JPH09188028A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer taking no time in the adjustment of a head gap even if the thickness of a medium is changed. SOLUTION: A passbook slip printer 1 (printer 1) has a slip feed passage 11a feeding the medium 10 inserted in a slip insertion port 11 and a passbook feed passage 12a feeding the medium 10 inserted in a passbook insertion part 12. Sensors 13, 14 detecting the insertion of the medium 10 are attached on the side of the insertion ports of both feed passages 11a, 12a. Further, the printer 1 has the printing head 16 supported by the platen 15 and the shaft 17 freely moved in the directions shown by arrows C, D by a motor 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer which relatively moves a print head located at a home position to adjust a gap between a medium and a tip of the print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printer that prints on a plurality of types of media having different thicknesses, the distance between the medium and the tip of the print head is printed before printing according to the thickness of the medium used in the printer. It is automatically adjusted to the optimum interval (hereinafter referred to as the print head gap).

[0003]

When adjusting the print head gap in the conventional printer, first, the medium is conveyed between the print head tip and the platen. At this time, the print head tip does not contact the medium. That is, it is located at a preset home position. The print head gap at the home position is a gap in which the tip of the print head does not contact the medium when the medium having the maximum thickness is conveyed. After transporting the media between the print head tip and the platen, then
The print head is moved from the home position in a direction approaching the platen, and a medium detection sensor provided in the vicinity of the print head is abutted against the print surface of the medium. After that, the print head is moved toward the home position by the specified head gap to adjust the print head gap.

As described above, the print head gap at the home position is a gap in which the tip of the print head does not contact the medium even if the medium has the maximum thickness. When adjusting the head gap, the distance from the home position to the abutting point on the medium becomes long (large), and there is a problem that it takes time to adjust the head gap. The problem is thick media,
For example, when the home position is set in correspondence with a passbook or the like, the home position becomes high, so that it appears prominently.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the solution means taken in the present invention is such that the home position is set corresponding to a plurality of types of media having different thicknesses, and the media and the head of the print head are set. Determination means for determining the type of medium before the adjustment of the gap between the print head and the print head relative to the home position corresponding to the type of the medium before the adjustment of the gap between the medium and the tip of the print head based on the determination result of the determination means. A head moving mechanism for positioning is provided.

According to the above-mentioned solution means, when the type of the medium is judged by the judging means, the head moving mechanism relatively positions the print head at the home position corresponding to plural kinds of media having different thicknesses. , Adjust the distance between the medium and the tip of the print head.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, as a printer, a passbook slip printer that uses a passbook, a slip, a certificate, etc. as a print medium as a window device of a financial institution will be described as an example. Elements common to the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook voucher printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a printing unit provided in the passbook voucher printer according to the first embodiment. It is an enlarged explanatory view shown.

The passbook slip printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as printer 1) employs a two-inserter system having two insertion openings, a slip insertion slot 11 and a passbook insertion slot 12. The printer 1 includes a slip transport path 11a through which the medium 10 (slip 10) inserted in the slip insertion slot 11 is conveyed, and a passbook insertion slot 12
It has a passbook transport path 12a for transporting the medium 10 (passbook 10, certificate 10) inserted into the card, and a common transport path 1a to which both transport paths 11a, 12a are connected. Slip transport path 1
Sensors 13 and 14 for detecting the insertion of the medium 10 are attached to the insertion opening sides of the 1a and the passbook transport path 12a. The sensors 13 and 14 are optical sensors, and when the medium 10 is inserted, light is blocked by the medium 10 and the output changes. A pair of transport rollers (not shown) driven by a motor (not shown) is disposed on each of the transport paths 11a, 12a, 1a. The passbook 10 inserted through the passbook insertion slot 12 is in the form of a booklet, and the page to be printed is opened and inserted.

