EP0697939A1

EP0697939A1 - Cutting device for cutting a printing carrier in a printer

Info

Publication number: EP0697939A1
Application number: EP94911843A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wilfried Dobring
Original assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Current assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Priority date: 1993-05-10
Filing date: 1994-04-08
Publication date: 1996-02-28
Anticipated expiration: 2014-04-08
Also published as: DE4315507C1; EP0697939B1; JPH08509667A; TW226004B; WO1994026478A1; US5613788A

Abstract

A cutting device for cutting a printing carrier in a printer (10), especially in a till printer, has a blade (22) movable along at least one guide (28) against a fixed counter-blade (24) which, when open, provides an aperture (20) through which the printing carrier can pass and, when closed, at least partly cuts through the printing carrier. The blade (22) can be moved by an adjuster between the open and closed positions. The blade (22) has at least two guide components (38) fitted at a distance apart on the side away from the cutting edge (42) of the blade (22). The adjuster (30) penetrates into the guide components (38) to move the blade (22).

Description

Cutting device FOR cutting a print carrier in a printer

The invention relates to a cutting device for cutting a print carrier in a printer, in particular in a cash register printer, with a knife which can be moved along at least one guide track against a stationary counter knife and which, in an open position, opens an opening for carrying out the print carrier and the like has at least partially cut through the pressure carrier in the closed position, the knife being movable between the open position and the closed position by an adjusting device. Such a cutting device is known from DE 34 45 744 AI. It serves to selectively cut or cut a paper strip in a cash register printer. The knife is connected to a sliding block which is guided in an eccentric sliding track of a cooling disc. When the link disk rotates, the knife executes a lifting movement, the paper web being cut completely or only partially, depending on the direction of rotation of the link disk. Cutting forces occur during the cutting movement, which can cause the knife to jam. As a result, wear occurs on the guideways and the quality of the cut can be impaired.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cutting device which works with high cutting quality and low wear.

This object is achieved for a cutting device of the type mentioned above in that the knife has at least two guide elements which are arranged at a mutual spacing on the side of the knife facing away from the cutting edge of the knife, and in that the adjusting device for adjusting the knife in the guide elements engages.

It is achieved by the invention that the adjusting device guides the knife along at least two points along the guideway. As a result, the knife cannot tilt even when lateral cutting forces occur. The guideway on which the knife slides is thus exposed to less wear. Furthermore, due to the precise guidance of the knife, the cut is carried out evenly, so that a high cut quality is created. In addition, the force required for cutting is in several places of the knife, so that lower partial forces also result on the corresponding guide elements. As a result, bearing wear is reduced and the cutting device operates more reliably overall.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, plastic bearings are used as guide elements, in which pins of the adjusting device engage. These plastic bearings can be inserted into corresponding openings in the knife by means of a clip connection, so that simple assembly results. By using plastic bearings, the pins slide in the guide element with little friction, so that the force remains small and the wear is further reduced.

In another exemplary embodiment, the guide tracks are arranged in a plane which runs parallel to the surface of the counter knife on which the knife slides during cutting, the plane being arranged at a small distance below the surface. These measures compensate for manufacturing tolerances, so that overall an inexpensive construction of the cutting device results.

A further development of the aforementioned embodiment provides that the outer corners of the cutting sections run obliquely upwards in such a way that the knife is guided onto the surface of the counter knife during the cutting movement. These measures ensure the operational safety of the cutting device even when the surface of the counter knife and the plane of the guideways are at a relatively large mutual distance. Another development is characterized in that the knife is guided under spring pressure against the guide tracks. The spring pressure can be selected so that the knife is slightly bent downward in an area between the guide tracks. It is thereby achieved that the cutting edge of the knife lies closely along the cutting edge of the counter knife over its entire length and thus brings about a clean cut. These measures also result in a self-sharpening effect on the cutting edges of the knife and the counter knife.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the drawing. In it shows

FIG. 1 shows a cash register printer with a cutting device that is driven by an actuating device,

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the

Cutting device which is actuated by the adjusting device,

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the adjusting device from the side and from above,

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the actuating device in a state in which the cutting device is activated,

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of the adjusting device in a state in which the knife makes a full cut, FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of the actuating device in a state in which a partial cut is carried out,

FIG. 7 shows a section through the knife and the swivel bracket,

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the knife in the resiliently biased state, and

Figure 9 shows a section through the counter knife and the knife with bent cutting edges.

