JPH08169145A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce in size a printer by commonly using the mounting spaces of a cut sheet feeder and a tractor unit. CONSTITUTION: A cut sheet feeder 21 for supplying a cut sheet and a tractor unit 22 for supplying a continuous sheet are selectively placed at the same site of a printer frame. Guide pins 18, 19 are provided in the frame, and guide grooves 21a, 21b and 22a, 22b to be engaged with both the pins are respectively provided at the feeder and the unit. A power transmission gear 110 is provided at the frame side to be engaged with the drive gear 21c of the feeder or the drive gear 22c of the unit, and rotatably driven at the time of feeding the sheet from the feeder or the unit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printer capable of selectively printing either cut paper or continuous paper, but its structure is such that a cut sheet feeder dedicated to cut paper and a tractor unit dedicated to continuous paper are respectively used. They were individually attached to different parts.

[0003]

In the conventional structure as described above, it is necessary to separately provide the mounting spaces for the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit, which causes the size of the printer to increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to achieve a size reduction of a printer by sharing a mounting space for a cut sheet feeder and a tractor unit.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the printer of the present invention selectively mounts a cut sheet feeder for feeding cut paper and a tractor unit for feeding continuous paper on a printer frame, A printer capable of selectively feeding paper from a cut sheet feeder and a tractor unit, wherein the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit each have an engaging portion that engages with the same portion of a printer frame. The printer frame is selectively mounted on the printer frame via the unit.

Further, when the cut sheet feeder is mounted on the printer frame, it meshes with the drive gear of the cut sheet feeder, and when the tractor unit is mounted, it meshes with the drive gear of the tractor unit and cut sheet. A power transmission gear that is rotationally driven at the time of sheet feeding from the feeder or the tractor unit is attached.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Each of FIGS. 1-4 illustrates various aspects of use of the printer. First, in the exterior case 1 of the printer, a right side plate 11 (FIG. 5) and a left side plate 12 are erected and supported on the bottom face so as to be close to both side surfaces of the exterior case. In the outer case 1, a front cover 13 that can be freely opened and closed is provided on the front surface (left side in FIG. 1), a partition cover 14 that can be opened and closed is provided inside the case, and an upper cover 15 that is freely opened and closed is provided on the upper surface. A swingable switching cover 16 is provided after the above, and a detachable rear cover 17 is provided on the back surface (right side of FIGS. 3 and 4). Rear cover 1
Guide pins 18 and 19 are provided so as to oppose each other on the inner surfaces of the left and right side plates 11 and 12 in the position 7.

In this printer, the rear cover 17 is removed from the state shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the guide pins 18 and 19 are provided with a cut sheet feeder (CSF) 21 as shown in FIG. 1 or a rear tractor 22 as shown in FIG. Can be attached and used. The CSF 21 or the rear tractor 22 is provided with guide grooves 21a, 21b or 22a, 22b which can be engaged with the guide pins 18, 19. In the outer case 1, a front tractor 23 is swingably provided around a shaft 23a behind a lower end portion which is a swing center of the front cover 13. Next, the printing device 3 will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 6, the print head 31 is a carriage that moves in the left-right direction of the printer by upper and lower guide shafts 32 and 33 whose both ends are supported by the side plates 11 and 12. It is mounted on 34.
The lower guide shaft 33 penetrates the carriage 34,
The upper guide shaft 32 guides the carriage 34 while allowing the carriage 34 to move up and down. Print head 31
A platen 35 is provided opposite to the platen 35, and both end portions thereof are supported by the side plates 11 and 12. As shown in Figure 1,
The ribbon cassette 36 is fixedly provided by a ribbon cassette support frame 37 at a position where it does not hinder the movement of the print head 31, and a ribbon feed motor 38 located in the back is normally driven to feed the ribbon in one direction. ing. An ink ribbon (not shown) is attached to the ribbon cassette 36, and the ribbon is wound outside the moving range of the print head 31. The carriage 34 is driven to move in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface by a carriage motor 39 shown in FIG. The ribbon cassette support frame 37 is fixedly installed between the side plates 11 and 12.

Next, the print head 31 is moved back and forth toward the platen 35 without changing the position facing the platen 35, and the parallelism of the left and right sides of the print head 31 and the platen 3 are increased.
A mechanism for adjusting the gap with the No. 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. 5 is an outer surface (right surface) of the right side plate 11, and FIG. 7 is an outer surface (left surface) of the left side plate 12.
FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the mechanism for cutting and adjusting both side plates. First, the parallelism adjusting device 4 will be described. As described above, both end portions of the guide shaft 33 are supported by penetrating the left and right side plates 11 and 12 as shown in FIG.
The through holes are elongated holes 11a, 12a as guide means for guiding the guide shaft 33 in a direction that is long in the up-down direction, that is, the print head 31 moves toward and away from the platen 35. Therefore, the position of the guide shaft 33 can be finely adjusted in the vertical direction along the elongated hole. Both side plates 1 of the guide shaft 33
Eccentric bushes 40, 41 having eccentric cam surfaces 40a, 41a are connected and fixed to the projecting ends from 1, 12, respectively. The eccentric bushes 40, 41 are provided with toothed portions 40b, 41b. A positioning member is provided at a position in contact with the eccentric cam surface 40a, and a pin 42 is provided so as to project from the right side plate 11, and the boss portion 4 having an eccentric outer peripheral surface on this pin.
3a is fitted, and a metal pipe 44 is rotatably fitted to this boss portion. The pipe 44 contacts the eccentric cam surface 40a. A parallelism adjusting lever 43 is integrally provided on the boss portion 43a, and the lever is swingable around a pin 42. The click protrusion 43b provided at the tip of the parallelism adjusting lever 43 selectively engages with the plurality of click holes 11b provided on the right side plate 11 aligned on the circumference around the pin 42. It is like this. As a positioning member for the eccentric cam surface 41a, a pin 45 projects from the left side plate 12, and the eccentric cam surface 41a is in contact with this pin. Eccentric cam surface 40a,
L-shaped levers 46 and 47 rotatably supported by center pins 46a and 47a are used in order to always elastically contact 41a with the pipe 44 or the pin 45. Both levers 4
Long holes 46b (FIG. 5) and 47b (FIG. 7) that are long in the left-right direction are provided at the lower end portions of the reference numerals 6, 47, and both end portions of the guide shaft 33 pass through these long holes. Both levers 46, 47
A tension spring 48 is hooked on the upper end portion of the spring, and this spring applies a biasing force to elastically contact the eccentric cam surfaces 40a and 41a with the pipe 44 or the pin 45 via the guide shaft 33.

