the invention, instead of fixedly supporting the roller shaft with respect to a fixed frame, the roller shaft can be moved in the axial direction by interposing a spring member, and in normal conditions, Since the card is elastically held at the center position, even if the card is fed at an angle, load resistance due to contact with the card guide does not increase excessively, and smooth card feeding operation can be achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, the feed rollers correspond to both sides of the card, and the center area of the card can be used as a printing area, so the card format design is easy, and the printing width can be made small. Various effects can be achieved, such as making it easier to design a smaller printer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a basic embodiment of the card feeding guide device of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the aspect of the card used in the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view showing an outline of a more specific embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of one end of the roller shaft shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a modification diagram of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a conventional card feeding guide device, and FIG. 9 is a partial diagram showing an aspect of a conventional card used in the device of FIG. 10,20...Card guide, 11,22,2
3...Roller shaft, 13, 29, 30... Card feeding roller, 15, 31... Spring member.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A pair of left and right feed rollers are mounted on the roller shaft at positions corresponding to both sides of the card inserted along the card guide, and both ends of the roller shaft are Card feeding in a printer characterized in that the roller shaft is supported on a fixed frame so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and a spring member is provided at each end of the roller shaft to elastically hold the roller shaft at a predetermined center position. Guidance device. (2) The card feeding guide device for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the spring member is a thin plate spring that is fitted into the end of the roller shaft and formed into a curved shape.