JPH10193713A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the number of components by using a print head and a printing platen roller for fixing the forward end side of a sheet thereby correcting inclination of the sheet. SOLUTION: Before printing is started using a print head 11, the forward end side of a sheet 7 to be carried is fixed temporarily by a printing platen roller 10 and a print head 11 so that the sheet 7 is bend thus correcting inclination of the sheet 7. Subsequently, printing is carried out which clamping the sheet 7 and an ink ribbon 13 by means of the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing by sandwiching a sheet and an ink ribbon between a platen roller and a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a facsimile apparatus includes a reading unit for reading an image as image information so that an image such as a document or a drawing described in an original can be transmitted via a telephone line, and an original based on the image information. A printing unit for printing the image of
A transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving image information as a voice signal via a telephone line.

In the printing section, a platen roller is brought into pressure contact with a printing head which is provided horizontally in the width direction of the paper,
The original image and the ink ribbon are fed between the platen roller and the print head.The original image is printed on the entire paper by sequentially printing the image information in the width direction while sending out the paper and the ink ribbon in the longitudinal direction by rotating the platen roller. It is designed to print. At this time, if the sheet is inclined with respect to the print head, the image will be inclined with respect to the sheet, and depending on the degree of the inclination, the image will be printed outside the frame of the sheet.

Therefore, conventionally, in a printing apparatus constituting the above-described printing unit, a registration roller is disposed between a print head and a platen roller in a transfer path until a sheet arrives. The leading edge of the sheet is temporarily fixed by a registration roller to bend the sheet, thereby correcting the inclination of the sheet, and rotating the registration roller to restart the conveyance of the sheet.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since the registration roller and the driving mechanism of the registration roller are required to correct the inclination of the sheet, the number of parts is increased and the cost is easily increased. There's a problem. Furthermore, when the sheet is transported again after correcting the inclination, a predetermined time is required for the sheet to reach the print head from the registration roller, and therefore, it is difficult to adjust the sheet transport start timing and the print start timing. There is a problem. And if the timing adjustment is not enough,
For example, waste of the ink ribbon and a decrease in the positioning accuracy of the printing position are caused.

Accordingly, the present invention enables the correction of the inclination of the sheet with a small number of parts and facilitates the adjustment of the timing of starting the conveyance of the sheet and the timing of the printing after correcting the inclination. It is intended to provide a device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is to temporarily fix the leading edge of the conveyed sheet and to bend the sheet before printing by the print head is started. In a printing apparatus that corrects the inclination of the sheet and prints by sandwiching the sheet and the ink ribbon between the platen roller and the print head, fixing the leading edge of the sheet between the platen roller and the print head. It is characterized by performing. As a result, the print head and the platen roller are used to fix the leading edge of the sheet to correct the sheet inclination, thereby reducing the number of parts compared to the conventional case where the registration roller is used to fix the sheet. Since the number of points can be reduced, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, since the leading edge of the paper is located on the platen roller, the timing for starting the conveyance of the paper and the timing for starting the printing can be easily linked to the driving of the platen roller, thereby preventing, for example, waste of the ink ribbon. And the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet is performed by stopping the rotation of the platen roller. As a result, the conventional drive system and control system of the registration roller can be diverted to the correction processing of the sheet inclination by the platen roller, so that design cost and development cost can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein a winding unit for winding the ink ribbon, and a winding operation of the ink ribbon by the winding unit is started. And a control means for controlling the timing of the rotation of the platen roller to be synchronized with the timing of starting the rotation of the platen roller by releasing the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet. Accordingly, the control unit controls the timing to start the winding operation of the ink ribbon and the timing to start the rotation of the platen roller, so that the transport start timing of the ink ribbon and the paper is surely matched. Therefore, the loss amount of the ink ribbon can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the printing apparatus is based on a detection signal of a paper detection sensor provided in a conveyance path of the paper to the platen roller. Then, the amount of deflection of the sheet is obtained. Accordingly, the amount of bending of the sheet can be accurately obtained based on the detection signal of the sheet detection sensor, so that the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be further improved.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The printing device according to the present embodiment is provided as a printing unit 36 of the facsimile machine 1 as shown in FIG. The facsimile machine 1
As shown in FIG. 2, a housing frame 2 constituting a lower housing is provided. A panel cover 3 and a document paper cover 4 are provided on the front and rear sides of the housing frame 2 so as to be openable and closable, respectively. The panel cover 3 is provided with an operation panel 5 provided with telephone number input keys, function keys, and the like. The document paper cover 4 has a document insertion guide 4a for supporting a document, a paper discharge port 4b for discharging printed paper, and a paper storage frame 6 capable of storing a large number of papers.
Are formed or provided in this order from the front side.

The above-mentioned sheet housing frame 6 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, it is communicated from the upper surface to the lower surface,
A paper supply port 6a and a paper supply port 6b are provided on the upper and lower surfaces.
Are formed respectively. A paper feed roller 8 is rotatably provided near the paper feed port 6 b inside the paper housing frame 6, and a paper support plate 9 for supporting the paper 7 is provided. The paper support plate 9 is rotatably supported at the other end so as to contact one end with the paper feed roller 8 and is urged in the direction of the paper feed roller 8. The paper 7 is fed in the direction of the paper feed port 6 b by rotating the paper 7 in a state where the leading end of the paper 7 is pressed against the paper feed roller 8 by the paper support plate 9.

A paper feed port 6b through which the paper 7 is fed out
Is formed by a first guide portion 6e and a second guide portion 6f for guiding the sheet 7 to the printing portion 36 arranged on the exit side of the sheet feeding port 6b. The first guide portion 6e is bent downward from the lower end of the front wall 6c of the paper storage frame 6 toward the rear wall 6d,
The sheet 7 is formed by being bent upward so as to have a top portion 6g that contacts the back surface of the sheet 7. On the other hand, the second guide section 6f extends from the lower end of the rear wall 6d of the
It is bent in the direction of the guide part 6e, and the top part 6g of the first guide part 6e
It is formed so that the front end portion is located closer to the rear wall 6d (the paper feed roller 8 side). Then, the first guide portion 6e and the second guide portion 6f formed as described above form the paper 7 by the top portion 6g of the first guide portion 6e and the front end portion of the second guide portion 6f.
When the paper 7 is guided to the printing unit 36, the paper advances in the tangential direction at the clamping point A between the printing platen roller 10 and the printing head 11 of the printing unit 36. ing.

The printing platen roller 10 and the printing head 11 are provided in the width direction of the paper 7. The print head 11 has a print surface for printing over the entire range of the paper 7 in the width direction. Also, the print head 11
A spring spring 12 that urges the printing platen roller 10 toward the printing platen roller 10 so as to be pressed against the printing platen roller 10.
Supported by

At the clamping point A between the printing platen roller 10 and the printing head 11, the first guide portion 6e described above is provided.
The paper 7 guided by the second guide portion 6f and the second guide portion 6f is transported, and the ink ribbon 13 having a ribbon width substantially matching the paper width is transported. The ink ribbon 13 is wound in a roll shape, and has a holding point A
After being fed out from an unwinding roller 14a provided behind the paper 7 and passing the print head 11 side of the paper 7 at the nipping point A, a winding roller 14b provided in front of the nipping point A
It is conveyed by being wound up. The ink ribbon 13 prints image information on the paper 7 by transferring the ink to the paper 7 by the heat of the print head 11 at the holding point A.

