JPH0475955A - Paper carrier mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a slicing tape from separation due to heat of a fixing section by providing a tape sensor on a continuous paper running path from a splicing table to the front of a fixer so that continuous paper may not stop running when the splicing tape is located on the fixer. CONSTITUTION:A tape sensor 10 is provided between a splicing table 4 and a fixing section to detect splicing portions and a paper carry control section is provided so that the splicing portions may not stop at the fixing section. The sensor 10 reads a splicing tape 18 at a joining section to cause a stop instruction holding means 28 to measure a paper carrying amount D through a paper carrying amount count 20. Judging from such a procedure, if the tape 18 is located in a stop unavailable area B across a stop available area A, the holding means 28 carries the tape 18 outside the area B without stopping carrying paper 3 whether it is printed or not. To read the tape 18, an optical sensor is used as a detecting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a paper transport mechanism for transporting continuous paper, and particularly to a paper transport mechanism for an output printing machine such as an information processing apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, when continuous paper is used in the print media conveyance mechanism of a printing device, the edges of the paper are often spliced together with splicing tape in order to use the paper as effectively as possible without waste. .

A configuration diagram of a conventional paper transport mechanism and a functional block diagram of its control system are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In Figure 6, continuous paper 3 set in hopper 1
The presence or absence of ENDOFF PA is located immediately after hopper 1.
This is detected by the PER5 ENSER (hereinafter referred to as EOP sensor) 2, and when the paper in the hopper 1 runs out and the EOP sensor 2 detects a signal, the delay counting means 22 (Fig. 2) counts the time and immediately stops the paper conveyance. The end of the paper 3 is controlled to stop on the splicing table 4.

So, I set the new continuous paper 3 in the hopper,
On the splicing table 4, the starting end of the new paper 3 and the ending end of the stopped paper 3 after being used are joined by the splicing chive 18 accurately so that the paper does not expand or contract in the length of the paper (sprocket hole gap) (see FIG. 5).

By joining paper 3 in this way, even though the papers are joined, the printing process is treated as if they were all continuous without any effect, and the printing operation can be restarted. The printing process continues.

In FIG. 6, the continuous paper 3 for printing set in the hopper 1 is transported to the paper transport section 9. It is conveyed by the conveyance roller 16, and is conveyed by the heater roll 14 and the pressure roller 1.
The continuous paper 3 is conveyed by the loop tension plate 11 in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the continuous paper 3, so that the continuous paper 3 is always kept in tight contact with the preheat plate 13. In the printing process from image formation to fixation, an image is formed on the surface of the PC drum 7 with a laser beam 6 modulated by image information given from the outside, and is developed in a developing device 5, and then transferred to a transfer section 8. The image is transferred to continuous paper 3.

At this stage, the image is still only attached to the surface of the continuous paper 3 by electrostatic force, and as it is further conveyed, the toner forming the image is heated by the preheat plate 13 and temporarily welded. Ru.

Subsequently, the image is brought into pressure contact with the heater roll 14 heated to a high temperature by the pressure roller 15, and is completely fixed.

In this way, as long as externally applied print data is continued and continuous paper for printing is continuously replenished, the printing process continues, and the printed continuous paper is stacked on the stacker section 17.

The control system of this conventional paper conveyance mechanism consists of an EOP detection means 21 receiving a signal from an EOP sensor 2, as shown in FIG.
．． Delay counting means 22. Print detection means 23. Print control means 24. It is equipped with a paper conveyance control means 29 and a paper tension detection means 31, and controls drum rotation of the printing system 25, laser beam scanning, laser beam modulation, electrophotographic process operations of the developing device and the fixing device, and the paper conveyance system 30. In contrast, paper conveyance control is performed for tractor operation, tension control, fixing roller rotation, conveyance roller rotation, and stacking operation.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional paper conveyance mechanism described above, the normal printing process can be executed without any problem if the ends of the continuous paper are joined using splicing tape. If the paper stops near the roll 14, the adhesive on the splicing tape will be softened by the heat of the fixing section, and the adhesive strength will be greatly reduced. Therefore, when paper conveyance is restarted, the splicing tape may be peeled off due to the paper tension. The peeled splicing tape wraps around the conveyance roller 16, impeding paper conveyance and causing the stacker 17
In some cases, paper stacker jams may occur.

Also, if the brushing tape comes off while the paper is being conveyed, it is the same as when the paper has run out, and the subsequent image and the transferred paper will not be conveyed correctly to the fixing unit, resulting in poor fixing, and the paper will be re-transferred. The printing job must be redone, resulting in wasted paper and work, and this also makes the operator feel insecure about the machine.

