JPS63154567A - Detecting device for remaining quantity of rollform recording sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect a remaining quantity of recording sheets with high precision, by a method wherein, in a facsimile and the like, a remaining quantity of the recording sheets is detected by means of the number of input pulses to a pulse motor and the number of slit counting times by a sensor. CONSTITUTION:A platen roller 7 conveying a recording sheet 1 in a state to be positioned facing a recording head 6 is driven by a pulse motor 11 run by means of an input pulse signal. The recording sheet 1 is conveyed by a conveyance distance proportioning the number of input pulses. The conveyance causes rotation of a recording sheet roll 1, and along with the rotation, a rotary disc 3 is also rotated, and a slit S is counted by means of a sensor 4. In this case, since a winding size is decreased according to a conveyance distance of the recording sheet 1, a rotation quantity is relatively increased, and the number of counting times of the slit S is also increased, a remaining quantity of the recording sheets 1 is precisely calculated by means of a ratio between the number of input pulses to the pulse motor 11 and the number of counting times of the slit S. This constitution enables sever management of a remaining quantity of the sheets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a recording sheet remaining amount detection device that is applied to recording apparatuses such as facsimiles and printers using rolled recording sheets.

[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention] Conventionally, as shown in FIG. A device has been considered in which a scale 14 is provided at a position opposite to the scale 14 to detect the remaining amount of sheets. However, this device requires a separate mechanism to hold the actuator 12 when replacing the seat, and it is not easy to operate.
Further, since a part of the actuator 12 is always in contact with the surface of the recording sheet 1, if the surface in contact is the recording surface of the recording sheet, there is a risk of causing small scratches on the recording surface.

In addition, as a device for detecting the remaining amount of the recording sheet in a non-contact state, a light emitting element 16 and a light receiving element 17 are arranged facing each other on both end surfaces of the recording sheet as shown in FIG. A device that detects the remaining amount based on the signal from the element 17 has been considered. However, this device could only detect the remaining amount of recording sheets at random, and was not suitable for cases where a certain degree of accuracy was required.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above and to provide a recording sheet remaining amount detection device that can accurately detect the remaining amount of a recording sheet without contacting the recording sheet.

[Means for solving problems]

The means of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is such that the roll-shaped recording sheet is provided with a support means for removably supporting the roll-shaped recording sheet, and detection portions are provided at equal pitches in the circumferential direction. A rotating body that rotates in conjunction with the rotation, a pulse motor for conveying the recording sheet, a sensor for counting the number of the detected parts, and a count number of the detected parts counted by the sensor. , means for calculating a ratio of the number of input pulses to the pulse motor during conveyance of the recording sheet.

[For production]

According to the above means, the remaining amount of recording sheets can be calculated with high accuracy by comparing the number of input pulses to the pulse motor and the number of slits counted by the sensor.

〔Example〕

Next, an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described.

In the embodiment described below, both end surfaces of a roll-shaped recording sheet are sandwiched between a pair of flange-shaped side plates, and the both side plates are detachably attached to the supporting part of a recording sheet holder, and during recording, the recording sheet is driven by a pulse motor. The roll-shaped recording sheet is drawn out in a band shape and transported to the printing section, and a rotating disk having slits provided at equal pitches in the circumferential direction is moved by one side of the flange-shaped side plate. It is attached so that it rotates in conjunction with the rotating disk, and is also equipped with a sensor to detect the slits in the rotating disk.The remaining amount of the rolled recording sheet can be detected by rotating the rotating disk with slits as the roll rotates. This is done by counting the number of slits with the sensor during rotation, and checking the ratio of the number of input pulses to the pulse motor during conveyance of the recording sheet and the number of slits counted.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a pair of flange-shaped side plates 2a and 2b (2b not shown) are attached to both end surfaces 1a and 1b (lb not shown) in the longitudinal direction of a rolled recording sheet 1, etc. , and the both side plates 2a and 2b are attached to the shafts 2c and 2d.
(2d not shown) is detachably attached to the U-shaped support portion 5a of the recording sheet holder 5. Furthermore, one side plate 2a has slits S at equal pitches in the circumferential direction.
A rotary disk 3 on which is provided is fixed and configured to rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the recording sheet roll l.

Furthermore, a sensor 4 for counting the slits S of the rotating disk 3 is attached to the recording sheet holder 5.

In addition, the I conveyance/recording section P of the recording sheet 1 is
The recording head 6 is composed of a platen roller 7 that conveys the image at a constant speed, and a line-type recording head 6 that is in pressure contact with the platen roller and heats the recording sheet 1 made of a heat-sensitive sheet according to image information. The platen roller 7 is connected to a pulley 8. Belt 9. It is configured to be driven by a pulse motor 11 via a pulley 10.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained.

