JPH0123838Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Technical field This invention involves arranging multiple writing instruments of different colors and types on a carriage and selectively using them to write characters, figures, graphs, etc. on a writing sheet on a platen. Concerning plot printers for writing.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, as a plotter printer of this type, there is one that uses a writing instrument such as a ballpoint pen or a felt-tip pen to write on a writing sheet such as plain paper, tracing paper, or plastic film. In this type of plotter printer, a plurality of writing instruments are arranged parallel to each other with their tips facing the platen, and arranged in a plane in the direction of movement of the carriage. For example, as shown in FIG.
2... are arranged in the direction of movement of the carriage 4 (direction perpendicular to the drawing), and are stacked in multiple stages (two stages in the conventional example shown in Fig. 1) in the direction perpendicular to the movement direction (in the direction of the arrow in the figure). There are some things. However, in this type of plotter printer, in order to operate each writing instrument 2, 2, . . ., an operating lever 6 must be provided separately for each writing instrument, and all of them are attached to the carriage 4. Therefore, as the number of writing implements increases, the number of support shafts 8 for the momentum operating lever 6 increases, and a large space for arranging the operating lever must be secured. This resulted in the disadvantage that the carriage 4 became large and the plotter printer using it also became large in size as a whole.

Purpose Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks in printers equipped with multiple writing instruments.In particular, the number of parts can be significantly reduced, the structure can be simplified, and the entire printer can be made smaller. It is something.

Configuration This invention will be explained in detail below based on an embodiment of this invention shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a plotter printer according to this invention. Reference numeral 10 in the figure is an outer case. The main body of the plotter printer is housed inside the outer case.
A platen 12 is spanned from side to side at the rear of the main body. In the illustrated embodiment, the platen 12 has a cylindrical shape and is provided with sprockets 14 at each end. The sprockets are arranged at equal intervals with left and right sides corresponding to each other. The platen 12 is rotated by a platen feeding mechanism (not shown). In addition, in this invention, the platen is not limited to a cylindrical one as shown in the figure, but may also be, for example, a flat plate. Furthermore, the sprockets 14 are not essential to this invention.

By the way, in the plotter printer shown in the illustrated embodiment, both continuous sheets and single sheets can be wound around the platen 12 as writing sheets. The continuous sheet has sprocket holes on both side edges, the aforementioned sprockets 14 are inserted into the sprocket holes, and the sheet is wound around the platen 12 from below toward the front. Then, it is wound from the top to the rear and pressed by the weight roller 16. On the other hand, the single sheet is wound around the platen 12 from below toward the front, and further from above toward the rear, and is held down by pinch rollers 18, 18 and weight roller 16. The plotter printer according to this invention uses plain paper, tracing paper, plastic film, etc. as the writing sheet.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a guide shaft 20 is stretched in front of and parallel to the platen 12.
A guide shaft passes through the carriage 22.
The carriage rides on the rail 26 while its tail end, which includes magnets 24, 24, is attracted, and is supported so as to be slidable left and right facing the platen 12.
And, on both sides of such a carriage 22,
Wire 28 is attached. The wire is stretched along the guide shaft 20 and wrapped around pulleys within each side of the outer case 10. As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2, a carriage feeding means 30 is provided within one side of the outer case 10. The carriage feeding means includes one pulley 3 around which the wire 28 is wound.
2, and a pulse motor 34 that rotates the pulley. Then, the pulse motor 34 of the carriage feeding means 30 is driven, and the pulley 32
is rotated to move the carriage 22, and the carriage is moved along the platen 12 while being guided by the guide shaft 20.

Reference numeral 36 in the figure is a home position sensor that detects that the carriage 22 is in the home position. What is on the left side and indicated by the reference numeral 38 in the figure is a left margin sensor that detects that the carriage 22 is on the left side. In addition, what is indicated by the reference numeral 40 in the figure is the carriage 22.
This is a wiring cable that electrically connects the control circuit section and the control circuit section provided at the bottom of the outer case 10.

Figures 3 to 6 show the carriage 22.
, FIG. 3 is a front view seen from the side of the platen 12 in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view seen from above in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a left side view seen from the left side in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a rear view seen from the left side in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view with some parts omitted. The code 44 in the figure is
The main body of the carriage is shown. The main body of the carriage has a tuning fork shape, and has magnets 24, 24 at the tail end as described above. Further, a tongue piece 45 extends downward from the lower surface of the tail end. When the carriage 22 moves to the left in FIG. 2, the tongue cuts the sensors 36 and 38 to detect when the carriage is at the home position or the left margin. The front bifurcated portion of the carriage main body 44 is provided with through-holes that penetrate to the left and right, respectively.
Annular bearings 46, 46 are inserted and fixed therein, respectively. The guide shaft 20 is inserted into these bearings as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, and the carriage main body 44 is slidably supported by the guide shaft 20 and the rail 26 as described above.

