JPH10278393A - Apparatus for processing printed rolled paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent papers of a printing level not higher than a predetermined quality from being discharged outside an apparatus, by detecting a print state of printed papers optically and collecting the papers judged to be not higher than the predetermined level of print quality. SOLUTION: After the presence/absence of a rolled paper 2 to be used at present is checked, a ribbon-driving motor 20 is activated to start winding of an ink ribbon 18. A solenoid 26 is turned on to make an apparatus in a state to be able to print with the ink ribbon 18 held and a thermal head 17 pressed to the paper. Print data from a control part are transmitted to the thermal head 17, whereby the paper is printed. Thereafter, the paper is transferred by a regulated amount and a transfer motor 29 is stopped when the paper reaches a cut position by a paper cut part 22. During the transfer process, a level of print quality is judged in accordance with an output of a print state read sensor 21. When the print quality is not good, a solenoid 27 is turned on to bring a switch gate 33 in a state of a chain line and the defective paper cut at the cut part 22 is collected to a collecting part 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roll paper printing apparatus for printing on roll paper, and more particularly to a roll paper printing apparatus for performing high quality printing on an automatically loaded roll paper. And effective technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing apparatus for rolled paper, instead of an impact method represented by a wire dot, a facsimile apparatus has been used for the purpose of miniaturization and cost reduction. Non-impact thermal head printing is becoming mainstream.

[0003] In the above-mentioned roll-shaped paper printing apparatus, technically, improvement of printing speed for achieving high throughput and improvement of printing density for achieving high printing quality are mainly performed. In order to improve printing reliability and handling operability, there is a problem of a complicated mechanism and a cost increase, and there have been many technical problems in ensuring the reliability.

A related device of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-21574, in which when the absence of either a recording paper or an ink sheet is detected, the other member is wound up. There is a transfer recording apparatus that replaces both members at the same time.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, it is considered that the reliability of printing under general use conditions is practically sufficient. There was no means for collecting tickets that had occurred. However, even under the condition that the printing reliability is considered to be practically sufficient under general use conditions, there is a possibility that defects such as printing failure or omission may occur at a certain probability. Under use conditions that require high-quality printing, sufficient reliability cannot be said to have been secured, for example, for the issuance of printed tickets at a level close to gold notes.

[0006] In loading roll paper, supply of printing paper by a single roll paper is generally performed.
In the loading of the spare roll paper for replenishment and the automatic loading of the spare roll paper in the transport section, it is technically very difficult to reliably guide the leading edge of the paper to the transport path. A roll paper print processing apparatus provided with a means for automatically loading roll paper including replenishment roll paper has not been considered.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem and to provide a technique capable of preventing a print level lower than a predetermined quality from being discharged out of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of automatically loading a roll of paper.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of switching from the current roll paper to the replenishment roll paper or loading the replenishment roll paper without stopping the printing operation. .

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a roll paper print processing apparatus for printing on a roll paper and outputting the printed paper outside the apparatus. Printed paper that has been detected and whose print quality is determined to be lower than a predetermined level is collected, and the paper whose print level is lower than the predetermined quality is prevented from being discharged outside the apparatus.

[0011] In the roll paper printing processing apparatus of the present invention,
When printing is performed on the rolled paper, the print state of the printed paper is optically detected by the print state detection unit, and it is determined whether the print quality of the printed paper is equal to or lower than a predetermined level.

When the print state detecting means determines that the print quality is equal to or lower than a predetermined level, the transport switching means switches the transport direction of the printed paper to the transport direction to the collecting means, and collects the printed paper. To be collected.

When the print state detecting means determines that the print quality is higher than a predetermined level, the transport direction of the printed paper is kept in the direction of transporting out of the apparatus, and the printed paper is transferred to the apparatus. Output outside.

As described above, according to the rolled paper print processing apparatus of the present invention, the print state of the printed paper is determined by the print state detecting means, and the printed paper is collected according to the result. It is possible to prevent the print level below the predetermined quality from being released outside the apparatus.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a roll paper print processing apparatus for printing and issuing using roll paper will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a roll-shaped paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, in the roll paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment, a print state reading sensor 21 which is a print state detecting means for optically detecting a print state of a printed sheet, and a print quality of a predetermined level or less. A collection unit 24 that is a collection unit that collects printed paper;
A transport switching gate 33 is provided as transport switching means for switching the transport direction of the printed paper whose print quality is determined to be equal to or lower than the predetermined level by the print state detecting means to the transport direction to the collection unit 24.

