JPH06309514A - Print mechanism for optical character reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a print mechanism of an optical character reader which can print the characters at optional positions on paper sheet and also can improve the print processing speed in a compact structure and at a low cost. CONSTITUTION:Many paper sheets 11 set on a hopper plate 1 are sent one by to a carrying path 5 through a paper feeding part 2. Then, the sheets 11 are collected on a stacker plate 6 along the path 5 and, at the same time, the image of the sheet 11 is optically read at an image input part 3 set at the middle part of the path 5. Then, a character recognizing part 4 confirms the characters from the image of the sheet 11, and the characters are printed on the sheet 11 in two directions at a printing part 7a. In such a constitution of a print mechanism of an optical character reader, a printing part shift mechanism 10 is added to the part 7a with an angle set in the shifting direction. Then, the pin array direction of a print head 8 is set at 45 deg. at the part 7a. Thus, the characters can be printed at optional positions on the sheets 11 with out overlapping on the characters to be recognized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing mechanism of a sheet moving type optical character reader.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing mechanism of a conventional optical character reading device, a device having a configuration shown in FIG. 3 or 4 is known.

That is, reference numeral 1 in the figure indicates a large number of paper sheets 11
Is a hopper plate for loading paper sheets, and the hopper plate 1 is moved upward so that the paper sheets 11 are fed one by one to the conveyance path 5 by the paper feeding section 2 provided on the upper part of the hopper plate 1. Has become.

Reference numeral 3 in the drawing is an image input unit, and the paper sheets 11 fed from the hopper plate 1 are optically taken in by the image input unit 3 and characters are read from the image taken in by the character recognition unit 4. Is being recognized.

Reference numeral 7a in the drawing denotes a printing unit, which is composed of a print head 8 and an ink ribbon cartridge 9. The pin arrangement direction of the print head 8 is mounted at a right angle to the carrying direction and is in the same direction as the carrying direction. Is printed. In addition, printing is performed when the paper sheets pass through the printing unit.

Further, FIG. 4 shows an example used in the case of printing also in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.
It has the same configuration as the above and has a printing unit 7b.

A print head 8 which is a component of the print section 7b
The pin arrangement direction is mounted in the same direction as the transport direction, and can be moved horizontally via the printing unit moving mechanism 10. In addition, the printing is performed once by stopping the paper sheets and printing section 7b.
Is performed by moving horizontally.

Reference numeral 6 in the drawing denotes a stacker plate, which is accumulated in the stacker plate when the character recognition and printing processes are completed.

Next, the operation of the printing mechanism of this optical character reader will be described.

First, the paper sheets 11 stacked on the hopper plate 1 come into contact with the paper feed section 2 by the upward movement of the hopper plate 1, and the paper feed path 2 conveys the paper sheets 11 one by one. Sent to.

The image of the delivered sheet is optically taken into the image input section 3 while passing through the image input section 3,
The character recognition unit 4 analyzes and recognizes the image data.

When the recognition result is obtained, the printing section 7a or 7b
And the necessary data is printed in the same direction as the conveying direction or at a right angle.

The printed sheets are conveyed to the stacker plate 6 and accumulated.

This operation is performed by the paper sheet 1 on the hopper plate 1.
The sequence is continuously performed until 1 is exhausted.

[0015]

In the printing mechanism of this conventional optical character reading device, when the printing position in the same direction as the conveying direction becomes a fixed value and overlaps with the character or the like to be recognized on the paper sheet. There was a problem that it became very difficult to see.

Further, when printing is performed in the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction, the paper sheets must be stopped once, so the printing range is restricted so that the processing speed does not decrease and the printing positions in the same direction as the carrying direction do not overlap. There was also a problem that was generated.

Further, in the case of printing in two directions, two sets of printing units are mounted, resulting in a large external dimension of the device and an increase in cost.

Therefore, the present invention improves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and enables printing at any position on a paper sheet, and
The present invention aims to reduce the size and cost of the apparatus and further improve the processing speed.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing mechanism of an optical character reading apparatus which prints by one printing section so that printing can be performed in two directions, the same direction as the conveying direction and the right angle direction. The print head is mounted so that the pin arrangement direction of the print head is at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the transport direction, and a print unit moving mechanism is provided so that the print unit can move in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

In the printing mechanism of the second optical character reading apparatus of the present invention, one printing unit can print in two directions, that is, the same direction as the conveying direction and the right angle direction. The printing unit moving mechanism of the printing mechanism of the first optical character reading apparatus of the present invention is mounted at an angle with respect to the conveyance direction so that printing can be performed without stopping the paper sheets.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, the same components as those of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a printing mechanism of a first optical character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the printing mechanism of this optical character reading device, a printing unit 7a moves horizontally. The print unit moving mechanism 10 is provided so as to be capable. In addition, the pin arrangement direction of the print head is set to 45 with respect to the paper sheet conveyance direction.
It is implemented with an angle of °.

The other construction is the same as that of the printing mechanism of the above-mentioned conventional optical character reader.

Next, the operation of the printing mechanism of this optical character reader will be described.

When the printing mechanism of the optical character reading device prints on the paper sheets, the paper sheets 11 loaded on the hopper plate 1 are first moved by the paper feeding section 2 after the hopper plate 1 is moved upward. The sheets are sent to the transport path 5 one by one.

The sent-out paper sheet is conveyed to the print start position after the image is optically taken into the image input section 3 while passing through the image input section 3, and the character recognition result by the character recognition section 4 is obtained. Wait until appears.

On the other hand, the printing unit 7a is previously moved to the print setting position by the printing unit moving mechanism 10. Then, the printing operation is performed at the same time when the character recognition result is obtained. When the printing direction is the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction, only the printing portion 7a is moved in the carrying stopped state to perform the printing in the right direction. When the printing operation in the perpendicular direction is completed, the printing unit 7a is moved again to reset the position in the carrying direction, and the printing operation and the carrying operation are started at the same time to carry out printing in the carrying direction.

