JPH0596795A - Tractor device in printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To positively feed continuous paper to a platen by a tractor without generating a slack in the continuous paper and to easily set continuous paper on the tractor. CONSTITUTION:On a paper feed position, the top end of a guide part 11 of a tractor body 6 is disposed between a platen 1 and a guide member 4. On a paper set position apart from the platen 1, continuous paper can be set on the tractor body 6. By a guide means 24, a tractor 19 is moved to either the paper feed position or the paper set position and positioned thereon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tractor device of a printer for feeding continuous paper to a printing section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when printing is performed on continuous paper, round holes formed on both sides of the continuous paper at regular intervals are fitted to pins of a conveyor belt of a pair of tractors installed in a printer. The continuous paper is guided by a guide member arranged along the outer circumference of the platen, wound around the platen, and printed by the print head while the tractor is driven to be conveyed toward the platen. At this time, the tractor is provided with lids that can be opened and closed to cover both sides of the continuous paper so that the continuous paper fitted to the pins of the conveyor belt does not come off from the conveyor belt during transportation. Is to open and set this lid.
The tractor is arranged at a position separated from the platen by a predetermined distance so that the setting operation can be easily performed.

[0003]

However, when the continuous paper is set on the tractor having such a structure and the leading end of the continuous paper is conveyed to the platen, the leading end of the continuous paper conveyed by the tractor is along the outer periphery of the platen. Guided by the guide members that are placed on the platen and sent to the platen.However, since the distance from the tractor to the platen is long at this time, the direction in which the leading edge of the continuous paper conveyed by the tractor travels is not constant and hits the platen temporarily. There is a problem that the continuous paper loses its course and becomes slack, which causes jamming.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to prevent the continuous paper from being loosened when the front end of the continuous paper is fed to the platen, to reliably convey the front end of the continuous paper, and to use the tractor to transfer the continuous paper. An object of the present invention is to provide a tractor device for a printer, which facilitates the setting operation.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a pair of tractor main bodies having guide portions for conveying continuous sheets to a platen, and a pair of tractor main bodies having positioning members at both end portions are provided at predetermined positions. A tractor that supports the tractor with a space therebetween, a guide member that faces the outer periphery of the platen and guides a continuous sheet conveyed by the tractor body along the outer periphery of the platen, and the tractor through the positioning member. At a sheet conveying position where the tip of the guide portion is located between the platen and the guide member, and a sheet setting position where the continuous sheet can be set in the tractor body at a position apart from the platen. It is characterized by comprising guide means for guiding movement and positioning at both positions.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when printing is performed on continuous paper, the tractor is moved to and positioned along the guide means via the positioning member at the paper setting position separated from the platen, and the continuous paper is set on the tractor body. Next, the tractor is moved and positioned along the guide means to the sheet conveying position where the tip of the guide portion of the tractor body is located between the platen and the guide member.

Therefore, since the tractor can be positioned between the sheet conveying position and the sheet setting position, the continuous sheet can be surely conveyed along the guide member to the platen without sagging at the sheet conveying position, and at the sheet setting position. The continuous paper can be easily set on the tractor body.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the feeding unit of the printer according to the present embodiment includes a platen 1 and a print head 2 that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the platen 1 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) to perform printing. And a paper guide plate 4 which is a guide member arranged along the outer periphery of the lower part of the platen 1 to guide the continuous paper 3 to the outer periphery of the platen 1 and the continuous paper 3 guided by the paper guide plate 4 to the front face of the print head 2. A pair of tractor bodies 6, 6 that convey the deflector 5 and the continuous paper 3.
The platen 1, the print head 2, and the tractor main bodies 6, 6 are rotatably or movably held by a pair of main body frames 7, 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tractor bodies 6, 6 are
The continuous belt 3 has pins 9 for inserting round holes 8 provided on both sides of the continuous sheet 3 and sends the continuous sheet 3 with rotation, and the continuous sheet 3 sent by the conveyor belt 10. The guide portion 11 for guiding and the tractor bodies 6, 6
And a lid 12 which is hinged to prevent the continuous paper 3 from coming off from the pin 9 of the conveyor belt 10. A drive shaft 14 having a tractor gear 13 at one end for rotating the conveyor belt 10 and a guide shaft 15 for moving the tractor bodies 6, 6 in the width direction of the continuous paper 3 are respectively provided in the pair of tractor bodies 6, 6. It is inserted in parallel.

