JPH06585B2 - Storage mechanism for cassette for storing photosensitive film sheet - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage mechanism for a cassette for storing a photosensitive film sheet in a laser beam printer or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a laser beam printer, an X-ray film photographing apparatus, or the like configured to perform image exposure on a photosensitive film sheet to record an image is used to supply the sheet to an exposure unit. In the supply cassette and the take-up cassette that stores the exposed sheet, the lid member that can open and close the sheet entrance opening is provided with sufficient light shielding measures to prevent erroneous exposure. It is open only when needed. However, if the cassette is taken out when the light-shielding lid is in the open state, erroneous exposure will result.

Conventionally, in order to prevent this kind of erroneous exposure, the door is automatically locked when the door for inserting and removing the cassette is closed, and the door is unlocked when the cassette is closed. A line film photographing apparatus has been proposed (Shokai 58-10733). However, since this mechanism electrically controls the locking operation and the unlocking operation based on detection signals such as opening and closing of the cassette, there is a disadvantage that the cassette cannot be taken out unless the power is turned on. That is, the film sheet cannot be taken out when the power is cut off or cannot be turned on due to a power failure or mechanical failure. In particular, it is a serious drawback that a film sheet that has been photographed cannot be taken out.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application, as Japanese Patent Application No. 58-227194, is based on an opening / closing drive means for opening and closing the light-shielding lid and an electric signal for detecting the open state when the light-shielding lid is in the open state. A storage mechanism for a cassette has been proposed, which is provided with an electrical lock means for locking the cassette and a mechanical lock means for releasably locking the cassette by an external operation.

However, in this proposed example, if the power is cut off for some reason while the light-shielding lid is open due to the start of the printing operation of the printer, the electrical lock means is released and only the mechanical lock means is released. Will work. Therefore, at this time, when the operator releases the mechanical locking means, the cassette is taken out with the light-shielding lid open, resulting in erroneous exposure.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the problems, the cassette storage mechanism according to the present invention includes (a) an opening / closing drive means for automatically opening and closing the light-shielding lid according to the operation of the device, b) Manual opening / closing drive means for manually opening and closing the light shield lid from outside the device; (c) Locking means for locking the cassette at a predetermined position on the equipment; and (d) Only when the light shield lid is closed. An electric lock releasing means capable of releasing the lock means, and (e) a manual lock releasing means capable of manually releasing the lock means are provided.

In the above construction, the cassette is locked by the locking means. Normally (when the device is stopped, the power is turned on), it is possible to remove the cassette by operating the electric lock releasing means. However, this electric lock releasing means prohibits unlocking when the light-shielding lid is in the open state, and prevents erroneous exposure of the film sheet in the cassette.

On the other hand, if it is necessary to take out the cassette even when the power is turned off, the manual unlocking means is operated. In this case, if the light-shielding lid is in the open state, the light-shielding lid can be closed by the manual opening / closing drive means, and erroneous exposure can be prevented.

The manual unlocking means is covered with a cover,
Care is taken not to operate it carelessly.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, an outline of the overall configuration of a laser beam printer having a cassette storing mechanism according to the present invention will be described.

Photosensitive film sheet (S) is a supply cassette (1)
The sheet S is stacked inside with the photoconductor surface facing upward, and a suction plate (6) connected to an air cylinder (61) is provided above the leading edge of the sheet S.
2) is installed. The suction plate (62) can move up and down with the air cylinder (61) about the shaft (63) as a fulcrum, and after descending and contacting the photosensitive film sheet (S), the air suction operation of the air cylinder (61) is performed. To suck the sheet (S), and lift the tip of the uppermost sheet (S).

The pair of conveying rollers (64) is installed so as to be movable in the front-rear direction at substantially the same height as the leading edge of the sheet (S) lifted by the suction plate (62), and is rotationally driven by the sheet conveying start signal. The sheet (S) is moved to the right in the figure and the front end of the already lifted sheet (S) is sandwiched, and the sheet (S) is immediately conveyed onto the holding plate (65).

The holding plate (65) is installed horizontally in the path from the conveying roller pair (64) to the sub-scanning drum (70) and has a length slightly longer than the sheet (S), and the surface thereof is the sheet (S). ) Is finished so that it can slide. The sheet (S) is conveyed on the holding plate (65) to the left in the drawing by a conveying means (not shown).

The sub-scanning drum (70) is continuously rotated in the counterclockwise direction during the printing operation, and the nip rollers (71), (7)
1) is always in contact with this drum (70) and is driven to rotate. When the sheet (S) is sandwiched between the drum (70) and the nip roller (71) at the preceding stage, it is immediately conveyed leftward in the figure by the rotational force of the sub-scanning drum (70).

On the other hand, the laser beam unit (72) has a holding plate (65).
The laser beam generated from the beam generator (73) is installed above the mirror and is irradiated between the nip rollers (71) and (71) via the reflecting mirror (74), and the sub-scanning drum (7)
0) Main scanning is performed on the photosensitive film sheet (S) conveyed above, and a predetermined image is formed.

