JPS62119068A - Paper feed apparatus of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to apply printing even to a slip without detaching continuous paper, by reversely feeding the continuous paper until at least the leading end thereof is detected by a detection means when the printing operation to the continuous paper was stopped and allowing the same to stop and stand by at this side position of a printing part. CONSTITUTION:When the printing to continuous paper 12 is stopped and slip paper 4 is desired to be printed on the way of printing using the continuous paper 12, the printing to the continuous paper 12 is stopped at first. When a paper setting switch 22 is pushed in this state, CPU23 detects that the continu ous paper 12 is set on the basis of a paper lever signal and a paper feed motor 26 is reversely driven on the basis of said detection operation to reversely feed the continuously paper 12. When the continuous paper 12 is reversely fed by the above-mentioned operation, a sensor 32 detects the leading end of the continuous paper 12 and CPU 23 having received said detection signal sends a stop signal to a motor driving circuit 25 to stop the motor.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Some printer paper feeding devices are capable of switching between continuous paper and cut paper so that printing can be performed on either paper. Conventionally, when conveying continuous paper using such a paper feeding device, the cut sheet is removed from the stacker, and when the cut paper is fed, the continuous paper is removed from the conveyance path. However, if one sheet of paper is removed from the conveyance path in order to convey the other sheet, the operation for resetting is complicated and time consuming. The present invention realizes a paper feeding device capable of leaving the continuous paper on standby in the conveyance path when switching from the continuous paper to the cut paper, and capable of reversely feeding the continuous paper with a simple operation.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a paper conveyance mechanism of a printing device, and particularly to a paper conveyance mechanism that enables printing on other sheets of paper without removing the paper set in the printing device.

[Conventional technology]

Some printing devices are equipped with a paper conveyance mechanism to supply various types of paper such as continuous paper and cut sheets to the printing section.A conventional example of such a paper conveyance mechanism is, for example, the one shown in Fig. 8. There is something to show.

In the figure, 2 is a print head, 3 is a platen, 4 is a cut sheet, 12 is a continuous sheet (e.g. a long recording sheet with perforations formed at predetermined intervals), and 5 is a conveyor for the continuous sheet 12. 6 is a paper guide. Reference numeral 8 denotes a guide roller that rotates with the rotation of the platen 3 by coming into contact with the platen 3 when conveying the cut sheet 4, and conveys the cut sheet 4 sandwiched between them. When transporting the paper cut sheets 12, a paper lever 35 provided for paper switching is switched so that the cut paper sheets 4 are held in a position where they do not come into contact with the platen 3, and the cut paper sheets 4 are not transported.

In such a printing device, cut paper 4 or continuous paper 1
2, the paper to be printed is specified by the paper lever 35, and the drive control circuits of the platen 3 and tractor 5 are operated to set the paper.
A printing operation is performed as a printing signal is supplied to the print head 2.

For example, in order to print on continuous paper, set the paper lever 35 to the continuous paper side, attach the continuous paper 12 to the tractor 5,
Knob attached to platen 3 (not shown)
Rotate and bring it to the print head 2 position. Under this condition, a print signal is supplied to the print head 2 and printing on the continuous paper 12 is performed.

Next, to print on a ticket, set the paper lever 35 to the ticket side, insert the ticket paper 4 into the paper guide 6, and rotate the platen knob (not shown) attached to the platen 3 to print. Under this condition, a print signal is supplied to the print head 2, and the cut paper 4 is brought to the position of the print head 2.
Printing is performed. At this time, if the continuous paper 12 is still attached to the tractor 5, it will be sent together with the cut sheets 4, so the continuous paper 12
2 and tractor 5 also need to be removed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with such conventional printing devices, when printing is performed by alternately using continuous paper and cut paper,
There is a problem in that complicated operations such as loading and unloading continuous paper must be frequently performed each time.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide a paper conveyance method for a printer that allows printing on cut sheets without removing continuous sheets. The purpose is to solve the above conventional problems.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of Part 1 includes a printing part,
A printing device having a first conveyance path that supplies continuous paper to the printing section and a second conveyance path that supplies cut sheets to the printing section operates independently of each other to feed paper to each of the above-mentioned conveyance paths. a drive section for switching the drive section, a switching means for switching the drive section for each conveyance path, and a switching means installed in at least the first conveyance path,
The gist of the present invention is to provide a detection means for detecting the leading edge of the continuous paper, and a drive control unit that causes the continuous paper to move backward until the leading edge is detected by the detection means.