Therefore, the pair of tractor main bodies 6, 6 can be moved along the drive shaft 14 and the guide shaft 15 in accordance with the width dimension of the continuous paper 3, and can be fixed at arbitrary positions by a fixing member (not shown). .. Also,
Both ends of the drive shaft 14 and the guide shaft 15 are supported by a support member 16, and the support member 16 is provided with first and second positioning pins 17 and 18 as positioning members so as to project therefrom. Then, the pair of tractor main bodies 6,
6, the drive shaft 14, the guide shaft 15, and the support 16 constitute a tractor 19 as one block.

A motor 20 is attached to the body frames 7, 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the rotational force of the motor 20 is transmitted to the platen 1 via a first gear 21 and a platen gear 22. Further, it is transmitted to the tractor main bodies 6, 6 via the first gear 21, the second gear 23 and the tractor gear 13.

Next, the guide means 24 will be described. The guide means 24 has a function of moving and guiding the tractor 19 so that the tractor 19 can be positioned at the paper set position shown in FIG. 3 and the paper transport position shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, the guide means 24 is shown in FIG. A pair of body frames 7, 7
Of the first guide groove 25 and the second guide groove 26. The second positioning pin 18 formed to project from the support body 16 is inserted into this. The first and second guide grooves 25, 2
6 is a tractor 19 at a horizontal position where the continuous paper 3 can be easily set.
Paper setting positions 25a and 26a for positioning the paper and paper conveying positions 25b and 26b in which the tip of the guide portion 11 of the tractor body 6, 6 is located between the platen 1 and the paper guide plate 4.
And the sheet setting positions 25a and 26a are formed at the same height for horizontally positioning the tractor bodies 6 and 6, and the sheet conveying positions 25b and 26b are provided at the second guide groove 26.
The paper transporting position 26b is formed at a position lower than the paper transporting position 25b of the first guide groove 25. Then, the paper setting positions 25a, 2 of the first and second guide grooves 25, 26
The first and second positioning pins 17 and 18 are movably connected between 6a and the sheet transporting positions 25b and 26b.

With this structure, the tractor 19 opens and closes the lids 12 of the tractor bodies 6 and 6 at the paper setting positions 25a and 26a of FIG. 3 to insert the round holes 8 on both sides of the continuous paper 3 into the pins 9 of the conveyor belt 10. The platen 1 is separated from the platen 1 and is positioned in a horizontal position for ease of explanation. Further, at the paper transport positions 25b and 26b in FIG. 1, the guide portions 1 of the tractor bodies 6 and 6 are arranged so that the continuous paper 3 can be fed to the platen 1.
The front end of the sheet 1 is positioned between the peripheral surface of the platen 1 and the sheet guide plate 4. As a result, loosening of the continuous paper 3 can be prevented.

Further, in this embodiment, the tractor 19 is set to the sheet setting positions 25a and 26a and the sheet conveying positions 25b and 2b.
Locking means 2 so that 6b can be reliably positioned and held.
7 is provided. Specifically, the locking means 27 is shown in FIG.
A locking portion 28a having an arc shape at the base end as shown in FIG.
The lock lever 29 having two 28b formed therein is used to set the sheet setting position 25a of the first guide groove 25 of the main body frame 7 on one side.
Is rotatably provided between the sheet feeding position and the sheet conveying position 25b. With this configuration, the tractor 19 is set at the paper setting position 25.
When positioned at positions a and 26a, the lock lever 29 is rotated in the direction of arrow X as shown in FIG. 6 (the lock lever 29 is shown with its front and back opposite to FIG. 5) to move the locking portion 28a into the first guide groove 25. It is pressed against the peripheral surface of the first positioning pin 17 positioned at the sheet setting position 25a. When the tractor 19 is positioned at the sheet conveying positions 25b and 26b, the lock lever 29 is rotated in the arrow Y direction as shown in FIG. 28b is pressed against the peripheral surface of the first positioning pin 17 positioned at the sheet conveying position 25b of the first guide groove 25.

