JPH06155832A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly and accurately convey a selected print sheet so as to convey it under preset print sheet conveying conditions in response to a selected print sheet supply route and a type of discriminated print sheet. CONSTITUTION:When an input unit 9 receives a sheet feed signal from an operation panel, a central processing unit 4 decides whether a print sheet is a cut sheet or a continuous sheet according to a signal of a release lever position detector 5. A thickness of the sheet is discriminated according to a signal of an adjusting lever position detector 6. Further, a sheet feeding route is judged according to which signal of a front sheet detector 8 is input. A sheet feeding motor 1 is so controlled by a sheet feed motor controller 2 as to set conveying conditions of a conveying mechanism 3 to predetermined value according to the judged result. For example, in the case of the continuous sheet, a driving frequency of the motor l is set to 600pps. In the case of a thick sheet, the frequency is reduced and set to 500pps. In the case of front sheet feeding, 20pps is added to be corrected to decide conveying conditions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer. More specifically, it relates to conveyance of printing paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a means for varying the drive condition of a paper feed motor of a printing apparatus, there has been known one as shown in JP-A-63-4976. The contents disclosed therein are shown in FIG. The motor drive control means 61 includes a frequency changeover switch 62, a drive phase changeover switch 63, and a motor drive circuit 64.
The paper feed motor 65 that drives 6 is controlled. The motor drive control means 61 drives the paper feed motor 65 according to the properties of the printing paper 66, such as the thickness of the printing paper 66 and the difference in the stiffness of the printing paper 66, or the excitation state (1/2 phase alternating excitation or 2 phase simultaneous excitation). It was supposed to be variable.

[0003]

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for a function capable of selectively printing a plurality of types of printing papers on a plurality of types of printing papers without the user having to bother and remove the papers. A printer provided with the printing paper supply path is commercialized. However, when the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-4976 is applied to this type of printer, the drive frequency of the paper feed motor depends only on the characteristics of the print paper such as the thickness of the print paper and the difference in the paper stiffness. Alternatively, only by changing the excitation state, it was not possible to convey the printing paper at high speed and accurately by using a small and low-priced paper feed motor. This is because even if the same type of printing paper is used, if the printing paper supply path is different, the train wheel load and the bending force of the printing paper will change, and the paper feeding motor load will change even though the paper feeding motor load changes. Since the printing paper cannot be conveyed at high speed and accurately because it is driven under the driving conditions, the paper feed motor loses step.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform printing capable of accurately and quickly transporting printing paper even with a small and low-priced paper feed motor. It is in the area of providing equipment.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus having a plurality of printing paper supply paths, and a printing paper supply path for discriminating the selected printing paper supply path. The conveyance condition of the printing paper is preset according to the discrimination result, the printing paper type discrimination means for discriminating the type of the printing paper, the printing paper supply path discrimination means, and the discrimination result of the printing paper type discrimination means. A printing apparatus comprising: a transporting unit that transports under the above conditions.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a printing apparatus provided with a plurality of printing paper supply paths. It is possible to set three kinds of printing papers 10 at the same time and further manually feed paper from two directions. is there. First, the first printing paper supply path A
Is a path for feeding the print paper 10 from the front tractor 13 and discharging it along the front paper feed roller 14 and the platen 11. The second print paper supply path B is print paper 1
0 is a path for feeding 0 from the rear tractor 12 and discharging it along the feed roller 15 and the platen 11. The third print sheet supply path C is a path for feeding the print sheet 10 from the pickup roller 16 of the cut sheet feeder 17 and discharging it along the sheet feed roller 15 and the platen 11. Further, the fourth print paper supply path D is provided with the cut print paper 1
This is a path for manually feeding 0 from the front and discharging it along the front paper feed roller 14 and the platen 11.
The fifth print paper supply path E is a path for manually feeding the cut print paper 10 from the rear and discharging it along the paper feed roller 15 and the platen 11. Here, the rear paper detector 7 and the front paper detector 8 are used to determine whether the print paper 10 is present and whether the print paper supply path is rear or front.
Is equipped with.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the release lever 19 for the operator to select the print sheet supply path of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the release lever 19. The release lever 19 can switch three types of print paper supply paths. Reference numeral a denotes a position of the release lever 19 that feeds and conveys the continuous printing paper 10 from the front tractor 13. Reference numeral b is the position of the release lever 19 that feeds and conveys the continuous printing paper 10 from the rear tractor 12. Reference numeral c is a release lever 19 that conveys the cut printing paper 10.
At the position of, the sheet feeding port is cut sheet feeder (hereinafter CSF
17), front (manual feed), rear (manual feed)
There are three places. When the paper is fed from the CSF 17, the CSF mode is selected by the input unit 9 of FIG. 5, and the selection of front and rear is determined by which of the printing paper 10 the operator sets. The release lever position detector 5 cooperates with the release lever 19 to determine whether the printing paper 10 is a cut paper or a continuous paper. When the position c is reached, the release lever position detector 5 is turned on and the paper is a cut paper. To determine. 3 shows the platen 11 and the print head 47 of the present invention.
In the perspective view of the adjust lever 34 for the operator to select the platen gap between
The structure is such that the platen gap can be selected in stages. An appropriate lever 34 is used to select an appropriate platen gap corresponding to the number of copies of the printing paper 10, the paper thickness such as the paper type. Like the release lever 19, the position of the adjust lever 34 is detected by the adjust lever 34,
An adjust lever position detector 6 (not shown) for determining whether the print paper 10 is thick or thin is provided. When the adjust lever 34 is between No2 and No6, the adjust lever position detector 6 is turned on, and it is determined that the print sheet 10 has a large thickness.