The print processing device 32 includes a paper leading edge detecting sensor 3 for detecting the leading edge of the roll paper and a paper leading edge detecting sensor for rotating the roll paper in the forward or reverse direction. The conveyor belt 5 is a rotating means for positioning the leading end of the roll-shaped paper detected at 3 by a specific position, and the leading end of the roll-shaped paper detected by the leading-edge detecting sensor 3 is separated from the roll and guided to the transport path. And a separator 34 serving as a paper peeling unit.

The roll-shaped paper holding unit 4 of the print processing device 32
Has an active roll paper holding area for holding the current roll paper 2 and a replenishment roll paper holding area for holding the refill roll paper 1, and the refill roll paper 1 is set behind the active roll paper 2. Have been.

In the roll paper printing apparatus of the present embodiment, the replenishment roll paper holding area is set to the current roll holding area so that the refill roll paper 1 can be moved to the area of the current roll paper 2 only by gravity. The replenishment roll-shaped paper 1 is normally stopped at its position by the stopper 30 and stays at the position shown in FIG. The stopper 30 is connected by a link system (not shown), and its operation is controlled by a solenoid 25 via a fulcrum 31.

On the other hand, on the front wall of the current roll paper 2, a paper front detection sensor 3 for detecting the free front end of the current roll paper 2 is provided. It also functions as a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the current roll-shaped paper 2, and when the sheet leading edge detection sensor 3 detects the absence of the current roll-shaped paper 2, the stopper 30 is moved in the direction d by the solenoid 25 and replenished. It operates as moving means for moving the replenishment roll paper 1 from the roll paper holding area to the current roll paper holding area.

Further, as a configuration of the paper feeding portion, a separator 34 whose leading end is always in contact with the outer shape of the rolled paper under appropriate pressure, and a weight of the current rolled paper 2 are supported.
An elastic transport belt 5 is provided between the transport roller 6 and the transport roller 8 so that the current roll-shaped paper 2 can be driven to rotate in both forward and reverse directions.

The transport section following the feed section is constituted by a transport space vertically sandwiched between a transport guide 35 and a transport guide 36, and the transport roller 7 is spaced from the transport roller 8 at a position facing the transport roller 8. Is provided.

Downstream thereof, there is a transport detection sensor 14, and transport rollers 9 and transport rollers 10 facing up and down, followed by a transport detection sensor 15 and a transport detection sensor 16. Further, a transport roller 11 and a transport roller 12 are provided to face each other.
Continued to 3.

On the other hand, a thermal head 1 for printing on paper
Reference numeral 7 is provided opposite to the transport roller 13, and a solenoid 26 for operating the thermal head 17 in a vertical direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1 via a link system (not shown) is provided.

An ink ribbon 18 built in an ink ribbon cassette 19 passes between the transport roller 13 and the thermal head 17, and the ink ribbon 18 is wound by a ribbon drive motor 20.

Downstream of the transport roller 13 and the thermal head 17, a transport detection sensor 38 and a print status reading sensor 21 for detecting the print status of the paper are provided. There is a cut section 22, downstream of which is a sheet discharge section 23. The paper cutting unit 22 controls the operation of the cutter by a cutter driving motor 28.

Here, the discharge section 23 is provided with the sheet cut section 22.
The destination of the paper cut in the step (1) is switched to a discharge route to the outside or a collection route by the conveyance switching gate 33, and a collection unit 24 is provided at the end of the collection route. The transfer switching gate 33 is connected to the solenoid 27 by a link system (not shown) and is controlled.

On the other hand, the transport rollers 6 to 13 and the transport belt 5 are driven by an upper transport motor 29. In addition, although not shown, a control unit for controlling the apparatus and a power supply It goes without saying that there is a department.

Hereinafter, the operations of printing and issuing, which are normal operations, in the rolled paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the printing and issuing processing according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, in the printing and issuing process of the present embodiment,
In step 01, it is checked whether or not the current roll-shaped paper 2 is present. If the current roll-shaped paper 2 is present, the flow proceeds to step 202;
At 0, an automatic loading process of the rolled paper described later is performed. Hereinafter, the processing when there is the active roll-shaped paper 2 will be described.

In the roll paper printing apparatus of the present embodiment, when there is an active roll paper 2, the automatic loading processing of the roll paper described later is completed, that is, printing is performed on the leading edge of the roll paper. It is in a state immediately below the thermal head 17 at a printing start standby position. Therefore, first, in step 202, the ribbon drive motor 20 is started, and the winding of the ink ribbon 18 is started.

Almost simultaneously, at step 203, the solenoid 2
6 is turned on, and the thermal head 17 is pressed onto the paper on the transport roller 13 with the ink ribbon 18 interposed therebetween so that printing is possible. In step 204, the transport motor 29 is rotated clockwise (C.W.) shown in FIG. The sheet is transported by driving in the direction, and print data from a control unit (not shown) is transmitted to the thermal head 17 to perform printing on the sheet.

In step 205, it is confirmed that printing of one sheet has been completed, and in step 206, the solenoid 26 is turned off, and the thermal head 17 is set in a retracted state. In step 207, the ribbon drive motor 20 is turned off to stop the winding of the ink ribbon 18.

Next, the paper is conveyed by a specified amount from the printing start position of the paper, and it is determined in step 208 whether or not the paper has reached the cutting position of the paper cutting unit 22. When the paper has reached the cutting position, step 209 is performed. To stop the transport motor 29. During this transport process, the print state reading sensor 21 determines the print quality level in step 210 according to a preset print level determination criterion.

First, when the print level is determined to be OK, the cutter drive motor 2 is determined in steps 211 and 212.
8 to cut the paper in the paper cut section 22,
The printed paper is issued from the discharge unit 23 to the outside. afterwards,
In step 213, the conveyance motor 29 is driven in the counterclockwise (CCW) direction of returning the sheet shown in FIG. 1 to move the leading end of the sheet to a print start standby position immediately below the thermal head 17, and step 214. To stop the transport motor 29 and wait for the next print processing start command.

On the other hand, if the print quality becomes NG, the solenoid 27 is first turned on at step 215 to bring the transport switching gate 33 into the state shown by the dotted line in FIG. Motor 2
8 is cut by the sheet cutting unit 22.
Thus, the printed paper is guided to the conveyance switching gate 33 and stored in the collection unit 24.

Thereafter, at step 218, the solenoid 27
Is turned off, the conveyance switching gate 33 is returned to the original state, the leading end of the sheet is moved to the printing start standby position immediately below the thermal head 17, and the process proceeds to the sheet reissue (retry) process in step 219. Hereinafter, the print issuance processing can be achieved by repeating the same operation.

Next, the automatic loading / unloading operation in the rolled paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the automatic loading / unloading operation of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic loading / unloading operation of the present embodiment represents the operation of the feeding unit of the print processing apparatus 32 when the automatic loading of the rolled paper is performed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the automatic loading / unloading processing of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in the automatic loading / unloading process according to the present embodiment, first, in step 401, the presence or absence of the current roll-shaped paper 2 is determined. As a result, when the current roll-shaped paper 2 is present, there is no need for automatic replenishment, and the automatic loading / unloading process ends.

If there is no current roll-shaped paper 2, it is next determined at step 402 whether or not there is a supplementary roll-shaped paper 1. As a result, when there is no replenishment roll-shaped paper 1,
In step 415, a request for setting the refilled roll-shaped paper 1 is displayed, and a state of waiting for the setting of the refilled roll-shaped paper 1 is set.

If there is a replenishment roll 1, the solenoid 25 is first operated in step 403 and the fulcrum 31
When the replenishing roll-shaped paper 1 is moved by gravity in the direction a of FIG. 3 by operating the stopper 30 in the direction d shown in FIG. Moving to the area of the sheet 2 and the current roll sheet 2
Becomes

In step 404, although not shown in FIG. C. By driving in the W (paper return) direction, both the transport roller 6 and the transport roller 8 rotate in the direction c in FIG. Accordingly, since the transport belt 5 hung on the two transport rollers also rotates in the same direction, the current roll paper 2 that was the replenishment roll paper 1 is moved by the frictional force with the transport belt 5 as shown in FIG. C.3. C.
Driven in the W direction.

Here, the leading edge of the current roll-shaped paper 2 is free, and the leading edge of the current roll-shaped paper 2 is detected by the paper leading-edge detecting sensor 3 installed on the outer peripheral portion with the rotation. Thus, in step 405, the presence of a sheet is detected. Further, when the transporting motor 29 is driven to rotate the current roll-shaped paper 2 in the same direction,
At 06, the sheet is detected by the sheet leading edge detection sensor 3, and the sheet leading end of the current roll sheet 2 can be determined.

In step 407, from the position determined in step 406, the leading end of the sheet is rotated by a specified amount that reaches the transport path opening 37 through the separator 34, and the transport motor 29 is stopped in step 408.

In step 409, the transport motor 29
To C. By driving in the W (paper feeding) direction, the transport roller 6, the transport roller 8, and the transport belt 5 are rotated in the direction b in FIG. Accordingly, the current roll-shaped paper 2 is the same as C.I. The leading edge of the paper that rotates in the W direction and is free
The sheet is fed into the transport path via a transport path opening 37 formed by a separator 34 and a transport guide 36.

The leading end of the separator 34 of the roll-shaped paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment is wedge-shaped. At this time, the leading end of the separator 34 comes into contact with the outer peripheral portion of the current roll-shaped paper 2 with an appropriate pressure. If there is a slight gap between the current roll-shaped sheet 2 and the free sheet tip, the leading edge of the sheet can be reliably fed into the transport path opening 37 by the effect of the wedge shape.