Further, the common conveying path 1a and the slip conveying path 11a
Further, a blade (not shown) is provided at the connection portion with the passbook conveyance path 12a, and the conveyance path can be switched by a control circuit described later. A printing unit 2 is provided along the common transport path 1a. The printing unit 2 includes a platen 15, a print head 16,
The print head 16 has a shaft 17 that holds the print head 16 so as to be movable in the directions of arrows A and B shown in FIG. The shaft 17 is supported by a frame (not shown) so as to be movable in the directions of arrows C and D. The drive unit 3 includes a motor 18 driven by a motor driver described later, and a slit disk 19 that rotates in synchronization with the motor 18. The rotational force of the motor 18 is converted into movement of the shaft 17 in the directions of arrows C and D via, for example, a gear and a cam (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the slit disk 19 is provided with a plurality of slits 19a, and a photosensor 61 for detecting the slits 19a is provided. By detecting the slit 19a of the photo sensor 61,
The control circuit 4 controls the rotation amount of the slit disk 19 (motor 1
8 rotation amount) is detected.

A sensor 53 shown in FIG. 2 is attached to a mechanism (not shown) that supports the print head 16.
When the sensor 53 strikes the medium 10 due to the movement of the shaft 17 in the direction of arrow D, the output of the sensor 53 changes,
As a result, the control circuit described later detects the contact of the sensor 3 with the medium 10. As a method of detecting that the sensor 53 has hit the medium 10, the following method is adopted in the present embodiment. That is, for example, the sensor 53 is formed by winding a wire inside a pair of ferromagnetic ferrite cores. Then, when the sensor 53 hits the medium 10 and the air gap distance between the ferrite cores changes, the inductance of the winding changes according to the distance, and the control circuit 4 changes the inductance with a capacitor (not shown).
The oscillating circuit detects the change in frequency to detect the abutment of the medium 10.

Next, the control system of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram in the first embodiment. The control circuit 4 includes sensors 13, 14, 53,
The photo sensor 61, the motor driver 5, the ROM 6, and the RAM 7 are connected. The control circuit 4 controls the printer 1 based on the program data stored in the ROM 6. A motor 18 is connected to the motor driver 5. The RAM 7 stores data such as the number of slits (E) corresponding to the specified gap amount and the number of slits (F) corresponding to the gap amount (Δt) from the first home position to the second home position. is there.

In the printer 1, as will be described in detail later, a plurality of home positions (2 in the present embodiment, which are set in advance according to the type of the medium 10 when the head gap is adjusted are used.
One) is selected. When the medium 10 is a thick medium such as a passbook, the control circuit 4 positions the print head 16 at the first home position. When the medium 10 is a thin medium such as a slip, the control circuit 4 causes the print head 1 to
6 is positioned in the second home position which is closer to the platen 15 from the first home position. That is, when the output of the sensor 13 changes from OFF to ON, the control circuit 4 detects the presence of the medium, determines that the medium 10 is a thin medium such as a slip, and controls the output of the sensor 14 from OFF to ON. The circuit 4 detects the presence of the medium and determines that the medium 10 is a medium having a thickness such as a passbook.

Positioning to the first home position is as follows:
For example, a part where the slit 19a is not formed is provided in a part of the slit disk 19, and the presence or absence of the slit 19a is detected by the photo sensor 61 during the initial setting operation of the printer 1.
The position is determined based on the presence / absence boundary.

In this embodiment, the home position and the head gap are adjusted by moving the print head 16 in the directions of arrows C and D, but the platen 15 is moved in the directions of arrows C and D to move the home. Positioning and head gap adjustment may be performed.

Next, the print head gap adjusting operation of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a home position positioning operation of the passbook slip printer according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, (a) shows when the print head 16 is positioned at the first home position (HP1), and the gap (t1) is the passbook insertion opening 12
It is set to be wider than the maximum thickness amount (t _T ) of the medium 10 inserted from. FIG. 4B shows when the print head 16 is positioned at the second home position (HP2), and the gap (t1−Δt) is the maximum thickness amount (t _{D of the} medium 10 inserted from the slip insertion slot 11). ) Wider setting. Further, Δt is calculated by the following formula.

Δt = t _T -t _D (1) When a power source (not shown) is turned on, a predetermined initial setting operation is performed. After completion of the initial setting operation, the control circuit 4 drives the motor 18 via the motor driver 5. As a result, the motor 18 rotates forward and the shaft 17 moves upward in the direction of arrow C. The control circuit 4 monitors the presence or absence of the slit 19a of the slit disk 19 and positions the print head 16 at the first home position (see FIG. 4 (a)). After that, the control circuit 4 monitors changes in the outputs of the sensors 13 and 14.

