JPH0745018U - Card separating device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] By making the separating and feeding roller perform a special separating action different from normal when it is difficult to separate the cards that are in close contact in a stacked state by the normal roller action. , It is possible to separate cards that cannot normally be separated. [Structure] The separating / delivering roller 36 is brought into contact with the lowermost one of the stacked cards C from the lower side, and the front inclined portion 60 is provided in front of and behind the cards C.
And the rear inclined portion 61 are provided so as to face each other and are inclined in opposite directions. When it is difficult to separate / separate the lowest card C from the upper card by the normal separating / sending operation of the separating / sending roller 36, the separating / sending roller 36 is repeatedly rotated in both forward and reverse directions. As a result, the lower card stacking portion is connected to the front sloped portion 60 and the rear sloped portion 6.
Alternately collide with 1, and after the set collision cycle is completed, the separation / delivery roller 36 performs the normal separation / delivery operation again.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a card separating device for separating a plurality of stacked card-shaped sheets (hereinafter referred to as cards) one by one. Here, the card-shaped sheet (card) is a concept including from a very small sheet to a considerably large sheet, and from a paper sheet to a resin sheet or a metal sheet.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, in a device that issues cards, a device that prints on cards, or a device that flows cards into a line for processing, etc., in the state where multiple cards are stacked, they are separated one by one. May need to be sent out. When attempting to separate the lowest card in the stacked state by the frictional force of the rollers, the cards may adhere to each other and may not be easily separated. If cards that are closely attached to each other without being separated are sent out, various troubles will occur as a separation error.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 An object of the present invention is to provide a separating device capable of surely separating even cards that are easily stuck to each other in a stacked state.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 According to the present invention, a card stocker part for stacking a plurality of cards in a stacked state and a card located at the bottom of the card stocker part are rotated while being in contact with the card from the bottom side, so that the bottommost card is placed on the downstream side based on frictional force. To the separation feed roller, the separation feed motor that drives the separation feed roller and can rotate in both forward and reverse directions, the sensor that detects that the card has been fed, and the card feed direction. The front and rear sides are formed in the lower part of the card stocker so as to face each other in the front-rear direction, with the front side and the opposite direction as the rear side. Motor control means for

The motor control means determines that the lowest card is not separated from the other cards when the sensor does not detect the card even if the separation and delivery roller performs the operation of delivering the lowest card. , Drive the separation / delivery motor in both forward and reverse directions to cause the stacking part of the card located at the bottom of the card stocker to collide with the front slanted part and the rear slanted part a suitable number of times, after which the separation / sending motor is normally operated. To return to the sending state of.

[0006]

[Action and effect]

 According to the present invention, even if the cards in the stacked state are in close contact with each other and are difficult to be separated, and therefore cannot be separated by the normal separating and sending operation, the sensor detects them and directly sends them to the separating and sending motor. Drive in opposite directions. Accordingly, the separating and delivering roller collides the lower card stacking part of the card stocker part with the front slanting part and the rear slanting part, and the impact force is generated. Two of the shear-sliding displacements caused by alternating collisions with the rear slanted part act synergistically, and even cards that are in close contact can be effectively separated, and only the lowest card can be separated. It will be possible.

In addition, since the separating action due to the collision and the shear sliding displacement is not always performed and is performed only when the normal card separation is difficult, there is no waste and the card is separated and sent out. It does not stagnate.

[0008]

【Example】

 Examples will be described below.

In FIG. 1, a card printer unit 2 is incorporated in a game machine main body 1 for playing a video game, and a game machine 3 with a card printing function is configured. A display screen 4 is provided in the upper half of the game machine main body 1, and a game operation section 5 is provided in the center of the lower half, and operation buttons 5a and operation handles 5b are installed therein. Further, a coin slot 8 and a speaker 9 are provided on one side of the game operation unit 5, and a card discharge port 10 for discharging the card C printed by the card printer unit 2 on the other side, and a unit therefor. 2, an opening / closing door 7 for replenishing a card before printing, a blinking LED unit 6 and the like are provided. The player sits on the chair 11 in front of the game machine 3 and holds the operation handle 5b or the like to enjoy the game.