The sheet (S) on which the image has been formed in this way is sent to the left in the drawing from between the sub-scanning drum (70) and the nip roller (71) at the rear stage, and then hangs down from its leading edge by its own weight in the takeup cassette (75). Is stored in. The take-up cassette (75) has a lid that opens and closes upon detecting the conveyance of the sheet (S), and is provided with sufficient light shielding measures.

The sheet (S) stored in the take-up cassette (75) is still in an exposed state, and the cassette (7
It is taken out from the printer main body while being stored in 5) and processed by the developing and fixing device.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the supply cassette (1)
And the storage mechanism thereof will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette (1) is composed of a bottom box (2), a top lid (3), a light shielding lid (4) and a lifting plate (6), and the light shielding lid (4) is a top lid (4). It is slidable in the left-right direction in the drawing so that the opening (3a) of 3) can be opened and closed. The push-up plate (6) is vertically rotatable about a rear shaft (7) as a fulcrum, and is constantly urged upward by a coil spring (8). The photosensitive film sheet (S) is loaded on the push-up plate (6) by opening the upper lid (3) in a dark room.
The light shield lid (4) normally closes the opening (3a), but
For each printing operation, the opening (3a) is opened by the opening / closing drive means (50) described below. The sheets (S) are taken out one by one by the suction plate (62) while the opening (3a) is opened. The coil spring (8) is designed so that the pushing force can be changed according to the change of the sheet weight due to the change of the remaining amount of the sheet (S), and the height of the tip of the uppermost sheet (S) is high. Is kept constant regardless of the number of loaded sheets.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, rails (10), (10), and (11) are attached to an internal frame (not shown) in the storage portion, and the rails (10) are mounted on the movable rails. The cassette stand (12) is fixed, and the panel (14) is fixed to the tip of each movable rail. The cassette (1) is positioned and installed in a recess on a stand (12) pulled out of the machine and pushed into the machine. At this time, the return spring (13) comes into contact with the stand (12) to apply a return force in the direction of the arrow (A), but the locking means (30).
Positioned and locked at, the panel (14) remains flush with the front frame (25). The recesses (12a), (12a) formed on the stand (12) are the cassette (1).
This is because it is easy to attach and detach.

In the lock means (30), a lock lever (33) is rotatably attached to a pin (32) on a bracket (31) provided on the inner frame (26), and the lock lever (3) is attached to the lock lever (3).
3) is pulled by a coil spring (34) with the pin (32) as a fulcrum in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 4, and the claw of the lock lever (33) is attached to the rear end of the movable rail of the rail (11). The pin (35) engageable with the portion (33a) is provided in a protruding manner. That is, when the cassette (1) is pushed into the main body, the pin (35) rides over the inclined surface (33b) of the lock lever (33) and is locked by the claw portion (33a), so that the pin (35) is at a predetermined position in the main body. Locked.

As means for releasing this lock, an electric lock releasing means (36) and a manual lock releasing means (40) are installed.

The electrical unlocking means (36) is the front frame (25)
Pushbutton switch (37) that can be operated from outside
And a solenoid (38) that operates when the switch (37) is turned on. The plunger (39) of the solenoid (38) is connected to the lock lever (33), retracts when the switch (37) is turned on (left in FIG. 4), and rotates the lock lever (33) clockwise. Then, the lock for the cassette (1) is released. This electrical unlocking means (36) is of course not activated when the power is turned off, but is programmed so that it is not activated even when the light shielding lid (4) of the cassette (1) is opened as will be explained below. There is.

The manual unlocking means (40) is a holding plate (4) provided inside the rear frame (27) via a bracket (41).
A shaft (43) is provided in 2) so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the shaft (43) is biased outward by a compression coil spring (44). The tip of the shaft (43) faces the standing piece (33c) of the lock lever (33). Therefore, when the rear end of the shaft (43) is pressed, the front end contacts the upright piece (33c) and the lock lever (33) is rotated clockwise to unlock the cassette. The manual unlocking means (40) can be operated and unlocked regardless of whether or not the power is turned on.

Further, the manual unlocking means (40) is hidden from the outside by installing a cover (28) on the bracket (41) so that it is not inadvertently operated.

Next, the opening / closing drive means (50) of the light shielding lid (4) and the manual opening / closing drive means (45) attached thereto will be described.

The opening / closing drive means (50) of the light-shielding lid (4) is made by engaging an output pinion (54) of a motor (53) with a rack (51) movable in the directions of arrows (B) and (C). The groove (52a) of the lever (52) fixed to the rack (51) is engaged with the pin (5) protruding from the light shielding lid (4). Further, limit switches (55) and (56) are installed at both ends of the movement path of the rack (51). The motor (53) is turned on in the forward direction by the print start signal, and the rack (5) is turned on based on the forward rotation of the pinion (54).
Slide the light shielding lid (4) in the direction of the arrow (B) together with 1) to open the opening (3a) of the cassette (1). When the limit switch (55) detects the rack (51), the rotation of the motor (53) is cut off and the slide is stopped. In addition, the motor (53) is reversely turned on by the print end signal, and the light shielding lid (4) together with the rack (51) is arrowed (C) based on the reverse rotation of the pinion (54).
Slide in the direction to close the opening (3a) of the cassette (1). Then, the limit switch (56) moves to the rack (5
The rotation of the motor (53) is cut off by detecting 1), and the slide is stopped.