First, the medium 10 (passbook 1
The print head gap adjusting operation when 0) is inserted will be described.

When the passbook 10 is inserted into the passbook insertion slot 12, the sensor 14 is turned on and the control circuit 4 detects the presence of the medium. As a result, the roller pair is driven and the passbook 10 is taken into the printer 1 and is transferred from the passbook transport path 12a to the common transport path 1a.
It is nipped and conveyed to the printing unit 2. The control circuit 4 detects the position of the passbook 10 by a sensor (not shown) provided on each of the transport paths 11a, 12a, 1a, and the printing surface of the passbook 10 is the sensor 53.
When the paper is conveyed to a position (adjustment position) opposite to, the conveyance is stopped. Next, the control circuit 4 reversely rotates the motor 18 to lower the shaft 17 in the arrow D direction. The print head 16 and the sensor 53 move down together with the shaft 17, and the sensor 53 strikes the passbook 10.

When the control circuit 4 detects that the sensor 53 has hit the passbook 10, the control circuit 4 rotates the motor 18 forward to raise the shaft 17. At the same time, the control circuit 4 causes the slit 19a through the photo sensor 61 by the internal counter.
Is counted. The count result is compared with the number of slits (E) stored in the RAM 7, and if they match, the rotation of the motor 18 is stopped. Thereby, the passbook 10 and the print head 16
The print head gap between and becomes the specified gap.

Next, the medium 10 (slip 1
The print head gap adjusting operation when 0) is inserted will be described.

When the slip 10 is inserted into the slip insertion slot 11, the sensor 13 is turned on and the control circuit 4 detects the presence of the medium. As a result, the roller pair is driven and the slip 10 is taken into the printer 1 and is transferred from the slip conveyance path 11a to the common conveyance path 1a.
It is nipped and conveyed to the printing unit 2. Further, when the sensor 13 is turned on, the control circuit 4 determines that the medium 10 is a thin medium such as a slip, and reversely rotates the motor 18 via the motor driver 5 to lower the shaft 17. At the same time, the internal counter counts the slits 19a via the photo sensor 61. The count result is compared with the number of slits (F) stored in the RAM 7, and if they match, the rotation of the motor 18 is stopped. As a result, the shaft 17 descends from the HP 1 by a distance of Δt, and the print head 16 is positioned at the HP 2 when the slip 10 stops being conveyed at the adjustment position described above.

Next, the control circuit 4 reversely rotates the motor 18 to lower the shaft 17. When the control circuit 4 detects that the sensor 53 has hit the voucher 10, the motor 18
Is rotated forward to raise the shaft 17. At the same time, the slit 19 is passed through the photo sensor 61 by the internal counter.
Count a. When the counting result matches the slit number (E), the control circuit 4 stops the rotation of the motor 18. As a result, the print head gap between the slip 10 and the print head 16 becomes a specified gap.

In the first embodiment, the control circuit 4 judges whether the medium 10 is a passbook or a slip by turning on the sensors 13 and 14, and when it judges that the medium 10 is a slip,
Since the thickness is smaller than that of the passbook, the print head 16 before the medium 10 is conveyed to the print unit 2 (before the head gap adjustment).
Is located on HP2. Therefore, the gap between the front end of the print head 16 and the platen 15 can be reduced before the head gap adjustment can be performed, and the head gap adjustment time can be shortened as compared with the case of hitting the medium 10 from the HP 1.

In the first embodiment, a passbook and a slip (certificate)
Although the passbook slip printer 1 using the above as a print medium is described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and a printer using a plurality of types of media having different thicknesses may be used. In this case, a plurality of insertion ports and a sensor for detecting the presence / absence of the medium at the insertion port are provided according to the type of the medium used, and the control circuit determines the type of the medium based on the output change of each sensor. A plurality of home positions may be set according to the type of medium.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the control circuit 4 determines the type of the medium 10 by turning on the sensors 13 and 14 provided in the vicinity of the insertion openings 11 and 12, respectively, and the control circuit 4 detects the print head 16. Although home position positioning is performed, in the second embodiment, the sensors 13 and 14 and another sensor provided on the common transport path 1a determine the type of the medium 10 and perform home position positioning. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook slip printer according to the second embodiment.

