WO1998012052A1

WO1998012052A1 - Printer and medium driving unit

Info

Publication number: WO1998012052A1
Application number: PCT/JP1996/002677
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masashi Inoue; Tadahiro Ageishi
Original assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
Priority date: 1996-09-18
Filing date: 1996-09-18
Publication date: 1998-03-26

Abstract

A printer in which transfer rollers for holding a printing medium are lifted up to release the medium before printing, and a rotatry arm is turned to move the released medium toward a lateral guide so as to set the medium in a predetermined position. The medium is then held again between the transfer rollers, transferred to a printing section by rotating the same rollers, and printed, whereby the printing can be done with a high printing accuracy.

Description

Description Title of the invention Printing device and medium shifting device Technical field

According to the present invention, among the printing apparatuses iS in which passbooks as printing media are set in a media suction port and transported by a transport roller to a print head position for printing, in particular, an alignment function for aligning the media at a fixed position (media aligning function) To a printing device equipped with a device i)

In the conventional printing device, a print medium is set in a medium suction port and is conveyed to a print head position by a conveyance roller.If the print medium is set in an incorrect position in the medium suction port, for example, The printing medium was conveyed while being tilted, and it was not possible to print at the correct printing position at this mark, which was a problem.

In order to solve this problem, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-711961, a transport roller is linked to a coin roller that corrects the inclination of the print medium, and the print medium is transported to the print unit. In this case, a technique has been disclosed in which the medium is arranged in a fixed position by being conveyed stepwise. However, there is no consideration of the simplification and downsizing of the printing apparatus, and a new problem that the printing apparatus becomes complicated and large has newly arisen. Disclosure of the invention

The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-711961 does not consider the simplification and downsizing of the printing device at all, and is directed to a complicated and large-sized printing device. A new problem has arisen.

The printing device of the present invention is designed to simplify the device as much as possible and The purpose is to arrange the conveyance of the medium.

In order to achieve this object, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the print medium is set at an incorrect position of the medium suction port, the medium is conveyed to the print head position by the conveyance roller when the medium is conveyed. The pressing roller is lifted up, and the holding between the pressing roller and the driving roller for transporting the medium is released. Then, the rotating arm is rotated to move the print medium to a horizontal guide perpendicular to the print line, thereby adjusting the print medium to a predetermined position. This alignment makes it possible to print at the correct print position on the print medium. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an external view of a printing device 40 of the present invention viewed obliquely from the front and a partial oblique view thereof.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the internal configuration of the printing device 40 of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the medium shifting mechanism section 34 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cutaway view of the roller lift-up mechanism 35 shown in FIG. 1, showing how the pressing roller 11 and the A drive roller 13 sandwich the medium.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the roller lift-up mechanism 35 in the first position, showing a state in which the pressing roller 11 is lifted up.

FIG. 6 shows a control block diagram of the printing device 40 of FIG.

No. 7 shows an operation flowchart when the roller is lifted up and when the medium is approached. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the best mode of the printing apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the printing apparatus of the present invention viewed obliquely from the front, and further shows a partial perspective view of the inside thereof.

First, of the printing device 40 of the present invention, a configuration that performs a functionally important function This will be mainly described. The print medium is inserted into the transport path formed by the upper transport path surface 5 and the lower transport path surface 3 in the direction of arrow 38, that is, from the front of the printing apparatus. The print medium is mainly a booklet-like medium, such as a passbook, but may be ordinary ordinary paper such as a form.

Sensors for detecting the inserted or conveyed print medium include a lateral sensor 7, a front sensor 8, and a presence / absence sensor 26. The lateral sensor 7 is installed near the lateral guide 4 and detects that there is a medium when dark, and that there is no medium when it is light. Although the installation location is different, each of the front sensor 8 and the presence / absence sensor 26 is also a sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a medium.

The mechanisms that compose the printing device 40 are roughly divided into a transport mechanism that transports the medium in the X direction from the front to the rear of the device, There is an alignment mechanism that performs alignment (or transport).