The manual opening / closing drive means (45) rotatably mounts a shaft (47) inside the rear frame (27) via a bracket (46), and a gear (4) fixed to the tip of the shaft (47).
8) is meshed with the pinion (54).
The shaft (47) can be rotatably operated by attaching a handle (49) to the rear end of the shaft (47), and the rotation can be performed by the gear (4).
8) and transmitted to the rack (51) through the pinion (54) to open and close the light shielding lid (4). The rear end of the shaft (47) is hidden from the outside by installing a cover (29). Since the shaft (47) is driven to rotate during the operation of the opening / closing drive means (50), it is a safety measure for shielding the rotating part from the outside.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, friction transmission means is interposed between the output shaft (53a) of the motor (53) and the pinion (54). This is because when the load applied to the pinion (54) reaches a certain torque or more, the motor output shaft (53
a) or a pinion (54) for idling, the pinion (54) is rotatably attached to the receiving shaft (36) fixed to the output shaft (53a), and the fixing plate (37) is provided outside thereof. A steel ball (39) that is fixed and urged by a compression coil spring (38) mounted on a fixed plate (37) is in pressure contact with the end of the small hole (54a) of the pinion (54). The spring (38), the steel ball (39) and the small hole (54a) are left in a plurality of places on the same circumference at equal intervals. Therefore, normally
The pinion (54) is urged by the spring (38) to generate a small hole (54).
a) a steel ball (39) fitted to a) and a flange portion (36a) of the receiving shaft (36) are clamped together to form a motor output shaft (53a).
It is rotated by the rotational force from. If the load applied to the pinion (54) exceeds a certain value, the steel ball (39) will be
The fitting with respect to (a) is disengaged and the side surface of the pinion (54) slides, and the motor output shaft (53a) idles. Conversely, when the shaft (47) is rotated to manually close the light shield lid (4), the braking action of the motor (53) causes the pinion (54) to rotate.
Only that will rotate. With this, the shaft (47) can be rotated with a relatively light force to close the light shielding lid (4).

In the above configuration, the pushbutton switch (3
By turning on 7), the lock on the cassette (1) by the lock lever (33) is released, and the cassette (1) is released.
Can be pulled out of the machine. However, this electric lock releasing means (36) is constructed so as not to operate when the light-shielding lid (4) is opened, so that erroneous exposure is prevented. In addition, it does not work when the power is turned off.

To remove the cassette (1) when the power is off, the cover (28) may be opened and the shaft (43) may be pushed in. At this time, if there is a possibility that the light shielding lid (4) is opened, open the cover (29), rotate the shaft (47) with the handle (49), and manually close the light shielding lid (4). Good. This prevents erroneous exposure during operation of the manual unlocking means (40).

The present invention can also be applied to the storage mechanism of the take-up cassette (75) shown in FIG. In the take-up cassette (75), the light-shielding lid is opened and closed for each printing operation, and the exposed sheet (S) is fed.
Therefore, like the supply cassette (1), it is necessary to prevent erroneous exposure due to careless removal.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the lock means for locking the cassette at the predetermined position of the device is an electrical device capable of releasing the lock means only when the light shielding lid is in the closed state. In addition to the lock release means, the manual lock release means that can be released by the manual operation is provided, and the manual opening and closing drive means that opens and closes the light shielding lid by the manual operation from outside the device is provided. It is possible to prevent erroneous exposure of the film sheet in the cassette in some cases, and even when the power is turned off, the lock can be released by the manual unlocking means and the cassette can be taken out. And
In this case, if there is a possibility that the light-shielding lid is open, the light-shielding lid can be closed by operating the manual opening / closing drive means, and thereby erroneous exposure of the film sheet can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a cassette storing mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a laser beam printer, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the supply cassette, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the storing mechanism, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the storing mechanism, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the output shaft portion of the motor. (S) ... Photosensitive film sheet, (1) ... Supply cassette, (4) ... Shading lid, (3
0) ... Locking means, (33) ... Lock lever, (36)
... electrical lock release means (37) ... push button switch, (38) ... solenoid, (40) ... manual lock release means, (43) ... shaft, (45) ... manual opening / closing drive means,
(47) ... Shaft, (50) ... Opening / closing driving means, (51) ... Rack, (53) ... Motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage mechanism of a cassette for storing a photosensitive film sheet, comprising a light-shielding lid capable of opening and closing an opening for entering and exiting a photosensitive film sheet, wherein the light-shielding lid is automatically opened and closed according to the operation of the device. Opening / closing drive means, a manual opening / closing drive means for opening / closing the light-shielding lid by a manual operation from outside the device, a locking means for locking the cassette at a predetermined position of the device, and when the light-shielding lid is closed. A storage mechanism for a cassette for accommodating a photosensitive film sheet, comprising: an electric lock release means capable of releasing the lock means only; and a manual lock release means capable of manually releasing the lock means.