In addition to the first invention, the invention of Part 2 further provides a continuous paper position, a cut paper position, and a neutral position between these two positions as switching positions of the paper switching means. The present invention is characterized in that, when switching to paper, a control mechanism is provided to reverse feed the continuous paper at the neutral position.

[Effect]

Continuous paper and cut paper are set in the paper feeding device.

The paper is set manually, and the paper is sucked and discharged by, for example, a switch operation. Now, when printing on continuous paper is possible and the paper switching means switches from continuous paper instruction to cut paper instruction, a reverse rotation signal is supplied to the continuous paper conveyance means and the continuous paper is fed in the reverse direction. When the leading edge of the continuous paper is detected by the leading edge detection means installed in the conveyance path, the continuous paper is stopped in the conveyance path, and printing is performed on the cut sheet without removing the continuous paper. Further, the paper switching lever and the paper transport mechanism are operatively connected, so that continuous paper can be automatically retracted and sucked only by operating the paper switching lever, improving the operability of the paper feeding device.

〔Example〕

1 to 5 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention.

Of these, FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a printing section of a printing device, a mechanism for conveying paper to the printing section, and its operation.

In the figure, 2 is a print head, 3 is a platen, 4 is a cut sheet, 12 is a continuous sheet (e.g. a long recording sheet with perforations formed at predetermined intervals), and 5 is a conveyor for the continuous sheet 12. 5a is a front tractor;
b is the rear tractor. 6 is a paper guide, 6a
is a paper guide for the cut paper 4, and 6b is a paper guide for the cut paper 4 and the continuous paper 12. A through hole is formed in a part of this paper guide 6b, and a continuous paper detection sensor 32 is installed in the through hole portion.

7 is a bale roller, 8 is a guide cola, and a cut sheet 4
By contacting the platen 3 during conveyance, the paper rotates as the platen 3 rotates, and conveys the cut sheet 4 sandwiched therebetween. When conveying continuous paper 12, this guide roller is held in a position where it does not come into contact with platen 3 by switching a paper lever 35 provided for paper switching, so that it does not convey cut paper 4. It is composed of 9 holds the bail roller 7 on one end side, and the shaft 1
It is a support rod configured to be rotatable around 0, and a spring 11 is hooked to a hole on the other end side, and a biasing force is applied so that the bail roller 7 is always in contact with the platen 3. . Furthermore, one end of a wire 14 is wound around the hole 15 of the support rod 9, and the other end of the wire 14 is hooked onto the hole 21a of the plunger 21 of the plunger magnet 13.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the portion surrounded by a dashed line indicates a control means 50 that controls the conveyance of the cut sheet 4 and the continuous sheet 12. This control device 50 includes a central processing unit 23 (hereinafter referred to as CPU) which generates a control signal for operating the paper feed mechanism in response to data regarding various printer conditions and signals from operator operations, and a central processing unit 23 (hereinafter referred to as CPU) that receives data regarding various printer conditions and signals from operator operations; A paper set switch 22 that informs the setting status of the paper sheets 4 and 12, and a motor drive circuit 2 that rotates a motor 26 in response to a control signal from the CPU 23.
5 and the motor 2 according to the command signal from the paper lever 35.
6 to the platen 3, or the platen 3 and the tractor 5.
It consists of a switching mechanism 27 that switches and transmits transmission to the plunger magnet 13, and a drive circuit that operates the plunger magnet 13 based on a control signal B from the CPU 23.

