JPH0790500B2 - Cutter device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutter device used in a receipt issuing unit of a cash register, a meal ticket issuing machine, or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art A printer with a cutter in which a cutter device is incorporated in a printer is used as a receipt issuing unit of a cash register, a meal ticket issuing machine, or the like. The printer with a cutter has, for example, a structure in which a printer unit including a thermal line head and a cutter device are sequentially arranged on a paper transport path provided with a paper transport mechanism such as a feed roller. Predetermined printing is performed on the continuous paper, which is a medium conveyed on the paper conveyance path, by the printer unit, and the continuous paper that has been printed is cut into a predetermined length by a cutter device to issue a receipt, a meal ticket, or the like. Here, such a cutter device of the printer with a cutter is provided with an opening / closing mechanism that supports the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade so that the movable blade can be opened and closed, and is driven by a pulse motor or the like. In the cutter device having such a structure, since the movable blade opens and closes with respect to the fixed blade by the rotation of the pulse motor, a predetermined control is performed so that the movable blade returns to the initial state separated from the fixed blade after the cutting operation. The drive of the pulse motor is controlled by means.

As a cutter device for driving the opening / closing operation of the movable blade by the rotation of the pulse motor as described above, for example, the movable blade is controlled by controlling the drive pulse input to the pulse motor based on the pulse number. To stop at the initial position,
There is a device that detects a moving part at the time when the movable blade returns to the initial position with a detection sensor such as a photocoupler and stops the input of the drive pulse to the pulse motor.

Here, since there is inevitably a mechanical error in the movable mechanism, for example, in the case of controlling the rotation of the pulse motor based on the number of pulses, the stop position of the movable blade gradually changes when the opening / closing operation of the blade is repeated. Then, there is a concern that malfunction may occur.

This does not occur when the movable blade is stopped according to the detection of the detection sensor, but in such a device, the pulse motor stops when the edge of the movable part is detected by the detection sensor, so the movable part is Due to an error or the like, a slight movement may occur after stopping, and the sensor may deviate from the detection area. In this case, since the detection output of the detection sensor changes, an operation error occurs in the cutter device.

Here, in the device that quickly returns the movable blade to the initial position, even if the detection of the movable part by the detection sensor is stopped and the driving is stopped, the movable part is slightly driven and then stopped. Can be prevented. However, in this case, since the pulse motor that rotates at a high speed is suddenly stopped, excessive stress acts on the pulse motor and the movable mechanism, and the durability of the device is reduced.

In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to slow down the return operation of the movable blade, but this is not preferable because the return of the cutter device to the initial state is delayed, and the detection sensor is Since the movable part stops in a state where the edge is detected, the above-mentioned operation error is likely to occur frequently.

Means for Solving the Problem A fixed blade is fixedly provided on the main body of the apparatus, and a movable blade is supported by the opening / closing mechanism so that the movable blade can be freely opened and closed with respect to the fixed blade. The detection sensor is arranged at a position facing at least one of the movable part and the movable blade of the opening / closing mechanism in the initial state in which the blade is separated, and pulse generating means for outputting a drive pulse input to the pulse motor is provided. Provided is pulse rate switching means for switching the frequency of the drive pulse output from the generating means to the pulse motor from a high frequency to a low frequency according to a predetermined number of pulse outputs, and the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor is detected by the sensor. A sensor error prevention means is provided that stops after outputting a predetermined number of pulses according to the output.

Function During normal operation, the pulse generator outputs a high-frequency drive pulse to the pulse motor, moves the movable blade at the initial position at a high speed with respect to the fixed blade, cuts the medium, and pulses the completion of the predetermined number of pulse outputs When detected by the rate switching means, the frequency of the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor is switched to a low frequency, the movable blade after the cutting operation is separated from the fixed blade at a low speed, and the movable blade is opened and closed while moving at a low speed. When the moving sensor of the mechanism or the edge of the movable blade is detected by the detection sensor, the sensor error prevention means stops the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor after outputting a predetermined number of pulses, and the moving component or movable blade is detected. Make sure that the movable blade moves to the detection area of the sensor and stops, and the movable blade moves to the initial position and stops. Therefore, the movable blade is returned to the initial position at a high speed at first, and the pulse motor is stopped at a slow speed just before the end of the operation, so that excessive stress is prevented from acting on the movable mechanism. Since the pulse motor is driven minutely after the moving parts are detected by the sensor and then stopped, the detection sensor does not stop when it detects the edge of the moving parts, and the moving parts move into the detection area of the detection sensor. Therefore, the detection output of the detection sensor is prevented from changing even if the movable part slightly moves due to a mechanical error or the like.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. First, the cutter device of the present embodiment is formed as a printer 1 with a cutter, and as illustrated in FIG. 1, the cutting portion 2 is provided on the front surface of a U-shaped main body frame 3 which is the main body of the device. ing. Here, this body frame 3
A top plate 4 is attached on the top so as to be openable and closable, and as illustrated in FIG. 6, a paper feed that connects the paper feed port 5 formed on the top plate 4 and the paper discharge port 6 of the cutting unit 2 to each other. The feed roller 8 and the line head 9 are arranged to face each other from above and below via the path 7 to form a thermal printer unit 10 in the main body frame 3.