A sensor 31 is provided on the common conveyance path 1a of the passbook slip printer 100 (hereinafter referred to as the printer 100) shown in FIG. The sensor 31 is an optical sensor similar to the sensors 13 and 14. The RAM 1 shown in FIG.
00, data such as the length of the medium used is stored. Other structures are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

Next, the print head gap adjusting operation of the printer 100 will be described. The operation from turning on the power to monitoring the insertion of the medium is as described above, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

When the medium 10 is inserted into the passbook insertion slot 12, the sensor 14 is turned on and the control circuit 4 detects the presence of the medium. As a result, the roller pair is driven and the medium 10 is taken into the printer 100 and is nipped and conveyed from the passbook conveyance path 12a to the printing unit 2 of the common conveyance path 1a. When the leading end of the medium 10 in the insertion direction passes the sensor 31, the output of the sensor 31 changes, whereby the control circuit 4 detects the passage of the medium 10 and counts the time by the internal counter. Medium 10
When the rear end passes through the sensor 14 and the output of the sensor 14 changes, the control circuit 4 finishes counting the time and calculates the length of the medium based on the counting result. And the calculated result and RAM
The medium 10 is collated with the length data of the medium stored in 7.
Determine the type of. At this time, if it is determined that the medium 10 is a passbook, the control circuit 4 conveys the medium 10 to the adjustment position and performs the abutting operation of the sensor 53, as in the first embodiment. If it is determined that the medium 10 is a slip, the first
Similar to the embodiment described above, the print head 16 is positioned on the HP 2 before the medium 10 is conveyed to the adjustment position, and when the medium 10 is conveyed to the adjustment position, the abutting operation of the sensor 53 is performed.

Since the operation from the abutting operation of the sensor 53 to the medium 10 (passbook and slip) to the establishment of the specified print head gap is the same as that of the first embodiment, its explanation is omitted.

When the medium 10 is inserted through the slip insertion port 11, the control circuit 4 determines the length of the medium 10 based on the output changes of the sensors 13 and 31 as in the case where the medium 10 is inserted through the passbook insertion port 12. calculate. The calculation result is compared with the medium data stored in the RAM 7 to determine the type of the medium 10, and the print head 16 is positioned at the home position. The detailed description of the operation is the same as that when the medium 10 is inserted through the passbook insertion port 12 described above, and thus will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the type of the medium 10 is not judged by turning on the sensors 13 and 14 described in the first embodiment, but after the head of the medium 10 passes the sensor 31. The rear end of the medium 10 is the sensor 13 or the sensor 14.
The length of the medium 10 is calculated by counting the time until the medium passes, and the type of the medium 10 is determined. Therefore, unlike the printer 1 of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of insertion openings (slip insertion opening 11 and passbook insertion opening 12) according to the type of the medium 10, and one insertion opening for the medium 10 is used. It can also be implemented by the one inserter method.

In the second embodiment, the medium 10 is formed by using the sensor 31 and the sensor 13 (sensor 14) together.
The sensor 13 (sensor 1) is used, but only the sensor 13 (sensor 14) or the sensor 31 is used.
4) Alternatively, the type of the medium 10 may be determined by measuring the time from when the output of the sensor 31 first changes to when it changes next.

When a plurality of media having different thicknesses are used, a plurality of home positions may be set according to the type of the media, as in the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment As described above, the booklet-shaped medium 10 such as a passbook is inserted into the printer with the page to be printed open, and the page to be printed at this time is farther from the middle page. , For example 10
In the case of the second page of page stitching, the thickness of the second page sandwiched by the print head 16 and the platen 15 in the printing unit 2 is smaller than the thickness of the middle five pages (the maximum thickness). In the third embodiment, when the page to be printed is farther from the middle page, the print head 16 is positioned at HP2 to reduce the gap between the tip of the print head 16 and the platen 15 before adjusting the head gap. doing. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 and 6. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook slip printer according to a third embodiment.