The transport mechanism is a transport roller that is made of an elastic material such as rubber and is in direct contact with the medium. It has the power to transport it from below the media. A drive roller 13 and B drive roller 16 And a pressing roller 11. Normally, the medium is transported to the print head 14 as a print unit by sandwiching the A drive roller 13 and the pressing roller 11. As will be described later, the A drive roller 13 and the pressing roller 11 serving as the transport mechanism have a port lift-up function for releasing the nipping of the medium.

The aligning mechanism is composed of a medium shifting mechanism 34 for shifting the medium to the lateral guide 4. Specifically, the rotating arm 2 described later shifts the medium to the lateral guide 4 to align the medium with the medium. I do.

FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the printing device 40 shown in FIG. 1, and particularly shows a medium transport system.

The printing medium is inserted and set from the medium suction port 36, and is conveyed along a conveyance path including a guide between the lower conveyance path surface 3 and the lower conveyance path surface 5 (the direction of the arrow 38 in FIG. 1). The medium is transported by nipping the drive roller 13 and the pressing roller 11 and B by nipping the driving roller 16 and the pressing roller 33. This force is transmitted to the medium by force, and the medium is transported. The A drive roller 13 and the B drive roller 16 are brought into contact with the transfer motor 31 via the belt 32, and the power of the transfer motor 31 is transferred to the A drive roller 13 and the B drive roller 16. Then, the rotation power to the medium is finally transmitted and transported.

A presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a medium is provided between the medium suction port 36 and the A drive roller 13. As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the medium is inserted and set from the medium suction U 36, and the medium covers the presence / absence sensor 26, so that the no sensor 26 detects the medium. As described above, when the presence / absence sensor 26 detects the medium, the control unit 27 described later drives the transport motor 31 based on the detection signal. Accordingly, the medium is transported in the direction of arrow 38 in FIG. 1, that is, from the left side (before the printing device 40) to the right side (the rear surface of the printing device 40) in FIG.

Similarly, a front sensor 8 is provided between the A drive roller 13 and the print head 14 as a sensor for detecting the medium. The front sensor 8 detects the medium when the medium conveyed from the medium suction U36 hits the sensor. As described above, when the front sensor 8 detects the medium, the control unit 27 stops the drive motor 31 and stops the medium at the detection position of the front sensor 8. At this point, the medium is not held between the A drive roller and the pressing / soiling: the force held between the rollers 11, and the medium is not held between the B drive roller 16 and the pressing roller 33.

Subsequently, at the detection position of the front sensor 8, the push roller 11 is lifted up. That is, the medium held between the A drive roller 13 and the pressing roller 11 is released from the holding, and enters a free state. The function corresponding to this lift-up is shown by the lift-up mechanism 35 in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the lift-up machine ## will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the medium is nipped by the pressing roller 11 and the driving roller 13, and FIG. 5 shows a state in which the nipping is released and the pressing roller 11 is lifted up. is there.

The pressing roller 11 is attached to a shaft 12 extending in a lateral direction of the printing device 40. And this shaft 1 2 has a D-cut shaft A lift lever 9 with a lever attached to it is connected in its angular direction (also shown in Fig. 1). As described above, the shaft which is a part of the lift lever 9 is installed such that the cutting surface of the D-cut is located below the shaft 12. The lift lever 9 is connected to a solenoid 8 via a pulley 17 by a wire rope 10.

As described above, FIG. 4 shows a state before the pressing roller 11 is lifted up, that is, a state in which the medium can be conveyed while nipping the medium between the A drive roller 13 and the pressing roller 11. 8 is turned ON. The operation of each mechanism from ON of the solenoid 18 is also shown in the flow chart of FIG. 7, and will be described in detail below with reference to the operation explanation flow chart of FIG.

When the solenoid 18 shown in FIG. 4 is turned ON (step 70 1), the wire rope 10 is pulled in the direction of the arrow 23, and the lift lever 9 operates to rotate in the direction of the arrow 22. Due to the rotation of the lift lever 9, the position of the cut lever (D-cut portion) of the lift lever 9 is similarly changed by turning: fe, and the shaft 12 rides on the corner of the cut surface as shown in FIG. Become like Therefore, the shaft 12 is pushed upward as shown in the figure, and the pressing roller 11 attached to the shaft 12 is pushed up similarly. By this operation, the above-described holding of the medium by the pressing roller 11 and the A drive roller 13 is released, and the medium becomes free.

Subsequently, the operation of the above-described alignment mechanism, that is, the operation of the medium shifting mechanism 34 of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the detailed configuration diagram of FIG. 3 and the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 3 shows the medium shifting mechanism 34 itself for shifting the medium to the horizontal guide 4.

At almost the same time when the pressure roller 11 is lifted up by the detection of the front sensor 8 described above, the medium shifting mechanism 34 sends a detection signal to the control unit 27, and the control unit 27 controls the motor 20. Drive (Step 702). As a result, the medium is adjusted to a fixed position from the operation of the medium moving mechanism 34 described below. The medium shifting mechanism 34 includes an arm 2 a made of a hard material, for example, a metal, and a soft material that applies a frictional force to the medium to allow the lateral guide 4 to move the medium. Arm 2 composed of a material 2b, a motor 20 for generating a rotational driving force for rotating the rotating arm 2, and a motor 2 connecting the rotating arm 2 and the motor 20. It mainly consists of a belt 1 that transmits the rotational driving force from zero. Further, a position sensor 21 for detecting the rotational position E of the rotary arm 2 is provided near the rotary arm 2, and in addition to the above-mentioned horizontal sensor 7 for detecting the horizontal position of the medium, And a pressing guide 6 for holding the medium between the rotating arm 2 and the like.

When the motor 20 is driven while the pressing roller 11 is lifted up (step 70 2), this power is transmitted to the rotating arm 2 through the belt 1, and the rotating arm 2 is rotated counterclockwise by an arrow 24. Rotate. Therefore, the tip 2b of the rotating arm 2 interferes with the pressing guide 6, and the pressing fF. Guide 6 moves upward. At this time, if the medium is between the pressing guide 6 and the rotating arm 2, the medium is moved in the direction of arrow 25 by the frictional force generated between the tip 2b of the rotating arm 2 and the body of the medium. It moves along the guide of the upper conveying road surface 5 and the lower conveying road surface 3. Therefore, the medium is moved to the lateral guide 4 and can be arranged at a fixed position. Since the alignment of the medium is performed with the rollers lifted up in this manner, the medium can be reliably aligned with a simple configuration.

Subsequently, the medium is moved to the horizontal guide 4, and when the end of the medium covers the horizontal sensor 7, the horizontal sensor 7 detects the medium (step 703).

Here, the rotating arm 2 is composed of two protrusions as shown in the figure, and these two protrusions are attached to the center within a radius of 180 degrees. Therefore, when the rotation arm 2 does not rotate, that is, when the print medium passes near the rotation arm 2, the two protrusions of the rotation arm 2 are below the lower conveyance path surface 3 and the protrusion does not protrude into the conveyance path. Since they are locked in the initial state, they will not interfere with the transport to the media. The protrusions (also referred to as arm portions) have a greater contact with the medium and increase the frictional force when two or more of them are mounted within a range that does not protrude from the lower transport path surface 3. Force that can ensure alignment of the medium ^ As shown in Fig. 1 Needless to say. By providing a projection on only one side of the rotating arm 2 so that the projection of the rotating arm 2 does not project to the lower transport path surface 3, the rotating arm 2 can be retracted from the transport path only by controlling the rotation position of the rotating arm 2. And Therefore, the rotating arm 2 is fixed and does not require complicated control such as moving up and down. The arm can be made of a material such as metal to prevent its wear, but may be made of a soft material such as a blade. Further, the pressing guide 6 is fixedly attached to the printing device 40 by a spring 19, so that even when the medium is not conveyed, the tip of the pressing guide 6 is moved from the upper conveying path surface 5 to the conveying path. Projecting against The pressing guide 6 has an R-shaped tip, and the spring 19 does not obstruct the conveyance even when the medium passes through the conveyance path. Conversely, when aligning the medium, the pressing guide 6 uniformly presses the medium from above, so that the rotation arm 2 and the like ensure that even the media having different thicknesses can be reliably adjusted. The medium can be moved to the lateral guide 4. The spring 19 applies a downward force to the pressing guide 6, but if the pressing guide 6 is prevented from coming off from the conveying path surface 5, a weight may be added to the pressing guide 6. However, it is also conceivable to substitute the pushing guide 6 by making itself heavy.