Here, when the paper set switch 22 provided in the housing 1 of the printing device is pressed, the paper set signal A changes to C.
The signal is input to the PU 23, and the CPU 23 causes the plunger magnet drive circuit 24 to input the drive signal B.

The plunger magnet drive circuit 24 to which the drive signal B is input supplies current to the plunger magnet 13, moves the plunger 21 in the direction of arrow C against the biasing force of the spring 11, and positions the bail roller 7 at the separated position. .

At the same time, if the aforementioned paper lever 35 has been switched to the continuous paper side and the CPU 23 recognizes that it is in the continuous paper state based on the paper lever signal indicating that it is on the continuous paper side, the CPU 23 sends a drive signal. The signal is input to the motor drive circuit 25 to drive the motor 26.

Since the paper lever 35 is set to the continuous paper side, the driving force of the motor 26 is applied to the tractor 5 by the switching mechanism 27.
a, 5b and platen 3.

As a result, the continuous paper 12 engaged with the tractors 5a and 5b (the paper located near the paper detection sensor 32 in the figure) is guided by the pair of upper and lower paper guides 29, 30, and the rad 2 is moved to the printing position. The sheet passes through the section and is conveyed to a point where the platen 3 and the bail roller 7 come into contact with each other.

Thereafter, a print signal is supplied to the print head 2 to perform printing, and a line feed signal is sent to the CPU every time printing of a - line is completed.
23, and one line of continuous paper 12 is transported via motor drive circuit 25, motor 26, etc.

Printing on the continuous paper 12 is then performed by repeating this process one after another.

Further, when the paper lever is switched to the single sheet side and the CPU 23 recognizes that it is on the single sheet side from the paper lever signal, the CPU 23 outputs a drive signal and inputs it to the motor drive circuit 25 in the same manner as described above. Then, the motor 26 is driven.

Since the paper lever 35 is set on the cut sheet side, the driving force of the motor 26 is transmitted only to the platen 3 by the switching mechanism 27.

As a result, the cut sheet 4 set in the paper hopper 31 is conveyed while being sandwiched between the platen 3 and the guide roller 8, is guided by the paper guides 6a and 6b, and passes the position of the print head 2. The sheet is transported to a contact position G between the platen 3 and the bail roller 7.

After the cut sheet 4 is conveyed to the contact position G between the platen 3 and the bail roller 7 in this manner, the CPU 23 stops outputting the drive signal B and stops supplying current to the plunger magnet 13. The bail roller 7 is pressed against the platen 3 by the biasing force of the spring 11.

By performing the operations described above, paper is automatically saved in the printing device.

In addition, in a printing device having an automatic opening/closing mechanism for the bail roller 7 as described above, in consideration of maintenance and operability, it is possible to open and close the bail roller 7 manually by the operator, and in order to hold the bail roller 7 in a separated position, a support is provided. A protrusion (not shown) is provided on the rod 9, and an engaging member that engages with the protrusion is provided, and the rod 9 is positioned and fixed by engaging these members.

In a printing device having such a configuration, there is a desire to stop printing on the continuous paper 12 and print on the cut paper 4 while printing is being performed using the continuous paper 12. The operation to realize this request will be explained.

First, since printing is being performed on the continuous paper 12, it is necessary to stop this printing. This stop operation is a print stop signal from the host device (an interrupt signal to stop printing on continuous paper and print on cut paper), and is a command from the host or an interrupt signal provided on the housing. signal from the switch) to CP
This is done by inputting to U23.

