JPH10119375A - Paper discharging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect a printing mechanism by preventing surely the generation of jam due to the interference of discharging of paper by a method wherein a part of the paper is looped to store it in a paper storage unit when a receiving person of the paper, discharged out of a paper discharging port, has interfered the discharging of the paper by gripping the same or the like. SOLUTION: When a receiving person of paper waits the discharging of paper by picking the tip end of the paper 8 projected out of a paper discharging port 56, the discharge of the paper 8 is interfered by the person. In such a case, deflection is generated in the transferred paper 8 at the side of a paper storage unit 32 in accordance with the transfer of the same. When the condition is continued, a loop L is formed in the paper 8 in the paper storage unit 32 and the loop L becomes a buffer loop whereby the transfer of the paper 8 will not be interfered. In this case, the paper 8 will not be stopped in the side of a printing mechanism 2 and a transfer mechanism 12 whereby stabilized printing and transfer operations are effected and the generation of jam can be prevented. Accordingly, the receiving person can receive a sheet of paper through the finishing of the printing operation and the cutting of the paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper discharge device of a printer used as a device for issuing, for example, receipts and tickets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer that issues a receipt, a ticket, and the like prints on a long sheet of paper, discharges the sheet, and cuts the sheet when the printing is completed.

[0003] This type of printer includes, for example, an information terminal device. FIG. 7A shows the appearance of the information terminal device. A paper outlet 306 is provided in the front panel 304 of the outer case 302, and the elongated paper 308 is supplied to the paper outlet 306 in accordance with a printing operation.
Is discharged from The recipient picks up and receives the sheet 308 discharged from the sheet discharge port 306 with a finger.

FIG. 7B shows the internal structure of the printer. In this printer device, a paper transport path 310 is formed from inside the outer case 302 to the paper discharge port 306. The paper transport path 310 includes a paper transport mechanism 312 and a printing mechanism 314.
And a cutter mechanism 316. The paper transport mechanism 312 is a unit that sends out the paper 308 in synchronization with printing. The paper transport mechanism 312 is provided with a pair of drive rollers 318, 320, and each of the drive rollers 318, 32
During a period of 0, the sheet 308 is guided and sandwiched, and is pressed out and sent out by its rotation. The printing mechanism 314
A print head 322 and a platen 324 are arranged with the paper transport path 310 interposed therebetween, and printing on the paper 308 is performed by driving the print head 322. The form of printing is paper 3
08, the ink ribbon is unnecessary when pressure-sensitive paper is used, and a coloring medium such as an ink ribbon is required when plain paper is used. Further, the cutter mechanism 316 constitutes an independent unit, and a cutter blade 326 that slides in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet 308 is installed inside the unit. The cutter blade 326 is driven by a sliding drive mechanism. Such a cutter mechanism 3
At 16, when the cutter blade 326 slides downward in the drawing, the paper 308 being conveyed is cut.

In such a printer, the paper 308 is
The paper is discharged from the paper discharge port 306 while printing, and after the printing is completed, a continuous predetermined amount of paper is discharged and cut by sliding of the cutter blade 326.

When such a printer device is used as a receipt or ticket issuing device, the recipient is required to send out the paper 30 as shown in FIG.
It is expected that the user will hold the end of 8 with his finger and wait for printing to be completed.
In addition, as shown in FIG.
It is also expected to interfere with the emission of 8. When the recipient grasps the discharged paper 308 and stands by, the conveyance of the paper 308 is hindered, and the paper 308 on the paper conveyance path 310 is bent 328. Such bending of the paper 308 causes unnecessary stress in a direction opposite to the discharge direction of the paper 308. As a result, the paper 308 is bent in a loop inside the printer apparatus, and a normal discharge operation cannot be performed, and thus a jam occurs. The occurrence of such a jam impedes the unmanned operation of issuing a receipt or the like.

[0007]

By the way, in such a printer, measures are taken to prevent the recipient from touching the sheet 308 until printing or discharging of the sheet 308 of a predetermined length is completed. Have been. For example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-29765 “Printer” is available. In this printer, a cover having a depth corresponding to the length of the paper to be issued is attached to the paper discharge section, and the paper is guided into the cover so that the recipient does not touch the cover. Is to send out the paper.

[0008] Such means have the following problems. Since the size of the cover corresponds to the paper 308 to be issued, each time the length of the paper 308 to be issued is changed, a sheet of a size corresponding to the length is required, which requires complicated operations and printers. This leads to an increase in the size of the device itself.

[0009] With respect to protective measures by such a cover,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-181659 and US Pat. No. 5,215,393, there has been proposed a printer in which a sheet discharge control device is added to a printer. Such a paper discharge control device makes the paper slack in the printer and waits until the printing operation is completed in the path on the paper discharging side, so that the recipient cannot receive the paper and the printing operation is completed. In addition, there is a type in which the sheet is cut and then discharged from the sheet discharge port. However, the addition of such a control device has disadvantages such as an increase in the cost of the equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet discharge device which protects a sheet discharge from an unexpected situation such as an obstruction of a recipient and realizes a stable sheet discharge.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the paper discharge device of the present invention corrects the curl of the paper (8) sent out from roll paper and discharges the paper at the paper discharge port (56). By keeping the blocked paper in a loop and storing it, the paper discharge is stabilized, and the occurrence of jams is prevented.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet discharging device including a sheet conveying means (sheet conveying mechanism), a printing means, and a cutter means for cutting the sheet after printing (cutter mechanism). A paper straightening unit (30) attached to a printer having a paper curl for discharging a paper (8) having curl, a paper curling unit (30) for correcting curl of paper at the downstream side of the transport of the cutter means, and A paper storage unit (32) for storing paper downstream of the straightening unit and a paper discharge port (56) for discharging paper are provided. The paper is looped and stored in the paper storage unit. With this configuration, the paper fed from the roll paper is flattened by the paper straightening unit, and when the paper discharge is prevented at the paper outlet, the paper is stored in the paper storage unit. It can be stored in a loop by the transport force,
As a result, the influence of the conveyance force accompanying the discharge inhibition on the conveyance mechanism, the printing mechanism or the cutter mechanism is reduced, and the jam on the printing mechanism or the cutter mechanism is prevented. As a result, stable and highly reliable paper discharge is performed.

Further, the paper discharge device according to claim 2 is
A paper guide unit (3) is provided in the paper straightening unit and the paper storage unit.
8), and the paper guide portion is formed as an inclined surface that descends with respect to the paper transport path (18) on the printing mechanism side. With such a configuration, it is easy to guide the paper having the curl corrected to the paper discharge port side, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a jam.

Further, in the paper discharge device according to the third aspect, the paper storage section is formed with a space for storing looped paper on the upper surface side of the paper guide section (38). I do. With this configuration,
When the sheet is prevented from being discharged, the sheet can be looped and stored in the sheet storage unit by the conveying force applied to the sheet.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet discharging device, wherein the downstream standing wall (4) forming the space of the sheet storing section is provided.
4) The paper discharge port (56) is provided at the lower portion, and a part of the paper guide portion (38) is formed downstream of the paper discharge port. With this configuration, the sheet pushed out of the sheet storage section (32) by conveyance is discharged while being guided by the sheet guide section (38) toward the sheet discharge port on the downstream side, and the sheet guide section is also provided. Part of the paper is formed downstream of the paper exit,
The paper discharge state is more stabilized.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a sheet discharging apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a main part of an issuing apparatus used for issuing a receipt, a ticket, and the like. The issuing device includes a printer mechanism 2, a cutter mechanism 4, and a paper discharge mechanism 6. Paper 8 printed by this printer includes:
Since the roll paper 10 is used, a curl that is curved in one direction occurs.

At the front of the printer mechanism 2, a roll paper 1
A sheet transport mechanism 12 is provided as a transport unit for transporting the sheet 8 rewound from zero. In this embodiment, transport rollers 14 and 16 are provided. The transport roller 14 includes
A motor (not shown) is connected, and transport control is performed by the print control unit. In the printing operation, the paper 8 is intermittently guided and transported to the paper transport path 18 in units of print lines.

The printer mechanism 2 is provided with a platen 20 along the paper transport path 18, and a print head 22 is provided on an upper surface thereof. The print head 22 prints one or more lines on the paper 8 conveyed intermittently.

A cutter mechanism 4 is provided at a rear stage of the printer mechanism 2. The cutter mechanism 4 is slid by a drive mechanism (not shown) in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport path 18 to cut the sheet 8. A blade 24 is provided. The sliding operation of the cutter blade 24 is synchronized with the completion of the printing of the paper 8 and the conveyance thereof, and the necessary printing on the paper 8 is completed, and the necessary length as a ticket or receipt is sent out from the leading end of the paper. When the paper 8
Is cut as a piece of paper.

On the paper discharge side of the printer mechanism 2, a paper discharge mechanism 6 is provided. In this embodiment, the sheet discharging mechanism 6 is formed of a single structure, and includes a sheet correcting section 30, a sheet storing section 32, and a discharging section 34 from the cutter mechanism 4 side.

The paper straightening section 30 is a part for receiving the curled paper 8 from the paper passage opening 26 of the cutter mechanism 4 and correcting the curl of the curled paper 8 on the downstream side of the paper transport. The paper correcting section 30 has an inclined surface slightly inclined in the curl direction with respect to the paper transport path 18, and is provided with a paper inlet 36 corresponding to the paper passage opening 26 and has a bottom surface side. A paper guide section 38 and a correction plate 40 forming a ceiling surface are arranged in parallel, and a narrow paper path 4 is formed therebetween.
2 is formed. The curl of the paper 8 sent out by the transport rollers 14 and 16 is corrected by passing through the narrow paper path 42.

