JPH059185Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a printer device that prints on print media of different thicknesses such as notebooks, and in particular, the invention relates to a printer device that prints on print media of different thicknesses such as notebooks. Widen the gap between the platen and print head, or
The present invention relates to a printer device formed to be narrowed.

Recently, printing media by printer devices are single sheets,
It has come to be used not only for continuous forms but also for postcards, envelopes, notebooks, etc., and its usage is on the rise.

As for such printing media, general single sheets and continuous forms can be printed using a normal printer device, but when printing on thick items such as postcards, envelopes, and notebooks, it is necessary to obtain the specified print quality. for,
Printing is only possible with a printer device that is configured to widen the gap between the platen and print head depending on the thickness.

Therefore, in printers that use postcards, envelopes, notebooks, etc. other than general forms as print media, consideration is given to allowing the gap described above to be widened or narrowed as necessary.

However, especially in the case of a notebook, when printing on each of the two open sides, the thickness may differ between one side and the other during the printing process, and even during the printing process, there may be gaps each time. must be changed. It has been desired that such a gap change be performed by a simple operation.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the structure was as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 2a and a side view of essential parts in FIG. 2b.

As shown in FIG. 2a, a printer device 1 equipped with a printing mechanism has a paper feed section 2 into which a cassette is attached and a print medium is fed out, and an insertion section 3 into which a print medium is manually inserted. By operating the operator panel 4 provided on the side wall, predetermined printing is performed on the print medium fed in from the paper feed section 2 or the insertion section 3, and the paper output section (not shown) on the back side is provided with a The paper is configured to be ejected in the direction of arrow G.

In such a printer device 1, when printing on a thick printing medium such as a postcard or an envelope as described above, printing is performed by inserting it into the insertion section 3,
By operating the lever 5, the cap is set according to the thickness of the printing medium to perform appropriate printing.

Further, this printing mechanism is constructed as shown in FIG. 2b.

The printing head 11 is held by a carriage 17 so as to face the platen 10 at a predetermined distance S, and the carriage 17 is slid along guide shafts 7 and 8 stretched in the width direction to perform space feeding. The carriage 17 and the guide shaft 7 are connected to the lever 5.
It is configured to be locked by an eccentric cam 18 which is rotated via a belt 9 by rotation in the direction of arrow C.

Therefore, the printing medium is transferred to the roller 15 from the direction of arrow F.
and 16 are rotated to feed the paper into the printing section at a distance S, and after printing, the rollers 13 and 14 are rotated and sent in the direction of arrow E to perform printing.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

With such a configuration, for example, when printing on the notebook 6 shown in FIG. 2A as a print medium, the page to be printed is opened and inserted into the insertion section 3 as shown by the arrow.

However, in the open notebook 6, the thickness of one side is t1 and the thickness of the other side is t2, and since each thickness is different, by operating the lever 5 during printing, the appropriate thickness can be printed on sides A and B. It is necessary to print.

That is, when printing on the opened notebook 6 as described above, first, by rotating the lever 5, the print head 11 is moved in the direction of arrow D to narrow the interval S and print on the surface A. Next, after printing on surface A is completed, the printing head 11 is similarly moved in the direction of arrow D by rotating the lever 5 in the opposite direction to that described above, and this time, the interval S is widened and printing on surface B is performed. It turns out.

Therefore, while checking the printed area, press lever 5.
Since these operations are difficult, there has been a problem in that printing on a printing medium such as a notebook 6 whose thickness changes during printing becomes difficult.

[Means for solving problems]

The problem mentioned above is that there is a detection unit that detects the leading edge of the print medium and calculates when parts of the print medium with different thicknesses reach the print head, and an output signal from the detection unit that shakes the carriage. The problem is solved by a printer device according to the present invention, which is provided with a drive unit for moving the printer.

[Effect]

That is, for print media of different thicknesses, the detection unit detects that the areas with different thicknesses reach the printing unit, notifies the drive unit, and causes the drive unit to activate the eccentric cam mechanism. The gap between the platen and the printing head can be widened or narrowed by driving and moving the carriage.

