JPH0691962A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printer having a paper feed device capable of feeding cut and continuous paper to the printing position. CONSTITUTION:The printer is provided with a tray 30 including a paper feed part 30b for feeding a continuous paper 41 and a stacking part 30a for stacking cut papers 40 thereon. This tray is supported on a support member 1 of the printer and is slidably movable. The printer is further provided with a separating roller 11 for feeding the individual cut papers which are separately removed from the stacking part 30a, a common guide means for guiding the continuous paper fed from the paper feed part 30b and the cut papers fed from the separating roller 11 in the transition to a printing head and a switching means for causing a switching action to take place between the continuous paper feed part 30b and the separating roller 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer, and in particular to A
The present invention relates to a printer having a sheet feeding device capable of feeding cut sheets such as four sheets and continuous sheets at a printing position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer is equipped with a paper feeding device capable of feeding either cut paper or continuous paper at a printing position. A sheet feeding device for feeding cut sheets has a tray or a hopper for accumulating the cut sheets, and a plurality of rollers for feeding one of the accumulated sheets to a printing position. On the other hand, a paper feeding device for feeding continuous paper includes a tractor drive mechanism that is coupled to the perforated portion of the continuous paper to feed the continuous paper to a printing position, and a driver that moves the tractor drive mechanism.

[0003]

Since the constructions of these two types of sheet feeding devices are completely different,
There is no known printer that can alternately feed cut paper and continuous paper for printing. Therefore, it is necessary to purchase two types of printers in order to print cut sheets and continuous sheets alternately. In addition, in a paper feeding device that feeds continuous paper, the tractor mechanism that feeds continuous paper is fixed inside the printer body, so when setting continuous paper for the first time, place your hand inside the printer. I had to put it in and set it, which was annoying.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printer having a paper feeding device capable of feeding cut paper and continuous paper at a printing position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer having a paper feeding device capable of easily setting continuous paper on a tractor.

The printer according to the present invention comprises a tray including a paper feed section for feeding continuous sheets and a stacking section for depositing cut sheets. This tray is supported by a supporting member of the printer and is slidable. The printer of the present invention further guides the feeding means for feeding the cut paper separated from the stacking portion, the continuous paper fed from the paper feeding portion and the cut paper fed from the feeding means to the print head. The common guide means and the switching means for switching the operations of the continuous paper feeding portion and the cut paper feeding means are included.

According to the present invention, a printer that can use cut sheets and continuous sheets can be obtained.

Further, since the tray is slidable from the printer, it is easy to set continuous paper and cut paper.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional perspective view of the printer of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side view of the printer of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a paper feed tray used in the printer of FIG.

3 and 4, the sheet feed tray 30 has a cut sheet stacking section 30a and a continuous sheet feed section 30b which are separated by a wall 30c. As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed tray 30 includes the parallel support plates 1 and 2 of the printer.
Is slidably inserted and retained between. The cut sheet stacking unit 30a includes a plate 32 on which the cut sheet 40 is mounted,
It has a hinge shaft 31 that supports the plate 32 and a spring 33 that is fixed to the bottom surface of the tray. The spring 33 pushes the plate 32 up against the separating roller 11 held between the support plates 1, 2. In this state, the cut sheets 40 mounted on the plate 32 are separated one by one by the separating roller 11, and the uppermost sheet is the curved surface guide portion 30d of the wall 30c.
Sent along. The curved surface guide portion 30d includes the separation roller 3
It is close to 0d. Therefore, the separation roller 11 and the curved surface guide portion 30d form a cut sheet feeding unit.
The paper 40 sent by the separation roller 11 is guided between the guide plates 3 and 4, and sent to the gap between the print head 9 and the platen 7 by the pair of feed rollers 12 and 13.
Here, the distance between the separation roller 11 and the feed rollers 12 and 13 is shorter than the length of the cut sheet 40.

The continuous paper feeding section 30d of the tray 30 includes a drive shaft 34, a support shaft 35, tractor drives 36 and 37, and a support plate 38. Drive shaft 3
4 is rotatably supported between the side plates of the tray 30, and the support shaft 35 is fixed between the side plates. The tractor drives 36 and 37 are supported between the drive shaft 34 and a support shaft 35, and the support plate 38 is a support shaft 35.
Fixed to. As shown in FIG. 4, the tractor drive 3
Reference numerals 6 and 37 include rotary lids 36a and 37a and tractor pins 36b and 37b, respectively. When setting the continuous paper, the rotary lids 36a and 37a are opened and the tractor pins are coupled to the perforated portions of the continuous paper. Along with the rotation of the drive shaft 34, the tractor pins 36b and 37b also rotate and the continuous paper is fed. The continuous paper fed from the tractor drives 36 and 37 is fed to the feed rollers 12 and 13 via the guide plates 3 and 4, and is fed to the gap between the platen 7 and the print head 9.

Therefore, the guide plates 3 and 4 and the feed roller 1
Reference numerals 2 and 13 constitute common guide means.