The sheet 8 that has passed through the sheet correction section 30 reaches a sheet storage section 32. The paper storage unit 32 has a bottom surface formed by extending the paper guide unit 38, a rear standing wall 43 and a standing wall 44 separated from the standing wall 43, and has an opening at the upper side. An open space is formed as the portion 46. Since a part of the paper guide section 38 extends to the downstream side of the paper discharge port 56, the paper discharge can be stabilized. The standing wall 43 can also serve as a mounting plate for mounting the sheet discharging mechanism 6 forming a single structure to the cutter mechanism 4 side or the printer main body side.

The operation of the paper discharge device together with the printing operation of the printer will be described. When the paper 8 is ejected along with the printing operation, as shown in FIG.
The paper passes through the paper storage unit 32 while being corrected by the paper correction unit 30 of the paper discharge mechanism 6, and its leading end reaches the discharge unit 34. Along with the transport operation, the leading end is guided to the paper discharge port 56, and the paper 8 is continuously discharged from the paper discharge port 56. The recipient can receive the receipt or the ticket forming the ticket by cutting. This is a normal discharge operation.

In response to such a normal discharge operation, as shown in FIG. 3, the recipient may pinch the leading end of the sheet 2 protruding from the sheet discharge port 56 with a finger and wait for discharge. This prevents the recipient from discharging the paper 8. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 4, the sheet 8 to be conveyed is bent in the sheet storage unit 32 according to the conveyance. When this state continues, as shown in FIG.
A loop L is formed on the sheet 8 in the sheet storage unit 32, and this forms a buffer loop, so that the conveyance of the sheet 8 is not hindered. That is, the paper 8 does not stop on the printing mechanism 2 and the transport mechanism 12 side, stable printing operation and transport operation are performed, and occurrence of jam can be prevented. Then, the recipient can receive the paper piece as a receipt and a ticket after completing and cutting the printing operation.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the paper discharge device of the present invention. In this paper discharge device, the paper guide section 38 terminates at the portion of the upright wall 44, and a paper discharge port 56 is formed at that portion. In this paper discharge device, the paper guide section 38 discharges the paper 8
To prevent the recipient from picking carelessly. And
When the recipient grasps the paper 8 to be discharged and interferes with the discharging operation, the occurrence of a jam can be prevented by looping the paper 8 as in the first embodiment. further,
By looping the sheet, even if the sheet stays at the end face of the sheet guide section 38, the sheet is exposed at the lower portion of the sheet guide section 38, so that the recipient can surely receive the cut piece of paper. it can.

[0027]

As described above, according to the paper discharging apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. a. If the recipient grabs the paper ejected from the paper exit and interferes with the paper ejection, a part of the paper is looped and stored in the paper storage unit to ensure that jamming due to the obstruction of paper ejection occurs. And the printing mechanism can be protected. b. It can be configured simply and inexpensively, and can be used for issuing receipts and tickets and contribute to unmanned operation. c. Even if the recipient obstructs the discharge and the paper stays inside the apparatus, the discharge guide is partially formed, so that the paper piece can be reliably received from the paper exposed portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printer that is a first embodiment of a sheet discharge device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a normal sheet discharging operation of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sheet discharging operation when a recipient picks a sheet.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a sheet discharging operation when a recipient picks up a sheet.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a sheet discharging operation when a recipient picks up a sheet.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printer that is a second embodiment of the paper discharge device of the present invention.

7A and 7B show a conventional printer device, in which FIG. 7A is a perspective view and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a case where a sheet to be discharged is picked up and is on standby.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 cutter mechanism 8 paper 10 roll paper 12 paper transport mechanism 18 paper transport path 30 paper straightening section 32 paper storage section 38 paper guide section 44 upright wall 56 paper discharge port

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet discharging device for discharging a sheet having a curl, which is attached to a printer including a sheet conveying unit, a printing unit, and a cutter unit for cutting the sheet after printing, wherein A sheet straightening unit that straightens the curl of the sheet at the downstream side of the conveyance, a sheet storage unit that stores the sheet at the downstream side of the sheet straightening unit, and a sheet outlet that discharges the sheet. A sheet discharging apparatus characterized in that a sheet is looped and stored in a sheet storing section by a sheet conveying force in order to prevent the paper from being discharged. 2. A sheet guide section is formed in the sheet correction section and the sheet storage section, and the sheet guide section is formed as an inclined surface which descends with respect to a sheet transport path on a printing mechanism side. 2. The sheet discharging device according to 1. 3. The paper discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the paper storage unit is formed with a space for storing looped paper on the upper surface side of the paper guide unit. 4. A paper discharge port is provided at a lower portion of a downstream standing wall forming a space of the paper storage section, and a part of a paper guide section is formed downstream of the paper discharge port. 2. The sheet discharging device according to 1.