In this printer 1 with a cutter, a pulse motor 11 is attached to the side surface of the main body frame 3, and as shown in FIG. 7, a motor gear 12 attached to this one pulse motor 11 has an opening / closing mechanism. The cutter drive gear train 13 and the transport mechanism drive gear train 14, which are a part of the above, are connected.

Here, the cutter drive gear train 13 includes a drive shaft 17 of a gear 16 having a built-in one-way clutch 15 and the main body frame 3.
It has a structure in which a stopper spring 18 that is engaged with the end gear 19 is attached, and a pin 20 protruding from the side surface of the final gear 19 is provided at the end of a rotating arm 21 that is a movable part of the opening / closing mechanism of the cutting portion 2. It is locked in the formed slit 22. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the cutting portion 2 has a pin 25 projecting from the side surface of the movable blade 24 supported displaceably with respect to the fixed blade 23. The structure is such that it is locked in a slit 26 formed at the tip of the rotating arm 21.

In addition, the transfer mechanism drive gear train 14 includes
As illustrated in the drawing, a disk-shaped cam member 28 having a gap 27 with a predetermined angle is formed on the drive shaft 29 of the feed roller 8.
A pin 31 for engaging with the void 28 is provided on the board surface of a gear 30 that is directly connected to the motor gear 12 and is coaxially arranged with the cam member 28.
A time difference drive mechanism 32 is provided according to 0.

Here, in the printer 1 with a cutter, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, the movable blade 24 is separated from the fixed blade 23 at a position facing the end portion of the rotating arm 21 in the initial state. A detection sensor 33 including a photo coupler and the like is arranged.

Then, the drive circuit (not shown) of the pulse motor 11 of the printer 1 with a cutter has pulse generation means (not shown) for outputting a drive pulse, and the frequency of the drive pulse is changed from a high frequency after outputting a predetermined number of pulses. A pulse rate switching means (not shown) for switching to a low frequency and a sensor error prevention means (not shown) for stopping the drive pulse after outputting a predetermined number of pulses according to the detection output of the detection sensor 33 are provided.

The operation of the printer 1 with a cutter having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. First, in the printer 1 with a cutter, the presence or absence of print data input to the drive circuit is constantly detected, and when the print data is input, a low-frequency pulse is input to the pulse motor 11 and based on the print data. Driving power is input to the line head 9. Then, the feed roller 8 is rotated forward by the pulse motor 11 that rotates forward at a low speed via the conveyance mechanism drive gear train 14, and the line head 9 performs heat scanning, so that the feed roller 8 conveys the sheet on the sheet conveyance path 7. A predetermined image is printed by the line head 9 on a thermosensitive continuous paper (not shown).

Here, in the printer 1 with the cutter, in the initial state, the pin of the gear 30 is inserted into the gap 27 of the cam member 28 of the time difference drive mechanism 32.
Since 31 is locked, the printing operation as described above can be started quickly and reliably. Further, during such a printing operation, the one-way clutch 15 of the cutter drive gear train 13 runs idle with respect to the positive rotation of the pulse motor 11, so that the cutter drive gear train 13 does not operate.

Next, when the input of the print data is completed and the above-described printing is completed, in the printer 1 with a cutter, the forward rotation of the pulse motor 11 is continued by a predetermined number of pulse inputs, and the continuous paper is suitable for cutting. When the conveyance is completed, the pulse motor 11 is reversely rotated by a high-frequency drive pulse of about 440 (pps). Then, the pin 31 of the gear 30 moves in the space 27 of the cam member 28 of the time difference drive mechanism 32 of the transport mechanism drive gear train 14 to become the non-locking state, the rotation of the feed roller 8 is stopped, and the continuous paper is fed. It will be stationary. At the same time, the one-way clutch 15 is interlocked with the reverse rotation of the pulse motor 11 to drive the cutter drive gear train 13, and the rotation of the final gear 19 of the cutter drive gear train 13 causes the rotation arm.
21 rotates, and the movable blade 24 of the cutting unit 2 descends. Therefore, by cutting the continuous paper between the descending movable blade 24 and fixed blade 23, a rectangular paper piece on which a predetermined image is printed is issued from the paper exit 6.