Such a drawback is also a problem in terms of the reliability of the apparatus, and in the above-mentioned conventional paper conveyance mechanism, such joining of paper sheets is not a function that is highly recommended to users.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to prevent the splicing tape from peeling off due to the heat of the fusing section, so as to prevent problems such as stacker jams, fusing failures, and operator anxiety about the equipment. To provide a paper conveyance mechanism that allows paper splicing work to be carried out with peace of mind without any problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

The paper conveyance mechanism of the present invention sequentially passes continuous paper from a hopper to a splicing table, a PC drum, and a fixing device for printing, and when the continuous paper on the hopper is used up, the end of the continuous paper is transferred to the splicing machine. After stopping the paper on the table and joining the starting end of the newly set continuous paper in the hopper with the end of the used continuous paper using a splicing chive, the printing operation is restarted, and the printing operation is resumed from the splicing table to the front of the fixing device. A tape sensor provided on a running path of the continuous paper detects the splicing tape, and a transport amount of the continuous paper is determined, and when the splicing tape is on the fixing device, the running of the continuous paper is not stopped. It is characterized by

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a block diagram of a paper conveyance mechanism and its control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The presence or absence of the continuous paper 3 set in the hopper 1 is determined when the paper 3 in the hopper 1 runs out and the EOP sensor 2 detects that the paper is interrupted and outputs a signal, and soon the end of the paper 3 stops on the spline sink table 4. As you do,
The paper feeding system is controlled. Also, after setting the new continuous paper 3 in the hopper 1, the splicing table 4
The above method of joining the sheets with the splicing tape is the same as the conventional sheet transport mechanism shown in FIG.

The paper conveyance mechanism of this embodiment includes a splicing table 4
It has a tape sensor 10 for detecting the splicing part on the dark paper transport path between the fixing part and the paper transport control part to prevent the splicing part from stopping at the fixing part.

Splicing tape 18 at the joint as shown in FIG.
When the tape sensor 10 outputs a reading signal 19, the stop instruction holding means 28 (see FIG. 2) performs a paper transport amount count 20 to measure the paper transport amount. Judging from the paper conveyance weight, the splicing chive 18 crosses the stoppable area (from the splicing table 4 to the loop tension plate 11) A shown in FIG.
(from the exit side of the loop tension plate 11 to the conveyance roller 16), the stop instruction holding means 28 conveys the splicing tape 18 outside the area B without stopping the conveyance of the paper 3 regardless of whether or not there is printing. let The flow of this control is shown in FIG.

There are various ways to read the splicing chive 18, such as using a colored splicing tape using an optical sensor as a detection means, or making a part of the splicing tape conductive and using an electrical detection means. The method is feasible.

Further, in an apparatus equipped with a so-called toner mark detection sensor for detecting print density, it is also possible to use it as the optical detection means of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control system of this embodiment includes EOP detection means 21. Delay counting means 22. Print detection means 23. Print control means 24. In addition to the paper conveyance control means 29 and the paper tension detection means 31, the splice portion position determination means 27 receives signals from the tape sensor 10. It includes a stop instruction holding means 28 and a paper conveyance control means 29, and controls the printing system 25 and the paper conveyance system 30.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, the paper conveyance mechanism of the present invention detects the splice tape of continuous paper and performs control to prevent it from stopping at the fixing section, thereby eliminating the problem of peeling of the splicing tape, which has been a problem with conventional paper conveyance mechanisms. can be prevented from occurring. This eliminates secondary problems such as stacker jams because the peeled splicing tape wraps around the feeding system. By actively using the splicing function, you can eliminate waste before and after continuous paper and make effective use of it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are respectively a block diagram of a paper conveying mechanism and a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are a block diagram of a splicing tape according to the embodiment shown in FIG. Diagram illustrating unstoppable area B, flowchart illustrating a method for holding instructions, and diagram illustrating splicing tape, No. 6
7 and 7 are a block diagram of a conventional paper transport mechanism and a control system, respectively. 1... Hopper 2... EOP sensor, 3...
Continuous paper, 4... Splicing table, 5...
Developing device, 6... Laser, 7... P-C drum, 8
...Transfer section, 9...Paper transport section, 10...Tape sensor 11...Loop tension plate, 12.
...Heater 13...Preheat plate, 14...Heater roll, 15...Pressure roller, 16...
Conveyance roller, 17... stacker

Claims (1)

[Claims] Continuous paper is transferred from the hopper to the splicing table, P.
The continuous paper on the hopper is sequentially passed through the C drum and the fixing device for printing, and when the continuous paper on the hopper is used, the trailing end of the continuous paper is stopped on the splicing table and the starting end of the continuous paper newly set in the hopper is transferred to the splicing table. After joining the end of the finished continuous paper with a splicing tape, the printing operation is restarted, and a tape sensor provided on the running path of the continuous paper from the splicing table to before the fixing device detects the splicing tape. A paper conveyance mechanism characterized in that the conveyance amount of the continuous paper is determined from the position of the continuous paper, and the traveling of the continuous paper is not stopped when the splicing tape is on the fixing device.