Since the parallelism adjusting device 4 has such a structure, when there is a problem in the parallelism between the print head 31 and the platen 35 at the time of assembling the printer, the click protrusion 43 is formed.
The engagement position between b and the click hole 11b is changed. This causes the parallelism adjusting lever 43 to swing, so that the boss portion 43a
Rotates about the pin 42, which causes the pipe 44 to
The contact position between the eccentric cam surface 40a and the eccentric cam surface 40a slightly moves up and down.
That is, when the small-diameter portion of the boss portion 43a is in a position in contact with the eccentric cam surface 40a, the contact position is slightly raised,
Therefore, the right end portion of the guide shaft 33 rises. On the contrary, when the large diameter portion of the boss portion 43a is in the position of contacting the eccentric cam surface 40a, the contact position is slightly lowered, so that the right end portion of the guide shaft 33 is lowered. In this way, with the left end of the guide shaft 33 as a reference,
The right end portion of the guide shaft 33 moves up and down, and this up and down is transmitted to the print head 31 via the carriage 34 to cause the platen 35 to move.
The parallelism between and can be adjusted. Since this movement of the guide shaft 33 is restricted by the elongated hole 11a of the right side plate 11, the position facing the platen 35 is not changed.

Next, the device 5 for adjusting the gap between the print head 31 and the platen 35 will be described. 5 and 6
As shown in FIG.
Is stuck. A gear 51 meshes with a pinion 50a fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 50, and a gear 52 having a notch meshes with the pinion 51a of the gear.
A first lever 53 is connected to the gear 52 via a pin 53a. A micro switch 54 is fixed on this lever. On the other hand, in the toothed portion 40b of the bush 40,
A gear 55 having a notch meshes with a pin 56
A lever 56 is connected via a. First lever 53
The second lever 56 and the second lever 56 are in a state in which the end portions on the opposite sides of the connecting portions of the pins 53a and 56a with the gears 52 and 55 overlap each other, and the tension spring 57 is applied between the levers 53 and 56. It's stopped. Further, the lever 56 is provided with a detection piece 56b for pressing and opening the actuating projection of the micro switch 54 to turn on and off this switch.
In addition, the corner of the cutout portion of the gear 55 is set to the initial switch 5
It serves as a detection piece 55a for pressing and opening the actuating protrusion 8 to turn this switch on and off. Normally, the actuating projection of the micro switch 54 is pressed by the detection piece 56b by the spring 57 and is in the on state, and the actuating projection of the initial switch 58 is not pressed by the detection piece 55a and is in the off state.

Since the gap adjusting device 5 has such a structure, when the recording paper is inserted between the print head 31 and the platen 35, the gap adjusting motor 50 is driven to adjust the gap. When 50a is rotated clockwise, this rotation is transmitted to the gear 52 via the gear 51, and the lever 53 is moved leftward. This movement is transmitted to the lever 56 via the micro switch 54 and the detection piece 56b, and rotates the gear 55 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5 and the bush 40 in the counterclockwise direction. By this rotation, the small diameter portion of the eccentric cam surface 40a comes into contact with the pipe 44, so that the guide shaft 33 is lifted in the direction in which the platen 35 leaves. Gear 55
By this clockwise rotation of the detection piece 55a, the detection piece 55a approaches the initial switch 58, and finally the operating projection is pressed to turn on the switch. In this way, the raised position (initial position) of the print head 31 is detected.

Then, when the gap adjusting motor 50 is driven in reverse to rotate the pinion 50a counterclockwise, this rotation is transmitted to the gear 52 via the gear 51, and the lever 53 is moved to the right. Since the lever 56 also moves to the right following the lever 53, the gear 55 rotates counterclockwise, the pressing of the switch 58 by the pressing piece 55a is released, and the switch is returned to the off state. Rotate clockwise. This rotation brings the large-diameter portion of the eccentric cam surface 40a into contact with the pipe 44, so that the guide shaft 33 descends in the direction of approaching the platen 35, and finally the print head 31 comes into contact with the recording paper and descends further. Move forward to a position where you cannot. If the motor 50 continues to rotate in the same direction, the lever 56 can no longer follow the movement of the lever 53 to the right, so the spring 57
Since only the lever 53 moves while extending, and the micro switch 54 also moves to the right along with the lever, the detection piece 56b cannot press the actuating protrusion of the micro switch 54 and turns off the switch. As a result, the forward position of the print head 31 is detected.

Then, the gap adjusting motor 50 is driven in reverse again, and the lever 53 is moved leftward in the same manner as described above. At the beginning of this movement, the spring 57 compresses by the amount of expansion, and the lever 56 does not follow the lever 53 during that time, so the pressing piece 56b again receives the force of the spring 57 and presses the operating protrusion of the switch 54, and the switch is turned off. Turn it back on. From this position the print head 31 is retracted by the desired amount of the gap. That is, when a drive signal corresponding to the movement amount, for example, a corresponding number of pulse signals is supplied to the gap adjusting motor 50, the motor pinion 50a rotates clockwise by a predetermined amount, and the print head is operated in the same manner as described above. By retracting 31 by a predetermined amount, an optimum cap can be set between it and the platen 35.

