JPH03218873A - Printer and sheet containing box - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To gradually cut a continuous sheet from the end of its cut position by recognizing the cut position of the sheet, securing one side of the sheet with the cut position as a boundary, holding the other part by a grip member, and then so moving the member as to be separated from the cut position. CONSTITUTION:When a sheet feed motor is driven, after printing, and a sewing line 3b passes a sheet guide 5, the line is recognized by an image sensor 15. Then, a sheet holding motor is driven to rotate a cam 10 in a direction of an arrow A, thereby releasing the engagement of a sheet holding arm 7. Accordingly, the arm 7 is received by the tension of a spring 9 to be moved downward. In this case, a fan folding sheet 3 is interposed between the guide 5 and a sheet holding member 6 to be held near the line 3b. Then, the electromagnet of a sheet grip 13 is energized, and the grip 13 holds the part of one side of the sheet 3. Thereafter, a motor 14 is driven to rotate a sheet cutting arm 11 in a direction of an arrow B. Thus, the sheet 3 is gradually broken from the end of the line 3b in a direction of an arrow C and finally completely broken.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer that uses continuous paper such as fanfold paper as printing paper, and peripheral equipment for the printer.

[Conventional technology]

Fanfold paper, which has holes on both sides to engage with the bin of the printer's paper feed tractor, and has perforations for continuous fan-folding in the longitudinal direction, has been widely used as printing paper for printers. are doing. Now, when cutting the fanfold paper from the perforation after printing, as mentioned in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-52584, the position of the blade of the paper cutter placed on the paper ejection side and the perforation must be adjusted accurately. They were assembled and cut by hand.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in these conventional examples, unless cutting is performed by aligning the perforation with the blade position of the paper cutter extremely accurately, the cutting position is likely to deviate from the perforation and the paper is cut.
Additionally, there was a problem that tears occurred at the edges of the paper. Furthermore, when printing and outputting a large amount of paper, it is extremely troublesome and inconvenient to manually cut the paper at the perforations each time.

Furthermore, since the paper is cut by hand, if the paper is cut by a person who is not accustomed to cutting paper, excessive force may be applied to the paper, resulting in paper jams or poor paper feeding. For this reason, in particular, printers installed at information centers such as stations and department stores are often used by an unspecified number of people, so their use is often prohibited due to malfunctions.

The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its first purpose is to recognize the cut point of continuous paper, such as the perforation of fanfold paper, and automatically cut the cut point accurately. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of cutting continuous paper.

The printer of the present invention makes it possible to automatically cut continuous paper, but in addition to this useful feature, paper cutting that occurs when the continuous paper is randomly scattered or overlapped irregularly after the paper exits can be avoided. A second object is to provide a storage box for storing cut continuous paper in order to solve the conventional problems such as jamming.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the printer of the present invention includes: a recognition means for recognizing a cut point of continuous paper; a grip member for holding a part of the continuous paper; a movable member having the grip member; and a fixing means for releasing the fixing force, and the grip member is disposed at a position away from the range of the paper fixed to the paper fixing means in the paper feeding direction, and when the paper is fed, the cutting point is moved from the range to the paper fixing means. After passing through
The continuous paper is fixed by the fixing means, and then,
The present invention is characterized in that the paper movable member moves in a direction in which the grip member moves away from the cutting location.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that a paper storage box for storing cut continuous paper is provided.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the cutting position of the continuous paper is recognized, one side of the continuous paper is fixed at the cutting position, the grip member holds the other part of the continuous paper, and then,
Since the grip member moves away from the cutting position, the continuous paper is gradually cut from the end of the cutting position.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front perspective external view of an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the printer, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one component of the printer. In the figure, 1 is a rectangular platen, and below this platen 1, left and right tractors 2 are arranged. On the other hand, paper feed holes 3a are provided at regular intervals on both sides of the fanfold paper 3, and the fanfold paper 3 is fed toward the platen 1 by engaging the paper feed holes 3a with the bins of the tractor 2. . A print head 4 is disposed opposite the platen l, and when the fanfold paper 3 passes through the platen 1, the print head 4
is activated and printing is not possible. These series of basic operations are similar to those of the prior art.