The sensor 100 is fixed to the guide plate 4 and detects continuous paper or cut paper in the common guide means. The sensor 100 is for detecting the residual paper in the guide plate when changing the paper to be printed.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the print head 9 is supported on a carriage 10 which slides between support shafts 5, 6. The support shafts 5 and 6 are supported in parallel by the platen 7, and both ends are fixed to the support plates 1 and 2. The carriage 10 is fixed to the endless belt 4, and the belt 4 is rotated by the motor 40. Therefore, the motor 40
The rotation of the print head 9 moves the print head 9 along the platen 7. The plate 8 is disposed below the gap between the platen 7 and the print head 9 and is close to the platen 7.

Next, the structure and operation of the drive mechanism for driving the separation roller 11 and the drive shaft 34 will be described.

In FIG. 1, the motor 15 is used as a common drive source for the drive mechanism. The motor 15 transmits the driving force from the motor gear 15a to the slide gear 18 via the gears 16 and 17. The slide gear 18 is slidably and rotatably supported by a slide gear shaft 27, and a shaft 27 is supported by a slide spring 26.
It is normally engaged with the gear 19 by being pushed to the tip while sliding around. Therefore, the rotational force from the motor 15 is transmitted to the gear 19 via the gears 16, 17 and 18. The gear 19 is the separation roller shaft 1
The separation roller 11 is rotated by meshing with the separation roller gear 20 fixed to 1a.

Since the drive shaft 34 is driven by the motor 15, the gear 21 is arranged on the same axis as the gear 19,
It meshes with the gear 18. However, gears 19 and 21 are gear 1
8 do not bite at the same time and do not rotate at the same time. As shown in FIG. 1, when the gear 18 meshes with the gear 19, the gear 21 does not mesh with anything, and the rotational force of the motor 15 is transmitted to the separation roller and is not transmitted to the drive shaft 34. On the other hand, when the gear 18 meshes with the gear 21, the rotational force of the gear 21 is transmitted to the drive shaft 34 via the gears 21 to 24. Gears 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 2
5 is rotatably supported by the support plate 2.

The mechanism for sliding gear 18 onto shaft 27 includes cam 14 which is rotated by cam drive motor 50 through shaft 14a passing through platen 7.

Although the shaft 14a is arranged in the platen 7, the rotational force of the shaft 14a by the motor 50 is not transmitted to the platen 7. Therefore, the platen 7 is rotated by another motor.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the cam 14 does not come into contact with the gear 18, the gear 18 meshes with the gear 19 by the spring to rotate the separation roller 11. On the other hand, the cam 14
When is rotated by the cam drive motor 50 in the direction of arrow A, the cam 14 slides the gear 18 so that the gear 18 meshes with the gear 21, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, thereby rotating the drive shaft 34.

In FIG. 5, the perforated portion of the continuous paper 41 is connected to the tractor pins 36a and 3 of the tractor drives 36 and 37.
The tray 30 is slid outward along the guides 1a and 2a so as to fit in the 7a. After setting the continuous paper, the tray 30 is pushed in and hits the stopper 1b,
The gear 25 meshes with the gear 24. Tray 30 like this
The continuous paper can be set by pulling it out, so it is easy to set.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the control means of the drive mechanism described above, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment.

In FIG. 7, the motors 15 and 50, the platen and feed roller drive circuit 60, the printing circuit 70, the sensor 100, and the paper selection switch 150 are connected to the control circuit 200, respectively. The control circuit 200 includes the sensor 1
00 and the output of the paper selection switch 150, it has a microprocessor for controlling the motors 15 and 50 and the platen and feed roller drive circuit 60.

First, the cut paper 40 or the continuous paper 41 is selected by the paper selection switch 150 (step 2).
01). Next, the control circuit 200 detects which type of paper is selected (step 202). Continuous paper 41
Is set in the paper feed section 30a of the tray 30 before selecting the paper selection switch 150. When the continuous paper 41 is selected by the switch 150, the control circuit 200 controls the motor 50 to rotate the cam 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, thereby sliding the gear 18 to mesh with the gear 21 (step 203). After that, the control circuit 20
0 is a motor 15, a platen and a feed roller drive circuit 60
Is driven to move the continuous paper 41 to the printing position between the platen 7 and the print head 9 (step 204).

The printing circuit 70 prints characters and figures on the continuous paper 41 by the print head 9 (step 205).
When the printing operation is completed, the control circuit 200 detects the output of the paper selection switch 150 and determines whether a different type of paper is selected (step 206). If there is no such selection, the process ends.

When the cut sheet 40 is accumulated in the sheet accumulating section 30b and the sheet selection switch 150 is selecting the cut sheet 40, the control circuit 200 receives the output of the sensor 100 and the continuous sheet 41 is placed on the guide plate 4. It is judged whether or not there is a residue (step 207). If you don't have continuous paper,
The process moves to 210. If continuous paper is detected, an alarm is generated (step 208). At this time,
The operator cuts continuous paper on the output side of the printer.
Thereafter, the paper selection switch 150 is operated again by the operator (step 209). Accordingly, the control circuit 200
Is a motor 15, a platen and a feed roller drive circuit 60.
To rotate the platen 7 and the feed rollers 12 and 13 in the reverse direction, and further to rotate the drive shaft 34 in the reverse direction until the leading edge of the continuous paper 41 reaches the paper feed section 30a.