Next, the paper feeding device 6 will be described. FIG.
As shown in FIG.
1, 62 are provided. As shown in FIG. 12, the paper feed rollers 61 and 62 are transmitted from the motor pinion 60a of the paper feed motor 60 to the gear 63 and from the pinion 63a to the gear 64 and the gear 65, and the paper feed roller 61 shown in FIG. , 62 are interlocked and rotationally driven.
As shown in FIG. 1, driven rollers 61a and 62a provided on the print head 31 side are elastically contacted with the paper feed rollers 61 and 62 by sandwiching the paper feed path, and the paper feed rollers 61 and 62 and the driven rollers 61a and 62a are contacted. The papers are fed in pairs.

The driven roller 61a on the side closer to the front cover 13 is required to be downsized, for example, and therefore the print head 31a.
When the print head is replaced, the presence of the driven roller 61a may hinder the replacement. Therefore, a mechanism for moving the driven roller 61a to a position where it does not interfere with the replacement work of the print head 31 is adopted. As shown in FIG.
It is possible to switch between a paper feed position that makes elastic contact with the non-paper feed position that does not make elastic contact as shown in FIG.

This switching mechanism will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the switching lever 6 is swingably attached to both inner surfaces of the left and right side plates 11 and 12 by a pin 66a.
6, 66 are supported, and a plate 67 is provided between the two switching levers.
Connected by. As shown in FIG. 10, a U-shaped long groove 66b is formed in the switching lever 66, and the shaft of the driven roller 61a is fitted into this long groove as shown in FIG. 8 and is rotatably supported. . One end of a spring 68 bent in a U shape is engaged with the shaft of the driven roller 61a,
This driven roller can be elastically contacted with the paper feed roller 61. The switching lever 66 is manually swung, and when the print head 31 needs to be replaced,
The partition cover 14 shown in FIG. 1 is opened, the lock by a sliding plate 70 described later is manually released, and the switching lever 66 is swung to set the driven roller 61a to the non-sheet feeding position (solid line position in FIG. 8).

Next, the roller friction switching device 7 will be described. It is desirable that the elastic force of the driven roller 61a with respect to the paper feed roller 61 is large for cut sheets and small for continuous paper among the sheets used in this printer. Therefore, the elastic force (roller friction) of the driven roller 61a with respect to the paper feed roller 61 can be selected from one of two different elastic contact forces of strength and weakness, and the driven roller 61a is positioned at each position where different elastic contact forces are generated. A roller friction switching device 7 is provided, and the configuration of the left side plate 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 11.

From the switching lever 66, the left and right side plates 11,
A locating pin 66c is provided so as to project toward 12. A sliding plate 70 is provided on the outer surface of the left side plate 12 so as to be vertically movable. At the upper end of the sliding plate 70, an operation pin 70a protruding through a vertically elongated hole 12b provided in the left side plate 12 is provided in a protruding manner, and the protruding end of the operation pin from the side plate is pushed in. Thus, the upper end of the sliding plate 70 can be bent. In the vicinity of the operation pin 70a, a cam piece 7 protruding through a vertically elongated hole 12c provided in the left side plate 12 and projecting.
0b is projected. As shown in FIG. 8, the cam piece 70b is formed with two stages of cam surfaces 70c and 70d, which are an advancing position and a retracting position, on a surface that can contact the positioning pin 66c. Since the length of the cam surface 70d farther from the operation pin 70a is shorter than that of the cam surface 70c, the operation pin 70a
In the state where the sliding plate 70 is bent by pressing, the end faces of both cam surfaces are retracted so as to substantially coincide with the inner surface of the side plate. In this state, the switching lever 66 can be manually swung. Sliding plate 7
In the middle part and the lower end part of 0, the long holes 70e, 7
0f is provided, and the fixed shaft 71 projecting from the side plates 11 and 12 penetrates the elongated hole 70e in the intermediate portion. As shown in FIG. 10, the gear 63, which is one of the transmission trains from the paper feed motor 60, is provided with another pinion 63b, and the gear 72 meshes with this pinion, and the pinion 72a has a gear. 73, 74, and 75 are sequentially meshed with each other, and the central shaft 75a of the gear 75 penetrates the long hole 70f at the lower end of the sliding plate 70. The gear 75 is integrally provided with an eccentric cam 76. A cam groove is provided on the surface of the eccentric cam 76. As shown in FIG. 10, this cam groove has a small-diameter circular arc cam groove 76a with a central angle of 90 degrees around the central axis 75a and a large diameter of 90 degrees with a central angle of 90 degrees starting from a position separated by 90 degrees. The arcuate cam groove 76b and the two cam grooves are connected to each other so that the inclined cam groove 76c having a central angle of 90 degrees communicates with each other. These cam grooves 76a, 76b, 7
A driven pin 70g protruding from the sliding plate 70 is engaged with 6c.

With such a structure, when selecting the roller friction, a clutch mechanism C1 described later for connecting and disconnecting the pinion 63b and the gear 72 in the transmission train from the paper feed motor 60 is connected. Therefore, the gear 75 is rotated as shown in FIG. Since the eccentric cam 76 and its cam grooves 76a to 76c rotate as the gear 75 rotates,
The driven pin 70g has a small-diameter cam groove 76a in FIG.
10B to the position where it engages with the boundary between the small-diameter cam groove 76a and the inclined cam groove 76c in FIG. 10B, the sliding plate 70 does not move up and moves down. It has stopped. In the lowered position of the sliding plate 70, the positioning pin 66c of the switching lever 66 is in contact with the cam surface 70c of the sliding plate 70 in the forward position, so that the driven roller 61a held by the switching lever 66 is springed in the forward position. It receives the spring force of 68 and makes elastic contact with the paper feed roller 61.
That is, in this state, the roller friction is large as shown in FIG.