Next, the operation will be described. When printing on the continuous paper 3, first, as shown in FIG.
Is positioned at the paper setting positions 25a and 26a and then held by the lock lever 26, the positions of the tractor bodies 6 and 6 are adjusted to the paper width and fixed by a fixing member (not shown), and the lid 12 of the tractor bodies 6 and 6 is fixed. Open the guide part 1
The round holes 8 on both sides of the continuous paper 3 are inserted into the pins 9 of the conveyor belt 10 protruding from 1, and the lid 12 is closed. Next, the lock lever 29 positioned and held at the sheet setting positions 25a and 26a is rotated to release the locked state, and the first and second positioning pins 17 and 18 of the tractor 19 are moved to the first and second guide grooves 25, 26 along the sheet setting position 25a,
26a to the sheet transporting positions 25b and 26b, the tractor gear 13 is engaged with the second gear 23 and positioned, and the lock lever 29 is rotated and held at that position. By driving the motor 20 in this state, the rotation of the motor 20 causes the platen 1 to rotate via the first gear 21 and the tractor gear 13 to rotate via the second gear 23.
Rotates to drive the tractor bodies 6 and 6 to feed the continuous paper 3 between the platen 1 and the paper guide plate 4, feed it along the paper guide plate 4 to the outer periphery of the platen 1 and be guided by the deflector 5. Ready to print.

Therefore, the tractor 19 can be reliably positioned and held at the paper setting positions 25a and 26a, and in this state, the continuous paper 3 can be easily attached to the tractor main bodies 6 and 6.
Can be set. Further, the tractor 19 on which the continuous paper 3 is set can be reliably positioned and held at the paper transport positions 25b and 26b, and in that state, the continuous paper 3 can be fed to the platen 1 without slack.

In this embodiment, the tractor 19 is set to the sheet setting positions 25a and 26a and the sheet conveying positions 25b and 2b.
The first positioning pin 17 for holding the 6b in position.
Although the locking means for fixing the tractor is provided only on one side of the tractor 19, if the locking means is provided on both sides, the tractor 19 can be more reliably positioned and held at each position. Further, the second positioning pin 18 may be held by the locking means instead of the first positioning pin 17.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, as described above, the tractor is provided with a paper transporting position where the tip of the guide portion of the tractor body is located between the platen and the guide member, and a continuous paper on the tractor at a position away from the platen. Since the guide means is provided for moving and guiding the paper to a paper setting position where the paper can be set and for positioning the tractor at both positions, continuous paper can be easily set on the tractor at the paper setting position. In the paper transport position, slack is not generated when the continuous paper is fed to the platen, and reliable transport can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a tractor of the present invention is positioned and held at a sheet conveying position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a tractor.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the tractor is positioned and held at a sheet setting position.

FIG. 4 is a first and a second guide for moving and guiding a tractor.
It is a side view which shows a guide groove.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a lock unit that selectively locks the tractor at the sheet transporting position and the sheet setting position.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a locking operation of locking means.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a locking operation of locking means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Platen 2 Print Head 3 Continuous Paper 4 Paper Guide Plate (Guide Member) 6 Tractor Body 11 Guide Part 17 First Positioning Pin (Positioning Pin) 18 Second Positioning Pin (Positioning Pin) 19 Tractor 24 Guide Means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Sanada 570, Ohito, Ohito-cho, Takata-gun, Shizuoka Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. Ohito factory (72) Inventor Kiyotaka Nihashi 570, Ohito, Ohito-cho, Takata-gun, Shizuoka Tokyo Electric Corporation Ohi Plant

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of tractor main bodies having guide portions for transporting continuous paper to a platen, and a tractor having positioning members at both end portions and supporting the pair of tractor main bodies at arbitrary positions with a predetermined gap therebetween. A guide member that faces the outer periphery of the platen and guides a continuous sheet conveyed by the tractor body along the outer periphery of the platen; and a tip of the guide portion of the tractor body that guides the tractor through the positioning member. And a guide member and a paper conveying position located between the guide member and a paper setting position which is a position apart from the platen and on which the continuous paper can be set in the tractor body, and is positioned at both positions. A tractor device for a printer, which comprises: