JPH05221541A - Paper feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A paper feeding device for a printer that selectively prints on continuous paper and single-cut paper is intended to simplify, downsize, and reduce the cost of the device. A sheet feed roller 10 for feeding cut sheets is provided on a tractor drive shaft 9 for conveying continuous sheets, and continuous sheets 11 and cut sheets 12 are selectively supplied by a switching lever. [Effect] Continuous paper 11 and single-cut paper 1 with one drive shaft 9
Since 2 can be selectively supplied, the entire device can be downsized,
Further, since the mechanism is simple, the device can be simplified, and the effect of reducing the cost and the output of the drive motor can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer capable of printing on continuous paper and single-cut paper. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device for feeding cut sheets and continuous sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some printers are provided with a paper transport mechanism for supplying various papers such as continuous paper and single-cut paper to a printing unit. As a conventional example of such a paper transport mechanism, A sheet feeding device as disclosed in JP-A-62-119068 is known. The contents disclosed therein are as shown in FIG. In this paper feeding device, continuous paper 11 or cut sheet 12 can be selectively used, and a dedicated paper feeding device for feeding cut sheet 12 is provided with paper feed roller 10 and this feeding paper. The paper feed roller shaft 35 for driving the paper roller 10 and the tractor drive shaft 36 for the tractor 5 for transporting continuous paper are independently arranged.

[0003]

However, in this case, the sheet feeding roller shaft 35 dedicated to the sheet feeding roller 10 is provided in the sheet feeding device 12 and the tractor drive shaft is provided in the tractor 5 for conveying the continuous sheet 11. Since at least one set of 36 must be provided for each, the apparatus becomes large, the mechanism becomes complicated, the cost is high, and a large driving force for driving the apparatus is required.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple device, small size,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device which is inexpensive and has a small driving force for driving the device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, a paper feeding apparatus of the present invention is a paper feeding apparatus having a drive shaft of a tractor for conveying continuous paper and a paper feed roller for feeding cut sheets. In the above, the paper feed roller is provided on the drive shaft of the tractor that conveys continuous paper. Further, a switching mechanism for selectively switching between the feeding of cut sheets and continuous sheets, a detection means for detecting the state of continuous sheet feeding or single sheet feeding, And a means for controlling the paper feed mechanism according to the output signal of the detection means, and selectively switching between the feeding of single-cut paper and continuous paper.

[0006]

The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a sheet feeding device of a printer of the present invention, which is a tractor 5.
Shows the state in which the continuous paper 11 is conveyed. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the paper feed roller 10 and the tractor 5 according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a train wheel corresponding to a single-cut sheet feeding state (hereinafter referred to as a friction mode state) of the switching lever according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a continuous sheet feeding state of the switching lever according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a tractor mode state). Called.)
5 is a side view of a train wheel corresponding to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of a main portion showing a joining state of the feed rollers 8 when the cut sheet 12 is conveyed in the friction mode, and FIG. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the operation of the device according to the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a print head for outputting a print on a sheet, 3 is a platen, 5 is a tractor for conveying continuous sheets, 6 is a cut sheet and a sheet detector for detecting the presence or absence of continuous sheets, 8 Is a feed roller that conveys a sheet to a print head, 9 is a drive shaft that drives a tractor and a sheet feed roller, 10 is a sheet feed roller that separates and conveys single-cut sheets,
11 is continuous paper, 12 is single-cut paper, 13 is hopper,
14 shows a hopper plate.

Next, the operation of the paper feeding device of the printer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the drive shafts of the two tractors 5 for conveying the continuous paper 11 to the printer body. A paper feed roller 10 for feeding the cut sheet is arranged on the sheet 9, and the continuous paper 11 is fed on the upper surface of the tractor 5 and the cut sheet 12 is fed on the lower surface of the feed roller as shown in FIG. It is a structure that does. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the paper feed motor 31 depending on the detection state of the paper detector 6 from the input of the paper feed signal of the paper, and shows the schematic operation in the friction mode and the tractor mode.

First, when feeding the cut sheet 12 as shown in FIG. 5, the cut sheet 12 is fed to the hopper plate 14 of the sheet feeding device.
A predetermined number of sheets are set on the upper side, and then the switching lever 30 is switched in the clockwise direction to obtain the state shown in FIG. In this state, the signal from the detection switch 17 causes the central processing unit 18 (hereinafter referred to as CPU) of the printer to recognize the friction mode. When a paper feed signal is input to the CPU 18 of the printer by the command of the paper feed switch of the host computer or the operation panel 34 of the printer, the paper feed motor 31 rotates counterclockwise by the signal transmission from the CPU 18, as shown in FIG. The platen gear 20 is rotated by the transmission gear 21, and the feed roller gear 23 is rotated counterclockwise to rotate the planet gear 25 leftward via the planet lever 24 connected to the feed roller gear 23, and is meshed with the paper feed roller gear 26. The shaft 9 is rotated counterclockwise and the paper feed roller 10 is rotated counterclockwise. Further, the disengagement gear 27 is disengaged by the slider lever 28 connected to the switching lever 30 and is not meshed with the feed roller gear 23.

Further, in FIG. 5, the cut sheet 12 set on the hopper plate 14 of the hopper section 13 is pressed to a predetermined load by the hopper spring 15 and is fed to the sheet feeding roller 1.
Pressed to 0. The cut sheet 12 is fed in the direction of the printing section by the rotation of the sheet feeding roller 10. When reaching the sheet detector 6, the sheet is conveyed to a position where it is engaged with the feed roller 8 and then the sheet feeding motor 31. When is rotated to the right, the feed roller gear 23 is rotated to the right by a predetermined amount (M), the feed roller 8 is rotated to the right, and the cut sheet is set at the print start position. At that time, the planetary lever 24 is rotated leftward and stopped at the hitting position, so that the planetary gear 25 is retracted from the paper feeding roller gear 26 and the driving force of the paper feeding roller is lost.

On the other hand, in the case of manually inserting the cut sheet, in the state shown in FIG. 3, first, the cut sheet 12a is inserted from the front through the front sheet insertion port 4 and the switching lever 30 is set to the position shown in FIG. , The paper detector 6 is operated and the paper feed motor 31 is automatically rotated by a predetermined amount (M) to be conveyed in accordance with the rotation of the feed roller 8, and the print start position is reached. Is set to.

Next, when feeding the continuous paper 11 as shown in FIG. 1, first, the continuous paper 11 is set on the tractor 5, and the switching lever 30 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIG. When it is moved to the tractor mode position, the disengage gear 27 is moved to the feed roller gear 2 by the slider lever 28 connected to the switching lever 30.
3 and the slider lever 28 is connected to the detection switch 1
When the actuator section 7 is operated, the CPU 18 recognizes the tractor mode by the signal from the detection switch 17. When a paper feed signal is input to the CPU 18 of the printer by a command of the paper feed switch of the host computer or the operation panel 34 of the printer, the paper feed motor 31 rotates right by the signal transmission from the CPU 18, as shown in FIG. The platen gear 20 is rotated clockwise by the transmission gear 21, and the feed roller gear 23 is rotated clockwise to pass the disengagement gear 27 and the feed roller gear 26 (this gear is the same as the gear that rotationally drives the tractor). Is rotated clockwise to convey the continuous paper 11 and the paper detection switch 6 is operated. From there, the paper feed motor 31 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined amount (N) to convey the paper to the printing unit, and the printing start position is set. Switching lever 30 at this time
When is switched in the clockwise direction, the slider lever 28 connected to the switching lever 30 does not fix the planet lever 24 to the hitting position and the planet gear 25 and the feed roller gear 26 are engaged. Further, since the switching lever 30 releases the hopper plate 14 from the paper feed roller 10, a gap is formed between the cut paper 12 and the paper feed roller 10, so that the cut paper 12 is not fed. The load on the feed roller 8 is weaker than that in the single-cut mode.

In this embodiment, the example in which one sheet feed roller 10 is provided has been described, but it goes without saying that a configuration having two or more sheet feed rollers 10 may be used.

Further, although an example in which the disengagement gear 27 and the like are manually switched by the switching lever 30 when switching from the friction mode to the tractor mode has been described above, instead of switching the switching lever 30, the operation panel 34 on the printer is used. CPU in the printer according to the information from the switch and the host computer
It is also possible to apply a switching signal in accordance with the command of 8, and rotate the switching motor (not shown) by the switching motor drive circuit to switch the disengagement gear 27 by the operation cam.

According to the present invention, in a printer that selectively prints on continuous paper and single-cut sheets, a paper feed roller for single-cut sheet feeding is provided on a drive shaft of a tractor for conveying continuous paper. By rotating one drive shaft, continuous paper and single-cut paper can be selectively supplied, so the overall size of the device can be reduced, and the simple mechanism also simplifies the device, reduces costs, and reduces the output of the drive motor. Also, the effect of improving reliability can be obtained.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a printer that selectively prints on continuous paper and single-cut sheets, single-sheet feeding is performed on a drive shaft of a tractor that conveys continuous paper. By providing a paper feed roller for paper, continuous paper and single-cut paper can be selectively supplied by rotating one drive shaft, so the entire device can be downsized and the mechanism is simple. The effects of simplifying the device, reducing costs, reducing the output of the drive motor, and improving reliability are also obtained, and the friction mode and tractor mode are detected by the detection switch and continuous paper and single-cut paper are supplied independently. The effect that can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a paper feeding device that conveys continuous paper by a tractor system of the paper feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a paper feed roller and a tractor according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a train wheel corresponding to a position of a switching lever when a cut sheet of the present invention is conveyed.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a train wheel corresponding to a position of a switching lever when a continuous sheet of the present invention is conveyed.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a joined state of feed rollers when a cut sheet is conveyed by the friction method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a signal path of the paper feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional paper feeding device.

[Simple explanation of symbols]

 1 Print Head 3 Platen 4 Paper Supply Port 5 Tractor 6 Paper Detector 7 Paper Ejection Roller 8 Feed Roller 9 Drive Shaft 10 Paper Feed Roller 11 Continuous Paper 12 Single Sheet Paper 13 Hopper 14 Hopper Plate 15 Hopper Spring 16 Switching Mechanism 17 Detection Switch 18 CPU 19 Motor drive circuit 20 Platen gear 21 Transmission gear 22 Motor pinion 23 Feed roller gear 24 Planetary lever 25 Planetary gear 26 Paper feed roller gear 27 Disengagement gear 28 Slider lever 30 Switching lever 31 Paper feed motor 33 Feed roller holder 34 Friction spring 35 paper feed roller drive shaft 36 tractor drive shaft

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding device comprising a drive shaft of a tractor for conveying continuous paper and a paper feed roller for feeding cut paper, wherein the drive shaft of the tractor for conveying continuous paper is provided with the paper feed roller. A paper feeding device characterized in that 2. The feeding of the cut sheet and the continuous sheet,
A switching mechanism for selectively switching, a detecting means for detecting which of continuous paper feeding and single-cut sheet feeding is selected, and means for controlling the paper feeding mechanism by an output signal of the detecting means. 2. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising: a sheet feeding device for selectively feeding the cut sheet and the continuous sheet.