JPH0630914B2 - Recording paper transport controller - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording paper conveyance control device for controlling the conveyance of recording paper in a recording device using a long recording paper and a cutter for cutting the same. Regarding

[Prior art]

A recording device for recording using a thermal recording paper and a thermal head does not require a special developing mechanism or fixing mechanism, and the entire device can be manufactured compactly. For this reason, some compact desktop recording devices have been developed.

FIG. 1 shows a main part of such a recording apparatus. A thermal recording paper (hereinafter simply referred to as a recording paper) 11 is wound in a roll, and a thermal head 12 is used.
After recording with the cutter, the cutter 13 cuts it.
A roller 14 is arranged at a position facing the recording position A of the thermal head. The roller 14 has a role of pressing the recording paper 11 to the recording position A, and is driven by a stepping motor 15 to convey the recording paper 11.

The recording paper 11 fed out from the roll by the illustrated desktop recording apparatus is turned obliquely downward at the upper portion B of the conveyance guide 16 and passes through the recording position A. Then, after this, the direction is changed in the horizontal direction in the lower portion C, and it passes through the cutter 13 and is discharged in the horizontal direction. Such a bent conveyance path is used because (i) it is necessary to arrange the thermal head 12 in an inclined state to make the apparatus compact, and (ii) it is a tabletop type. This is because it is necessary to discharge the recording paper parallel to the surface of the desk (horizontal direction).

By the way, in the recording apparatus provided with such a bent conveyance path, there has been a tendency that a jam (paper jam) occurs in front of the cutter 13. Of these, FIG. 2 shows how the recording paper 11 is rolled up in front of the cutter 13 to cause a jam. If the front end of the recording paper 11 is stopped in front of the cutter 13 for a long time after the end of recording, such a jam is likely to occur. This is because the recording paper 11 is curled in the shape of J in the vicinity of the lower portion C of the transport guide 16, and the curl tends to wind up the leading end of the recording paper 11.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the recording paper 11 slips in front of the cutter 13 to generate a jam. When the recording is completed, there is a recording device that retracts the leading end of the recording paper 11 to the recording position A and stands by until the next recording. In such a device, the upper part B of the transport guide 16 is
Depending on the shape, the leading end of the recording paper 11 curls in a state in which the U-shape is inverted. When such an anomaly occurs,
The leading edge of the recording paper 11 that has passed through the lower portion C is likely to move downward in front of the cutter 13, and a jam is likely to occur.

[Object of the Invention]

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording paper conveyance control device capable of reliably preventing jamming of recording paper near the cutter according to each recording device.

[Structure of Invention]

According to the present invention, a cutter for cutting a long recording sheet, a recording sheet conveying path for conveying the recording sheet as a whole with respect to the cutter, and a part of the recording sheet conveying path are formed. Recording paper conveyance control applied to a recording device having a thermal head arranged on a recording paper conveyance path and a roller arranged at a position facing the thermal head to press the recording paper against this and to convey the recording paper In the apparatus, a retreating unit that retracts the leading end of the recording sheet after the recording is completed to a predetermined standby position between the cutter and the roller,
Recording start position setting means for further retracting the recording paper so that the leading edge of the recording paper waiting at the standby position comes to the recording position of the thermal head at the time when recording starts, and recording to the standby position and the recording position And a means for adjusting the carry amount for varying the carry amount of the paper.

In this recording paper conveyance control device, the leading edge of the recording paper after the recording is once returned to a predetermined standby position (a position where curl does not occur) between the cutter and the roller, and when the recording is started, it is moved to the recording position of the thermal head. Will be returned. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of jam near the cutter.

Further, in this recording paper conveyance control device, the conveyance amount correction means can arbitrarily correct the conveyance amount of the recording paper to the standby position and the recording position. The standby position can be changed according to the shape of the path, and the occurrence of jams in individual recording devices can be reliably prevented.

〔Example〕

 The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration of the recording paper conveyance control device of this embodiment. CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 is the first
It is also used for controlling each part of the recording apparatus shown in the figure. ROM (Read Only Memory) 22
Is a memory in which a program for controlling conveyance of recording paper and necessary fixed data are stored in advance. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 23 is a working memory for data processing. The dip switch 24 is a switch for setting correction data for finely adjusting the stop position of the recording paper. The motor driver 25 is a circuit that drives the stepping motor 15. The above components are connected to the CPU 21 by a bus 26.

The operation of the recording paper conveyance control device having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. When the recording work is started (step in FIG. 5; YES), the CPU 21 reads the value of the length l ₁ from the ROM 22 and loads it into the RAM 23 (step).