7 to 10 are side views showing an embodiment of the transport mechanism of the printer of the present invention, and FIGS. 11 to 14 are front views showing the wheel train portion of the transport mechanism of the printer of the present invention. , 4 states are shown depending on the position of the release lever 19 and the CSF mode.

In FIGS. 7 and 11, the release lever 19 is a
When the operator sets the release lever 19 to the position "a" in the figure, the intermittent gear portion of the release lever 19 cooperates with the intermittent gear portion of the roller release shaft 23, and the paper feed motor 1 becomes a pinion. Reduction gear 2 through 18
0, then platen gear 21, transmission gear 2
2, transmission gear 25, front paper feed gear 24, transmission gear 3
1. Engage with the front tractor drive gear 32. In this way, only the gears required to drive the front tractor 13 are engaged. When the paper feed motor 1 is rotated clockwise, the platen 11 fixed on the shaft of the platen gear 21 rotates clockwise, and the front paper feed roller fixed on the shaft of the front paper feed gear 24. 14 rotates counterclockwise and the front tractor drive gear 32 rotates clockwise. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the roller release shaft 23 that interlocks with the intermittent gear of the release lever 19 is D-cut at a portion that comes into contact with a support member 49 that supports the paper feed roller 15 and the front paper feed auxiliary roller 48. The spring 50 presses the paper feed roller 15 toward the platen 11, and the front paper feed auxiliary roller 48 is pressed against the front paper feed roller 14. The operator operates the release lever 19 a
When set to the position, the intermittent gear portion of the release lever 19 cooperates with the intermittent gear portion of the roller release shaft 23, and the arcuate surface of the D-cut portion abuts the support member 49 to resist the spring force of the spring 50. , The front paper feed auxiliary roller 48 is urged in a direction away from the front paper feed roller 14. Therefore, the front tractor drive gear 32 of the front tractor 13 is
Is rotated clockwise, and the continuous printing paper 10 set on the front tractor 13 passes through the gap released by the front paper feed auxiliary roller 48 from the front paper feed roller 14, and the platen 11 and the print head 47 are separated. Transported between.

In FIGS. 8 and 12, the release lever 19 is b
In the figure showing the case where the rear tractor 12 is in the position, only the gears necessary for driving the rear tractor 12 are engaged. The paper feed motor 1 is driven by the reduction gear 2 via the pinion 18.
0, then platen gear 21, transmission gear 2
6. Engage with the rear tractor drive gear 33.
When the paper feed motor 1 is rotated clockwise, the platen 11 fixed on the shaft of the platen gear 21 rotates clockwise, and the rear tractor drive gear 33 rotates counterclockwise. When the operator sets the release lever 19 to the position of b, the intermittent gear portion of the release lever 19 cooperates with the intermittent gear portion of the roller release shaft 23, and the arcuate surface of the D-cut portion abuts on the support member 49 to cause the spring. The paper feed roller 15 is urged in the direction away from the platen 11 against the spring force of 50. Therefore, the rear tractor drive gear 33 of the rear tractor 12 rotates counterclockwise, and the continuous printing paper 10 set on the rear tractor 12 is fed to the paper feeding roller 1.
The sheet 5 passes through the clearance released from the platen 11 and is conveyed between the platen 11 and the print head 47.

