JPH10193716A - 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 and aligning the forward end. First and second guide parts 6e, 6f guide the carriage of the sheet 7 such that the sheet 7 is carried in the tangential direction at a clamping point A 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 sheet 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 is. Further, when the paper conveyance is resumed after correcting the paper inclination, it takes a predetermined time for the paper to reach the print head from the registration roller, so that it is difficult to adjust the paper conveyance start timing and the print start timing. There is a problem that there is. If the adjustment of the timing is insufficient, problems such as waste of the ink ribbon and deterioration of the positioning accuracy of the print position may be caused.

Therefore, a configuration has been considered in which the platen roller is provided with a function as a registration roller, and the tip of the sheet is fixed between the platen roller and the print head to correct the sheet inclination. According to this configuration, the registration roller is not required, so that the number of components required for correcting the sheet inclination can be reduced. In addition, since the leading end of the sheet is close to the print head, the timing can be easily adjusted. Will be.

In the above configuration, in order to make it easier to adjust the timing, it is necessary that the position of the leading end of the sheet when the platen roller and the print head are fixed is always at the same position. It is. However, the paper has various thicknesses and distortions, and when one surface such as the back surface of the paper abuts against the platen roller, the position of the leading end piece changes due to the thickness and the distortion. There is a problem that can not be fixed with.
Specifically, if the paper has a downward distortion, the leading edge of the paper is fixed at a position lower than normal when one side of the paper comes into contact with the platen roller. Become.
Further, when the sheet is thin, when one surface of the sheet comes into contact with the platen roller, the leading end of the sheet is fixed at a position above the thick sheet.

Accordingly, the present invention makes it possible to correct the inclination of a sheet with a small number of parts, and to further facilitate the adjustment of the sheet conveyance start timing and the printing start timing after correcting the inclination. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device which can always fix a piece at a predetermined position.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is to fix the leading edge of the sheet by temporarily fixing the leading edge of the sheet before starting printing by the print head, and to adjust the platen. In a printing device that prints by sandwiching the paper and the ink ribbon between a roller and the print head, the leading end of the paper is aligned between the platen roller and the print head, and the platen roller and It is characterized in that it has a guide means for guiding the conveyance of the paper so that the paper is conveyed from a tangential direction at a holding point with the print head. Thus, when the sheet is conveyed by the guide means from the tangential direction at the holding point between the platen roller and the print head, the leading edge abuts on the platen roller before one surface such as the back surface of the sheet abuts on the platen roller. Even if the sheet has various thicknesses and distortions, the leading edge of the sheet can be reliably fixed at a predetermined position near the sandwiching point between the platen roller and the print head. Therefore, printing can be performed on various types of paper with high positioning accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the guide means includes a first guide member that contacts one surface of the sheet on the ink ribbon side, and a second guide member that contacts the other surface of the sheet. It has a top part in contact, and has a second guide member arranged so that the top part is located between the tip of the first guide member and the platen roller.
Thus, by a simple operation of arranging the first guide member and the second guide member at appropriate positions, it is possible to easily adjust the traveling direction of the paper in the tangential direction at the holding point between the platen roller and the print head. . Further, since the sheet is guided by two points, that is, the tip of the first guide member and the top of the second guide member, the sheet is reliably guided regardless of the nature of the sheet.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the guide means guides the paper toward the clamping point so as to be along the ink ribbon. It is characterized by. Thereby, the guide means guides the paper so as to follow the ink ribbon. At this time, the ink ribbon is configured to be conveyed in a tangential direction at a holding point between the platen roller and the print head. By guiding the paper along the ink ribbon, the paper can be reliably conveyed in the tangential direction at the pinching point, and high positioning accuracy of printing can be obtained with a simple configuration.

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 a position between the paper and the ink ribbon is in the vicinity of the holding point from an exit side of the guide means. Up to a film member. Thus, when the sheet is guided along the ink ribbon, it is possible to reliably prevent the sheet from being stained by the ink ribbon caused by contact with the ink ribbon.

[0013]

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.

The paper feed port 6b from 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 on the guide. 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 unit 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 surface 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 apparatus 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 (the other surface) is brought into contact with the leading end of the second guide portion 6f, the paper 7 advances while the back surface (the one surface) is brought into contact with the top portion 6g of the first guide portion 6e. Are guided so that the traveling direction coincides with the tangential direction at the holding point A. Thereafter, when the paper 7 advances, the printing surface abuts on the film member 15 so that the advancing direction further matches the tangential direction at the holding point A, and then the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 1 in the stopped state.
Reach for one.

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, and the leading edge is adjusted.

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, since the timing deviation can be suppressed to the minimum, 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 detection sensor,
Since the conveyance start timing does not change according to the amount of bending, such as when the amount of slip of the printing platen roller 10 changes according to the amount of bending, 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, corrects the sheet inclination by bending the sheet 7 while fixing the leading edge of the sheet 7 before starting printing, and then performs printing. The printing is performed by sandwiching the sheet 7 and the ink ribbon 13 between the platen roller 10 and the print head 11 so that the sheet 7 is conveyed from a tangential direction at a sandwiching point A between the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11. The first guide portion 6e for guiding the conveyance of the sheet 7 and the second
This is a configuration having a guide means including a guide portion 6f.
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 copier and a printer. it can.