When the amount of rotation transmitted from the paper feed motor 60 to the gear 75 is large, the driven pin 70g passes through the small-diameter cam groove 76a and the inclined cam groove 76c, as shown in FIG.
The large-diameter cam groove 76 of FIG. 10D from the position where it engages with the boundary between the inclined cam groove 76c of FIG. 10C and the large-diameter cam groove 76b.
It slides in this cam groove to a position where it engages with the end of b, and the sliding plate 70 is driven to move up to the raised position.
When the sliding plate 70 is in the raised position, the positioning pin 66c of the switching lever 66 is in contact with the cam surface 70d of the sliding plate 70 in the retracted position, so that the driven roller 61a held by the switching lever 66 is springed in the retracted position. It receives the spring force of 68 and makes elastic contact with the paper feed roller 61. That is, in this state, the roller friction is small as shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the cases of FIGS. 10 (A) and 10 (B) in which the roller friction is set to a large value, there are the case of using the CSF 21 (shown in FIG. 1) and the case of manual feeding (shown in FIG. 3). Fig. 10 (C) with the friction set to a small value,
In the case of (D), there are a case where the front tractor 23 is used (shown in FIG. 4) and a case where the rear tractor 22 is used (shown in FIG. 2).

In the roller friction switching device 7 described above, the friction is selected for the front driven roller 61a in FIG. 1, but at the same time, the roller friction switching device 8 for the rear driven roller 62a is also provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the driven roller 62a faces the paper feed roller 62 across the paper conveyance path, and is elastically contacted with the roller 62 by the spring force of the leaf spring 80.
The friction between the driven roller 62a and the paper feed roller 62 can be changed by adjusting the spring force of the leaf spring 80. Therefore, the rocking plate 81 is provided above the plate spring 80.
Is swingably supported at the center, and the lower end of the swing plate 81 is brought into contact with the plate spring 80. A cam 82 having a protrusion 82a is provided behind the upper end of the swing plate 81, and the upper end of the swing plate 81 can be pressed by the protrusion 82a. Cam 8
The second shaft 83 projects from the left side plate 12 to the outer surface, and a lever 84 is fixed to the projecting end as shown in FIG. One end of a connecting lever 85 is rotatably fixed to the tip of the lever 84. At the other end of the connecting lever 85, a long hole 85a is provided in the longitudinal direction, and the gear 72 described above is provided.
A protruding shaft 72a, which protrudes from the left side plate 12 to the outer surface, penetrates the elongated hole 85a.

As shown in FIG. 11, the gear 72 integrally formed with the protruding shaft 72a is integrally provided with a cam 86, and a cam groove is formed on the surface of this cam.
The cam groove is a small-diameter circular arc cam groove 86a with a central angle of 90 degrees, and a large-diameter circular arc cam groove 8 with a central angle of 90 degrees.
6b and both cam grooves are connected to each other so that the inclined cam groove 86c having a central angle of 90 degrees communicates with each other. This cam groove 8
A driven pin 85b vertically provided on the connecting lever 85 is engaged with 6a, 86b and 86c. Further, the cam surface of the outer peripheral surface of the cam 86 is composed of a small diameter cam surface 86d and a large diameter cam surface 86e, and both cam surfaces have a central angle of 180 degrees. Micro switches 87 and 88, which can be turned on and off by cam surfaces, are fixed to the connecting lever 85 and the left side plate 12 with an opening angle of 90 degrees about the central axis 72a.

With this structure, since the driven pin 85b is engaged with the end of the small-diameter cam groove 86a in the state shown in FIG. 11, the connecting lever 85 is in the lowered position and the lever 84 is counterclockwise. It has been rotated in the direction. This rotation is transmitted to the cam 82 via the shaft 83, and the swing plate 81 is pushed out by the projection 82a and swings counterclockwise as shown in FIG. Since 80 is pressed to bend strongly, the friction between the driven roller 62a and the paper feed roller 62 is large. In this position, since the operating protrusions of the microswitches 87 and 88 both face the small diameter cam surface 86d, both switches are off. This is the first detection state by the two micro switches 87 and 88, and is the CSF21 shown in FIG.
This is the position where the driven pin 70g described above is engaged with the end portion of the small-diameter cam groove 76a, corresponding to the paper feeding in the above.

The rotation is transmitted from the paper feed motor 60,
When the gear 72 rotates 90 degrees, the driven pin 85b is still located in the cam groove 86a, so the position of the connecting lever 85 does not change, and the friction remains large, but the actuating protrusion of the microswitch 88 has the large-diameter cam surface 86e. It is pushed in by. Therefore, the micro switch 87 remains off, but the micro switch 88 remains on. This is the second detection state by the two micro switches 87 and 88, which corresponds to the manual paper feeding shown in FIG. 10B, and the driven pin 70g described above has the small cam groove 76a and the inclined cam groove. It is a position that engages with the boundary with 76c.

When the gear 72 further rotates 90 degrees, the driven pin 85b is positioned in the large-diameter cam groove 86b, so that the connecting lever 85 is moved to the upper left and is in the raised position, and the lever 8 is moved.
4 rotates in the clockwise direction, and this rotation is transmitted to the cam 82 via the shaft 83, and the cam 82 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, so that the protrusion 82a pushes the swing plate 81 from the position as shown in FIG. Come off. Therefore, the oscillating plate 81 no longer presses the leaf spring 80 at its lower end, or the pressing force is weakened, and the friction between the driven roller 62a and the paper feed roller 62 becomes small. At this position, the actuating projection of the micro switch 87 is pushed in by the large-diameter cam surface 86e, the micro switch 87 is turned on, and the micro switch 88 remains on. This is the third detection state by the two micro switches 87 and 88, which corresponds to the paper feeding by the front tractor shown in FIG. 10C, and the driven pin 70g described above is the inclined cam groove 7
It is a position where it engages with the boundary between 6c and the large-diameter cam groove 76b.

When the gear 72 further rotates 90 degrees, the driven pin 85b is still located in the cam groove 86b, so the raised position of the connecting lever 85 does not change and the friction remains small, but the operating protrusion of the microswitch 88 does not change. It passes through the large diameter cam surface 86e and faces the small diameter cam surface 86d. Therefore, the micro switch 87 remains on, but the micro switch 88 remains off. This is the fourth detection state by the two micro switches,
Corresponding to the paper feeding by the rear tractor shown in FIG.
This is the position where the driven pin 70g described above is engaged with the end of the large-diameter cam groove 76b.

That is, by the rotation of the gear 72 by 270 degrees,
First to fourth with two micro switches 87, 88
It is possible to detect the four detection states.

The printer has four usage patterns.
As shown in FIG. 1, the front cover 13 is opened, and two sheet receivers 13 are provided inside the front cover 13 and are foldable inward at a predetermined interval sufficient to support the recording paper.
This is a usage mode in which the cut sheet P1 sent out from the rear CSF 21 is printed by the printing device 3 in a state in which a is set upright and the front tractor 23 swings to the lower right. There are two paper ejection positions, one of which is a paper ejection position in which the paper is ejected as it is after printing, that is, leftward, and is stacked on the table 115 and the paper receiver 13a that swing together with the front tractor 23. In the other case, the upper cover 15 is opened to expose the sheet receiver 15a and the upper sheet ejection port 1a in the upper cover, and the cut sheet P
After printing to 1, the switching lever device 9 is put in a chain line state. A sensor (not shown) senses that the cut sheet P1 has passed through the printing device 3, and the output of this sensor causes the motor 60 for feeding the paper to rotate in the reverse direction and the switching lever device 9 to be displaced into a chain line state. Cut sheet P1
Is again conveyed to the rear and is guided to the upper side this time, so that it comes out from the first upper paper ejection port 1a and the upper cover 15 and the paper receiver 15a.
This is the paper ejection position that is stacked on top.

The second part, as shown in FIG. 2, is the front cover 1
3 is opened and the front tractor 23 is horizontal, the continuous paper P2 sent from the rear tractor 22 is used for printing by the printing device 3. After printing, the continuous paper P2 is discharged to the front as it is, and the front cover 13 is ejected. This is a sheet discharging position where the sheets are stacked in a folded state on a table (not shown) in the front.

No. 3, as shown in FIG. 3, the front cover 1
3 is opened and the front tractor 23 is in a horizontal state, the cut sheets P3 are manually fed one by one from the front cover 13 and printed by the printing device 3. In this usage mode, there are two paper discharge positions, one of which is that a sensor (not shown) detects that the cut sheet P3 has passed through the printing device 3, and the motor for feeding the paper is reversed by the output of this sensor. Then, this cut sheet is conveyed in the direction of returning to the front, and is the sheet discharging position where the cut sheet returns to the front cover 13 again. In the other case, the upper cover 15 is opened in advance to expose the sheet receiver 15a and the first upper sheet discharge port 1a, and the switching lever device 9 is brought into a chain line state. The cut sheets P3 are manually fed one by one from the front cover 13, printed by the printing device 3, conveyed to the rear as they are, and further guided to the upper side, from the first upper discharge port 1a to the upper cover 15. It is a sheet discharge position where the sheets are stacked on the sheet receiver 15a.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the front tractor 23 swings to the right, as shown in FIG. 4, the continuous paper P4 inserted from the insertion port 1b provided under the front cover 13 is used.
Is a usage pattern in which the front tractor 23 sends out the image and the printing device 3 prints. In this case, the paper ejection position is 2
One of them is a paper ejection position in which the paper is ejected rearward after printing as it is and ejected from the rear paper ejection port 1c provided below the rear cover 17. In the other case, the switching lever device 9 is set in the state of the chain line in advance, and the switching cover 16 is swung like the chain line to close the first upper paper ejection port 1a and the second upper paper ejection port 1d. Keep it open. Printed continuous paper P4
Is a paper ejection position that is guided upward after printing, exits the second upper paper ejection port 1d, and is guided rearward of the printer.

Therefore, the sheet conveying path in the above four usage modes will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the print head 31, the platen 35, and the paper transport path in the printing section by the paper feed rollers 61 and 62 in front of and behind the platen are arranged horizontally, and the paper printed here is printed. There are four routes for ejecting paper. That is, the first path is the path for ejecting the paper to the front, and this is the CS described in FIG.
When printed using F21, when printed using the tractor 22 described with reference to FIG. 2, and when printed on the cut sheet P3 by manual feeding described with reference to FIG. 3, the feeding direction is reversed at the printing unit. There are three ways to return to the front.

The second path is a path through which the sheet is discharged to the first upper sheet discharge port 1a, which is printed by using the CSF21 described in FIG. 1, the feeding direction is reversed after the printing, and the sheet is further conveyed backward and upward. There are two cases, that is, the case of being printed on the paper by manual feeding described in FIG.

The third path is the path through which the paper is discharged to the second upper paper discharge port 1d, and is the case where printing is performed using the front tractor 23 described with reference to FIG.

The fourth path is a path through which the paper is discharged to the rear paper discharge port 1c, and is the case where printing is performed using the front tractor 23 described with reference to FIG.

Since the first upper paper ejection port 1a, the second upper paper ejection port 1d, and the rear paper ejection port 1c are located rearward of the printing unit, the paper conveyed backward from the printing unit is First, depending on the switching posture of the switching lever device 9, the sheet is turned upward or backward, and then the sheet directed upward is manually switched by the switching cover 16 so that the first upper sheet discharge port 1a or the second upper sheet discharge port 1a. It is switched to 1d.