A page mark detection sensor 41 is provided on the passbook conveyance path 12a of the passbook slip printer 200 (hereinafter referred to as printer 200) shown in FIG. The page mark detection sensor 41 reads a page mark (not shown) printed on the medium 10 such as a passbook according to an instruction from the control circuit 4, and outputs the read result to the control circuit 4. Control circuit 4
Determines which page is to be printed based on the read result. The other structure is similar to that of the second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the print head gap adjusting operation of the printer 200 will be described. The operation from turning on the power to monitoring the insertion of the medium and the operation of inserting the medium 10 into the passbook insertion slot 12 and determining the type of the medium 10 by the sensors 14 and 31 will be described in the second embodiment. Since it is as described above, the description is omitted.

When the control circuit 4 determines that the medium 10 inserted from the passbook insertion slot 12 is a passbook, the medium 10 (passbook 10) is returned to the insertion slot 12 side or is sent to the printing section 2 side. The page mark is read by 41, and the read result is output to the control circuit 4. The control circuit 4 determines which page is to be printed, based on the read result and the data sent from a host device (not shown). The control circuit 4 selects either HP1 or HP2 in accordance with the determined thickness on the page side. HP1
When is selected, as in the second embodiment, the control circuit 4
Conveys the bankbook 10 to the adjustment position and performs the abutting operation of the sensor 53. When HP2 is selected, the passbook 10 is selected as in the case of adjusting the head gap of the slip according to the second embodiment.
When the passbook 10 is conveyed to the adjustment position, the print head 16 is positioned on the HP 2 before the sheet is conveyed to the adjustment position.
The abutting operation of 3 is performed. The operation after this is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

The operation when the slip is inserted into the printer 200 is the same as that of the second embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

In the third embodiment, when the medium 10 is a booklet-shaped medium, HP1 corresponding to the number of pages to be printed,
Since 2 is selected, the head gap adjustment time can be shortened as compared with the first and second embodiments.

In the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the one inserter system with one insertion port can be used.

In the third embodiment, for example, the thickness data on the printed page side corresponding to the number of pages of the passbook 10 is previously set to R.
When the control circuit 4 determines the number of pages of the passbook 10 by storing it in the AM 7 or the like, the maximum thickness amount (t _T ) of the medium and the thickness amount (t _F ) on the printed page side are calculated as shown in the following equation. Δt
May be calculated and the print head 16 may be moved down by a distance of Δt. Therefore, Δt changes depending on the number of printed pages.
As a result, the head gap adjustment time can be further shortened.

Δt = t _T −t _F (2) Further, when a plurality of media having different thicknesses are used, the home position depends on the type of the media, as in the first and second embodiments. You may set more than one.

[0044]

As described in detail above, the present invention provides
When the type of medium is determined by the determination means, the head moving mechanism relatively positions the print head at the home position corresponding to a plurality of types of media having different thicknesses, and then adjusts the distance between the medium and the tip of the print head. By doing so, it does not take time to adjust the head gap even if the thickness of the medium changes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook slip printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of a printing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a home position positioning operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook slip printer according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a passbook slip printer according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 100, 200 Passbook slip printer 4 Control circuit 10 Medium 13, 14, 31 Sensor 15 Platen 16 Print head

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer in which a print head located at a home position is relatively moved to adjust a gap between a medium and a tip of the print head, wherein the home position is set corresponding to a plurality of types of media having different thicknesses. And a head for relatively positioning the print head to a home position corresponding to the medium type before adjusting the gap based on the determination result of the determining means. A printer provided with a mechanism. 2. A medium insertion port into which a medium is inserted and a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the medium at the medium insertion port are provided, and the determination means determines the type of medium based on an output signal from the sensor. The printer according to 1. 3. The printer according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the medium insertion ports are formed corresponding to the type of medium, and a plurality of the sensors are provided corresponding to each medium insertion port. 4. A page number detector for detecting the number of printed pages of the booklet medium when the determining unit determines that the medium type is a booklet medium, and the head moving mechanism detects the page number. The printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the print head is positioned at a home position corresponding to the number of pages based on an output signal from the unit.