In Figure 1, a cash register printer 10 is shown, in the side walls 12 guide rails 14 are mounted. These guide rails 14 guide a print head holder 16 along a path which runs parallel to a line to be printed. A paper supply roll 18 is mounted between the side walls 12, the paper web of which is guided past the print head (not shown) via a pressure abutment (not shown) for printing. The paper web is guided through an opening 20 between a knife 22 and a counter knife 24 of a cutting device 26. This cutting device 26 is shown in FIG. 1 in its open position.

The knife 22 is laterally mounted on guideways 28, only one of which is visible. An adjusting device 30 with a control disk 32 actuates the knife 22 for cutting the paper web. A switching device 34 can be used to set whether the paper web is cut completely or only partially. For this purpose, an operating button 36 is to be adjusted. FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the cutting device 26 together with the adjusting device 30. The knife 22 has two plastic guide elements 38 arranged at a mutual distance, the connecting line of which runs approximately parallel to the cutting edge 40 of the counter knife 24. The knife 22 is a stamped part which is made from thin spring sheet. The counter knife 24 is made from a stable strip of spring band, which is inserted into the slot of a holder made of plastic. The knife 22 has a cutting edge 42 which consists of two cutting edge sections which run obliquely outwards from the cutting center in the direction of the cutting movement. In the middle of the cutting edge 42 there is a recess 44 in a V-shape, the tip of which faces away from the counter knife 24. This shape of the cutting edge centers the knife 22 during the cutting movement, so that a high-quality cut is achieved. The knife 22 can have a shape adapted to the width of the paper web to be cut. In the present example, the knife 22 has a cutout 46 in order to reduce the width of the cutting edge 42. In an embodiment 48 shown in dashed lines, the knife has an enlarged width and three guide elements 38.

The guide elements 38 of the knife 22 are mounted on pins 50 of a swivel bracket 52, which is rigidly connected to a swivel shaft 54, which in turn is mounted rotatably in the printer housing. The pivot shaft 54 can be pivoted when a control disk 32 rotates. The pivot shaft 54 is rigidly connected at the end facing the control disk 32 to a U-shaped retaining bracket 56 which holds an engagement lever 60 which can be pivoted about an axis of rotation 58. The engagement lever 60 is with a spring (not shown) in the direction of Control disc 32 biased. At its outer end, it carries a control pin 62 which is pressed elastically against the control disk 32 by the aforementioned spring.

The control disk 32 has a control groove 64 running in the circumferential direction, the radial distance from the center of the control disk 32 increases over the angle of rotation in the direction of the arrow LL. The engagement of the control pin 62 in the control groove 64 can be prevented by a locking device 66 which covers the control groove 64 with a bolt 70 guided in an elongated hole 68. A compression spring 72 biases the bolt 70 in the direction of the pivot shaft 54.

When the control disk 32 rotates in the direction of the arrow LL, a control cam 74 firmly connected to it moves the bolt 70 to the right in FIG. 2 via a nose 76 and releases the control pin 62 so that it can engage in the control groove 64. The control disk 32 is rotated ver¬ in this rotation to a rotating angle, which ^is' not sufficient er¬ during printing of a line. When the control disk 32 is subsequently rotated in the direction of the arrow RL, the control pin 62 is guided in the control groove 32, the engagement lever 60 executing a stroke along a control path 78. This stroke is transmitted from the holding bracket 56 via the swivel shaft 54 and the swivel bracket 52 to the knife 22, which moves from the open position into a closed position against the counter knife 24, thereby cutting through the paper strip.

The control groove 64 ends in a curve exit 80 which guides the control pin 62 out of the guidance of the control groove 64. The knife 22 is near the recess 44 Connected via a tension spring 82 to the swivel bracket 52 so that the cutting edge 42 of the knife 22 is biased in the direction of the swivel bracket. This pretensioning also causes the knife to be pulled back into its open position. As a result of the force of the tension spring 82, the swivel bracket 52 swings back together with the engagement lever 60 into its starting position, which corresponds to the open position shown in FIG.

The stroke of the knife 22 is dimensioned such that when the control pin 62 is led out of the control groove 64 through the curve exit 80, the recess 44 covers the cutting edge 40 of the counter knife 24. The paper strip is then completely cut through. If the paper strip is only to be cut partially, the stroke of the control pin 62 must be reduced. For this purpose, a switching device 34 is provided, which is operated by hand on an operating button 36. The switching device 36 has an actuating element 90 which is guided in an elongated hole 88 and has a wedge-shaped flange 92 at its end facing the engagement lever 60. If the actuating element 90 is displaced in the direction of arrow B, the flange 92 engages in the radial direction in the movement of the engagement lever 60 in an inclined recess 94 formed thereon and guides the control pin 62 out of the control groove 64 before it reaches its maximum Stroke at the curve outlet 80 reached, whereby the paper strip is only partially cut. The force of the spring 82 moves the knife 22 back into a position into its open position.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a side view and a top view of the cash register printer 10. A print head 15 is inserted into the print head holder 16 Pressure abutment 17 faces. Between the print head 15 and the platen 17, a paper web to be printed (not shown) is guided, which is conveyed further via a transport roller 96 and a counter pressure roller 98 and is output from the opening 20 between the knife 22 and the counter knife 24 . The movement of the print head 15 in the line direction is transmitted to the control disk 32 via a gear 102. The gear 102 has a drive gear 109 driven by a motor. The rotary movement of the drive gear 109 is transmitted to gear wheels 108, 110, the gear wheel 108 engaging in the ring gear of the control disk 32. The gear wheel 108 drives a toothed belt 106 which is guided over a deflection roller 104 and moves the print head carrier 16.

The gearwheel 110 carries an angle coding disk 112, the coding of which is read by a sensor 114. The angle coding disk 112 and the sensor 114 form a rotation angle transmitter 116, the signals of which are evaluated for controlling the print head 15 in the line direction.

The gear 102 converts the linear movement of the print head 15 in the line direction into a rotary movement of the control disk 32. The gear ratio 102 is selected such that the control disk 32 does not quite complete a full revolution when the print head 15 moves in the line direction. The angular positions of the control disk 32 belonging to the different positions of the print head 15 are indicated in the top view (lower part of the figure) of FIG.

The knife 22 can assume three operating positions. The knife 22 shown in the top view in FIG. 3 with extended lines shows the open position 0. The cutting edge 42 of the knife 22 can also be shown in broken lines Take positions T and V shown. In position V, the recess 44 slides fully over the cutting edge 40 of the counter knife 24. In this position V, the paper strip is cut completely. In the position T, the cutting edge 42 slides only up to the recess 44 over the cutting edge 40. In this position T, a web of the paper strip remains, ie the paper strip is only partially cut through.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the adjusting device from the side in a state in which the cutting device is activated. The print head 15 has a position that corresponds to an angular position of the control disk 32 of 310 ° (see FIGS. 3 and 2). The nose 76 of the control cam 74 has moved the bolt 70 to the right in this state, so that the control pin 62 engages in the control groove 64. During the subsequent rotation of the control disk in the opposite direction, the control pin 62 executes a pivoting movement upwards in the radial direction of the control disk 32.

In Figure 5, the control disc 32 is in the angular position 130 ° (cf. the position of the print head 15 in Figure 3). The control pin 62 has reached its maximum stroke at a maximum distance from the center of the control disk 32, so that the knife 22 has cut through the paper strip completely (position V in FIG. 3). As can be seen in the lower part of FIG. 5, the control pin 62 is led out of the control groove 64 through the curve exit 80, so that the pivot shaft 54 can pivot back into the open position under the force of the spring 82.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of the adjusting device in a state in which the knife 22 executes a partial section. For this purpose, the print head 15 is moved into a position which corresponds to an angular position of the control disk 32 of 195 ° (cf. FIG. 3). The actuating element 90 of the switching device 84 is in a position displaced in the direction of the arrow B and engages with its flange 92 in the front end of the engagement lever 60 which is moved radially upwards. As a result, the control pin 62 is released from the control groove 64 before it reaches its maximum radial distance from the center of the control disk 32. Because of the reduced stroke of the knife 22, this reaches a position (position T in FIG. 3) in which the paper strip is only partially cut.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic cross section through the knife 22 and the swivel bracket 52, which illustrates the mode of operation of the spring 82. This is arranged between knife 22 and swivel bracket 52 so that it strives to reduce the angle between knife 22 and swivel bracket 52. This will make the knife

22 pressed against the guideways 28 or the counter knife 24 during the cutting movement, as a result of which a smooth cut is produced. The guide elements 38 form a tapered slide bearing for the pin 50 of the swivel bracket. With this type of bearing, precise guidance is ensured with little play and little bearing wear.