Here, the length l ₁ refers to the length from the leading end of the recording paper 11 to the recording position A in the initial state, as shown in FIG. This length is a value obtained as the length between the expected standby position D and the recording position A of the recording paper 11 when the recording apparatus is designed.

The CPU 21 next reads the value of the length l ₂ as the correction data from the DIP switch 24, loads it into the RAM 23, and adds it (step). The length l ₂ is a value set by the service engineer, and is a statistically optimum correction amount for the standby position E in the recording apparatus. The length l ₂ can be either positive or negative. In some cases, the expected waiting position D becomes the actual waiting position E. In this case the length l ₂
Is zero.

After that, the CPU 21 controls the motor driver 25 to move the recording paper 11 backward by the addition result (l ₁ + l ₂ ) (step). As a result, the leading edge of the recording paper 11 and the recording position A coincide with each other. In this state, recording by the thermal head 12 is started (step). The CPU 21 controls the motor driver 25 to cause the recording paper to be sub-scanned. When a plurality of sheets are continuously recorded, such recording operation is performed until the recording of all pages is completed (step; N
O). At this time, if it is necessary to cut the recording paper at the boundary of each page, the cutting operation of the cutter 13 is performed when the recording paper 11 advances by the length L from the start of recording each page. Here, the length L means the length of the conveyance path from the recording position A to the blade of the cutter 13. Since this cutter operation is not directly related to the present invention, it is included as a step in FIG.

When all pages have been recorded (step; YE
S), the CPU 21 reads the value of the length L from the ROM 22 and loads it into the RAM 23 (step).
Then, the motor driver 25 is controlled to move the recording paper 11 forward by this length L (step) and the cutter 1
3 is operated (step) to cut the recording paper 11. Thereafter, the CPU 21 uses the RAM 23 to print the recording paper 1
The amount of retreat to the standby position E of 1 is calculated (step). Then, the recording paper 11 is moved backward by the calculation result {L- (l ₁ + l ₂ )} (step).

The standby position E exists in a linear portion of the transport guide 16 and is closer to the cutter 13 than the recording position A of the thermal head 12. Therefore, when the recording paper 11 is on standby, no curl occurs at its leading end. In addition, the transport guide 16
The curl in the upper part of the sheet occurs at a position far away from the front end of the recording paper 11. As a result, when the recording is started next time, the leading end of the recording paper 11 is guided by the conveyance guide 16 and can surely pass through the cutter 13.

In the embodiment described above, the standby position of the recording paper is stored in the ROM and the position is corrected by the dip switch, but the position may be set by the dip switch alone. Alternatively, the standby position may be set by a dip switch, an operation button, a mark card, or the like and input to the RAM. In the latter case, the control unit of the same type for transporting the recording paper can be commonly used in various different recording apparatuses by only changing the value written in the RAM.

In the embodiment, the leading edge of the recording paper is kept on standby on a straight conveying path to prevent curling.However, a curl is positively added during the standby so that the recording paper can be cut and discharged smoothly. It may be made to be exposed.

As described above, according to the recording paper conveyance control device of the present invention, the leading edge of the recording paper after the recording is once returned to the predetermined standby position between the cutter and the roller, and the recording of the thermal head is started at the start of the recording. Since it is possible to correct the amount of recording paper conveyed to the standby position and the recording position while returning to the position, the standby position can be changed regardless of the type of recording method and according to the shape of the recording paper conveyance path. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of a jam near the cutter according to each recording device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a desk-top type recording apparatus, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory views for explaining the principle of jam generation in a conventional apparatus, and FIG. 4 is one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the recording paper conveyance control device in the example, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the device of this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the recording paper conveyance control amount in the device of this embodiment. . 11 ... Recording paper, 12 ... Thermal head, 13 ... Cutter, 14 ... Roller, 15 ... Stepping motor, 16 ... Conveyance guide (recording paper conveyance path), 21 ... CPU, 22 ... ROM, 23 ... RAM, 24 ... DIP switch, 25 ... Motor driver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cutter for cutting a long recording sheet, a recording sheet conveying path for conveying the recording sheet as a whole obliquely with respect to the cutter, and a part of this recording sheet conveying path. A thermal head disposed on the recording paper conveyance path,
In a recording apparatus provided with a roller which is arranged at a position facing the thermal head and which presses the recording sheet against the thermal head and conveys the recording sheet, the front end of the recording sheet after recording is placed between the cutter and the roller. Retracting means for retracting to a predetermined standby position, and recording start position setting means for further retracting the recording paper so that the leading edge of the recording paper waiting at the standby position comes to the recording position of the thermal head at the start of recording. And a conveyance amount adjusting means for varying the conveyance amount of the recording paper to the standby position and the recording position.