A film member 15 is provided on the paper feed side of the holding point A so as to be located between the paper 7 and the ink ribbon 13. The film member 15 has a film width wider than the ribbon width and a sheet feeding port 6 near the pinching point A.
b has a film length extending to the exit side. The leading end of the film member 15 is located near the holding point A, and by inhibiting the contact between the sheet 7 and the ink ribbon 13 up to the holding point A, the film member 15 is brought into contact with the ink ribbon 13. It is designed to prevent dirt. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a paper detecting member 37 is rotatably provided on the paper feeding side of the holding point A in the transport path of the paper 7, and the paper detecting member 37 7 comes into contact with the tip piece to rotate. The rotation of the paper detection member 37 is detected by a paper detection sensor (not shown).
The paper detection sensor outputs a detection signal indicating passage of the paper 7 to the control panel 35 when the rotation of the paper detection member 37 is detected.

On the other hand, a paper discharge guide 16 for guiding the printed paper 7 and two discharge rollers 17 for discharging the paper 7 to the outside are provided on the paper discharge side of the clamping point A. These discharge rollers 17 are provided in a pair on the left and right from the center position in the width direction of the sheet discharge port 4b. The paper discharge guide 16 is curved from the clamping point A to the paper discharge port 4b so as to guide the paper 7 to the paper discharge port 4b. The paper outlet 4b is formed by the front wall 6c of the paper housing frame 6 and the document insertion guide 4a. The front wall 6c that forms one surface of the paper outlet 4b is
The sheet 7 is inclined rearward from the sheet discharge port 4b side to the upper end so as to function as a sheet placement plate that supports one side of the sheet 7 as a lower side. At the bottom of the front wall 6c, a pair of left and right support members 18 are provided adjacent to the discharge rollers 17, and these support members 18
When the sheet 7 is tilted to the left and right and is supported by only one support member 18, the right and left tilt is corrected so that the sheet 7 is supported by the two support members 18 by the action of gravity.

As shown in FIG. 3, the document insertion guide 4a, which forms the other surface of the sheet discharge port 4b, is inclined so that the front side is lower than the back side, and the document is placed thereon. When it is moved to the front by the action of gravity. On the front side of the document insertion guide 4a, a paper chute cover 19 for regulating the passage of the document is provided.
And a panel cover 3. Panel cover 3
Is openable and closable by rotatably supporting the end on the side of the document insertion guide 4a, and when closed, forms a document path 20 with the paper chute cover 19. ing. The document insertion guide 4 a and the covers 19 and 3 form a document insertion port 20 a serving as an entrance to the document path 20.

A feed roller 21 is provided in the original path 20.
The reading unit 22 and the discharge roller 23 are
They are provided in this order from the a side. A separation piece 24 is pressed against the feed roller 21, and the feed roller 21 and the separation piece 24 read the document one by one when a plurality of documents are inserted into the document insertion port 20 a. To be sent to.

The reading section 22 is provided with a CIS (contact
It has a reading sensor 25 composed of an image sensor) and a white reading platen roller 26 used as a reference color. The reading sensor 25 is a CCD (c
harge coupled device). The reading sensor 25 has a reading surface 2 having a sensor width substantially equal to the document width.
5a, and the image is read in units of one line in the width direction to obtain image information. At both ends of the reading platen roller 26, a lock mechanism 27 including a platen support member 28 for pressing and separating the reading platen roller 26 from and against the reading surface 25a of the reading sensor 25 is provided.

The reading section 22 and the printing section 36 are controlled by a control panel 35 provided on the bottom of the housing frame 2. The control panel 35 performs an image reading process in the reading unit 22, a printing process in the printing unit 36, a transmission / reception process of image information via a telephone line, and the like.

In the above configuration, the facsimile machine 1
The operation of the reading unit 22 will be described. When the image information is received via the telephone line, first, the sheet inclination correction processing is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, from the state in which various rollers such as the printing platen roller 10 and the paper feeding roller 8 are stopped, only the paper feeding roller 8 is rotated, so that the paper 7 is fed to the paper feeding port 6b. It is fed in the direction. After the printing surface is brought into contact with the leading end of the second guide portion 6f, the paper 7 is advanced while the back surface is brought into contact with the top portion 6g of the first guide portion 6e. Guided to match the tangential direction. Thereafter, when the paper 7 advances, the printing surface abuts on the film member 15 so that the advancing direction further coincides with the tangential direction at the holding point A, and then the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11 are stopped. To reach.