Further, in the printer 1 with the cutter, the pulse motor 11 is continuously rotated in the reverse direction by the input of the high-frequency drive pulse even after the above-described continuous paper cutting operation is completed, and the time difference drive mechanism of the transport mechanism drive gear train 14 is driven. When the pin 31 of the gear 30 is locked in the space 27 of the cam member 28 of 32, the feed roller 8 rotates in the reverse direction and the continuous paper moves backward on the paper transport path 7.

Here, in the printer 1 with a cutter, the movable blade 24 of the determination unit 2 is returned to the initial position by controlling the amount of reverse rotation of the pulse motor 11 as described above by the number of pulses. . In other words, during the reverse rotation of the pulse motor 11, 440 (p
When the number of high-frequency drive pulses such as ps) reaches a predetermined number such as 262, the movable blade 24 completes the cutting operation in this state and is close to the initial position. The drive pulse is switched to a low frequency such as 350 (pps) by the pulse rate switching means. Then, the movable blade 24 reaches the initial position in accordance with the low-speed reverse rotation of the pulse motor 11, and the end portion of the rotating arm 21 that drives the movable blade 24 is detected by the detection sensor 33. Therefore, by the sensor error prevention means that operates according to this detection,
Since the output of the drive pulse is stopped after the predetermined number of drive pulses such as 2 pulses are output to the pulse motor 11, the end of the rotating arm 21 should be moved to within the detection area of the detection sensor 33 and then stopped. Movable blade 24 with this
Will move to the initial position and then stop.

That is, in the printer 1 with the cutter, as described above, the returning operation of the movable blade 24 to the initial position is performed at a high speed at first, and the speed is reduced just before the end, so that the detection sensor 33 detects the arrival of the movable blade 24 at the initial position. When detected by the detection of the rotating arm 21, the pulse motor 11 is slightly driven and then stopped, so that the rotating arm 21 moves within the detection area of the detection sensor 33 and then stops. In this case, the printer 1 with a cutter does not stop when the detection sensor 33 detects the edge of the rotary arm 21, but stops when the side surface of the rotary arm 21 is detected. Even if the rotating arm 21 slightly moves, an error does not occur in the detection output of the detection sensor 33.

Further, in the printer 1 with the cutter, since the pulse motor 11 is stopped after the rotation speed is switched from the high speed state to the low speed state, it is possible to prevent excessive stress from acting on the movable mechanism and to improve the durability of the apparatus. is there. Moreover, since the pulse motor 11 is stopped after a predetermined amount of driving after detecting the rotating arm 21 moving at a low speed by the detection sensor 33, the rotating arm 21 detects the rotating arm 21 even if the moving speed is low.
After moving to the detection area of 33, it will stop,
As described above, no error occurs in the detection output of the detection sensor 33.

In the printer 1 with a cutter, when the reversely rotating pulse motor 11 is stopped, the final gear 19 of the cutter drive gear train 13 makes one revolution, the cutting section 2 returns to the initial state, and the leading edge of the continuous paper is Each unit is set so as to be in a stationary state at a position suitable for printing by the printer unit 10.

Further, in the printer 1 with the cutter, when the retreat of the continuous paper as described above is completed, the pulse motor 11 is normally rotated at a high speed by a predetermined number of pulse inputs at a high speed, and the gap portion of the cam member 28 of the time difference drive mechanism 32. The pin 31 of the gear 30 is moved at a high speed in the inside of 27 to return the transport mechanism drive gear train 14 to the initial state.

In other words, in this printer with cutter 1, the pulse motor
When 11 is rotated in the forward direction, the feed roller 8 is rotated to convey the continuous paper. When the pulse motor 11 is rotated in the reverse direction, the cutting unit 2 is activated with the feed roller 8 initially stopped to cut the continuous paper. Then, the feed roller 8 rotates in the reverse direction and the continuous paper moves backward. Therefore, in this printer with cutter 1, all of the continuous paper can be carried, cut and retracted by one pulse motor 11, so that a dedicated drive is provided for each of the paper carrying mechanism and the cutter device as in the conventional printer with cutter. There is no need to provide a power source for synchronous control,
It is possible to obtain a small-sized and lightweight device having a simple circuit structure with good productivity.

Further, in the printer with cutter 1 of the present embodiment, after the continuous paper retreat is completed as described above, the pulse motor 11 is normally rotated at high speed to return the time difference drive mechanism 32 of the transport mechanism drive gear train 14 to the initial state. However, this is because the load of the pulse motor 11 is extremely small because only one gear 30 that does not engage with the cam member 28 rotates during the operation for returning the time difference drive mechanism 32 to the initial state. By doing so, the device can be quickly returned to the initial state without lowering the durability of the parts.