In FIGS. 9 and 13, the release lever 19 is c
In the diagram showing the case of the CSF mode in which the sheet is fed from the CSF 17 at the position of, only the gears required to drive the CSF 17 are engaged. The paper feed motor 1 engages with the reduction gear 20 via the pinion 18, and hereinafter, the platen gear 21, the transmission gear 26, the transmission gears 27, 2
8. Engage with the pickup gear 29. When the paper feed motor 1 is rotated counterclockwise, the platen 11 fixed on the shaft of the platen gear 21 rotates counterclockwise, and the pickup roller 16 fixed on the shaft of the pickup gear 29 moves. Rotate clockwise. Since the pickup roller 16 has a one-way clutch (not shown), it rotates clockwise but does not rotate counterclockwise. When the operator sets the release lever 19 to the position c, the intermittent gear portion of the release lever 19 cooperates with the intermittent gear portion of the roller release shaft 23, and D
The cut surface of the cut portion comes into contact with the support member 49, and the spring 5
The paper feeding roller 15 is brought into contact with the platen 11 by a spring force of zero. Therefore, the pickup roller 16 of the CSF 17
Rotates in the clockwise direction and sends out the cut print paper 10 set in the CSF 17. The fed printing paper 10 slips at the place where it reaches the contact portion between the paper feed roller 15 and the platen 11 which rotates counterclockwise.
Align the tips of. Next, when the paper feed motor 1 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the printing paper 10 is fed to the paper feed roller 15 and the platen 1.
1 is fed and conveyed between the platen 11 and the print head 47. At this time, the pickup gear 29 rotates counterclockwise, but the pickup roller 16 does not rotate and the next print sheet 10 is not fed.

FIGS. 10 and 14 are views showing a case where the cut lever is manually fed with the release lever 19 at the position c, which is necessary for driving the feed roller 15 and the front feed roller 14. Only the gear is engaged. The paper feed motor 1 engages with the reduction gear 20 via the pinion 18, and then engages with the platen gear 21, the transmission gear 22, the transmission gear 25, and the front paper feed gear 24. When the paper feed motor 1 is rotated clockwise, the platen 11 fixed on the shaft of the platen gear 21 rotates clockwise, and the front paper feed roller fixed on the shaft of the front paper feed gear 24. 14 rotates counterclockwise. When the operator sets the release lever 19 to the position c, the intermittent gear portion of the release lever 19 cooperates with the intermittent gear portion of the roller release shaft 23, and the cut surface of the D cut portion abuts on the support member 49 to cause the spring. Due to the spring force of 50, the paper feed roller 15 is brought into contact with the platen 11, and at the same time, the front paper feed auxiliary roller 48 is brought into contact with the front paper feed roller 14. Therefore, when the paper is manually fed from the front, the front paper feed roller 14 rotates counterclockwise, and the manually fed cut paper 10 is fed by the front paper feed roller 15 and the front paper feed auxiliary roller 48. Then, it is conveyed between the platen 11 and the print head 47. On the other hand, when the paper is manually fed from the rear, the paper feed roller 15 rotates counterclockwise, and the manually fed cut paper 10 is a paper feed roller 15 and a platen 11.
The sheet is fed by the sheet and conveyed between the platen 11 and the print head 47.

Next, the operation of the thus constructed apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Input section 9
When a paper feed signal for feeding the print paper 10 is received from a paper feed switch (not shown) on the operation panel or a computer (not shown) (step 101), this signal is a central control for controlling the entire printing apparatus. Input to the processing unit 4,
A routine for determining the print paper supply path of the paper feed motor control unit 2 is entered. The signal from the release lever position detector 5 is input to the central processing unit 4 (step 102), and it is determined whether the print paper 10 is continuous paper (step 103). Since the load on the transport mechanism 3 becomes small, the drive frequency (hereinafter referred to as F) of the paper feed motor 1 is set to 600 pps (step 10).
4). Then, the signal from the adjust lever position detector 6 is input (step 105), and it is determined whether the paper thickness of the print paper 10 is thick (step 106). If thick, the paper stiffness is strong and the load on the transport mechanism 3 is large. Therefore, drive frequency F =
Change to (F-50) pps (step 107).
If it is thin, the thin paper has a weak stiffness and the load on the transport mechanism 3 is small, so the drive frequency F is left unchanged (F = Fpps) (step 108). Steps 107 and 108
The drive frequency F set in step F is further F = (F-20) pps
(Step 109), rotate the paper feed motor 1 clockwise at the drive frequency set in step 109, and wait for input of a paper present signal from either the rear paper detector 7 or the front paper detector 8 (step 110, 1
11). However, if the number of pulses of the paper feed motor 1 is counted and the paper present signal is not input even when the set value is reached, the paper feed motor 1 is stopped, an error message is displayed, and the processing of FIG. 6 ends.