According to the above configuration, when the paper 7 is conveyed by the guide means from the tangential direction at the holding point A between the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11, the back surface (one surface) of the paper 7 Since the leading edge contacts the platen roller 10 for printing before contacting the platen roller 10,
Even if the paper 7 has various thicknesses and distortions, the leading edge of the paper 7 is surely fixed to the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 1.
1 and can be fixed at a predetermined position in the vicinity of the holding point A. Therefore, it is extremely easy to adjust the transport start timing and the print start timing of the paper 7, so that printing can be performed on various types of paper 7 with high positioning accuracy.

Further, the first guide portion 6e of the above-mentioned guide means is provided.
The (first guide member) is formed so as to contact one surface of the paper 7 on the ink ribbon 13 side, and the second guide member 6
f (second guide member) has a top portion 6g that abuts on the other surface of the sheet 7, and is disposed such that the top portion 6g is located between the tip of the first guide portion 6e and the printing platen roller 10. Is configured. According to this configuration, the traveling direction of the paper 7 is held between the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11 by a simple operation of arranging the first guide portion 6e and the second guide portion 6f at appropriate positions. It can be easily adjusted in the tangential direction at point A.

Further, the above-mentioned guide means guides the paper 7 along the ink ribbon 13. At this time, the ink ribbon 13 is connected to a tangent line A between the printing platen roller 10 and the print head 11 at the nip point A. By guiding the paper 7 along the ink ribbon 13, the paper 7 can be surely transported in the tangential direction at the holding point A by being configured to be transported in the With the configuration, high positioning accuracy of printing can be obtained.

A film member 15 is provided between the sheet 7 and the ink ribbon 13 in a range from the exit side of the guide means (paper feed port 6b) to the vicinity of the holding point A. I have. As a result, the paper 7 is
When the paper 7 is guided along, the paper 7 can be prevented from being stained due to the contact with the ink ribbon 13.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, before the printing by the print head is started, the leading edge of the paper is temporarily fixed so that the leading edge of the paper is aligned, and the paper and the print head are positioned between the platen roller and the print head. In a printing apparatus for sandwiching and printing an ink ribbon, a leading end of a sheet is adjusted between the platen roller and the print head, and the sheet is aligned from a tangential direction at a sandwiching point between the platen roller and the print head. And a guide means for guiding the conveyance of the sheet so that the sheet is conveyed. Thus, when the sheet is conveyed by the guide means from the tangential direction at the holding point between the platen roller and the print head, the leading edge abuts on the platen roller before one surface such as the back surface of the sheet abuts on the platen roller. Even if the sheet has various thicknesses and distortions, the leading edge of the sheet can be reliably fixed at a predetermined position near the sandwiching point between the platen roller and the print head. Therefore, there is an effect that printing can be performed on various types of paper with high positioning accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the guide means includes a first guide member abutting on one surface of the paper on the ink ribbon side, and a guide member provided on the other surface of the paper. A second guide member having a top portion in contact with the first guide member and the second guide member disposed between the tip of the first guide member and the platen roller. Thus, by a simple operation of arranging the first guide member and the second guide member at appropriate positions, it is possible to easily adjust the traveling direction of the paper in the tangential direction at the holding point between the platen roller and the print head. This has the effect. Further, since the sheet is guided by two points, that is, the tip of the first guide member and the top of the second guide member, there is an effect that the sheet is reliably guided irrespective of the nature of the sheet.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the guide means guides the paper toward the holding point so as to be along the ink ribbon. It is. With this, the guide means guides the paper so as to follow the ink ribbon.
By configuring the ink ribbon to be conveyed in a tangential direction at a pinching point between the platen roller and the print head, the sheet is guided along the ink ribbon, so that the sheet is reliably held at the pinching point. It is possible to convey in the tangential direction, and it is possible to obtain high positioning accuracy of printing with a simple configuration.

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 a position between the paper and the ink ribbon is in the vicinity of the holding point from an exit side of the guide means. In this configuration, the film member is provided in the range up to. Thus, when the paper is guided along the ink ribbon, an effect is obtained that the contamination of the paper by the ink ribbon caused by contact with the ink ribbon can be reliably prevented.

[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. Prior to the start of printing by a print head, the leading edge of the sheet is temporarily fixed to align the leading edge of the sheet, and the sheet and the ink ribbon are sandwiched between a platen roller and the print head for printing. In the printing device, the leading end of the paper is configured to be aligned between the platen roller and the print head, so that the paper is conveyed from a tangential direction at a sandwiching point between the platen roller and the print head, A printing apparatus comprising a guide unit for guiding the conveyance of a sheet. 2. The guide means has a first guide member abutting on one surface of the paper on the ink ribbon side, and a top portion abutting on the other surface of the paper, wherein the apex of the first guide member is provided. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second guide member disposed between the leading end and the platen roller. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide unit guides the sheet toward the holding point such that the sheet follows the ink ribbon. 4. A film member is provided between said sheet and said ink ribbon in a range from an exit side of said guide means to a position near said holding point. The printing device according to any one of the above.