Now, the feature of the present invention lies in the processing technology of the fanfold paper after printing, and the area around the fanfold paper after passing through the platen has a unique structure.

A paper guide 5 having a width longer than the width of the fanfold paper 3 is arranged above the platen 1, and the fanfold paper 3 after printing is sent along this paper guide 5. Bins 8 are formed in two places on the left and right behind the paper guide 5 in the printer main body, and a U-shaped paper holding arm 7 shown in FIG. 3 is supported with the pin 8 as a fulcrum. A part of the paper guide 5 is located so as to cover the upper part of the paper guide 5. Further, a paper holding member 6 made of rubber is attached to the paper holding arm 7 at a position facing the paper guide 5 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the fanfold paper 3. Here, the length of the paper holding member 6 is set longer than the width of the fanfold paper 3,
Above the fanfold paper 3, it covers the fanfold paper from the right end to the left end without interruption. moreover,
Springs 9 are applied to both sides of the paper holding arm 7 to receive a downward force, but the cam 10 is placed below the paper holding arm 7 and comes into contact with a part of the paper holding arm 7, so that The paper holding arm 7 is locked. Therefore, a certain gap is maintained between the paper holding member 6 and the paper guide 5 through which the fanfold paper 3 can pass. The cam 10 can rotate in the direction of arrow A by receiving power from a paper holding motor (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a paper cutting section of the same printer. A paper cutting arm 11 is located diagonally above the paper guide 5 as a fulcrum 1.
The paper cutting arm 11 is supported rotatably around a fulcrum 12, and a gear 11a around a fulcrum 12 is formed in a part of the paper cutting arm 11. Here, the paper cutting arm 11 is arranged so as to be located above the fanfold paper 3 that has passed through the paper guide 5.

Further, the end of the paper cutting arm 11 is provided with a U-shaped paper grip 13 consisting of a grip member 13a and a grip member 13b, and the fanfold paper 3 sent from the paper guide 5 is held by the grip member. 13a and the grip member 13b. Now, the grip member 13a has an electromagnet inside, while a part of the grip member 13b is formed of a magnetic material, and by energizing the electromagnet, the grip member 13b is crimped to the grip member 13a. It is configured to do this. Further, a motor 14 is arranged near the fulcrum 12 so as to be able to transmit power to the gear 11a via a pinion 14a. An image sensor 15 is disposed above the fanfold paper 3 between the paper guide 5 and the paper grip 13, and can sense the surface condition of the fanfold paper 30 that has passed between the paper guide 5 and the paper holding member 6. .

Next, the operation of the present invention based on the above configuration will be explained. After printing, a paper feed motor (not shown) is driven, and when the perforation 3b passes the paper guide 5, the perforation is recognized by the image sensor 15. Then, a paper holding motor (not shown) is driven and the cam 10 rotates in the direction of arrow A.
Release the lock of the paper holding arm 7. Then, the paper holding arm 7 receives the tension of the spring 9 and moves downward. (
(See FIG. 5) At this time, the fanfold paper 3 is held between the paper guide 5 and the paper holding member 6 near the perforation 3b and at a position parallel to the perforation 3b. Next, the electromagnet of the paper grip 13 is energized, and the paper grip 13
supports a part of one side of the fanfold paper 3. Thereafter, the paper cutting arm 11 is rotated in the direction of arrow B by the drive of the motor 14. As a result, fanfold paper 3
is gradually torn in the direction of arrow C from the end of perforation 3b, and is finally completely cut off. (See Figure 6) After the fanfold paper 3 is cut at the perforation 3b, the grip 13
The power to the electromagnet is cut off, and the fanfold paper 3 is released from the grip 13 and falls into the paper storage box 16 provided below the grip l3. This solves conventional problems such as paper jams caused by continuous sheets of paper after the paper exit being scattered or irregularly overlapping, and the paper after printing is stored in the paper storage box 16.