Here, the relationship between the drive pulse rate of the pulse motor 11 and the outline of each operation in the printer 1 with a cutter will be described in the fourth section.
This is illustrated in the timing chart of the figure, and FIG. 3 illustrates the relationship between the relative position of the pin 31 of the gear 30 with respect to the gap 27 of the cam member 28 in the time difference drive mechanism 32 and each operation. First, the fourth
As illustrated in the figure, in the printer 1 with a cutter,
The drive pulse of the pulse motor 11 is at a low frequency during printing, at a medium speed during driving of the cutting unit 2, and at a high rate during the return of the time difference driving mechanism 32 as described above. Also, the third
As illustrated in the figure, in the printer 1 with a cutter,
When the pulse motor 11 rotates in the reverse direction after the printing operation is completed, the cutting unit 2 cuts the continuous paper while the pin 31 of the gear 30 is moving within the range A within the gap 27 of the cam member 28, and the inside of the gap 27 is cut. When the pin 31 of the gear 30 locked to the cam member 28 moves to the range C through the range B, the feed roller 8 rotates in the reverse direction.
Therefore, when the pin 31 of the gear 30 locked to the cam member 28 moves in the range D corresponding to substantially the entire space 27, the time difference drive mechanism with both the cutting section 2 and the feed roller 8 stopped.
32 returns to the initial state.

As described above, the present invention fixedly provides the apparatus body with the fixed blade, supports the movable blade with respect to the fixed blade so as to be openable and closable, and connects the pulse motor to the opening and closing mechanism, A detection sensor is arranged at a position facing at least one of the movable part and the movable blade of the opening / closing mechanism in the initial state in which the movable blade is separated from the fixed blade, and a pulse generation means for outputting a drive pulse input to the pulse motor is provided. Provided is pulse rate switching means for switching the frequency of the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor from a high frequency to a low frequency according to a predetermined number of pulse outputs, and the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor is provided. According to the detection output of the detection sensor, the sensor error prevention means is provided to stop after a predetermined number of pulses are output. During normal operation, the frequency of drive pulse of the pulse motor is set to a high frequency to move the movable blade at high speed, and after outputting a predetermined number of pulses, the frequency of the drive pulse of the pulse motor is switched to a low frequency to move the movable blade close to the initial position. When the moving sensor is moved slowly and the detection sensor detects moving parts, the driving pulse of the pulse motor is stopped after a predetermined number of pulses to stop moving parts in the detection area of the detection sensor and the movable blade within the initial position. By stopping it, the moving blade returns to its initial position at high speed at first and slows down at the end just before it stops the pulse motor, preventing excessive stress from acting on the moving mechanism. As a result, the durability of the device is improved, and after the moving sensor is detected by the detection sensor, the pulse motor is slightly driven and then stopped. As a result, the moving parts move to the detection area of the detection sensor and then stop.The detection sensor does not stop when it detects the edge of the moving parts, and the moving parts move slightly due to mechanical error. Even if the detection output of the detection sensor does not change, an operation error is prevented from occurring in the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views of essential parts, FIG. 4 is a timing chart, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view in which the top plate is omitted, FIG. 6 is a side view of an essential part, FIG. 7 is a plan view, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart. 1 ... Cutter device, 3 ... device body, 11 ... pulse motor, 13,21 ... opening / closing mechanism, 21 ... movable parts, 23 ... fixed blade, 24 ... movable blade, 33 ... detection sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fixed blade fixedly provided in the main body of the apparatus, a movable blade that is movable to face the fixed blade, and an opening / closing mechanism that supports the movable blade so that the movable blade can be opened and closed with respect to the fixed blade. And a pulse motor connected to the opening / closing mechanism, and a detection unit arranged at a position facing at least one of the movable part and the movable blade of the opening / closing mechanism in an initial state in which the movable blade is separated from the fixed blade. A sensor, pulse generating means for outputting a drive pulse input to the pulse motor, and a pulse for switching the frequency of the drive pulse output from the pulse generating means to the pulse motor from a high frequency to a low frequency according to a predetermined number of pulse outputs. The drive pulse output to the pulse motor from the rate switching means and the pulse generating means is detected by the detection sensor. According to the detection output of the sensor error prevention means for stopping after a predetermined number of pulses output, during normal operation the frequency of the drive pulse of the pulse motor is set to a high frequency to move the movable blade at high speed, and after a predetermined number of pulses output Switches the frequency of the drive pulse of the pulse motor to a low frequency to slow down the movement of the movable blade close to the initial position, and when the detection sensor detects the movable part or the like, a predetermined number of drive pulses of the pulse motor are generated. A cutter device, which stops after the output to stop the movable part and the like within a detection area of the detection sensor and stops the movable blade within an initial position.