After that, when the switch 22 is pressed down, the CPU 2
3 detects that the continuous paper 12 is set using a paper lever signal, and based on this detection operation, drives the paper feed motor 26 in the reverse direction to reversely feed the continuous paper 12. When the continuous paper 12 is thereby fed backwards, the sensor 32 detects the leading edge of the continuous paper 12, and the CPU 23 receives this detection signal and sends a stop signal to the motor drive circuit 25 to stop the motor. Note that this motor stopping operation may be performed after the sensor 32 detects the leading edge of the continuous sheet and after the sheet is reversely fed by a predetermined amount. By doing this, the switch is always returned to a position where it can be easily removed when changing the paper rack (for example, from a single sheet to a copy sheet), and the switch can also be installed in a different position. Then, the paper lever 35 is switched from the continuous paper 12 to the cut paper 4. An example and operation of this switching mechanism 27 are shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 together with a power transmission mechanism such as a motor 26. In these figures, 36 is an output shaft of the motor 26, and a drive source gear 43 for power transmission is fixedly attached to this output shaft 36. 37 is a first gear that receives power from the drive source gear 43; 38 is a second gear that receives power from the first gear 37; 39 is a third gear that receives power from the second gear 38;
0 is a fourth gear that receives power from the third gear 39, 41 is a fifth gear that receives power from the fourth gear 40 and drives the tractor, and 3' is a gear that receives power from the third gear 39 and drives the platen. and these gear groups 3', 37.38
, 39, 40, 41, the rotation of the motor 26 is transmitted to the tractor 5 and platen 3 while being decelerated, and the gear group 37, 38, 3 is transmitted by operating the paper lever 35.
The engagement of 9°40.41 changes, and the paper conveyance mode changes. The paper lever 35 is supported on the printer frame by a shaft 45 and is connected to an L-shaped actuating rod 44 via the shaft 45. A microswitch 42 is provided in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the operating rod 44 to detect the state of the printing paper. The paper lever 35 rotates for switching from a continuous paper transport position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 to a cut paper transport position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The gear 41 is movable left and right with respect to the tractor shaft, and is biased toward the left by a spring in the middle position of FIGS. 5 and 6. A cam 35b is formed on the paper lever 35, and a cam 35b is formed on the paper lever 35.
When the lever 35 is rotated, the gear 41 is moved to the right in the figure against the spring force by the operation of the cam 35b on the lever 35, and the gear connection is interrupted. As a result, the tractor power is no longer transmitted and the paper loaded into the tractor stops moving.Next, when the paper lever is returned to its original position, the gear 41
is moved to the left in the figure by a spring force, and is engaged with the gear 40, so that the continuous paper 12 can be conveyed. Note that the paper lever 35 also has a link portion 35c for bringing the feed roller 8 into contact with and away from the platen 3. Furthermore, by arranging the microswitch 42 in the position shown in FIG. 3, the microswitch 42 can be switched to the single-sheet state simply by slightly rotating the paper lever 35, and the paper feed system can be switched to the continuous-sheet state. An intermediate state (hereinafter referred to as a neutral position for convenience) can be created.

Then, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, during the printing operation (STI) on the continuous paper 12, a print stop signal is issued, the printing operation is stopped (Sr1), and the paper lever 35 is moved to the single sheet side. It is positioned at a neutral position between the continuous paper side and the continuous paper side (Sr1). At this time, the paper switching mechanism has not yet been switched to the cut sheet side, but at this neutral point, the microswitch 42 is activated and outputs an operation detection signal of the paper cutter 8-35 to the CPU 23.

The CPU 23 outputs a reverse rotation pulse signal to be supplied to the motor 26 to the motor drive circuit 25 based on the paper lever operation detection signal and the print body stop signal. CPU23
continues to output the reverse pulse signal until a signal from the paper detection sensor 32 that detects that the leading edge of the continuous paper 12 has reached position F is input (Sr1), and at the time this signal is input, the reverse pulse signal is output. Stops the output of continuous paper 1.
2. Stop the reverse direction transport. As a result, the leading edge of the continuous paper 12 is positioned at 1 iF, slightly in front of the printing radius 2, as shown in FIG.

The paper conveyance distance at this time, that is, the amount of retreat of the continuous paper 12, is stored as the number of reverse pulse signals counted by a counting means such as a counter in the CPU 23 (STEI).
.