A front support piece 48 is stretched from side to side over the opening at the distal end of the carriage main body 44, and a mounting plate 50 is stacked on the outside of the front support piece 48 and fixed by mounting screws 52. A plurality of small holes 54 are formed in the front support piece 48. The small holes each face the platen 12 and extend in the direction of movement of the carriage 22.
You can line them up and open them into two levels, top and bottom. Furthermore, a relief 56 for a solenoid 66, which will be described later, is cut out at the lower center of the front support piece 48. By the way, an integral spring 58 as shown in FIG. 8 is screwed to the front side of the front support piece 48. The integral spring has holes 60 at positions corresponding to the small holes 54.
The elastic pieces 62 are formed by extending four elastic pieces 62 upward and downward, respectively, and bending the elastic pieces toward the front to form a U-shape.
Each has a notch 64 corresponding to the small hole 54 at its tip.

On the other hand, a solenoid 66 is fixed to the front side of the mounting plate 50 described above with mounting screws 68, 68. The base end of the operating rod 70 of the solenoid passes through the central hole 72 of the mounting plate 50 and projects forward. The tip of the leaf spring 74 is pressed against its base end. The leaf spring is stacked on the outside of the mounting plate 50, and its base end is fixed to the mounting plate 50 with a mounting screw 76.

On the other hand, a rear support piece 78 is securely attached to the base of the bifurcated portion of the carriage body 44 with screws 79 (see FIG. 5). The lower end of the rear support piece is fitted into the carriage main body 44 and protrudes upward, and a plurality of large holes 80 are formed in the protruding portion. Four large holes are arranged in two stages, one above the other, facing the platen 12 and arranged in the direction of movement of the carriage 22. The holes 54 correspond to the small holes 54 of the front support piece 48 described above. A stop plate 82 is stacked on the front side of the rear support piece 78, and a mounting screw 8
4,84 to hold it down. The stop plate 82 is provided with action holes 86 corresponding to the large holes 80 of the rear support piece 78 described above. The working hole is one size smaller than the large hole 80. And the front support piece 4
Insert the tip into the small hole 54 of No. 8 and insert the rear support piece 78.
Insert the proximal end into the large hole 80 of the front support piece 48.
Eight writing implements 88 are suspended between and the rear support piece 78. These writing instruments pass through the notches 64 of the above-mentioned integral spring 58, and each elastic piece 62...
The tip of the writing instrument 88 hits the shoulder. and,
The writing instrument is urged toward the user, and its base end is normally stopped against the stop plate 82.

Therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, four writing instruments 88...
are arranged in parallel with their respective tips facing the platen 12 and in the direction of movement of the carriage 22. Then, the array is arranged in two layers in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage. Therefore, eight writing instruments can be compactly mounted on the carriage main body 44.

In the plotter printer according to this invention, a water-based or oil-based ballpoint pen, felt-tip pen, pencil, iron pen, or the like is used as the writing instrument 88. and,
A plurality of writing instruments of the same type but different colors can be mounted on the carriage 22, or a plurality of writing instruments of different types can be mounted on the carriage 22 at the same time, and these can be selected and used as appropriate.

In front of the rear support piece 78 described above, two operating levers 90 and 92 are arranged one on top of the other, and are rotatably supported by the same central shaft 94 that spans the carriage body 44. One of the operating levers 90 has an engaging portion 96 protruding from its tip, and the engaging portion is inserted into the upper writing instrument 8 through the operating hole 86 of the stop plate 82.
8... to face the base end. On the other hand, the actuation lever 90
An action receiving portion 98 is formed at the base end to be wide in the direction of movement of the carriage 22, and receives the action of a lower solenoid 100, which will be described later. In the illustrated embodiment, the ratio of the distance from the central axis 94 to the distal end engaging portion 96 and the distance from the central axis 94 to the proximal end receiving portion 98 is set to 1:1. At the center of the operating lever 90, two engaging protrusions 102, 102 protrude forward, and an engaging recess 104 is formed between them. Furthermore, the operating lever 90
An elongated fitting hole 106 is formed in the center of the lever, and the other actuating lever 92 is fitted into the fitting hole 106. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the central shaft 94 is inserted from one side of the carriage body 44 through the hole 45, and one of the actuating levers 9 is inserted as shown by the arrow a in the figure.
0, passes through the hole 93 of the other actuating lever 92, and passes through the hole 91 of the actuating lever 90 again. Thereafter, as shown by arrow b in the figure, the carriage body 44 is penetrated through the hole 47 and protrudes to the other side, and washers 95 and 97 are attached to both ends of the central shaft 94.
Attach it to prevent it from falling out. This results in
The two operating levers 90 and 92 can be integrally held movably on a central shaft 94. The other actuation lever is shorter than actuation lever 90;
Similarly, an engaging part 108 is provided at the tip, and the engaging part passes through the action hole 86 of the stop plate 82 and faces the base end of the lower writing instrument 88. Its operating lever 9
Similarly, an action receiving part 110 is formed at the proximal end of the carriage 22 to have a wide width in the moving direction of the carriage 22, and receives the action of an upper stage solenoid 112, which will be described later. In the illustrated embodiment, this actuating lever 92 also has a central axis 94 similar to that of the actuating lever 90.
The distance from to the tip engaging portion 108 and the central axis 94
The ratio of the distance from to the proximal action receiving part 110 is made to be 1:1.

The solenoids 112 and 100 are vertically attached to a support plate 114 that hangs down from the carriage body 44. When these solenoids are energized, the respective operating rods 116, 118 move to the action receiving portions 110, 98 of the aforementioned operating levers 90, 92.
act on the operating levers to rotate those operating levers around the central axis 94, and to rotate those operating levers around the central axis 94, and to rotate those operating levers around the central axis 94,
6, the writing instrument 88 can be moved and pressed against the platen 12. In the illustrated embodiment, in the two operating levers 90 and 92, the ratio of the distance from the central axis 94 to the engaging portion and the distance from the central axis 94 to the action receiving portion is made equal, so that the solenoid 11
2 and 100 are the same, and the pressing pressure of the writing instruments 88 against the platen 12 can be made constant.

Note that the support plate 114 is attached to the carriage body 44 together with the locking pieces 122, 122 using attachment screws 120. Locking pieces 122, 122
are respectively provided with locking holes 124, 124,
Both ends of the aforementioned wires 28 are respectively latched to these latching holes.

By the way, the engagement convex portion 12 of the clutch member 126 is located in the engagement concave portion 104 of the actuating lever 90 mentioned above.
8 fit together. The clutch member has a C-shape, and beak-shaped engagement pieces 130 are formed at the opening on the opposite side of the engagement protrusion 128. The clutch member 126 is attached to the guide shaft 20, and C-shaped springs 132, 132 are respectively fitted into the two outer circumferential grooves and fixed to the guide shaft 20.

The engagement piece 13 of such a clutch member 126
A protruding piece 136 of the clutch engaging member 134 is inserted between 0 and 130. The clutch engaging member has hanging arms 138, 138 at each end, each of which is bored with a circular hole 140, 140, respectively. and,
Support shaft 142 spanned between the carriage bodies 44
are inserted through these circular holes 140, 140, and the clutch engaging member 134 is rotatably suspended.
At this time, a coil spring 144 is wound around the support shaft 142, and one end of the coil spring 144 is connected to the clutch engaging member 13.
4, and the other end is latched to a locking shaft 146 set up on the carriage body 44. Then, the clutch engaging member is always given a rotational habit in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. However, this clutch engaging member 13
4 always includes the operating rod 7 of the solenoid 66 mentioned above.
0 is pressed by the elastic force of the leaf spring 74. The elastic force of the leaf spring 74 is the same as that of the coil spring 144.
Therefore, the clutch engaging member 134 undergoes a clockwise rotational behavior in FIG.
The protruding piece 136 is the engaging piece 13 of the clutch member 126.
0,130, C type spring 13
2, 132 to release the clutch member from the guide shaft 20. and,
Clutch member 126 and actuation levers 90, 92
can be moved together with the carriage body 44.
It should be noted that small positioning holes 148 are bored at regular intervals in the protruding piece 136 of the clutch engaging member 134. The engaging piece 1 of the clutch member 126 that moves left and right along the protruding piece 136 is provided in the positioning hole.
30, 130 enters, and the operating levers 90, 92
The writing instrument 88... can be stopped in accurate correspondence with the position of the writing instrument 88.

The plotter printer according to this invention is constructed, for example, as described above. Therefore, when the power is turned off, the leaf spring 74 pushes the operating rod 70 and rotates the clutch engaging member 134 clockwise in FIG. 7 against the coil spring 144. Then, the protruding piece 136 of the clutch engaging member 134 is inserted between the engaging pieces 130, 130 of the clutch member 126, and the engaging pieces are pushed open against the C-shaped springs 132, 132. Therefore, the clutch member 126 is released from the guide shaft 20. At the same time, protrusion 1
36 and the engaging pieces 130, 130 engage,
If the carriage 44 were to be moved by hand, the clutch member 126 and actuating levers 90, 92 would also move together with the carriage body 44.

FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram of the plotter printer shown in FIG. 2. Now, when the power is turned on, a signal from the control circuit is sent to the carriage feeding means 30, which drives the pulse motor 34, rotates the pulley 32, winds up the wire 28, and moves the carriage 22 to the left in FIG. direction (- direction). The carriage is thus guided by the guide shaft 20 and moves along the platen 12. As can be seen from the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, when the sensor 38 detects that the carriage has passed the home position and reached the left margin, the solenoid 66 is energized.
Then, the operating rod 70 is pulled against the leaf spring 74. The clutch engaging member 134 is
It is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 7 by the elastic force of the coil spring 144. As a result, the protruding piece 136
It comes out from between the engaging pieces 130, 130, and the engagement with the clutch member 126 is released. The clutch member is fixed to the guide shaft 20 by the elastic force of the C-shaped springs 132, 132. At the same time, the carriage 44 is sent to the right (+ direction) in FIG. However, the clutch engaging member 13
4 is disengaged from the clutch member 126, and the clutch member 126 is fixed to the guide shaft 20, so that the actuating lever 9 that engages with the clutch member
0 and 92 keep their positions as they are. Therefore,
The carriage body 44 will eventually come into contact with the operating lever 90. By the way, in the illustrated embodiment, at this time the guide shaft 20 and the clutch member 126
The frictional resistance between the pulse motor 34 and the pulse motor 34 is set to be smaller than the torque of the pulse motor 34. Therefore, the carriage 44
hits the operating lever 90 and moves while dragging the operating lever. Then, the sensor 36 detects that the carriage 22 has reached the home position, and the carriage 22 is stopped at that position. At the same time, the supply of electricity to the solenoid 66 is stopped. This results in
Clutch engaging member 134 again engages clutch member 12.
6 and engages with the guide shaft 20 of the clutch member.
Cancel fixing to. Therefore, the operating lever 90,
At this time, the writing instrument 92 is set at an initial position corresponding to the writing instrument on the left side in FIG.
It is also movable as the carriage 44 moves. Therefore, in this state, solenoid 100
or 112 is energized and the operating lever 90 or 9 is activated.
2, press the writing instrument with its engaging portions 96, 108, and press the tip of the writing instrument against the platen 12. By rotating the platen 12 while moving the carriage 22, the writing instrument is written on the writing sheet on the platen. You can write down characters, figures, etc.

Now, when changing the writing instrument in the middle of writing, the solenoid 66 is energized and the clutch engaging member 134 and the clutch member 1 are connected as described above.
26 to secure the clutch member to the guide shaft 20. And the operating lever 90,
92 remains in that position, the carriage 44 is moved to change the relative position of the actuation lever with respect to the carriage body 44, and move the actuation lever to the desired writing instrument position. For example, in Figure 6,
If you are using the second upper or lower writing instrument from the left and want to replace it with the third upper or lower writing instrument from the left (next to the right), move the carriage body 44 toward the left in the figure. , the left and right adjacent writing instruments are moved by the unit interval. Then, at the base ends of the upper and lower writing instruments, which are the third from the left, there are operating levers 9.
The engaging portions 96 and 108 of 0 and 92 face each other. Furthermore, when replacing the writing instrument with the one above or below the right end, the writing instrument is moved to the left by twice the unit interval of the writing instrument. On the other hand, when replacing the writing instrument with the upper or lower writing instrument on the left, the carriage main body 44 is moved to the right in the figure by the unit interval of the writing instrument. Then, the power to the solenoid 66 is stopped and the clutch engaging member 134 and the clutch member 126 are engaged again,
The clutch member 12 to the guide shaft 20
Unfix 6. This allows the clutch member 126 to engage and move integrally with the clutch engaging member 134. That is, the operating levers 90, 92 are attached to the carriage body 44 so that they cannot move relative to the carriage body 44. Then, the carriage 22 is moved and the platen 12 is rotated to bring the selected writing instrument to the writing starting position on the writing sheet. Thereafter, the solenoid 100 or 112 is energized to select the upper or lower writing instrument, and the tip of the selected writing instrument is pressed against the writing sheet on the platen 12. Thereby, writing can be written on the writing sheet by rotating the platen 12 while moving the carriage 22.

The operating levers 90 and 92 in the plotter printer of this invention described above are applicable not only to the plotter printer used in the above embodiment but also to other plotter printers. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of writing instruments 152 are provided at fixed positions on a carriage body 150, and solenoids 154 are used to operate each writing instrument 152, similar to the plotter printer shown in FIG. The actuation lever can also be applied to a plotter printer provided separately for each writing instrument. That is, in this other embodiment, two actuation levers 156,1
58 are arranged one on top of the other in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and their operating levers 156 and 158 are rotatably attached to the same central shaft 160 that spans the carriage body 150. A notch (not shown) is provided at the upper end of each of these operating levers.
The tip small diameter portion 152 of the writing instrument 152 is inserted into the notch.
a... enters each. Those writing instruments 152
... is the rear support piece 16 erected on the frame 162
4 and the front support piece 166 together with the carriage main body 150.
supported in a fixed position above. A compression spring 168 is disposed at the rear end of the writing instrument 152. On the other hand, the lower ends of the operating levers 156, 158 are formed with action receiving portions 156a, 158a, respectively, with which the operating rods 170 of the solenoids 154 come into contact. Return compression springs 172 are disposed at the rear ends of the solenoids 154, giving the operating rod 170 a habit of always moving rightward in the figure. The compression springs 172 are made stronger than the compression springs 168 of the writing instrument described above. Therefore, when the solenoids 154 are energized, the respective operating rods 170 are retracted against the return compression springs 172, and at the same time, the writing instruments 152 are pushed by the compression springs 168, and the operating levers 156, 158 are It rotates around a central axis 160. Then, the writing instrument 152... is compressed by the compression spring 168.
The tip is brought into contact with the platen 174 by pressure based on the elastic force of the pen.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the writing instruments are arranged in two layers, one above the other, but they may be arranged in two or more layers. Therefore, in this case,
The operating levers are formed by overlapping two or more operating levers around the same central axis for each stage of the writing instrument.

Further, the above-mentioned actuating lever is constructed by forming an elongated fitting hole in the center of one actuating lever, and fitting the other actuating lever into the elongated fitting hole. However, the actuation levers are not limited to the above-described shape and structure as long as the actuation levers are rotatable around the same central axis and can be overlapped in the axial direction.

Effects According to this invention, in a plotter printer in which writing instruments are arranged in the direction of movement of the carriage and stacked in multiple stages in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement, the operating levers can be moved by the same central axis. Since they are arranged one on top of the other in the axial direction, the number of parts can be significantly reduced and the structure can be simplified. In addition, according to this invention, since a plurality of operating levers are placed one on top of the other, the operating levers can be concentrated and compacted, and the space required for their installation is small. The whole can be made smaller.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of the carriage of a conventional plotter printer. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of this invention, and is a plan view of a plotter printer according to this invention. 3 is a front view of the carriage seen from the platen side in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage seen from above in FIG. 3;
5 is a left side view of the carriage seen from the left side in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a rear view of the carriage seen from the left side in FIG. 5. Figure 7 shows
It is an exploded perspective view of the same carriage with a part omitted. FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an integral spring used in the same carriage. FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram of the plotter printer shown in FIG. 2. 1st
Figure 0 shows a flowchart when the plotter printer is turned on. FIG. 11 is a side view of the carriage of another plotter printer to which this invention is applied. 12...Platen, 22...Carriage, 88
...Writing instrument, 90, 92...Operating lever, 94...
...Central axis, 98, 110...Action receiver, 106...
...Mating hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A guide shaft is provided parallel to the platen, and a plurality of writing instruments, actuating levers, and solenoids are mounted on a carriage body that moves on the guide shaft, and these writing instruments are arranged in the direction of movement of the carriage body and also in the direction of movement. The writing instruments are stacked in multiple stages in a right angle direction, and the operating lever is moved by the solenoid to selectively operate one of the writing instruments, and the selected writing instrument is pressed against the writing sheet on the platen to move the carriage main body. In a plotter printer that writes on the writing sheet by rotating its platen, one operating lever is provided for each stage of the writing instrument, and each of the operating levers is rotatable independently about the same axis and The writing instrument is held movably integrally in the axial direction, is fixed to the guide shaft so as to be movable relative to the carriage body when the writing instrument is selected, and fixed to the carriage body so as not to be movable relative to the carriage body after selection. , Protsuta Printer.