Therefore, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first upper paper ejection port 1
The sheet discharge switching device 120 between the a and the second upper sheet discharge port 1d will be described. The first upper discharge port 1a is a path formed between the guide plate 121 and the switching lever 122, and a discharge roller 123 is rotatably supported at the upper end of the guide plate 121. The switching lever 122 is swingably supported about the paper discharge roller 123 as a swing center. The rotation of the paper feed motor 60 is transmitted to the paper discharge roller 123 as described later. Paper ejection roller 123
A paper receiver 15a is continuously provided outside the printer. The switching cover 16 is swingably supported by a shaft 16a,
A guide plate 124 is fixed to the inner surface thereof. The switching cover 16 is provided with two protrusions 16b that project inward from the guide plate 124, and both protrusions are provided on the switching cover at intervals that are at least wider than the width of the sheet. The tip of the protrusion 16b is in contact with the lower end of the switching lever 122.

Since the sheet discharge switching device 120 has such a structure, when the switching cover 16 is manually swung from the state of FIG. 3 to the position shown by the chain line in FIG. 4, it projects at both ends of this switching cover. The protrusion 16b provided is the switching lever 1
Since the lower end of 22 is pushed, this switching lever swings around the paper discharge roller 123 and its lower end comes into contact with the lower end of the guide plate 121, so that the passage to the first upper paper discharge port 1a is closed. At the same time, the switching lever 122 and the guide plate 124
And the path to the second upper sheet discharge port 1d is opened. When the switching cover 16 is closed, the switching lever 122 is returned to the original position by the spring force, and the first upper paper ejection port 1a is opened.

Next, the switching lever device 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14. The switching lever 90 can be switched to three stages, and is a lower stage position shown in FIG. 14 (A), a middle stage position shown in FIG. 14 (B), and an upper stage position shown in FIG. 14 (C). The drive of the switching lever 90 is transmitted from the ribbon feed motor 38 shown in FIG. That is, the gears 91 and 92 are successively meshed with the motor pinion 38a. An oscillating plate 93 is rotatably supported by a central shaft 91a of the gear 91, and a gear 92 is rotatably supported by the oscillating plate 93. A fan-shaped gear 94 can mesh with the pinion 92a of the gear 92. Sector gear 94
Is swingably supported on a fixed shaft 94a, and a connecting bar 94b is integrally formed.

As described above, the gear 92 is the swing plate 9
Since the pinion 92a is meshed with the fan gear 94, when the ribbon feed motor 38 is reversely driven and the motor pinion 38a rotates counterclockwise, the pinion 92a moves to the fan gear 94. Since it is pressed, the rotation is transmitted, but the ribbon feed motor 38 is driven in the forward direction when feeding the ribbon, and the motor pinion 3
When 8a rotates clockwise, the oscillating plate 93 oscillates in a direction away from the sector gear 94, so that the pinion 92a does not mesh with the sector gear 94 and does not transmit the rotation.

As shown in FIG. 12, a connecting bar 95 for the clutch mechanism C1 is connected to the tip of the connecting bar 94b, and a connecting connecting bar 96 for switching is further connected to this connecting bar. The clutch connecting bar 95 connects the clutch mechanism C1 when the roller friction switching devices 7 and 8 described above are operated, and transmits the rotational force of the paper feed motor 60. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a clutch lever 97 is connected to the tip of the connecting bar 95. The clutch lever 97 is swingably supported by a central shaft 64a of a gear 64 for driving the paper feed roller 61, has a guide groove 97a at one end thereof, and has a central shaft of a gear 69 meshing with the gear 64. 69a fits in the guide groove 97a to guide the clutch lever 97. A cam 97b is formed at the other end of the clutch lever 97. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the motor pinion 6 of the paper feed motor 60
The gear 63 meshing with 0a is axially slidably supported on the central shaft 98, and the pinion 63b and the gear 72 are normally disengaged from each other by the spring force of the spring 98a.
3a and the gear 64 mesh with each other. When the connecting bar 95 is lowered by the connecting bar 94b, the cam 97b pushes down the gear 63 against the spring force of the spring 98a, and the pinion 63a and the gear 64 are disengaged from each other as shown by the chain line. 63b is meshed with the gear 72. The connecting bars 94b, 95, 96 are biased upward by a spring 99.

The switching connecting bar 96 swings the driving lever 100 for switching the switching lever 90 in three steps. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 14, the switching lever 90 and the driving lever 100 are connected to each other. Have the same central axis 1
It is fixed to 01 and operates as a unit.
A spring 102 is hooked on the driving lever 100, a connecting pin 100a is projectingly provided at one end of the driving lever 100, and is slidably fitted in a long groove 96a provided at a lower end portion of the connecting bar 96. I am fit. A locking portion 100b is formed at the other end of the driving lever 100. Locking part 100
b is for positioning by locking to one end of the degree determining levers 103 and 104. In this positioning state, the other end of the degree determining lever presses the micro switches 105 and 106 to turn on the switches. To do. Degree determination lever 10
Springs 103a, 104a are hooked on 3, 104, and when the locking portion 100b is not locked by the degree determining levers 103, 104, the micro switch 10 is driven by the spring force.
The pressure of 5,106 is released and the switch is turned off. In FIG. 12, the drive lever 100 is lowered to the lowest position by the connecting bar 96.
00b passes through the double-deciding lever and is located above it, and the double-deciding levers 103 and 104 are springs 103a and 1
It is in the neutral position under the spring force of 04a, and both switches 1
05 and 106 are off.