As shown in Figure 8, the spring 82 also has the effect of slightly deflecting the knife 22 between the guideways 28. The deflection can be, for example, 0.5 to 1 mm. This deflection creates a shearing, precise cut through the paper strip. FIG. 9 shows that the guideways 28 are arranged in a plane that runs parallel to the upper surface of the counter knife 24, on which the knife 22 slides during cutting. The plane of the guide tracks 28 lies slightly below the surface of the counter knife 24. The distance a is, for example, 0.1 to 0.2 mm. This difference in height serves to compensate for manufacturing tolerances. The corners 22a of the knife 22 run obliquely upwards, whereby a ramp is formed. The ramp can be made by bending or grinding the corners 22a. These measures overcome the height difference between the plane of the guide tracks 28 and the upper surface of the counter knife 24 during cutting movements.

Claims

Patent claims

1. Cutting device for cutting a print carrier in a printer, in particular in a cash register printer, with a knife which can be moved along at least one guide path against a stationary counter knife, which in an open position releases an opening for the printing carrier to be passed through and that in the closed position has cut through the pressure carrier at least partially, the knife being movable by a swivel bracket between the open position and the closed position, which is driven by a control disk, characterized in that the control disk (32) remains in the circumferential direction ¬ fende control groove (64), the radial distance from the center of the control disc (32) increases over the angle of rotation and into which an engagement lever (60) connected to the swivel bracket (52) with its control pin (62) for a predetermined Angle range can intervene that between the control pin (62) and the control disc (32) e A locking device (66) is arranged, which can lock the engagement of the control pin (62) in the control groove (64), that a control cam (74) is provided on the control disc (32), which cam when rotating the control disc (32) engages in the locking device (66) by a predetermined angle of rotation and unlocks the control pin (62), and that an optionally actuable changeover device (34) is provided which moves the control pin (62) when a predetermined radial distance is reached the control groove (64) releases.

2. Cutting device according to claim 1, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the pivot bracket (52) with a rotatably mounted on the frame of the cutting device pivot shaft (54) is rigidly connected.

3. Cutting device according to claim 2, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the pivot bracket (52) is biased by a spring (82) in a position in which the knife (22) is in the open position.

4. Cutting device according to one of the preceding Ansprü¬ che, characterized in that the control groove (64) in a predetermined angular range of the control disc (32) has a curve outlet (80) which the control pin (62) upon rotation of the control disc (32 ) disengages from the control groove (64).

5. Cutting device according to one of the preceding Ansprü¬ surface, characterized in that the knife (22) depending on the radial distance of the control pin (62) from the center of the control disc (32) completely or partially cuts through the pressure carrier.

6. Cutting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knife (22) has at least two guide elements (38) which are at a mutual distance on the cutting edge (42) of the knife (22). are arranged opposite side, and that the swivel bracket (52) for adjusting the knife (22) engages in the guide elements (38).

7. Cutting device according to claim 6, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the guide elements (38) are plastic bearings, engage in the pin (50) of the actuating device (52), the pin (50) preferably sliding between tips of the guide elements (38th ) are stored.

8. Cutting device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the cutting edge (42) of the knife (22) consists of two cutting edge sections which run obliquely outwards from the center of the cutting edge in the direction of the cutting movement.

9. Cutting device according to claim 8, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the cutting edge in the middle has a recess (44) in a V-shape, the tip of which is facing away from the counter cutting edge (40).

10. Cutting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knife (22) rests on its outer sides on guideways (28) which preferably consist of plastic.

11. Cutting device according to claim 10, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the guide tracks (28) are arranged in a plane which runs parallel to the surface of the counter knife (24) on which the knife (22) slides during cutting, wo¬ where the plane has a small distance (a) from the surface.

12. Cutting device according to claim 11, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the outer corners (22a) of the cutting sections extend obliquely upwards so that the knife (22) on the surface of the counter knife (24) is guided during the cutting movement.

13. Cutting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the knife (22) is guided under spring pressure against the guide tracks (28).

14. Cutting device according to claim 13, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the spring pressure deflects the knife (22) in a region between the guide tracks (28) slightly downwards.

15. Cutting device according to one of the preceding Ansprü¬ surface, characterized in that the knife (22) and the counter knife (24) are punching elements which are made of thin Feder¬ band steel.

16. Cutting device according to one of the preceding Ansprü¬ surface, characterized in that the counter knife (24) consists of a stable spring strip which is held by a plastic part.