As a result, there is no need to operate a lever during printing as in the past, and the gap can be automatically adjusted to obtain a predetermined print quality according to each thickness.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in FIG. Figures a and b in Fig. 1 are side views of main parts.
Note that the same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

The carriage 20 holding the print head 11 is locked so as to be rotated around the guide shaft 8, and the guide shaft 7 is inserted into the groove 20A at the tip, and further,
A support plate 21 fixed to the tip end is rotatably provided with a roller 22, and the roller 22 has a rail 23 rotatably fixed to the frame 1A.
A wire 24 is provided and stretched across a guide roller 25 so that one end is locked to a rail 23 and the other end is locked to a solenoid 26.

Further, the solenoid 26 is formed to be driven by a drive section 28 that receives a signal output from the detection section 27 by detecting the tip of the photo sensor 29, and the other structure is the same as described above.

As shown in FIG. 1a, when the notebook 6 is inserted and printing is performed on the surface A, a gap of X1 is maintained between the groove 20A and the guide shaft 7, and the spacing between the printing heads 11 is S1. is set and printing is performed.

Also, the thick side B of the notebook 6 is the print head 1.
The timing to reach the printing part 1 is determined by photo sensor 2.
The detection unit 27 calculates this by detecting the tip of the notebook 6 in step 9. This calculation can be easily performed using a predetermined notebook 6. Then, at that timing, a signal is sent to the drive section 28. In response to this signal, the drive section 28 turns the solenoid 26 "ON", and the wire 24 is pulled in the direction of arrow H, causing the rail 23
The carriage 20 is rotated about the guide shaft 8 through the rollers 22 and the support plate 21, and the print head 11 is moved in the direction of arrow K and positioned as shown in FIG. 1B.

Due to this rotation, the gap between the groove 20A and the guide shaft 7 becomes a gap of X2, which is opposite to the above, and the print head 1
The interval 1 is S2, which is wider than the above-mentioned S1, and printing can be performed on the thick side B.

Furthermore, when printing on surface B is completed, the solenoid 26 is turned OFF by detecting the rear end of the photo sensor 29.
The print head 11 moves in the direction of arrow L due to its own weight, and the carriage 2 moves in the opposite direction to the above.
0 is rotated and the wire 24 is transferred in the direction of arrow I, so that it is returned and prepared for the next printing.

In the explanation of the present invention, the gap is adjusted to S2 which is wider than S1 which is narrower, but it is also possible to adjust S1 which is narrower than S2 which is wider, and the same effect can be obtained in this case as well.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention is configured so that the gap of the printing section is adjusted according to the thickness at the timing when the thickness of the printing medium differs in the printing section by detecting the leading edge of the printing medium.

As a result, there is no need to use a lever to adjust the gap of the printing part during the printing process as in the past, and printing on printing media of different thickness can be easily performed, which has a great practical effect. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a and b are side views of the main parts, and FIG. 2 is a conventional one, in which a is a perspective view and b is a side view of the main parts. In the figure, 1 is a printer device, 2 is a paper feed unit,
3 is the insertion section, 4 is the operator panel, 5 is the lever, 6 is the notebook, 7 and 8 are the guide shafts, 9 is the belt,
10 is a platen, 11 is a print head, 13,1
4, 15, 16, 22 are rollers, 17, 20 are carriages, 18 is an eccentric cam, 21 is a support plate, 23
24 is a rail, 24 is a wire, 25 is a guide roller, 26 is a solenoid, 27 is a detection section, 28 is a drive section, and 29 is a photo sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A printer comprising a printing head opposed to a platen at a predetermined interval and a carriage that transports the printing head along a guide shaft, the thickness of the printing medium being different between the first half and the second half during printing. The printer device is configured to swing the carriage in a predetermined direction so as to increase or decrease the interval, the printer device detecting the leading edge of the printing medium and allowing parts of the printing medium with different thicknesses to reach the printing head. What is claimed is: 1. A printer apparatus comprising: a detecting section that calculates the value of the image forming apparatus; and a driving section that swings the carriage based on an output signal of the detecting section.