JP2002178574A - Recording device and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording apparatus and a recording method capable of accurately detecting the inside of a sheet transport path with a simple configuration. SOLUTION: It has a first paper detection lever 51 protruding to a rear conveyance path 28 and a second paper detection lever 53 protruding to a bottom conveyance path 33, and detects a sheet conveyed from the rear through the rear conveyance path 28. A paper detector 5 having a single structure having a paper detection function for detecting and a paper detection function for detecting a sheet conveyed from the bottom or front through the bottom conveyance path 33.
0 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method provided with a paper detector for detecting a sheet conveyed on a conveying path by operating a sheet detecting lever.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there is known a recording apparatus provided with a paper detector in which a paper detection lever is protruded into a paper conveyance path and the paper conveyed on the conveyance path is detected by the operation of the paper detection lever. Have been. In this type, when the paper detector detects the presence of paper, the paper feed roller is driven by a predetermined pulse from that time to determine the top margin (margin) of the paper, and the paper is printed on the printing unit of the recording device. Control is performed to convey (cue) the sheet until the start position is reached. Also, when the paper detector detects that there is no paper during printing, the paper feed roller is driven by a predetermined pulse from that time to determine the bottom margin of the paper, and printing on the paper is continued,
After the printing is completed, the paper feed roller is driven to control the paper discharge.

Some recording apparatuses have a rear conveyance path and a bottom conveyance path. A sheet conveyed from the rear is conveyed through the rear conveyance path, and a sheet conveyed from the bottom or the front is transferred to the bottom conveyance path. Conveyed through. Conventionally, each of the transport paths is provided with a paper detector individually for detecting the paper transported on the transport path, and according to the detection result of the individually provided paper detector, Controls such as cueing and paper ejection are individually performed.

[0004]

However, in the conventional configuration, since a paper detector is provided for each transport path, there is a problem that the number of parts increases and the cost increases.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus and a recording method which can solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technique and can accurately detect the inside of a sheet transport path with a simple configuration. It is in.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A paper detector having a single structure having a plurality of paper detection levers protruding from the plurality of paper transport paths, and having a paper detection function of detecting a paper transported through each paper transport path is provided. Things.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first sheet detecting lever projecting into a first conveying path through which a sheet from the rear is conveyed;
A second paper detection lever protruding into a second conveyance path through which a sheet from the bottom or front is conveyed, and a paper detection function for detecting a sheet conveyed from the rear through the first conveyance path; A paper detector having a single structure having a paper detection function of detecting a paper conveyed from the bottom or the front through the conveyance path is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the paper detector has a three-contact structure, and detects the operation of the first paper detection lever at the first contact and the second contact. The second contact point and the third contact point have a structure for detecting the operation of the second paper detection lever.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the first paper detection lever and the second paper detection lever have an integral structure.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper guide according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the paper detector is located near an intersection of the first transport path and the second transport path. It is characterized by being arranged inside.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper detector having a single structure having a first paper detecting lever protruding into the first conveying path and a second paper detecting lever protruding into the second conveying path. In a recording method of a recording device that determines a printing start position, a step of detecting a sheet conveyed through the first conveyance path,
Detecting the paper transported through the second transport path, when the paper is transported through the first transport path,
After the first paper detection lever is operated, the paper is conveyed by a predetermined pulse, or when the paper is conveyed through the second conveyance path, after the second paper detection lever is operated, the paper is conveyed by the predetermined pulse. The print start position is determined by using

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper detector having a single structure having a first paper detecting lever protruding into the first conveying path and a second paper detecting lever protruding into the second conveying path. In a recording method of a recording device that determines a printing end position, a step of detecting a sheet conveyed through a first conveyance path,
Detecting the paper transported through the second transport path, when the paper is transported through the first transport path,
After the first paper detection lever operates, after the paper is conveyed by a predetermined pulse corresponding to the printing end position while continuing the printing operation in the printing unit, or when the paper is conveyed through the second conveyance path, After the two-sheet detection lever is operated, the sheet discharging operation is performed after the sheet is conveyed by a predetermined pulse corresponding to the printing end position while continuing the printing operation in the printing unit. .

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer main body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer main body of FIG. This printer 10 records dots by striking a large number of recording wires (not shown) of a recording head onto a sheet via an ink ribbon,
This is a dot impact printer that prints images containing characters. Here, the sheet is an OHP (overhead project) sheet, a coated paper, a film, or the like, in addition to plain paper such as cut sheet paper or continuous paper.