A main body computer 12 is built in the game console main body 1, and this is connected to the game console main body 1 and the card printer unit 2 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main body computer 12 includes an I / O interface 13, a CPU 14, a ROM 15, a RAM 16 and a video RAM 17, and the ROM 15 has a game program memory 15 a storing a game program and a RAM 16 There is provided a game data memory 16a for storing game data, game date, game type, and other game data of a player who has played a game on the game machine body 1. Such game data will be printed on the card by the card printer unit 2. The CPU 14 outputs the image and sound signals corresponding to the progress of the game to the display screen 14 and the speaker 9 via the image control circuit 18 and the sound control circuit 19. Further, the CPU 14 lights or blinks the LED unit 6 via the LED control circuit 20. The main computer 12 is connected to the computer of the card printer unit 2 which will be described later, through the I / O interface 13.

As shown in FIG. 4, the card C in the present embodiment, which is the print-receiving sheet, is mainly made of rectangular card-shaped paper, and its size is, for example, 185 × 58 mm, thickness. It is about 0.1 to 0.5 mm. On the surface shown in FIG. 4 of this card C, a pre-printed pre-printed portion 21 is formed, and a predetermined heat-sensitive printing is applied to a blank portion 22 which is a plurality of non-printed line spaces. It has become like this.

As shown in FIG. 5, the card C is mainly composed of the heat-sensitive paper 23. The heat-sensitive paper 23 has a heat-sensitive layer 23b on one side of the base paper 23a, and the previously-printed portion 21 has the heat-sensitive layer 23b. Is applied to the surface of. The surface of the already-printed portion 21 including the margin portion 22 is covered with the fluororesin-containing resin coating layer 24. As shown conceptually in FIG. 6, the coating layer 24 is formed by mixing and dispersing fluororesin fine powder 24b in a base resin 24a. As the base resin 24a, for example, an ultraviolet (UV) curable resin, more specifically, an acrylic resin, a methacrylic resin, an epoxy resin, or the like is preferably adopted. As the fluororesin fine powder 24b, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or the like is used, and the particle size thereof is preferably about 0.1 to 2 μm, and the content ratio is, for example, about 1 to 10% by weight.

The fluororesin-containing resin coating layer 24 is an almost transparent layer, and the thermal layer 23b corresponding to the blank portion 22 of the already-printed portion 21 is applied from the outside through the coating layer 24 by the thermal printing head. A predetermined printing portion Pr is formed on the surface, and the printing portion Pr is visible from the outside through the fluororesin-containing resin coating layer 24. An already-printed portion 25 is also formed on the back surface of the thermal paper 23, and this surface is also coated with the fluororesin-containing resin coating layer 24.

Next, the card printer unit 2 that prints on the card C will be described. FIG. 7 is an overall perspective view thereof, and FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are front view, right side view and left side view, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7 and the like, in the card printer unit 2, the card stocker unit 26 that stacks and stacks a large number of cards in a stacked state and the lowest card of the card stocker unit 26 are separated and sent out. A card separating device 27, an intermediate feeding device 28 that inherits the card from the card separating device 27 and sends the card further downstream, a printer device 29 that performs predetermined printing on the card, and a printer unit computer 30 that controls the respective units ( Hereinafter, also referred to as a printer computer), and these are supported on a plate-shaped slide base 31. The slide base 31 is further slidably attached to a fixing base 32 provided below the slide base 31 within a fixed distance range in the card feeding direction. FIG. 13 shows the relationship between the two, in which the guided portion 31 a formed on the slide base 31 is fitted into the pair of rail portions 32 a of the fixing base 32. Then, with the fixed base 32 fixed to the game machine main body 1, the slide base 31 can be slid in the front-rear direction to adjust the position of the card printer unit 2 or perform maintenance or the like.

As shown in FIG. 7 and the like, the card separating device 27 is provided with a separate feeding motor 33, the intermediate feeding device 28 is provided with an intermediate feeding motor 34, and the printer device 29 is provided with a platen motor 35. A stepping motor is used for all of these. A translucent sensor A for detecting the card C is provided between the card separating device 27 and the intermediate feeding device 28, and a card C is also provided between the intermediate feeding device 28 and the printer device 29 as shown in FIG. A translucent sensor B for detecting the light is provided. The separation / delivery motor 33 drives the separation / delivery roller 36 which comes into contact with the card C located at the lowest position of the card stocker unit 26 from below, and the intermediate feed motor 34 and the pinch roller 37 form a card. It drives the intermediate feed roller 38 which feeds by sandwiching C. Further, the platen motor 35 plays a role of driving a roller-shaped platen 40 on which the thermal print head 39 is pressed in the printer device 29.