Thus, before the back surface of the sheet 7 contacts the printing platen roller 10, the leading edge of the sheet 7 contacts the printing platen roller 10, so that the sheet 7 has various thicknesses and distortions. However, the leading edge of the sheet 7 is always fixed at a predetermined position near the holding point A. Further, since the film member 15 prevents the paper 7 from coming into contact with the ink ribbon 13, it is possible to prevent the paper 7 from being stained by the ink ribbon 13.

When the paper 7 is fed out and conveyed by the paper feed roller 8, the leading end of the paper 7 is
To rotate the paper detecting member 37. When the paper detection member 37 rotates, the paper detection sensor that has detected the rotation outputs a detection signal to the control panel 35. Control panel 35
Starts counting from the point in time when the detection signal is received, and calculates the transport amount based on the count value and the feeding speed of the paper feed roller 8. By controlling the rotation of the paper feed roller 8 based on the transport amount, the paper 7 bends by a predetermined amount while the leading end piece is fixed between the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11. As a result, the sheet inclination is corrected.

Next, when the correction processing of the sheet inclination is completed as described above, the printing processing is started. That is, the rotation of the printing platen roller 10 is started, and the rotation of the paper feed roller 8 is restarted, so that the conveyance of the sheet 7 is restarted. The winding roller 14a and the winding roller 14b are driven to rotate in synchronization with the rotation start timing of the printing platen roller 10, whereby the winding of the ink ribbon 13 is started.
At this time, since the leading edge of the paper 7 is located near the holding point A, the timing of starting the conveyance of the paper 7 and the timing of starting printing on the print head 11 are determined by the printing platen roller 1.
It can be easily linked to the drive of 0. Therefore, for example, waste of the ink ribbon 13 can be prevented, and the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be improved. Further, since the amount of bending of the paper 7 is always set to a constant amount based on the detection signal of the paper detecting sensor, the paper 7 is conveyed such that the sliding amount of the printing platen roller 10 changes according to the amount of bending. Since the start timing does not change depending on the amount of deflection, the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be made extremely high.

As described above, the printing unit 36, which is the printing apparatus of the present embodiment,
The leading edge of the conveyed sheet 7 is printed on the platen roller 10 for printing.
The paper 7 is once fixed between the print head 11 and the paper 7 is bent to correct the inclination of the paper 7, and the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11 sandwich the paper 7 and the ink ribbon 13 to perform printing. It is configured to be. still,
In the present embodiment, the printing device has been described using the printing unit 36 provided in the facsimile machine 1. However, the printing device can be applied to other office equipment such as a copying machine and a printer.

According to the above-described configuration, the print head 11 and the printing platen roller 10 are used to fix the leading edge of the paper 7 to correct the paper inclination. Since the number of components can be reduced as compared with the case where the device is used for fixing, the cost of the device can be reduced. Further, since the leading edge of the sheet 7 is located on the printing platen roller 10, the timing of starting the conveyance of the sheet 7 and the timing of starting printing can be easily linked to the driving of the printing platen roller 10. The waste of the ink ribbon 13 can be prevented, and the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be improved.

Further, the printing section 36 of the present embodiment
Is fixed by stopping the rotation of the platen roller 10 for printing. According to this configuration, the conventional drive system and control system of the registration roller can be diverted to the correction processing of the sheet inclination by the printing platen roller 10, so that the design cost and the development cost can be reduced. Become.