The printer 10 is, as shown in FIG.
A printer main body 11 as a recording apparatus main body; a push tractor unit 12 and a discharge unit 13 detachably mounted on the printer main body 11;
And an upper case (not shown) and a lower case (not shown) that cover the upper part and the lower part, respectively.

The printer main body 11 includes a base frame 14 as a main body frame, a paper guide frame 15 (FIG. 2), a left side frame 16 and a right side frame 17.
And a printing mechanism unit 20 having a recording head 18 and a carriage 19, and a sheet conveying mechanism unit 23 having a platen 21, a paper guide 22, and a pressing spring 25 (FIG. 2). The base frame 14 and the paper guide frame 15 are arranged substantially in parallel as shown in FIG. 2, and the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 are provided upright at both ends of the base frame 14 and the paper guide frame 15, respectively. Fixed. These left side frames 1
As shown in FIG. 1, a carriage guide shaft 24 is hung and pivotally supported between the 6 and the right side frame 17, and a platen 21 is hung and rotatably provided.

The paper guide 22 is disposed between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17, and is fitted and fixed to the paper guide frame 15. Left side frame 1
A tractor unit mounting portion and a discharging unit mounting portion (not shown) to which the push tractor unit 12 and the discharging unit 13 can be mounted are provided on the rear portion and the upper portion of the right side frame 6 and the right side frame 17, respectively.

The push tractor unit 12 shown in FIG.
Sends out the continuous paper as the sheet S to the sheet transport mechanism 23. The discharge unit 13 pulls out the continuous paper from the sheet transport mechanism 23 to the outside of the printer 10.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the tractor belt 26 of the push tractor unit 12 causes
By the action of the pins 27 of the tractor belt 26, the continuous paper is guided by the paper guide 22 of the sheet transport mechanism 23, and passes through the rear transport path 28 formed between the paper guide 22 and the platen 21. , And is fed in the direction of the arrow α while being held by the holding spring 25.

The discharge roller 29 of the discharge unit 13
, The continuous paper S on which characters and the like are recorded by the recording head 18 is pulled out from the platen 21 of the sheet transport mechanism 23 in the arrow β direction. As a result, the continuous paper
The carriage 19 is conveyed in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to a main scanning direction described later.

The carriage 19 shown in FIG. 1 is slidably inserted into a carriage guide shaft 24 and has a recording head 18 mounted thereon.

Since the carriage guide shaft 24 is arranged in parallel with the platen 21, the carriage 19 is provided so as to be movable (running) in the main scanning direction coincident with the axial direction of the platen 21 and the carriage guide shaft 24. .
The carriage 19 is rotated by a normal rotation or a reverse rotation of a carriage drive motor (not shown), so that a timing belt (not shown)
, And travels leftward or rightward in FIG. 1 in the main scanning direction.

The recording head 18 has a large number of recording wires (not shown), and an ink ribbon is located in front of the recording wires in the projecting direction.

While traveling in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 19, the recording head 18 causes the recording wire to protrude and strikes the ink ribbon, so that the ink on the ink ribbon is discharged.
An image including characters is recorded on the sheet S (continuous paper) conveyed between the platen 21 and the recording head 18. The recording operation by the recording head 18 is as follows.
While the carriage 19 is traveling leftward or rightward in the main scanning direction, one line of recording is performed by the recording wire of the recording head 18, and each time this one line of recording is performed, the platen 21 of the sheet transport mechanism 23 and the pusher When the tractor unit 12 and the discharge unit 13
Is transported by a predetermined amount (usually between lines), and these operations are repeated.

Reference numeral 32 shown in FIG.
4 and an opening formed between the paper guide frame 15 and
A bottom sheet supply port for supplying the sheet S from below the printer 10 into the sheet transport mechanism 23.

The continuous paper supplied from the bottom sheet supply port 32 is sent to the platen 21 of the sheet transport mechanism 23 via the bottom transport path 33.

When the continuous paper is supplied from here, as shown in FIG. 3, the discharge unit 13 described above is removed from the discharge unit mounting portion 49, and the discharge unit mounting portion 4 is removed.
9, a pull tractor unit 35 is mounted as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a paper inspection function for detecting continuous paper conveyed from the rear through a rear conveyance path (first conveyance path) 28, and a bottom conveyance path (second conveyance path) A paper detector 50 having a single structure and having a paper detection function of detecting a continuous paper conveyed from the bottom (or front) through 33 is located near the intersection of the rear conveyance path 28 and the bottom conveyance path 33. It is installed inside the paper guide 22.

The paper detector 50 has a first paper detection lever 51 protruding to the rear conveyance path 28 and a second paper detection lever 53 protruding to the bottom conveyance path 33. Are integrally formed by punching a single plate.

When the continuous paper S conveyed from the rear through the rear conveyance path 28 reaches the detection section 51A of the first paper detection lever 51, the first paper detection lever 51 is pushed and moved.
The first paper detection lever 51 is connected to the lever fulcrum 5 of the paper detector 50.
It turns clockwise (arrow A) around 7, and the presence of paper is detected. In this case, it goes without saying that the second paper detection lever 53 also integrally rotates clockwise.

On the other hand, when the continuous paper S conveyed from the bottom through the bottom conveyance path 33 reaches the detection portion 53A of the second paper detection lever 53, the second paper detection lever 53 is pushed and the second paper detection lever 53 is pushed. The detection lever 53 rotates counterclockwise (arrow B) about the lever fulcrum 57 of the paper detector 50,
The presence of paper is detected. In this case, the first paper detection lever 51
Needless to say, they also integrally rotate counterclockwise.

When there is no paper, the first paper detection lever 51
The second paper detection lever 53 is stopped at the position shown in the figure by the force of a spring (not shown).

In this embodiment, the paper detector 50 has three
It has a structure of contacts 50A, 50B, 50C, and has a first contact 5
The structure is such that the operation of the first paper detection lever 51 is detected by 0A and the second contact 50B, and the operation of the second paper detection lever 53 is detected by the second contact 50B and the third contact 50C. The second contact 50B is a common contact. When none of the detection levers 51, 53 is operating, the contacts 52A, 52B fixed to the lever do not contact any of the contacts 50A, 50B, 50C as shown in FIG. Indicates that no paper is present.

When the first paper detection lever 51 operates and rotates in the clockwise direction A, one contact 52A also rotates in the clockwise direction A and contacts the first contact 50A. Thus, the presence of paper in the rear transport path 28 is detected. On the other hand, when the second paper detection lever 53 operates and rotates in the counterclockwise direction B, the contact 52B also rotates in the counterclockwise direction B and contacts the third contact 50C. As a result, the presence of paper in the bottom conveyance path 33 is detected.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart when the continuous paper S is set in the printer 10 and the paper feed button is pressed.

In this paper feed sequence, when the paper detector 50 detects the continuous paper S in one of the transport paths 28 and 33, a control for performing so-called cueing of the continuous paper to determine the top margin of the paper. It is.

This cueing is a control for feeding the continuous paper using the paper feed motor so that the printing start position of the continuous paper S reaches the position (printing portion) of the recording wire of the recording head 18. As shown in FIG. 2, this paper feed sequence is performed when the continuous paper is supplied from the rear through the rear transport path 28 using the push tractor unit 12 (first embodiment), or although not shown, the front of the recording apparatus This is a sequence applied to a case where a push tractor unit is installed in the printer and the continuous paper is supplied from the front through the bottom conveyance path 33 (second embodiment). In each case, the tractor unit forms the paper feed motor.

First, after the pulse motor for driving the push tractor unit is rotated by one pulse (S1), the presence or absence of continuous paper in the rear transport path 28 is detected by the first paper detection lever 51 (S2). If there is no paper, the presence or absence of continuous paper from the front is detected by the second paper detection lever 53 (S3). If there is no paper here, the pulse motor is rotated by one pulse, and the above steps are repeated.

In S2, if there is paper in the rear transport path 28 (first mode), the pulse motor (paper feed motor) of the push tractor unit 12 is rotated by a preset pulse to find the leading end of the continuous paper S. . That is, when the presence of paper is detected by the first paper detection lever 51, the pulse motor of the push tractor unit 12 is driven by a preset ○ pulse from that time (S4). In S3, when there is paper in the bottom conveyance path 33 (second mode), the pulse motor (paper feed motor) of the push tractor unit (not shown) installed at the front is rotated by a preset pulse, The cue of the continuous paper S is performed. That is, when the presence of paper is detected by the second paper detection lever 53, the pulse motor of the push tractor unit is driven by a preset △△ pulse from that time (S5).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for determining the bottom margin of the paper when the absence of paper is detected during printing.

The paper discharging sequence is similar to the case of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, except that the pull tractor unit 35 is attached and continuous paper is conveyed through the bottom conveying path 33 as shown in FIG. (Third embodiment), etc.

When the absence of paper is detected by the first paper detection lever 51 or the second paper detection lever 53 during printing, an N pulse is set (S10). The N pulse indicates a printable area after the absence of paper is detected. When continuous paper is being transported through the rear transport path 28, printing is possible for the number of pulses after the absence of paper is detected by the first paper detection lever 51, and the continuous paper is transported through the bottom transport path 33. In this case, after the absence of paper is detected by the second paper detection lever 53, printing is possible for the number of □□ pulses. After the N pulses are set, printing is performed (S11), and a line feed pulse M is set (S1).
2) The paper feed motor (pulse motor of the tractor unit) is rotated by one pulse (S13).

Next, 1 is subtracted from both the N pulse and the line feed pulse M (S14). Next, it is determined whether or not N> 0 (S15), and if N> 0, it is determined whether or not M> 0 (S16) because a printable area remains. M>
If 0, the process returns to S13 and the subsequent steps are repeated. If M> 0, the process returns to S11 and the subsequent steps are repeated.

If it is not N> 0 in S15, since no printable area remains, the paper feed motor is rotated by XX pulses and the paper is discharged (S17).

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

The paper detector 50 having a single structure can detect the paper transported on all the transport paths.
As compared with the conventional one, the structure is simplified, and it is possible to accurately detect the sheet in the transport path.

Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0048]

According to the present invention, a sheet detector having a single structure can detect a sheet conveyed through, for example, a rear conveyance path or a bottom conveyance path. Therefore, the structure is simpler than the conventional one. This makes it possible to accurately detect the inside of the paper transport path.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer main body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer main body of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a discharge unit is removed from the recording apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a pull tractor unit is mounted instead of the discharge unit of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the paper detector according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet feeding sequence.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a sheet discharge sequence.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 printer (recording device) 18 recording head 19 carriage 21 platen 22 paper guide 28 rear transport path 33 bottom transport path 50 paper detector 50A first contact 50B second contact 50C third contact 51 first paper detection lever 52A, 52B contact Child 53 Second paper detection lever 57 Lever fulcrum S sheet

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C058 AB15 AE02 BA03 GA13 GB03 GB14 GC01 GC09 GE03 HA04 HD03 3F048 AA05 AB01 BA05 CC01 CC17 DA01 DB05 DC05 EB02 3F049 AA10 DA12 EA22 EA28 LA07 LB03

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A paper detector having a single structure having a plurality of paper detection levers protruding from a plurality of paper transport paths, and having a paper detection function of detecting a paper transported through each paper transport path. A recording device, characterized in that: 2. A first paper detection lever protruding into a first conveyance path on which paper from the rear is conveyed, and a second paper detection lever protruding on a second conveyance path on which paper from the bottom or front is conveyed. A single structure having a paper detection function for detecting a sheet conveyed from the rear through the first conveyance path and a paper detection function for detecting a sheet conveyed from the bottom or the front through the second conveyance path A recording device comprising the paper detector according to (1). 3. The paper detector has a three-contact structure, wherein the operation of the first paper detection lever is detected by a first contact and a second contact, and the operation of the second paper detection lever is detected by a second contact and a third contact. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a structure for detecting an operation. 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first paper detection lever and the second paper detection lever have an integral structure. 5. The paper detector according to claim 2, wherein the paper detector is disposed inside a paper guide located near an intersection of the first transport path and the second transport path. 2. The recording device according to claim 1. 6. A printing start position is determined using a paper detector having a single structure having a first paper detection lever protruding into a first conveyance path and a second paper detection lever protruding into a second conveyance path. A recording method for a recording apparatus, comprising: detecting a sheet conveyed through a first conveyance path; and detecting a sheet conveyed through a second conveyance path, wherein the sheet is conveyed through the first conveyance path. In this case, after the first paper detection lever operates, the paper is conveyed by a predetermined pulse,
Alternatively, when a sheet is conveyed through the second conveyance path, after the second sheet detection lever is operated, the sheet is conveyed by a predetermined pulse and the print start position is determined. 7. A printing end position is determined using a paper detector having a single structure having a first paper detection lever protruding into a first conveyance path and a second paper detection lever protruding into a second conveyance path. A recording method for a recording apparatus, comprising: detecting a sheet conveyed through a first conveyance path; and detecting a sheet conveyed through a second conveyance path, wherein the sheet is conveyed through the first conveyance path. In the case, after the first paper detection lever is operated, after the paper is conveyed by a predetermined pulse corresponding to the printing end position while continuing the printing operation in the printing unit, or when the paper is conveyed through the second conveyance path Recording, after the second paper detection lever is operated, carrying out the paper by a predetermined pulse corresponding to the printing end position while continuing the printing operation in the printing unit, and then performing the paper discharging operation. How to record the device Law.