The fact that the lateral sensor 7 detects the medium as described above indicates that the end of the medium has been moved toward the lateral guide 4 and the rotating arm 2 has also performed one or more In] Mfe. Therefore, the position sensor 21 attached near the rotary arm 2 detects that the projecting portion (arm portion) of the rotary arm 2 passes (step 704). In the printing device 40 of the present invention, the end of the medium is brought to the horizontal guide 4 by one or a plurality of preset rotations of the rotary arm 2, and the horizontal sensor 7 detects this medium. The rotation arm 2 may be arbitrarily rotated until the ideal force ^ lateral sensor 7 detects the force. The setting in advance can be reflected in the simplification of the device, and the setting in the opposite direction has the effect of further ensuring the matching.

Next, each of the lateral sensor 7 and the position sensor 21 is a medium and a rotating arm 2 respectively. Is detected, the motor 20 is stopped by the operation of the control unit 27 (step 705). Further, the solenoid 18 described with reference to FIG. 4 is also turned off (step 706). The state of step 706 is a state where the medium is aligned with the lateral guide 4 and the lift-up of the roller is released.

When the lifting of the pressure roller 11 is released, the pressure roller 11

A In order to return to the state where the medium is held between the drive rollers 13 and 13, the transport unit 31 is driven according to the instruction of the control unit 27 to transport the medium to a predetermined printing position.o

Since the print head 14 (also called the print section) moves along the support rails 15, high-quality printing is possible at this print position even on booklet-shaped media such as passbooks. In addition, since the medium is also aligned with the horizontal guide 4, accurate printing is guaranteed.

Then, after the desired printing by the printing unit, the transport motor 31 is driven in the direction opposite to that at the time of suction, and transports and discharges the medium in the direction of suction 36 in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a control block diagram of the printing apparatus: 40 in FIG. Figure 1 to Figure

The explanations of 5 and 7 are also described in detail above, so that they will be briefly explained.

The sensors 7, 8, 26, 21 for detecting the medium or the rotating arm 2 are controlled by the exchange of the detection with the control unit 27. The control unit 27 controls the transfer motor 31, the motor 20, and the solenoid 18, and controls the transfer motor drive circuit 28, the motor drive circuit 29, and the solenoid drive IJILI! It instructs to control and convey the medium, align the medium, and enable roller lift-up. Industrial applicability

According to the present invention, in a printing apparatus, it is possible to print at an accurate printing position by arranging the medium at a fixed position regardless of variations when the medium is set in the sucker, and high printing accuracy is achieved. Printing equipment | has the effect of being able to provide _c

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A printing apparatus having a printing mechanism for printing on a medium and a transport mechanism for transporting the medium,

The transport mechanism has a function of releasing the nipping of the medium,

A printing apparatus comprising: an alignment mechanism for aligning the position of the medium when the holding by the medium is released by the releasing function.

2. The printing device according to claim 1,

The transport mechanism includes a pressing roller that contacts from above the medium, and a driving roller that contacts from below the medium and transmits a drive to the medium. A printing apparatus characterized in that the pinching of the medium is released with a roller force apart from the medium.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing roller is attached to a shaft, and is lifted up by rotation of a D-shaped shaft that comes into contact with the shaft. A marking device for releasing the holding of the medium by lift-up.

4. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the alignment mechanism includes a rotating arm having one or more protrusions, and aligns the medium by rotation of the rotating arm. A printing device characterized by that

5. The printing device according to claim 1,

A printing apparatus, wherein a driving source for driving the transport mechanism and the alignment mechanism is separately provided.

6. In the printing device according to claim 4,

-A printing device, wherein the rotating arm of the aligning device aligns the medium by moving the medium toward a lateral guide forming the device itself.

7. The printing device according to claim 1,

A presence sensor and a front sensor for detecting the medium,

When the presence / absence sensor detects the medium, the conveyance mechanism is driven to convey the medium,

When the front sensor detects the medium, the driving of the transport mechanism is stopped, and the holding by the medium is released.

8. The printing device according to claim 10, wherein

A lateral sensor for detecting the medium,

A printing apparatus, wherein when the lateral sensor detects the medium, the alignment of the medium by the I, ίΐ! Alignment mechanism is stopped.

9. The printing device according to claim 4,

A pressing guide is provided facing the rotary arm,

A printing apparatus for rotating the rotating arm while holding the medium between the pressing guide and the rotating arm to align the medium.

10. The printing device according to claim 4, wherein

Having a transport path for transporting the medium,

The protrusion of the rotary arm does not protrude from the transport path when the medium is transported along the transport path and passes near the rotary arm;

When the front medium stops in the vicinity of the front rotation arm, the front projection protrudes from the conveyance path and rotates to perform alignment of the medium.

1 1. In a printing apparatus having a printing mechanism for printing on a medium and a transport mechanism for transporting the medium,

A lift-up mechanism for nipping or releasing the medium with respect to the medium, a medium moving mechanism for moving the medium to a guide forming a device,

A sensor for detecting that the medium comes near the lift-up mechanism,

The sensor detects the medium conveyed from the insertion slot, and based on this detection, the lift-up mechanism releases the nipping of the medium, and further, the medium removing mechanism guides the opened medium to the guide. To

When a certain alignment with the medium is performed by the medium moving mechanism, the lift-up mechanism clamps the medium, the conveyance mechanism conveys the medium to the printing mechanism, and the printing mechanism transmits the medium to the medium. A printing device characterized by performing a desired mark “”-.

1 2. The printing device according to claim 11,

The lift-up mechanism includes a pressing roller that comes into contact with the side of the medium and a drive roller that comes into contact with the side of the medium and carries the medium, and the pressing roller lifts up from the drive roller. To release the pinch to ift 'i medium suspension,

The medium pulling mechanism includes a pressing guide for pressing the medium from above, and a rotating arm rotating from below the medium with respect to the pressing guide, and the rotating guide while pressing the medium with a front pressing guide. A printing device, wherein the medium is brought into alignment with the guide forming the device by rotating an arm.

13. The printing device according to claim 12,

A lateral sensor for detecting the medium near the guide and the rotating arm are rotated. And a position sensor for detecting that the

When the lateral sensor and the position sensor detect the rotation of the medium and the rotation of the rotating arm, respectively, the rotation of the rotating arm is stopped, the alignment of the medium is completed, and the rotation is again performed by the lift-up mechanism. A printing apparatus, wherein the printing medium is held by the holding mechanism, and the held medium is transferred by the transfer mechanism.

14. The mark according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the lift-up mechanism comprises: a pressing roller configured to press the medium from above; and a medium of the medium corresponding to the pressing roller. A printing device comprising a driving roller and a force for transmitting the driving force from below, and lifting up the pressing roller from the driving roller to release the nipping of the medium.

15. A first transporting means for contacting the medium and sending the medium in the X direction; a second transporting means for contacting the medium and sending the medium in the Y direction perpendicular to the X direction; Detecting means for detecting that the medium comes at a predetermined position on the transport path;

When the detecting means detects the medium, it stops transporting the first transport stage and releases contact with the medium, and sends the medium in the Y direction by the second transporting means. A medium shifting device characterized by the following. ·

1 6. In the medium drawer ^ according to claim 15,

The medium transporting device, wherein the first transporting means includes a roller for sandwiching the medium, and releases the contact with the medium by pushing up the roller from the medium.