A platen roller 7 used to convey the recording sheet 1
is driven by a pulse motor 11 that rotates in response to an input pulse signal from a motor control section MC. The pulse motor 11 rotates by a fixed angle each time the excitation conditions change depending on the input pulse signal, and since the rotation angle of the motor 11 and the number of input pulses are completely proportional, the conveyance amount of the recording sheet 1 is determined by the input to the pulse motor 11. It can be accurately controlled by the number of pulses.

When the recording sheet 1 is conveyed in the direction of arrow a in the figure, the rotating disk 3 rotates as the recording sheet roll 1 rotates, and the sensor 4 counts the number of slits S on the rotating disk 3. As the use of the recording sheet 1 progresses and the roll diameter changes, the amount of rotation of the roll 1 relative to the amount of conveyance of the recording sheet 1 increases, and therefore the amount of rotation of the rotating disk 3 also increases, and the slit S detected by the sensor 4 increases. The number of counts will also increase.

From the above relationship, the remaining amount of the recording sheet 1 can be accurately calculated based on the ratio of the number of input pulses to the pulse motor 11 and the number of counts of the slit S by the sensor 4. Specifically, it is calculated using the following method. The following relationship exists between the number of input pulses N to the pulse motor 11, the number of slits counted by the sensor 01, and the remaining recording sheet ML.

or d sheet roll inner diameter mm t: sheet thickness m, m p Nislit pitch rad P sheet conveyance pitch mm/pulse Here, for example, if the inner diameter d of the recording sheet roll l is 30 mm and the thickness t of the recording sheet 1 is 0 , 07 mm, rotating disk 3
One pitch p of the circumferential division of the sleeve l-S is π/100
rad, the conveyance pitch P of the recording sheet 1 by the pulse motor 1 is 0 mm/pulse, the number of slit counts n for the number of input pulses to the pulse motor 11, for example N=1000, is the remaining amount of the recording sheet. changes as follows. n-6 when remaining 100m
4. When the remaining amount is 50 m, n = 87, when the remaining amount is 10 m.
= 150, the remaining amount is detected accurately, and the smaller the remaining amount (the more the count number n increases, the smaller the remaining amount, the higher the detection accuracy is).

The above operation will be explained using FIG. 2.

In other words, the information from sensor 4 is sent to the CPU via ■/○.
The number N of slits S sent to 20 and read by sensor 4
While counting, it is also sent to the n/N calculation section 21. On the other hand, from the CPU 20, the motor control unit M-C,
Pulses are sent to the pulse motor 11 via the driver D, and the number of pulses n is also sent to the n/N calculation section at the same time.

As described above, when the information on the count number N of the slit S and the number n of input pulses to the pulse motor 1 is sent to the n/N calculation unit 21, the n/N calculation unit 21 calculates the count of the slit S. The ratio between the number N and the number n of input pulses to the pulse motor 11 is calculated, and the remaining amount of the recording sheet 1 is automatically calculated and output as remaining amount information.

In the above embodiment, the application was applied to detecting the remaining amount of a recording sheet, but the remaining amount can be detected not only for recording sheets but also for magnetic tapes, various films, etc. wound in rolls. Any rolled sheet-like material can be applied.

In addition, as a means of detecting the remaining amount, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a method is used in which the rotating disk 3 with slits S is used and the slit S is detected by the sensor 4, but the slit S
Instead, a mark may be placed on the rotating disk and the mark may be detected by a sensor. Another method is to provide small protrusions at regular intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating disk, and detect the protrusions by turning ON/OFF a microswitch.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the remaining amount of the recording sheet is detected based on two digital quantities: the number of input pulses to the pulse motor and the number of slit counts by the sensor, so the detection accuracy is very high. This is extremely effective when strict control of the remaining amount of sheets is required.

In addition, since the recording sheet roll is configured to have a smaller diameter and the remaining amount of recording sheet roll to be smaller, the accuracy of detecting the residual noise increases, so it is practical in actual use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing its control, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example using a mechanical method, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example using an electrical method. FIG. In the figure, 1 is a recording sheet, 2 is a flange-shaped side plate, 3 is a rotating disk,
4 is a sensor, 5 is a recording sheet holder, 6 is a recording head, 7 is a platen roller, 8 and 10 are pulleys, 9 is a belt, 11 is a pulse motor, 12 is an actuator, 13
is a fulcrum, 14 is a scale, 15 is a wing, 16 is a light emitting element, 1
7 is a light receiving element.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) a support means for removably supporting a roll-shaped recording sheet; a rotating body that rotates in conjunction with rotation of the roll-shaped recording sheet, which is provided with detected portions at equal pitches in the circumferential direction; a pulse motor for conveying the recording sheet; a sensor for counting the number of the detected parts; and a pulse motor for conveying the number of detected parts counted by the sensor and the pulse motor when conveying the recording sheet. 1. A roll-shaped recording sheet remaining amount detection device, comprising means for calculating a ratio between the number of input pulses and the number of input pulses.