The printer computer 30 controls the motors 33 to 35 and the thermal print head 39, takes in signals from the sensors A and B, and prints signals from the game machine side. It also plays the role of the signal input part to receive.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram thereof, in which the sensor A and the sensor B, and the main body computer 12 on the game machine side are connected to the CPU 42 through the I / O interface 41, and the CPU 42 also includes the ROM 47 and the ROM 48. And further connected via the I / O interface 41, the motor drivers 43 to 45, and the print drive circuit 46 to the separate delivery motor 33, the intermediate feed motor 34, the platen motor 35, and the thermal print head 39. ing. The ROM 47 is provided with a print program memory 47a in which a print program for the thermal print head 39 is stored, and a sequence program memory 47b in which a sequence program for the separate delivery motor 33, the intermediate feed motor 34, etc. is stored. Further, the RAM 48 is provided with a pulse counter 48a for recognizing the rotation amounts of the motors 33 to 35, a printer buffer 48b for temporarily storing print data for card printing, and the like.

Next, the configuration of each part shown in FIGS. 7 and 11 will be described in more detail. The card stocker portion 26 shown in FIG. 7 includes a pair of parallel vertical plates 49 rising upward from the slide base 31, a rear plate 50 fixed behind the vertical plates 49, and an open portion formed in the front. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a front plate 51 to be covered is formed, and by these, a rectangular tube-shaped space for stacking and holding a large number of cards C in a horizontal state is formed. A pair of vertical plates 49 position the card C in its short side direction, and a rear plate 50 and a front plate 51 position the card C in its long side direction.

The front plate 51 is detachably attached to the pair of vertical plates 49. As shown in FIG. 8, the front plate 51 is formed with two sets of ear piece parts 51a and 51b projecting to both sides, and a handle 51c projecting forward is formed in the center part. The ear pieces 51a and 51b are mounted in the two sets of mounting grooves 49a and 49b formed in the pair of vertical plates 49 in FIG. 7, and are pressed downward by the plate band 52 provided on the upper portion. It has become. As shown in FIG. 10, since it is difficult to punch a vertical slit 49 having an extremely thin slit-like vertical groove corresponding to the thickness of the front plate 51, it is difficult to punch the vertical plate 49 and the vertical surface 49c. 49d and the gaps between the vertical surfaces 49e and 49f are set so as to substantially correspond to the thickness of the front plate 51.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, a large number of cards C stacked on the card stocker section 26 are received by the bottom plate section 53 formed on the rear plate 50 and the separation / delivery roller 36, while The weight member 54 is placed on the card C, and this load causes the lowest card C to be separated and delivered and pressed against the roller 36. The weight member 54 has a form as shown in FIGS. 14 to 17. When viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. 14, the main body 54a has a pair of projecting ear pieces 54b, and these ear pieces 54b extend in a substantially constant thickness in the vertical direction. 7 and 9, these ear pieces 54b are fitted into the vertical guide grooves 55 formed in the vertical plates 49 of the card stocker portion 26, so that the weight member 54 moves downward as the card C decreases. You will be guided to.

Further, at the upper end of the vertical guide groove 55, latching grooves 56 for supporting the weight member 54 above are formed obliquely forward, and these latching grooves 56 have respective ear pieces 54 b of the weight member 54. Cards are replenished in the card stocker 26 in a state in which the card is hung. After that, the weight member 54 is moved from the hooking groove 56 to the vertical guide groove 55. However, in order to prevent forgetting to put the weight member 54 on the card, as shown in FIG. 7, the weight member 54 is hooked. The front plate 51 shown in FIG. 8 cannot be mounted in the state of being hooked in the groove 56.

7 and 9, a control box 57 for accommodating the above-mentioned printer computer 30 is formed on the rear side of the rear plate 50, and the printer computer 30 as shown in FIG. A constituent circuit board and the like are mounted.

As shown in FIG. 18, the separation / delivery roller 36 is made of urethane rubber or the like, and is fixed to the horizontal output shaft 33 a of the separation / delivery motor 33. At the center of the portion, a relief portion 36a having a small diameter like an annular groove is formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 19, serrated engaging teeth 36b are formed on the outer periphery other than the relief portion 36a, so that the engaging teeth 36b are more easily caught in the normal direction indicated by the arrow.

Then, as shown in FIG. 21, the release portion 36a is formed in the separation / delivery roller 36, so that the contact between the lowermost card C and the roller 36 is partially avoided, and the weight is applied to this portion. By applying the load of the member 54, the lower-layer card C including the lowest card C is curved in a valley shape toward the relief portion 36a, and the lowest card C is separated in this state. It is brought into contact with the delivery roller 36. This means that the relief card 36a and the weight member 54 bend the card C in the width direction thereof, so that the lowest card C can be easily separated (peeled) from the upper card.

As shown in FIG. 20, the card C is received by the bottom plate portion 53 formed on the rear plate 50 at the lower part of the card stocker portion 26. The bottom plate portion 53 faces the separation / delivery roller 36 side. The lowermost card C tilts slightly downward and is supported by the separating / feeding roller 36 with the lowermost card C slightly tilted forward. This is because the lowest card C can be separated and sent out more smoothly.

A separator 58 is provided close to the downstream side of the separation / delivery roller 36. The separator 58 provides a gap t through which one card passes in the feeding direction of the lowest card C with a separator base 63 described later, and a front inclined portion that inclines downward toward the front. Equipped with 60. Then, as shown in FIG. 24, the card C delivered by the separating / delivering roller 36 is brought into contact with the front slant portion 60, and only the lowest card C is moved downward along the slant portion 60. However, the card C on the upper side is slightly curved so as to pass through the gap t of the separator 58, and the advance of the upper card C is stopped by the front slant portion 60, so that the card separation is performed. In this way, the lowest card C is slightly bent downward to allow the gap t to pass through. If such a sloped portion 60 does not exist, the two cards C may remain stuck to each other in some cases. It is intended to prevent this because the card may be clogged and the card may be scratched by entering the gap t together.

As shown in FIG. 22, the separation / delivery roller 36 is configured to perform the separation / delivery operation while applying vibration to the lowest card C in the front-rear direction. That is, the separation / delivery roller 36 is driven by rotating the angle θ in the positive direction and then immediately reverses the angle θ ′ in the opposite direction (where θ> θ ′) by repeating, for example, about 3 to 5 cycles. Based on the difference between the angles .theta. And .theta. ', The lowest card C is sent to the above-mentioned separator 58. In this way, the vibration of the lowest card C in the front-back direction facilitates the separation from the upper card, and even when the cards are closely attached, it is easy to separate them by this vibration. Become. The above-mentioned printer computer 30 controls the separation / delivery roller 36.

As shown in FIG. 23, the separation / delivery roller 36 rotates in the forward direction by a small angle, stops, and immediately thereafter, the cycle of re-driving in the forward direction is repeated to cause vibration in the front-back direction of the card. It is also possible to perform the separating / delivering action while generating.

As shown in FIG. 20, a rear inclined portion 62 that is opposed to the front inclined portion 60 of the separator 58 in the front-rear direction of the card C and is inclined in the opposite direction is formed on the rear plate 50 of the card stocker portion 26. The rear slant portion 62 is slanted so as to descend toward the rear of the card C. FIG. 25 shows such a function of the rear inclined portion 61 in relation to the front inclined portion 60. That is, when the lowest card C cannot be separated by the separating action of the separating / feeding roller 36 as shown in FIG. 22 or 23, the separating / delivering roller 36 as shown in FIG. By being driven alternately by the angle α in both the forward and reverse directions, the lower card stack including the lowest card C is caused to collide with the front slanted portion 60 and the rear slanted portion 61 alternately a suitable number of times. , The impact due to the collision and the shear slip displacement in the front-rear direction are repeatedly generated in the card laminated portion. As a result, even the cards that are in close contact with each other and are difficult to separate are forcibly separated only from the lowest card, and then the normal separation / delivery function shown in FIG. 22 or 23 is returned to send out the lowest card C. It will be.

The separator 58 shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 is made of resin as a whole, and is provided with a pair of attachment fixing portions 62 projecting downward on both sides thereof. As shown in FIG. 29, the separator base 63 which is fixed in position is fixed by a plurality of screws 63a, whereby the above-mentioned gap t is secured between the lower end of the front inclined portion 60 and the separator base 63. Then, the horizontal surface including the upper surface of the separator base 63 becomes the transport surface Ch of the card C.

A leaf spring-shaped card pressing member 65 is fixed to the front end portion of the separator 58 with a screw 65a, extends obliquely forward from an opening 66 formed in the separator 58, and a tip end thereof is elastic on the card transport surface Ch. Have been forced. The card C that has passed through the gap t is sent downward while sliding on the transport surface Ch and being pressed by the card pressing member 65. Further, a leaf spring-shaped elastic guide member 67 similar to the card pressing member 65 is fixed to the upper surface of the rear end portion of the separator 58 with a screw 67a, and extends obliquely downward toward the downstream side. The tip portion penetrates the card transport surface Ch and projects downward. It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 7, the above-described sensor A is provided in proximity to the rear end side of the separator 58.

As shown in FIG. 30, when the card C is fed by the above-mentioned separating and feeding roller 36, the elastic guide member 67 is elastically pushed upward from below the card conveying surface Ch. The card C is allowed to pass while being guided, and when the card C has finished passing, it is elastically restored and the leading end portion projects below the card transport surface Ch.

The intermediate feeding device 28, which is located close to the downstream side of the elastic guide member 67, has a function of sandwiching the card C after passing through the elastic guide member 67 and feeding the card C downstream. The assembly of the intermediate feeding device 28 is shown in FIGS. 31 and 32. The rotation of the intermediate feed motor 34 is decelerated by the pinion 68 and the gear 69 and transmitted to the intermediate feed roller 38. The pinch roller 37 for sandwiching the card C between the roller 38 and the roller 38 is for idle rotation. As shown in FIG. 32, the pinch roller 37 is movably supported by a bearing 70 along a vertical groove 71, and is intermediately supported by a leaf spring 72. It is pressed against the feed roller 38. Further, a wide plate spring-shaped card pressing member 74 extending toward the downstream side is fixed to the assembly frame 73, and this allows the card C to pass while being pressed against the card transport surface Ch. The card pressing member 74 has a width dimension that is at least half the width of the card, and plays a role of guiding the card C with high precision in preparation for printing.

The intermediate feed roller 38 may be reversely rotated by the motor 34. That is, as shown in FIG. 33, when a card jam occurs in the printer 29 on the downstream side, the jammed card C is retracted by the reverse rotation of the intermediate feed roller 38. At that time, since the above-mentioned elastic guide member 67 penetrates downward from the card transport surface Ch, it plays a role of guiding the retracting card C so as to be lifted from the transport surface Ch along its own inclined surface. Fulfill

FIG. 34 is a front view of the assembly of the printer device 29 located at the most downstream side. The rotation of the platen motor 35 supported by the printer frame 75 is decelerated by the pinion 76, the gear 77, the pinion 78 and the gear 79 and transmitted to the platen 40. As shown in FIG. 35, a linear thermal print head 39 is provided above the platen 40, is supported by the printer frame 75 via a fulcrum 80, and is pressed against the platen 40 by a spring 81.

A printer guide plate 82 is fixed to the printer frame 75 in the vicinity of the rear of the platen 40 as a card bending member. The printer guide plate 82 is arranged so as to incline downward from the thermal print head 39, and the front end of the card C sent by the rotation of the platen 40 accompanying printing is located downstream of the thermal print head 39. The card C is brought into contact with the platen 40, and the card C is curved toward the print head 39 in a mountain shape as shown in FIG. Since the card C is a relatively stiff sheet, the curving ensures that the card C and the print head 39 are in close contact with each other, and printing is performed in that state, so that clear thermal printing can be performed.

The card C is fed with the front side shown in FIG. 4 facing upward, and the thermal printing head 39 performs thermal printing on the margin portion 22. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, since the resin coating layer 24 containing the fluororesin fine powder 24b is formed on the printing surface side of the card C, the sliding property is good. Therefore, even if the print head 39 is strongly pressure-bonded, there is almost no risk of sticking to the print head 39. Further, the resin coating layer 24 is resistant to heat, and the appearance of the card C is improved by covering the surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, since the printing portion Pr is formed inside the resin coating layer 24, the printing portion Pr is not scratched or soiled due to rubbing or the like.

In FIGS. 34 and 35, a discharge guide plate 83 is provided below the printer guide plate 82, and the card C that is curved by the printer guide plate 82 as shown in FIG. As a result, it slides down along the ejection guide plate 83 and is supplied to the card ejection port 10 described above.

Next, the overall control flow of the game machine and printer unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 37 to 41. When the game by the game machine 3 in FIG. 1 is finished, the process shifts from step G1 to G2 in FIG. 37, the game data stored in the game data memory 16a in FIG. 3 is read out, and in step G3 which is It is determined whether it corresponds to the winning rank. In accordance with the result of steps G4 to G6 for judging the determined winning rank, different print signals corresponding to the winning ranks A, B and C are output to the printer computer 30 in steps G7 to G9. If it does not correspond to any winning rank, the print signal is not output. When an error signal is input from the CPU on the printer unit side during the card printing process, an error message is displayed on the display screen 4 of the game machine 3 shown in FIG. 1 and the LED unit 6 blinks. It is supposed to give an alarm.

Regarding the control on the printer unit side, when the above-mentioned print signal is input to the printer computer 30 from the game machine side, step S4 is executed through steps S1 to S3 in FIG. The control of 33 forward rotation of n pulse and the reverse rotation of nk pulse is performed for N cycles, so that the separating / delivering roller 36 shown in FIG. 22 separates / delivers while vibrating the card C in contact with it in the front-back direction. Is driven like. After that, by moving to step S5, the separation / delivery roller 36 is driven in the high-speed constant-speed normal rotation mode by an amount sufficient to reach the sensor A through the separator 58.

When the sensor A is turned on in step S6, the separation / delivery roller 36 is decelerated in step S7, and the low-speed forward rotation mode is entered so as to rotate in synchronization with the intermediate feed roller 38. Further, the ON signal of the sensor A causes the intermediate feed roller 38 to rotate normally in step S10 via step S9 in FIG. Then, in step S11, if the set pulse number for low-speed forward rotation of the separated motor is completed and the sensor A is in the ON state in that state, the separated-delivery roller 36 reverses a predetermined amount and then stops. . This is to effectively perform the next separation / delivery with the lower card stacking portion including the lowest card C being in contact with the rear slant portion 61 as shown in the lower side of FIG. is there.

If the set pulse number for the high-speed forward rotation of the separated delivery motor 33 is completed even though the sensor A is not turned on in step S6, the process proceeds from step S14 to step S15 in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 25, the step of strong vibration is performed in which the separating / feeding roller 36 is repeatedly rotated in both forward and reverse directions to repeatedly collide the lower card C with the front slant portion 60 and the rear slant portion 61. It After that, if steps S2 to S5 in FIG. 38 are executed and the sensor A in step S6 is turned on, the normal flow after step S7 is restored, but if the sensor A is not turned on yet, the steps are repeated. S8 and steps S14 and 15 of FIG. 40 are executed once again. If the sensor A does not turn on even after the forward / reverse strong vibration driving step by the separating / delivering roller 36 has been performed twice, the separating / delivering motor 33 is stopped in step S16, and the game machine in step S17. An error signal is output to the computer 12 of the main body.

If it is determined that the sensor B is turned on in step S2 of FIG. 38, the platen 40 is driven in synchronization with the intermediate feed roller 34 (at the same peripheral speed) by step S18 of FIG. When the sensor B is turned off, the process proceeds to step S20 via step S19, and the feed amount to the print start position for card C (the uppermost margin portion 22 in the case of the card of FIG. 4) is pulsed. The pulse counter 48a of FIG. 12 is turned on to specify the number. If it is determined in step S21 that the count of the set number of pulses has been completed, printing is performed on the card C from this point in time in step S22. That is, the CPU 42 of FIG. 12 reads the print content corresponding to the print signal supplied from the game machine side from the printer program memory 47a of the ROM 47, and drives the thermal print head 39 in accordance with the read print content, thereby winning the game. Printing is performed according to.

As described above, if the printing start point is determined by the number of pulses starting from the time when the rear end of the card C passes the sensor B, it is possible to perform printing with good positional accuracy with a simple configuration. Further, when printing is performed including the player's name, etc., the input data is also input by an input device 84 (installed in the game machine main body 1) such as a keyboard operated by the player as shown in FIG. It will be included in the print data.

If it is determined in step S23 of FIG. 41 that the set pulse number of the platen motor 35 has ended, the platen motor 35 is stopped in step S24, but the sensor B is in the on state in step S19. Nevertheless, if it is determined in step S25 that the set pulse number of the platen motor 35 has ended, it is considered that a card jam has occurred in the printer device 29, the platen motor 35 is stopped in step S26, and the step S27 is performed. 33, the intermediate feed motor 34 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the jammed card C is retracted and guided along the upper surface of the elastic guide member 67, as shown in FIG. Then, after the sensor B is turned off in step S28, the intermediate feed motor 34 is further driven by a predetermined pulse in step S29 (this means that the card C is released from the intermediate feed roller 38 as shown in the lower part of FIG. 33). Then, if the intermediate feed motor 34 is stopped, the discharge of the jammed card C is completed. Even if the sensor B is in the ON state in step S28, if it is determined in step S30 that the total number of reverse rotation setting pulses of the intermediate feed motor 34 has ended, this means that the card jam has not been cleared. Means that an error signal is supplied to the main computer 12 of the game machine in step S31.

The intermediate feeding device 28 in the above-described embodiment may be omitted, and the card C may be directly fed from the separating / delivering roller 36 to the printer device 29. Further, as the separate delivery motor 33 and the like, a DC servo motor can be adopted instead of the stepping motor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing an example of a game machine in which a card printer unit is incorporated.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection relationship between the game machine and the card printer unit and the main computer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the main computer and its connection configuration.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of a card to be printed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a cross section thereof.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional explanatory view.

FIG. 7 is an overall perspective view of a card printer unit.

FIG. 8 is a front view thereof.

FIG. 9 is a right side view thereof.

FIG. 10 is a left side view thereof.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of a card printer unit.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a printer unit computer and its connection.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing an engagement state between a fixing base and a slide base.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a weight member.

FIG. 15 is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 16 is a bottom view thereof.

FIG. 17 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 18 is a front view showing the separation / delivery roller together with its motor.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of the outer circumference of the separation / delivery roller.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view of a main part of the card separating device.

FIG. 21 is a front view illustrating a contact state between the separation / delivery roller and the card.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view of the operation of the separating and feeding roller.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory view of a modified action example thereof.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory view of the action of the separator.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory view of a strong vibration separation cycle in which the card is swung back and forth.

FIG. 26 is a side view of the separator.

FIG. 27 is a rear view thereof.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of the separator assembly.

FIG. 29 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 30 is a first action explanatory view of the elastic guide member.

FIG. 31 is a rear view of the assembly of the intermediate feeding device.

FIG. 32 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 33 is a second operation explanatory view of the elastic guide member.

FIG. 34 is a front view of the printer assembly.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory view of a main part thereof.

FIG. 36 is an operation explanatory diagram of a printing state.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing a control program of the game machine body.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing a control program of the printer unit.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart following FIG. 38.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart following FIG. 38.

FIG. 41 is a flowchart following FIG. 38.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Game Machine Main Body 2 Card Printer Unit C Card Ch Card Conveying Surface 24 Fluororesin-Containing Resin Coating Layer 26 Card Stocker Part 27 Card Separation Device 28 Intermediate Feed Device 29 Printer Device 31 Slide Base 32 Fixing Base 33 Separation Sending Motor 34 Intermediate Feed motor 35 Platen motor 36 Separate feed roller 38 Intermediate feed roller 39 Thermal print head 40 Platen 54 Weight member 58 Separator 60 Front inclined portion 61 Rear inclined portion 67 Elastic guide member 82 Printer guide plate (card curving member)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masashi Kachi 2-24-24 Izumi 2-chome, Higashi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Ricoh Elemex Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A card stocker unit for stacking a plurality of card-shaped sheets (hereinafter referred to as cards) in a stacked state, and a card stocker unit that is located at the lowest position of the card stocker unit by rotating the card stocker unit from below. A separating / delivering roller that sends out the card to the downstream side based on frictional force, a separating / delivering motor that drives the separating / delivering roller and can rotate in both forward and reverse directions, and a sensor that detects that the card has been sent out. , The sending direction of the card is front and the opposite direction is backward,
A front sloped part and a rear sloped part, which are formed in the lower part of the card stocker part so as to face each other in the front-rear direction and incline in opposite directions, and the separating / sending-out roller has a function of sending out the lowest card. If the sensor still does not detect the card, it is determined that the lowest card is not separated from other cards, and the separation / delivery motor is driven in both forward and reverse directions, and Motor control means for causing the stacking portion of the positioned card to collide with the front sloped portion and the rear sloped portion a proper number of times, and then returning the separated delivery motor to a normal delivery state. Card separation device.