The order of printing in the same direction and in the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction is arbitrary, and the order can be reversed.

The printed sheets are accumulated on the stacker plate 6.

This operation is sequentially and continuously performed until the paper sheets 11 on the hopper plate 1 are exhausted.

Therefore, according to the printing mechanism of this optical character reading device, the printing unit moving mechanism 10 causes the printing unit 7a to operate.
Can be set at any position, so that printing can be performed at any position on the paper sheet.

Since printing can be performed in two directions with one set of printing section, the size of the apparatus can be greatly reduced and the cost can be reduced. Second Embodiment FIG. 2 shows a printing mechanism of a second optical character reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing mechanism of this optical character reading device has a pin arrangement of a print head of a printing unit. The mounting is performed with an angle of 45 ° with respect to the sheet conveying direction, and the printing unit moving mechanism is mounted with an angle with respect to the conveying direction.

The other construction is the same as that of the printing mechanism of the conventional optical character reading device.

Next, the operation of the printing mechanism of this optical character reader will be described.

When the printing mechanism of the optical character reading device prints on the paper sheets, the paper sheets fed into the conveying path are moved to the print start position until the recognition result is obtained as in the first embodiment. It is transported and waits.

On the other hand, the printing unit 7a is previously moved to the print setting position by the printing unit moving mechanism 10. The printing operation is performed at the same time when the character recognition result is obtained.If the printing direction is the direction perpendicular to the transport direction, it can be started at the same time as the movement of the printing unit and the transportation of the paper sheets, Printing must be performed while synchronizing the direction component and the sheet conveying speed.

After the printing operation in the right angle direction is completed, the printing unit 7a is moved again to reset the position in the carrying direction and printing in the carrying direction is performed.

The order of printing in the same direction and in the direction perpendicular to the carrying direction is arbitrary, and the order can be reversed.

The printed sheets are stacker plates 6
Accumulated in.

This operation is sequentially and continuously performed until the paper sheets 11 on the hopper plate 1 are exhausted.

The operation up to the print standby is the same as in the first embodiment, so a detailed description will be omitted.

Therefore, according to the printing mechanism of this optical character reading device, the printing unit moving mechanism 10 causes the printing unit 7 to move.
Since a can be set at any position, printing can be performed at any position on the paper sheet.

Further, since printing can be performed in two directions with one set of printing section, it is possible to greatly reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the cost.

Further, since there is no transportation stop time during printing, the processing speed can be improved.

[0044]

As described above, according to the printing mechanism of the first optical character reading apparatus of the present invention, the printing unit moving mechanism 10 can set the printing unit 7a to an arbitrary position. The printing can be performed at any position of, and the printing operation can be performed without overlapping with the recognition target character.

Further, since printing can be performed in two directions with one set of printing section, it is possible to greatly reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the cost.

Further, according to the printing mechanism of the second optical character reading apparatus of the present invention, since the printing unit moving mechanism 10 can set the printing unit 7a to any position, printing can be performed at any position on the paper sheet. This enables the printing operation without overlapping the recognition target character.

Further, since printing can be carried out in two directions with one set of printing section, it is possible to greatly reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the cost.

Furthermore, since there is no conveyance stop time during printing, the processing speed can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show a printing mechanism of an optical character reader according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a schematic view, and FIG. 1B is a view taken along the line AA of FIG.

2A and 2B show a printing mechanism of an optical character reader according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2A is a schematic view, and FIG. 2B is a view taken along the line BB of FIG.

3A and 3B show a printing mechanism of a conventional optical character reading device, FIG. 3A is a schematic view, and FIG. 3B is a view taken along line CC of FIG.

4A and 4B show a printing mechanism of a conventional optical character reading device, FIG. 4A is a schematic view, and FIG. 4B is a view taken along the line DD of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hopper Plate 2 Paper Feeding Section 3 Image Input Section 4 Character Recognition Section 5 Conveying Path 6 Stacker Plate 7a Printing Section 7b Printing Section 8 Printing Head 9 Ribbon Cartridge 10 Printing Section Moving Mechanism 11 Paper Sheets 12 Pin Arrangement Direction

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper feeding unit feeds paper sheets one by one from a hopper plate on which a large number of paper sheets are stacked to a conveying path, and conveys the paper sheets to a stacking unit along the conveying path. The image input unit provided in the middle of the transport path optically reads the image of the paper sheet, the character recognition unit confirms the characters from the read image, and the pin arrangement direction of the print head is perpendicular to the transport direction. In the printing mechanism of the optical character reading device that prints in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the paper sheets with the printing unit mounted on the printer, a printing unit moving mechanism that moves the printing unit in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction is provided. Also, the pin arrangement direction of the print head is 45 ° with respect to the paper sheet conveyance direction.
A printing mechanism for an optical character reader, which is mounted at an angle. 2. A paper sheet is sent one by one from a hopper plate loaded with a large number of paper sheets to a conveying path by a paper feeding section, and the paper sheets are conveyed to the accumulating section along the conveying path, The image input unit provided in the middle of the transport path optically reads the image of the paper sheet, the character recognition unit recognizes the character from the read image, and the print head pin direction is perpendicular to the transport direction. In the printing mechanism of the optical character reading device that prints in the same direction as the paper sheet conveyance direction in the printing unit mounted in, the pin arrangement direction of the print head of the printing unit is set to the paper sheet conveyance direction. A printing mechanism for an optical character reading device, which is mounted at an angle of 45 ° and further mounted at an angle in a moving direction of a printing unit moving mechanism.