In the presence of paper, it is determined whether the input paper presence signal is rear or front (step 112). If it is determined that the input is front, the front paper is driven because the bending of the printing paper 10 is small. Frequency F = (F + 20) pp
s, and continue feeding the paper to the specified position (step
113, 115). When it is determined that the rear side is the rear side, the bending becomes large in the path of winding the printing paper 10 around the platen 11 in the rear paper feeding, so that the drive frequency F remains unchanged (F = F
pps) and continue feeding the paper to a predetermined position (steps 114 and 115).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 103 that the paper is cut paper, since the release lever 19 is at the position a or b, the paper feed roller 15 is pressed against the platen 11 to feed the cut paper. Since the auxiliary roller 48 is pressed by the front roller 14, the load on the cut sheet conveying mechanism 3 becomes large, so that the drive frequency F is 500 pps.
(Step 116). Then, the signal from the adjust lever position detector 6 is input (step 11
7) Then, it is determined whether the print paper 10 is thick or thin (step 118). If the print paper 10 is thick, the thick paper is stiff and the load on the transport mechanism 3 becomes large. Therefore, the driving frequency F = (F-10
0) Set pps (step 119). If the paper is thin, the thin paper has a weak stiffness and the load on the transport mechanism 3 is small. Therefore, the drive frequency F is kept set in step 116 (step 120).

In step 121, it is judged whether the input section 9 has input the CSF mode from the paper feed switch (not shown) of the operation panel or the computer (not shown), and C
When the SF mode is input, since the wheel train load of the transport mechanism 3 becomes large for the sheet feeding from the CSF, the driving frequency F = (F
-100) pps is changed (step 122), and paper feeding is continued to a predetermined position (step 115). When the manual feed mode is determined, the drive frequency F = (F-20)
Lower to pps (step 123), paper feed motor 1
Is rotated clockwise to wait for input of a paper presence signal from either the rear paper detector 7 or the front paper detector 8 (steps 124 and 125). However, if the number of pulses of the paper feed motor 1 is counted and the paper present signal is not input even when the set value is reached, the paper feed motor 1 is stopped, an error is displayed, and the processing of FIG. 6 is finished.

When the paper presence signal is input, it is determined whether the paper presence signal is front or rear (step 126). If it is determined that the signal is front, the front paper feed is the print paper 10.
Since the flexure of the paper feed motor 1 is small, the drive frequency F of the paper feed motor 1
= (F + 20) pps and continue feeding the paper to a predetermined position (steps 127 and 115). When it is determined that the sheet is the rear sheet, the rear sheet is fed from the printing sheet 10 to the platen 11
The drive frequency F is not changed (F = Fpps), and the paper is continuously fed to a predetermined position because it becomes a path to be wound around and the deflection becomes large (steps 128 and 115).

As described above, not only the paper thickness of the printing paper 10 but also the load of the transport mechanism 3 such as the wheel train load and the bending load of the printing paper 10 is dealt with by the paper feeding motor control unit 2. Since the drive frequency of the motor 1 is varied and set to an appropriate value, the printing paper 10 can be conveyed at high speed and accurately without step out even if the small and low-priced paper feed motor 1 with no output torque is used. it can. Further, the printing apparatus can be made small and low cost.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the method of varying the drive frequency has been described as means for optimizing the drive conditions of the paper feed motor 1 in accordance with the load of the transport mechanism 3.
The method is not limited to this method, and a method of changing the drive current value, a method of changing the excitation state, a method combining these methods, and the like can be appropriately changed.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the paper feeding motor for controlling the paper feeding motor in accordance with the paper thickness of the printing paper, the bending load, and the load of the transport mechanism such as the train wheel load. Since the motor control unit changed the drive condition of the paper feed motor to an appropriate value, even if a small and low-priced paper feed motor with no output torque is used, the printing paper can be conveyed accurately at high speed without step out. can do. Further, the printing apparatus can be made small and inexpensive, and high-speed and high-quality printing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a printing apparatus including a plurality of printing paper supply paths according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a release lever of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an adjusting lever of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a release lever of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing an embodiment of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an embodiment of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing an embodiment of a transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing an example of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a train wheel portion of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a train wheel portion of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a train wheel portion of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a front view showing a train wheel portion of the transport mechanism of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a partial detailed view of the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper feed motor 2 Paper feed motor control unit 3 Conveying mechanism 4 Central processing unit 5 Release lever position detector 6 Adjust lever position detector 7 Rear paper detector 8 Front paper detector 10 Printing paper 11 Platen 12 Rear tractor 13 Front tractor 14 Front Paper Feed Roller 15 Paper Feed Roller 16 Pickup Roller 17 Cut Sheet Feeder (CSF) 19 Release Lever 34 Adjust Lever

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having a plurality of printing paper supply paths, a printing paper supply path judging means for judging the selected printing paper supply path, and a printing paper type judging means for judging the kind of printing paper. And a conveying unit that conveys the conveying condition of the print sheet according to the determination result of the print sheet supply path determining unit and the print sheet type determining unit. .