Next, the paper lever is completely moved to the cut side (5T7), the cut paper is set in the paper hopper 31, and the paper set switch 22 is pressed again. As a result, the same operation as described above is performed, and the cut sheet 4 is automatically set. Thereafter, printing on the cut sheet 4 is started in response to a command from a host device (not shown) (Sr1). After printing is completed, the cut sheet 4 passes through the opening H between the cover 33 and the guide 34, and is then When the end of the bale roller 7 and the platen 3 pass through the joint position, the conveying force disappears, so the conveying force stops at this point.

Then, when the printing on the cut paper 4 is finished (5T9), the paper lever 35 is switched to the continuous paper 12 side (S T
10), the state signal of the microswitch 42 is switched, and the CPU 23 issues a drive signal to drive the motor to reset the continuous paper 12.

To reset the continuous paper 12, the number of reverse pulse signals stored in the counting means is read out in 5T13, a control signal based on this read data is supplied to the motor 26 and the switching mechanism 27, and the continuous paper 12 is moved by the backward amount. (STII).

From this point on, as described above, the host device supplies a print signal to the printing pad 2 to perform printing, and a line feed signal is input to the CPU 23 each time printing of a - line is completed, and the motor drive circuit 25, Continuous paper 12 is conveyed by one line via motor 26 and the like. Then, printing on the continuous paper 12 is performed by repeating this sequentially.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, a sensor for detecting the leading edge of the continuous paper is installed between the printing section and the continuous paper suction section in the continuous paper transport path of the printer, and until the leading edge of the continuous paper is detected by this sensor, Since the continuous paper is moved backward and placed on standby, it is possible to quickly perform a paper setting operation when reprinting on the continuous paper. Further, the continuous paper can be stopped within the conveyance path by the switching mechanism, making it easy to exchange printing between cut paper and continuous paper. Furthermore, since the start signal for reversing continuous paper is generated during the switching operation of the paper lever, continuous paper can now be reversed simply by switching the paper, improving operability. Effects can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a paper conveyance device of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a lever switching mechanism during continuous paper transport in the paper transport device, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a lever switching mechanism during cut sheet transport in the paper transport device, and FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 6 is a side view corresponding to FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional paper conveying device. 2... Printing section 3... Platen 4...
・Single sheet 5...Tractor 12...Continuous paper 23...CPU 25...Motor drive circuit 26...Motor 27...Switching mechanism
35...Paper lever 42...Micro switch 50...Control device 1II Fig. 2 3' 5E Fig. 6 Fig. 812i

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A printing section, a first paper conveyance path that supplies continuous paper to the printing section, a second paper conveyance path that supplies cut sheets to the printing section, and through each conveyance path. a paper feeding mechanism that independently feeds the paper, a detection means for detecting the leading edge of the continuous paper provided at least in the first paper transport path, and a means for controlling the paper feeding mechanism based on the output from the detection means. and when the printing operation on the continuous paper is stopped, the continuous paper is fed backward until at least the leading edge is detected by the detection means, and the continuous paper is stopped and waited at a position in front of the printing section. A printer paper feeding device characterized by: 2) A paper feeding device for a printer according to claim 1, further comprising a switching mechanism for feeding the cut paper from the second conveyance path while the continuous paper is stopped and waited at a position in front of the printing section. 3) a printing section, a first paper transport path that supplies continuous paper to the printing section, a second paper transport path that supplies cut sheets to the printing section, and a paper feed mechanism that transports paper through each transport path. , a switching mechanism for selectively switching between the first paper transport route and the second paper transport route, and detecting a state as to which of the first paper transport route and the second paper transport route is selected. a first detection means; and at least the first detection means.
a second detection means for detecting the leading edge of the continuous paper provided in the paper conveyance path; and means for controlling the paper feed mechanism based on the output from each detection means; When switching to the second paper transport path, the switching mechanism is configured to be effective for the first paper transport path, and the first detection circuit is configured to have an intermediate position where it detects the second paper transport state. A printer paper feeding device characterized by: