JPH11292300A - Paper sheet guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately center paper sheets even if the widths of the paper sheets have errors. SOLUTION: The paper sheet guide device is provided with an insertion part 11 in which the distance L between a pair of guide parts 15-1, 15-2 for guiding both sides of a paper sheet is set to the minimum width of the paper sheet, and a bent state releasing part 12 for releasing the bent state of the paper sheet by pressing outward and sideways both sides of the paper sheet from a pair of cutouts 16-1, 16-2 by being brought in contact with the upper surface of the bent paper sheet inserted in the insertion part 11. Accordingly, even if the widths of paper sheets have errors, when the paper sheet is inserted into the insertion part 11, both sides of the paper sheet are brought into contact with a pair of guide parts 15-1, 15-2, and the paper sheet is bent, the bent paper sheet is fed to a bent state releasing part 12, both sides of the paper sheet are uniformly pressed outward and sideways from the cutouts 16-l, 16-2 into the flat state. Therefore, the centers of the paper sheets can be always in the constant position, and the paper sheets can be accurately centered even if the widths of the paper sheets have errors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper guide device used for a printing device, a copying device, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printing apparatus for printing desired information on paper such as recording paper, paper is fed into the inside of the printing apparatus, and information is printed on the paper by a printing unit. In order to feed the paper to a predetermined position, a paper guide device is provided which determines the reference position of the paper by inserting the paper into the insertion slot. As the paper guide device, for example, when the paper is inserted into an insertion slot, one side of the paper is brought into contact with a guide member to offset the paper, thereby positioning the paper, or a center guide mechanism to control the paper. There is known a structure in which a sheet is positioned by guiding both sides by a pair of guide portions.

[0003]

However, in the former paper guide device which guides the paper by biasing the paper, the reference position is determined by biasing the paper at the insertion opening, and in this state, the paper is fed by the printing unit while feeding the paper. Since printing is performed, if there is an error in the width of a sheet of the same size, the center of the sheet is shifted, and there is a problem that the center of the sheet cannot be accurately aligned. Also, with this paper guide device, when the paper is shifted, even if the paper is slightly inclined, the paper can be fed as it is. There was a problem that it would.

Further, in the latter paper guide device for guiding the paper by the center guide mechanism, both sides of the paper are guided by a pair of guide portions. However, there is a problem that the width direction of the paper cannot be regulated, and the center of the paper cannot be accurately positioned. In any of the above-described paper guide devices, an adjustment mechanism for adjusting an error in the width of the paper is required in order to align the center of the paper, and this adjustment mechanism causes an error in the width of the paper each time. In this case, the paper must be aligned in accordance with the above conditions, and thus the workability is poor, the structure is complicated, and the size of the entire apparatus is increased.

An object of the present invention is to enable accurate centering of a sheet even if there is an error in the width of the sheet.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a paper guide device for guiding paper, wherein the paper can be inserted,
Both side portions of the paper in a direction parallel to the insertion direction in which the paper is inserted are guided by a pair of guide portions so that the paper can be inserted, and a distance between the pair of guide portions is within a minimum width dimension of the paper. An insertion portion that is set, and a bend that is provided so as to be continuous with the inner side of the insertion portion and that is inserted into the insertion portion and abuts at least one surface of the sheet when in a bent state to release the bent state of the sheet. Release means.
According to the present invention, since the distance between the pair of guide portions of the insertion section is set within the minimum width dimension of the sheet, even if there is an error in the width dimension of the sheet, the sheet is inserted into the insertion section. ,
Both sides of the sheet always contact the pair of guides, and the sheet is bent by the pair of guides,
When the sheet in the bent state is fed into the bending releasing means on the inner side of the insertion section, the bending state of the sheet is released by the bending releasing means in a state where at least one surface of the sheet is in contact with the sheet. Both sides of the paper are evenly spread out and flattened, so that the center of the paper is always at a fixed position, so even if there is an error in the width of the paper, the center of the paper is accurately aligned. can do.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a printing apparatus to which a paper guide device of the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view of the printing apparatus, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the internal structure, and FIG. 3 is an external side view of the main part of FIG. The printing apparatus includes an apparatus main body 1 as shown in FIG. A switch 2 such as a power supply is provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body 1. As shown in FIG.
Is provided continuously from the front surface of the apparatus main body 1, and a printing section 5 for printing desired print data on fed paper is provided at the back side of the paper guide apparatus 4. Have been. In addition, a discharge port 6 for discharging the printed paper 3 to the outside of the apparatus main body 1 is provided on the back surface of the apparatus main body 1. In this printing apparatus, print data is input by a key input unit (not shown), or print data is supplied from an external device such as a personal computer via a connection unit (not shown).

The printing section 5 includes a printing head 8 provided at the tip of a head arm 7 and a platen roller 9 rotatably provided opposite the printing head 8 and fed by the paper guide device 4. Print paper 8
In this state, the platen roller 9 is rotated by a motor (not shown) to convey the paper 3 while the print head 8 is driven to generate heat based on the print data. Are sequentially printed. In this case, the paper guide device 4
A sensor 10 for detecting the sheet 3 fed from the sheet guide device 4 is disposed between the printer 10 and the printing unit 5. The sensor 10 includes a light emitting element 10-1 and a light receiving element 10
-2. The printing unit 5 includes a sensor 10
, The rotation of the platen roller 9 is started, and the heating of the print head 8 is started.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a paper guide device 4 for guiding the paper 3 is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body 1 and has an insertion portion 11 into which the paper 3 is inserted. Bending release portion 12 continuously provided on the back side of
And these are integrally formed by the bottom plate portion 13 and the upper plate portion 14. That is, the insertion portion 11 includes a bottom plate portion 13 formed into a flat plate shape, an upper plate portion 14 formed on the bottom plate portion 13 and curved into an arcuate arch shape, and the bottom plate portion 1.
It is composed of a pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2 formed substantially parallel to each other at the joint between the upper plate portion 3 and the upper plate portion 14. In this case, the upper plate portion 14 has a small radius of curvature on the front side of the apparatus main body 1 and gradually increases in curvature radius toward the back side, whereby the front side of the apparatus main body 1 is wide and gradually narrows toward the back side. It is formed so that it becomes. The distance L between the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2 is set to be within the minimum width of the error in consideration of an error in the width of the paper 3 of the same size to be used.

The insertion section 11 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c). If the paper 3 used here is, for example, B5 size, the width of the paper 3 is usually 182 mm. However, assuming that there is an error in the width dimension, the minimum width dimension of the error is x (for example, x = 170 mm), and the maximum width dimension is y (for example, y = y).
195 mm), a pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15
-2 is within the minimum width x of the error of the paper 3;
For example, it is desirable that L = 160 mm (L ≦ x). Further, it is preferable that the front edge of the upper plate portion 14 of the insertion portion 11 has a curved length set to be equal to or larger than the maximum width dimension y of the error of the sheet 3, for example, about 200 mm.

On the other hand, the bending release portion 12 is provided in FIG. 3 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the upper plate portion 14 of the insertion portion 11 is formed such that the flat bottom plate portion 13 of the insertion portion 11 continues to the back side, and the radius of curvature of the upper plate portion 14 gradually increases toward the back side. It is continuous to the back side, and the back end of the upper plate portion 14 is the bottom plate portion 13.
And a pair of cutouts 16-that are formed on a flat portion 14 a parallel to the bottom plate 13 and that allow the side portions 3 a of the paper 3 to pass through the joint between the bottom plate portion 13 and the upper plate portion 14 so as to protrude outward.
1, 16-2 are guide portions 15-1, 15- of the insertion portion 11.
2 is formed continuously from the far end of the bottom plate 13 and the far end of the upper plate 14. In this case, the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 13 and the flat portion 14a of the upper plate portion 14
Is formed to be approximately the same size as the thickness of the paper 3 so that the upper and lower surfaces of the paper 3 are inserted into contact with each other.

In such a printing apparatus, when the paper 3 is inserted into the insertion portion 11 of the paper guide device 4 from the front side of the apparatus main body 1, the leading end side of the paper 3 is curved in an arc shape as shown in FIG. And insert it. At this time, the distance L between the pair of guides 15-1 and 15-2 of the insertion section 11 is set to be within the minimum width x of the error in consideration of an error in the width of the paper 3 of the same size to be used. Therefore, even if there is an error in the width dimension of the sheet 3, the width dimension of the sheet 3 is always longer than the distance L between the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2. For example, when the paper 3 to be used is the B5 size, the width of the paper 3 is usually 182 mm, but there is an error in the width, and the width of the paper 3 to be used is 175 mm. Distance L between guide parts 15-1 and 15-2
Is less than the minimum width x of the error of the sheet 3, for example, 160 m
Since m (= L ≦ x) is set, the width dimension (175 mm) of the sheet 3 is always longer than the distance L (= 160 mm) between the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2.

For this reason, the sheet 3 is curved in an arc shape, and is curved such that the distance between the side portions 3a on the leading end side is shorter than the distance L between the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2. Then, the sheet 3 is inserted into the insertion section 11 in this state. Then, on the front side of the apparatus main body 1 in the insertion portion 11, as shown in FIG. 7A, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. The paper is separated from the upper plate portion 14 of the insertion portion 11 and both side portions 3a in the width direction of the sheet 3 are guided by contacting the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2. In this state, when the paper 3 is inserted into the inner side of the insertion portion 11, the radius of curvature of the upper plate portion 14 of the insertion portion 11, as shown in FIG. Gradually increases, and the upper plate 14
Of the paper 3 gradually comes into contact with the upper plate portion 14, whereby both side portions 3 a of the paper 3 are reliably pressed against the pair of guide portions 15-1 and 15-2. Be guided.

When the sheet 3 guided by the insertion portion 11 is further inserted and its leading end reaches the bending release portion 12 on the back side of the insertion portion 11, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. As shown in (c), the paper 3 is pushed down by the upper plate portion 14, whereby the both side portions 3a of the paper 3 are uniformly pushed outward from the pair of cutout portions 16-1 and 16-2, respectively. Move while being moved. And paper 3
When the leading end of the sheet 3 is pushed out from the bending release section 12, as shown in FIG. 7D, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD in FIGS. 14 is sandwiched between the lower surface of the flat portion 14a and the both side portions 3a of the sheet 3.
Is evenly pushed outward from the pair of cutouts 16-1 and 16-2, respectively, so that the paper 3 becomes flat. For this reason, even if there is an error in the width of the paper 3, the center position a of the paper 3 always becomes a fixed position, and the paper 3
Can be accurately aligned, and the aligned paper 3 is fed to the printing unit 5, so that printing with high positional accuracy can be performed.

As described above, according to the paper guide device 4, even if there is an error in the width of the paper 3, the paper 3 is bent into an arc shape, inserted into the insertion section 11, and sent out from the bending release section 12. Alone, the center of the sheet 3 can be aligned, so that there is no need for an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the error in the width of the sheet 3 as in the related art. Since it is not necessary to adjust the position of the sheet 3 each time, the workability is good, the structure is simple, and the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the insertion portion 11 is constituted by the flat bottom plate portion 13 and the upper plate portion 14 curved in an arc shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first modification shown in FIG. As in the example, the bottom plate portion 13 may be curved more gently than the upper plate portion 14. Also, as in a second modification shown in FIG. 9, both sides of the upper plate portion 14 are curved in an arc shape. The intermediate portion may be formed flat, and further, as in a third modification shown in FIG. 10, the bottom plate portion 13 is curved, and both sides of the upper plate portion 14 are curved in an arc shape. The portion may be formed flat. In any case, the bottom plate 13 and the upper plate 14
The bottom plate 13 and the upper plate 1 may be formed so that the gap between the bottom plate 13 and the top plate 1 is gradually reduced as the insertion portion 11 is wide on the front side and gradually narrows toward the back.
4 may be formed in any shape.

In the above-described embodiment, the paper guide device 4 is provided on the paper insertion side of the printing unit 5, but the invention is not limited to this.
It may be provided on the paper discharge side of the printing unit 5. In this way, the printed paper 3 can be discharged with its center aligned. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be widely applied to office equipment such as a copying apparatus.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the distance between the pair of guides of the insertion portion is set within the minimum width of the paper, there is an error in the width of the paper. Also, when the paper is inserted into the insertion portion, both side portions of the paper always contact the pair of guides, and the paper is bent by the pair of guides, and the paper in the bent state is inserted. When it is sent to the bending release means on the back side of the part,
Since the bent state of the sheet is released in a state in which at least one surface of the sheet is in contact with the bent state, the both sides of the bent state of the sheet are evenly spread and flattened. Since the center is always at a fixed position, the center of the sheet can be accurately positioned even if there is an error in the width of the sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a printing apparatus using a paper guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a main part of the internal structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an external side view of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the paper guide device of FIG. 3;

5A and 5B are views for specifically explaining the insertion portion of FIG. 4; FIG. 5A illustrates a distance between a pair of guide portions at a front end portion of the insertion portion and a curved length of an upper plate portion; (B) is a diagram showing a main portion of a sheet having a minimum width dimension,
FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating a main part of a sheet having a maximum width dimension.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which paper is guided by the paper guide device of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show a state in which paper is guided by the paper guide device of FIG. 3; FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3; FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. CC sectional view of FIG.
(D) is DD sectional drawing of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view conceptually showing a first modification of the insertion portion of the paper guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view conceptually showing a second modification of the insertion section of the paper guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view conceptually showing a third modification of the insertion portion of the paper guide device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 Paper 3a Both sides of paper 4 Paper guide device 11 Insertion section 12 Bending release section 13 Bottom plate section 14 Upper plate section 14a Flat section of upper plate section 15-1, 15-2 A pair of guide sections 16-1, 16- 2 A pair of notches L Distance between a pair of guides x Minimum width of paper y Maximum width of paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sheet guide device for guiding a sheet, wherein the sheet is insertable, and both side portions of the sheet in a direction parallel to an insertion direction in which the sheet is inserted are guided by a pair of guide portions to be inserted. An insertion portion in which the distance between the pair of guide portions is set within the minimum width dimension of the paper; and an insertion portion provided continuously to the inner side of the insertion portion and inserted into the insertion portion in a bent state. Wherein the sheet guide device is provided with a bend canceling means for contacting at least one surface of the sheet and canceling a bent state of the sheet.