As shown in FIG. 3, the printing section 36 of the present embodiment includes unwinding and winding rollers 14a and 14b (winding means) for winding the ink ribbon 13, and unwinding and winding rollers. The timing at which the winding operation of the ink ribbon 13 by the take-up rollers 14a and 14b is started, and the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet 7 to release the printing platen roller 1
A control panel 35 (control means) for controlling the timing of starting the rotation of 0 so as to match the timing is also provided. According to this configuration, the timing for starting the winding operation of the ink ribbon 13 and the timing for starting the rotation of the printing platen roller 10 are matched with each other, so that the transport start timing of the ink ribbon 13 and the paper 7 is set. Since they can be matched, the loss amount of the ink ribbon 13 can be reduced.

Further, the printing unit 36 of the present embodiment
The amount of bending of the paper 7 is determined based on a detection signal of a paper detection sensor provided in a transport path to the printing platen roller 10 of FIG. According to this configuration, the amount of deflection of the sheet 7 can be accurately obtained based on the detection signal of the sheet detection sensor, so that the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be further improved.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, before starting printing by the print head, the leading edge of the conveyed paper is temporarily fixed and the paper is bent to correct the inclination of the paper, and the platen roller and the platen roller are fixed. In a printing apparatus for printing by sandwiching the paper and the ink ribbon with a print head, a configuration is adopted in which the leading edge of the paper is fixed between the platen roller and the print head. As a result, the print head and the platen roller are used to fix the leading edge of the sheet to correct the sheet inclination, thereby reducing the number of parts compared to the conventional case where the registration roller is used to fix the sheet. Since the number of points can be reduced, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, since the leading edge of the paper is located on the platen roller, the timing for starting the conveyance of the paper and the timing for starting the printing can be easily linked to the driving of the platen roller, thereby preventing, for example, waste of the ink ribbon. In addition to this, there is an effect that the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the fixing of the leading edge of the paper is performed by stopping the rotation of the platen roller.
As a result, the conventional drive system and control system of the registration roller can be diverted to the correction processing of the sheet inclination by the platen roller, so that the design cost and the development cost can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein a winding unit for winding the ink ribbon and a winding operation of the ink ribbon by the winding unit are started. And a control means for controlling the timing of the rotation of the platen roller to start by rotating the platen roller by releasing the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet. Accordingly, the control unit controls the timing to start the winding operation of the ink ribbon and the timing to start the rotation of the platen roller, so that the transport start timing of the ink ribbon and the paper is surely matched. Therefore, there is an effect that the loss amount of the ink ribbon can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the printing apparatus is based on a detection signal of a sheet detection sensor provided in a conveyance path of the sheet to the platen roller. Then, the amount of deflection of the sheet is obtained. As a result, the amount of sheet deflection can be accurately obtained based on the detection signal of the sheet detection sensor.
There is an effect that the positioning accuracy of the printing position can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a printing unit.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the facsimile machine.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a facsimile machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus 2 Housing frame 3 Panel cover 4 Original paper cover 6 Paper housing frame 6b Paper feed port 6e 1st guide part 6f 2nd guide part 6g Top 7 Paper 10 Printing platen roller 11 Print head 13 Ink ribbon 15 Film Member 17 Discharge roller 18 Support member 19 Paper chute cover 21 Feed roller 22 Reading unit 23 Discharge roller 24 Separation piece 25 Read sensor 26 Reading platen roller 27 Lock mechanism 28 Platen support member 35 Control panel 36 Printing unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Before starting printing by a print head, the leading edge of the conveyed paper is temporarily fixed and the paper is bent to correct the inclination of the paper, and the paper and the print head are fixed by a platen roller and the print head. A printing apparatus for printing by sandwiching an ink ribbon, wherein a leading edge of the paper is fixed between the platen roller and the print head. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet is performed by stopping the rotation of the platen roller. 3. A take-up means for taking up the ink ribbon, a timing at which the take-up operation of the ink ribbon is started by the take-up means, and a rotation of the platen roller by releasing the fixing of the leading edge of the sheet. 3. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling so as to match the start timing of the printing. 4. The sheet bending amount is obtained based on a detection signal of a sheet detection sensor provided in a conveyance path of the sheet to the platen roller. 3. The printing device according to claim 1.