As shown in FIG. 11, on the outer surface of the left side plate 12, a gear 107 provided at a protruding end of the shaft of the paper feed roller 62 from the left side plate 12 is provided with gears 108, 109, 110.
Can be sequentially engaged. The gear 110 is a drive gear of the CSF 21 and the rear tractor 22 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and will be described in detail later. A clutch mechanism C2 is provided between the gear 109 and the gear 110,
The clutch lever 111 is continuously disconnected by swinging. The clutch lever 111 includes the switching lever 90 and the drive lever 10.
It is fixed to the central axis 101 of 0 and operates as a unit. As shown in FIG. 14, the gear 109 has a shaft 11
The shaft 2 is slidably supported in the axial direction and is urged toward the left side plate 12 by a spring 113. The clutch lever 111 is provided at its tip end with a fan-shaped cam portion 111a having an inclined surface, which engages with the boss portion 109a of the gear 109 and can push it up against the spring 113. Has become. The gear 114 meshes with the gear 109, and the pulley 114 a provided on the gear 114 and the paper discharge roller 1
The belt 115 is wound around the pulley 123 a provided on the paper feeding roller 23 and the rotation of the paper feed motor 60 is prevented.
It is transmitted to 3.

When the switching lever device 9 is driven, the ribbon feed motor 38 is once rotated in the reverse direction to bring it to the state shown in FIG.
Becomes free and both connecting bars are raised by the spring force of the spring 99, and the engagement between the pinion 63b and the gear 72 in the clutch mechanism C1 is disengaged. In addition, the drive lever 100
Also becomes free and swings clockwise by the spring force of the spring 102. At this time, the deciding levers 104 and 103 are overcome against the spring force, and the driving lever 100 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), it is in a state of falling to the right. This lever 10
When the central shaft 101 rotates together with 0, the switching lever 90 and the clutch lever 111 also swing, and the switching lever 90 moves to the lower position and at the same time, the clutch lever 11
1, the cam portion 111a is separated from the boss portion 109a,
The gears 109 and 110 mesh with each other to close the clutch mechanism C2, and the rotation from the paper feed motor 60 is transmitted to the gear 110. Since the gear 110 is driven to rotate, the CSF
The rotation is transmitted to the rear tractor 22 and the rear tractor 22, and FIGS.
It becomes the usage form.

When the ribbon feed motor 38 is driven in the reverse direction, the sector gear 94 is rotated clockwise as described above, the connecting bars 95 and 96 are lowered, and they are moved to the intermediate position shown by the solid line in FIG. To do. At this position of the connecting bar 95, the clutch mechanism C1 is still in the clutch disengaged state, but when the connecting bar 96 is lowered to the middle stage, the drive lever 100 swings counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 14 (B). Then, the locking portion 100b is locked by the locking lever 103 and its position is held. At the same time, the micro switch 105 is turned on, which stops the reverse rotation of the ribbon feed motor 38. In this position, the switching lever 90 is in the middle position and the clutch lever 111 is in the boss portion 1 of the gear 109.
Since 09a is lifted, the gears 109 and 110 are disengaged and the clutch mechanism C2 is disengaged. Therefore, the gear 110
Is no longer transmitted to the vehicle, and therefore the CSF 21 and the rear tractor 22 cannot be driven. Therefore, at this time, the usage pattern shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is obtained.

When the ribbon feed motor 38 is driven in the reverse direction again, the fan gear 94 is rotated clockwise as described above, the connecting bars 95 and 96 are further lowered, and the chain line with the lower right tilt is shown in FIG. Move to the lower position shown. At this position of the connecting bar 95, the gear 63 descends and the pinion 63b
And the gear 72 mesh with each other to close the clutch mechanism C1 and the rotation from the paper feed motor 60 is transmitted to the gear 75 in FIG. 12 to drive the roller friction switching devices 7 and 8. By lowering the connecting bar 96 to the lower stage, the drive lever 100 swings counterclockwise as shown in FIG.
The locking portion 100b is locked to the deciding lever 104 and its position is held, and at the same time, the micro switch 106 is turned on and the reverse rotation of the ribbon feeding motor 38 is stopped. In this position, the switching lever 90 is in the upper position, and the clutch lever 111 is up to the boss portion 109a of the gear 109, so that the gears 109 and 110 are out of mesh with each other and the clutch mechanism C2 is in the disengaged state. There is.

FIGS. 15 (A) and 15 (B) show a state in which the CSF 21 and the rear tractor 22 are mounted and driven. As described above, the guide pins 1 are provided on the side plates 11 and 12.
8 and 19 are projected. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 15 (A), the CSF 21 is provided with guide grooves 21a and 21b, and the guide groove 21b is formed in a downward opening shape. It is formed in an open shape. Therefore, set CSF21 to guide pin 1
8 and 19, the guide groove 21b is engaged with the guide pin 19 from above, and at the same time, the guide groove 21a is engaged.
Is engaged with the guide pin 18 from above, and the mounting of the CSF is completed. In this mounted state, the driven gear 21c fixedly provided in the CSF 21 meshes with the gear 110, so that the rotation of the driven gear 21c is rotated by the picking roller 21d in contact with the cut sheet P1. The cut sheet P1 is transmitted by being transmitted through the row 21e.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 15B, the rear tractor 22 is provided with guide grooves 22a and 22b, and the guide groove 22a is formed in an open front shape, and the guide groove 22b is formed. Is formed so as to open downward.
Therefore, when the rear tractor 22 is locked to the guide pins 18 and 19, first, the guide groove 22a is engaged with the guide pin 18 from the rear to the front, and then the rear tractor 22 is centered on the guide pin 18. The guide pin 19 is smoothly engaged with the guide groove 22b whose lower side is opened, and the mounting of the rear tractor is completed. In this mounted state, the driven gear 22c of the rear tractor 22 is the gear 1
Since it meshes with the driven gear 10, the driven gear 22c
The continuous paper P2 can be fed out by rotating.