When the transport motor 29 is further driven in the same direction, the leading edge of the sheet passes through the space defined by the transport rollers 7 and 8 and the transport detection sensor 14 is detected at step 410.
Reach Thereafter, when the leading edge of the sheet reaches the nipping point between the conveying roller 9 and the conveying roller 10, the conveying roller 9 and the conveying roller 10 apply a reliable conveying force to the sheet, thereby enabling stable and reliable conveyance. .

When the paper is further conveyed, the leading edge of the paper reaches the conveyance detection sensors 15 and 16 in steps 411 and 412. The reason why a number of sensors are provided in the middle of the transport path is to check whether the paper has been transported reliably and whether a paper jam has occurred and to maintain transport reliability.

In the roll-shaped paper print processing apparatus of this embodiment, the distance from the conveyance detection sensor 16 to the printing start standby position immediately below the thermal head 17 is known in advance, and when the leading end of the paper reaches the conveyance detection sensor 16, In step 413, the transport motor 29 is driven to that position to transport the leading edge of the sheet to the printing start standby position. Then, in step 414, the transport motor 29 is stopped, and a state of waiting for printing processing from the control unit is entered.

In the roll-shaped paper print processing apparatus of this embodiment, if the paper does not reach the sensors in the transport path in steps 410, 411 and 412 and a jam occurs, the transport motor 29 Stop and once
It goes without saying that a retry operation is performed in which the sheet is transported in the return direction by a predetermined amount and then driven again in the transport direction.

As described above, according to the roll paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment, the print state of the printed paper is determined by the print state detecting means, and the printed paper is collected according to the result. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the print level of the quality lower than the predetermined quality from being released out of the apparatus.

Further, according to the roll-shaped paper print processing apparatus of the present embodiment, since the leading edge of the roll-shaped paper is detected and the roll-shaped paper is advanced into the opening of the transport path, the roll-shaped paper can be automatically loaded. It is.

Further, according to the roll paper printing processing apparatus of the present embodiment, the replenishment roll paper is automatically loaded.
It is possible to switch from the current roll paper to the replenishment roll paper and to load the replenishment roll paper without stopping the printing operation.

As described above, the present invention has been specifically described based on the above embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is.

[0056]

According to the present invention, the printing state of the printed paper is determined by the printing state detecting means, and the printed paper is collected according to the result. It is possible to prevent release to the outside of the device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a roll paper print processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of printing and issuing processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of an automatic loading / unloading operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an automatic loading / unloading process according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Replenishment roll-shaped paper, 2 ... Active roll-shaped paper, 3 ... Paper tip detection sensor, 4 ... Roll-shaped paper holding part, 5 ... Transport belt, 6-13 ... Transport roller, 14-16 ... Transport detection sensor, 17 ... thermal head, 18 ... ink ribbon,
19 ... Ink ribbon cassette, 20 ... Ribbon drive motor, 21 ... Print state reading sensor, 22 ... Paper cut unit, 23 ... Discharge unit, 24 ... Recovery unit, 25-27 ... Solenoid, 28 ... Cutter drive motor, 29 ... Transport motor , 3
0: stopper, 31: fulcrum, 32: print processing device, 33
... Transport switching gate, 34 ... Separator, 35 and 3
6: conveyance guide, 37: conveyance path opening, 38: conveyance detection sensor.

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a roll paper print processing apparatus for printing on a roll paper and outputting the printed paper outside the apparatus, a print state detecting means for optically detecting a print state of the printed paper; A collection unit that collects printed paper having a print quality equal to or lower than a predetermined level; and a conveyance switch that switches a conveyance direction of the printed paper whose print quality is determined to be equal to or lower than the predetermined level by the print state detection unit to a direction in which the collection medium is conveyed. A roll-shaped paper print processing device comprising: a switching unit. 2. A roll paper printing processing apparatus for printing on a roll paper and outputting printed paper to the outside of the apparatus, wherein a paper leading edge detecting means for detecting the leading edge of the roll paper; Rotating the paper in the forward or reverse direction to position the leading edge of the sheet detected by the leading edge detecting unit at a specific position; and separating the leading edge of the roll-shaped sheet detected by the leading edge detecting unit from the roll. And a sheet peeling means for guiding the sheet to a transport path. 3. A current roll-shaped paper holding area for holding a current roll-shaped paper, a replenishment roll-shaped paper holding area for holding a replenished roll-shaped paper, a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a current roll-shaped paper, And a moving means for moving the replenishment roll-shaped paper from the replenishment roll-shaped paper holding area to the current roll-shaped paper holding area when the absence of the current roll-shaped paper is detected by the means. A roll paper printing processor as described.