After step 209, the control circuit 200 drives the motor 50 to disengage the cam 14 from the gear 18 (step 210). Next, the control circuit 200 drives the motor 15 to rotate the separation roller 11, drives the platen and feed roller drive circuit 60, and feeds the cut paper 40 to the printing position (step 211). The printing circuit 70 records on the cut paper by the print head 9 (step 212).
When the printing operation is completed, the control circuit 200 detects the output of the paper selection switch 150 and determines whether continuous paper has been selected (step 213). If the switch 150 selects the continuous paper 41, the control circuit 200 detects the output of the sensor 100 and determines whether the cut paper 40 remains on the guide plate 4 (step 214). If the cut sheet 40 does not remain, the process proceeds to step 20.
Move to 3. However, if the cut sheet 40 remains, the control circuit 200 drives the motor 15 and the platen / feed roller drive circuit 60 to eject the cut sheet 40 remaining on the guide plate 4 from the platen 7 ( The process proceeds to step 215) and step 203.

As described above, since the selection of the printing paper is switched from the cut paper to the continuous paper and from the continuous paper to the cut paper, the previously selected paper remaining on the guide plate 4 is the common guide means. Be excluded from. Therefore, the paper feed of the newly selected paper is not disturbed by the paper remaining in the common guide means, and the paper can be replaced automatically.

In the control means of FIG. 7, the cut sheet 40
If only one of the continuous paper 41 and the continuous paper 41 is set on the tray 30, the sensor 100 is unnecessary. In this case, steps 207, 208, 209 and 214 and 215 of FIG. 8 are not needed, and the "yes" outputs from steps 206 and 213 are connected to steps 210 and 203, respectively.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, a printer capable of printing on cut sheets and continuous sheets can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of the printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the printer of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tray used in the printer of FIG.

5 is a perspective view showing a state before setting continuous paper in the printer of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state after continuous paper is set in the printer of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of control means used in the printer of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the printer of FIG.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A printer having a print head, wherein a tray having a paper feed unit for feeding continuous paper and a stacking unit for stacking cut paper, and a cut paper delivery for sending out one cut paper from the stacking unit. Unit, common guide means for guiding the continuous paper fed by the paper feed unit and the cut paper fed by the cut paper feed unit to the print head, and the paper feed unit and the cut paper feed unit. A printer including switching means for switching to drive one of the two. 2. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a supporting unit that slidably supports the tray. 3. The paper feed unit according to claim 1, wherein the paper feed unit includes a tractor drive mechanism for feeding continuous paper to the common guide means and a tractor drive means for driving the tractor drive mechanism. Printer. 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the stacking unit includes a plate on which a cut sheet is mounted and a unit that pushes up the plate so that the uppermost cut sheet contacts the cut sheet feeding unit. 5. The cut sheet feeding unit includes a roller for feeding the uppermost sheet of the cut sheets accumulated in the accumulation unit and a guide unit for guiding the uppermost sheet to the common guide unit. The printer according to claim 1, including the printer. 6. The common guide means has a guide plate for guiding the continuous paper fed by the paper feeding unit and the cut paper fed by the cut paper feeding unit to the print head. The printer according to claim 1. 7. A printer having a print head, a tray having a paper feed unit for feeding continuous paper and a stacking unit for stacking cut paper, and a separation roller for sending out one cut paper from the stacking unit. Common guide means for guiding the continuous paper fed by the paper feed section and the cut paper fed by the separation roller to the print head; drive means for driving the separation roller and the paper feed section; A printer including a control unit that controls the driving unit. 8. The printer according to claim 7, further comprising a supporting unit that slidably supports the tray. 9. The control unit according to claim 7, further comprising a selection unit that selects either continuous paper or cut paper, and a control circuit that controls the drive unit according to an output of the selection unit. Printer. 10. The control circuit controls the driving unit to drive the paper feeding unit when the continuous paper is selected by the selection unit, and drives the separation roller when the cut paper is selected. 10. The printer according to claim 9, wherein the printer controls the driving unit to perform the operation. 11. The control means includes a sensor for detecting continuous paper and cut paper remaining in the common guide means, a paper selecting means for selecting one of continuous paper and cut paper, the sensor and the paper. 8. A printer according to claim 7, further comprising a control circuit which controls the driving means in response to an output of the selecting means. 12. The control circuit controls the driving unit to drive the paper feeding unit when the continuous paper is selected by the selection unit, and drives the separation roller when the cut paper is selected. The printer according to claim 11, wherein the printer controls the driving means. 13. The control circuit ejects the remaining cut paper when the continuous paper is selected by the paper selection means and the cut paper remaining in the common guide means is detected by the sensor. When the cut sheet is selected by the sheet selection unit and the continuous sheet remaining in the common guide unit is detected by the sensor, the remaining continuous sheet is set to The printer according to claim 11, wherein the driving unit is controlled so as to return to the paper feeding unit side.