When the cut sheet P3 shown in FIG. 3 is fed from the front, the cut sheet P3 may be manually inserted between the paper feed roller 61 and the driven roller 61a.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4, the front tractor 2
When using 3, the front tractor must be tilted to the right. As described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the front tractor 23 takes three swinging postures about the shaft 23a. Therefore, the posture changing device 130 of the front tractor 23 is shown in FIGS. That is, the shaft 23c of the driven gear 23b of the front tractor 23 is
A driven roller 23d is provided. Also, the left and right side plates 11, 1
2 is provided with a shaft hole 131 for bearing the shaft 23a and a fan-shaped guide hole 132 having an arc centered on the shaft hole, and the shaft 23c of the driven gear 23b is provided with the guide hole 132.
You can move inside. The spring 133 fixed at one end is
The shaft 23c is elastically contacted with the shaft 23c and urges the shaft 23c downwardly. Therefore, the front tractor 23 is normally in the state of descending to the right as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the eccentric cam 76 in the roller friction switching device 7 has a cam surface on its outer peripheral surface, and is provided with medium-diameter cam surfaces 76e, 76e on both sides of the large-diameter cam surface 76d as a center. The diameter cam surfaces 76e, 76e and the small diameter cam surfaces form paragraphs 76f, 76f. The roller 23d elastically contacts the cam surfaces 76d to 76f by the spring force of the spring 133.

With such a structure, the clutch mechanism C1 is closed and the motor driving force is transmitted to the gear 75 as described with reference to FIG.
That is, in the state of FIG. 10 (A), the roller 23d has fallen into the paragraph portion 76f of the eccentric cam 76, so that the front tractor 23 is in the downward-right posture as shown in FIG. At this time, the driven gear 23b does not mesh with the pinion 69b of the gear 69, and therefore the continuous paper P4 cannot be sent out from the front tractor 23, which is a usage mode of the CSF21.

When the gear 75 rotates, the roller 23d enters the state shown in FIG. 10B, and the roller 23d comes into sliding contact with the medium-diameter cam surface 76e. For this reason, the front tractor 23 is in a horizontal posture as shown in FIG. At this time as well, the driven gear 23b does not mesh with the pinion 69b of the gear 69, and therefore the continuous paper P4 cannot be sent out from the front tractor 23 and the rear tractor 2
It is a usage form of 2.

When the gear 75 further rotates, the roller 23d
Is in the state of FIG. 10C, and the roller 23d is in sliding contact with the large-diameter cam surface 76d. For this reason, the front tractor 23 is in a posture of rising to the right as shown in FIG. At this time, since the driven gear 23b meshes with the pinion 69b of the gear 69, the driven gear 23b of the front tractor 23 is driven and the continuous paper P4
Can be sent out.

When the gear 75 further rotates, the roller 23d
Is in the state of FIG. 10 (D), and the roller 23d is in sliding contact with the medium diameter cam surface 76d. For this reason, the front tractor 23 becomes horizontal as shown in FIG. At this time, the driven gear 23b
Is not meshed with the pinion 69b of the gear 69, and therefore the continuous paper P4 cannot be sent out from the front tractor 23, which is a manual feeding mode.

In the above embodiment, the driven rollers 61a and 62a are replaced by the drive side paper feed rollers 61 and 62 when the paper is fed.
The elastic force is always elastically contacted by the spring force, and the elastic force can be switched between the two levels of strength by the roller friction devices 7 and 8. However, it is sufficient if the sandwiching pressure of the paper can be switched, for example, the rollers 61a and 62a. The rollers 61, 62
It is also possible to switch the holding pressure of the paper by displacing it into two positions, that is, a position in contact with the paper and a position slightly separated from the rollers 61 and 62.

[0059]

As described above, in the present invention, the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit are adapted to be selectively engaged with the same portion of the printer frame, respectively. The mounting space is shared, and the printer can be downsized.

When both the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit are installed in the printer, power is transmitted from the power transmission gears on the printer side, so that the respective sheets are reliably fed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first usage pattern of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a second usage pattern of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a third usage pattern of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a fourth usage pattern of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a right side view illustrating a device for adjusting the parallelism of the print head with respect to the pteran and a device for adjusting the gap therebetween.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view for explaining the two adjusting devices of FIG. 5 in a developed manner.

FIG. 7 is a left side view illustrating a device for adjusting a gap between a print head and a pteran.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a paper feeding device.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view illustrating a roller friction switching device.

10 (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F) are front views showing switching of roller friction in stages.

FIG. 11 is a left side view illustrating a roller friction switching device.

FIG. 12 is a right side view illustrating a switching lever device.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view illustrating a part of a switching lever device.

14 (A), (B), and (C) are front views showing the operation of the switching lever device and the operation of the other parts interlocked with this in a stepwise manner.

15 (A) and 15 (B) are cross-sectional views for explaining a mounting structure of a CSF and a rear tractor which are selectively mounted on a rear portion of a printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 12 Printer frame (side plate) 18, 19 Engagement part (guide shaft) on printer frame side 21 Cut seed feeder 21a, 21b Engagement part (guide groove) 21c Drive gear 22 Tractor unit 22a, 22b Engagement part (guide) Groove) 22c drive gear 110 power transmission gear

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cut sheet feeder for feeding cut paper and a tractor unit for feeding continuous paper are selectively mounted on a printer frame, and the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit can selectively feed paper. In the printer, each of the cut sheet feeder and the tractor unit has an engaging portion that engages with the same portion of the printer frame, and is selectively mounted on the printer frame via the engaging portion. A printer characterized in that 2. The drive gear of the tractor unit according to claim 1, wherein the printer frame engages with a drive gear of the cut sheet feeder when the cut sheet feeder is mounted, and the drive gear of the tractor unit when the tractor unit is mounted. A printer which is fitted with a power transmission gear which meshes with the cut sheet feeder and is rotationally driven at the time of sheet feeding from the cut sheet feeder or the tractor unit.