(See FIG. 7) Since the printing paper is stored in an organized manner in the paper storage box 16, it is easy to take out the printing paper. Furthermore, it is more convenient if the paper storage box 16 is made removable from the printer body.

On the other hand, after cutting the paper, the cam 10 rotates, contacts the paper holding arm 7 again, and lifts the paper holding arm 7, thereby releasing the fixation of the fanfold paper 3 and making it possible to feed the paper. Further, the paper cutting arm 11 is returned to its initial position before cutting by the rotation of the motor 14.

The above is an explanation of the automatic paper cutting operation of the present invention.

Note that this automatic paper cutting operation can also be canceled by a switch provided on the printer body.

In the embodiment described above, a mechanism such as a paper holding arm is used as a means for fixing the paper, but instead of using such a mechanism, the bin of the tractor can be fixed by applying hold power to the motor driving the tractor. It is also possible to fix the paper.

Furthermore, when using roll paper or the like that does not have paper feed holes, the paper can also be fixed by fixing a friction roller that presses against the paper. Further, as for the paper cutting method, in addition to the arm-type movable member, a slider-type movable member or the like may be used.

In this embodiment, a printer has been described in which the paper is cut at the perforation line. However, the cutting location does not necessarily have to be a perforation. Cutting at a portion other than the perforation can be made possible by providing a sharp blade on the paper guide 5, paper holding arm 7, etc. of the printer of this embodiment. That is, the paper cutting 8N of the present invention
The horizontal side has the unprecedented effect of being able to reliably cut perforations without shifting, and by changing or setting a few parts, it is also possible to cut the paper at any position, similar to the conventional paper cutting #1 oval. It has the characteristic of being

Next, a description will be given of a recognition means for recognizing the cut portion of the paper. In this example, the image sensor directly recognizes the perforation position, but if you use white paper and mark only the perforation with a black mark, an inexpensive optical detector that distinguishes between brightness and darkness can detect the perforation position. It becomes a means of recognition. Also, fanfold paper has perforations set at regular intervals, for example every 11 inches, so once you know the perforation position, the perforation will always be the position you feed the paper at a regular interval from there. By recording the first perforation position, subsequent perforation positions can be recognized without using a detector.

Above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail based on the drawings,
Regarding its basic structure, several examples were given and additional explanations were given. However, it is clear that the convenient effect of automatic paper cutting, which is a feature of the present invention, is not limited to only one embodiment.

Further, in addition to the present invention, if a paper storage box is provided, the paper after printing is arranged in order, not only can paper jams and the like be prevented, but also paper can be easily taken out, which is convenient.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention automatically cuts the continuous paper by recognizing the cutting position of the continuous paper, fixing one side of the continuous paper with the cutting position as a boundary, and holding and moving the other with the grip member. This eliminates the hassle of conventional manual paper cutting, making it extremely convenient. In addition, paper jams can be prevented because the paper is always cut at the correct position and with a stable force. Furthermore, by providing a paper storage box, it has various effects such as tidying up the paper and improving ease of taking out the paper.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front perspective external view of a printer that is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the printer, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of some parts of the printer, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the printer. FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the paper cutting portion of the same printer, FIG. 5 is a partial operational view of the same printer, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the same printer during paper cutting operation, and FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the same printer. 1... Platen 2... Tractor 3... Fanfold paper 5... Paper guide 6... Paper holding member 7... ... Paper holding arm 11 ... Paper cutting arm 13 ... Grip member 15 ... Image sensor 16 ... Paper storage box or more

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Consisting of a recognition means for recognizing the cut point of the continuous paper, a grip member for holding a part of the continuous paper, a movable member having the grip member, and a fixing means for fixing or releasing the continuous paper. , the grip member is disposed at a position away from the range of the paper fixed to the paper fixing means in the paper feeding direction, and after the cut point passes through the range by paper feeding, the continuous cutting part is fixed by the fixing means. A printer characterized in that the paper is fixed, and then the movable member moves in a direction in which the grip member moves away from the cutting location. (2) A paper storage box for storing continuous paper cut by the printer according to claim 1.