JPH0652924B2 - Input/Output Devices - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an input/output device such as a facsimile.

(Prior Art) A facsimile machine in which a single feed roller is provided for both transmission and reception (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-22353)
or a unit with an integrated transmitting and receiving head (JP Patent Publication 56-3427
(See Publication No. 3). However, in this case, the transport paths for the document and the recording paper are separate, making the device large and complicated in configuration. There are also examples where the transport paths are partially shared, but there are no examples where the device is combined with an integrated head to achieve compactness. Also, a sensor is provided between the roll paper holder and the recording unit to detect the presence or absence of recording paper (end detection) and the amount of remaining paper, which increases costs.

(Objective of the Invention) The present invention has been made to improve upon the problems of the prior art described above, and aims to provide an input/output device which promotes the sharing of functional parts for document reading and recording operations, thereby realizing simplified configuration, miniaturization of the device, and low cost.

(Configuration of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the input/output device of the present invention comprises a recording unit which records image information on a rolled recording paper, a reading unit which reads the image information of an original document and detects the condition or shape of the recording paper, transport rollers which transport the original document and the recording paper, a head unit which positions the reading unit on the upstream side in the transport direction and the recording unit on the downstream side, and a cutter which cuts off the portion of the recording paper on which the image information is recorded by the recording unit, and after cutting by the cutter, the transport rollers are reversed to pull the rolled recording paper back to the front of the reading unit.

According to the above-mentioned configuration, one transport roller is used for transporting both the document and the recording paper, and the state or shape of the recording paper is detected by the reading section. This makes it possible to omit the detection sensor that was previously required, thereby reducing the number of parts,
This results in a significant cost reduction. In addition, since a roll of recording paper is used, after the recorded portion is cut off from the roll by a cutter, the unrecorded portion is pulled back to the front of the reading section by the reverse rotation of the transport roller.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a document table, 2 is a separation roller, 3 is a separation piece, 4 is a recording paper roll, 5 is a delivery roller, 6 is a tension roller, 7 is a
denotes a feed roller, 10 denotes a head unit formed by integrating the reading section 8 and the recording section 9, 11 and 12 denote a fixed blade and a rotary blade that form a cutter, 13 denotes a discharge roller, 14 denotes a tension roller, and 15 denotes a cutter.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The originals are separated and drawn out one by one from the original table 1 by the separation roller 2 and the separation piece 3, read by the reading unit 8, and then discharged to the stacker 15 by the discharge roller 13. At this time, the head unit 10 moves leftward by a distance of l/2, or the feed roller 7 moves rightward by the same distance, so that the reading unit 8 comes into proper contact with the feed roller 7 and reading becomes possible. The cutter does not operate. On the other hand, for recording, since the leading edge of the recording paper drawn out from the recording paper roll 4 is between the feed roller 5 and the feed roller 7, when a recording signal is received, the paper is fed into the recording unit 9 by the feed roller 7. After recording, the paper moves further, is cut by the cutter, and is discharged to the stacker 15 by the discharge roller 13. At this time, the head unit 10 moves rightward by a distance of l/2, or the feed roller 7 moves leftward by the same distance, so that the recording unit 9 comes into proper contact with the feed roller 7 and recording becomes possible. The cut, blank recording paper is pulled back to its initial position by the feed roller 7 and the delivery roller 5. The drive system is not shown in the figure.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the head unit 10, which is an integral combination of the reading section (contact sensor) and the recording section (thermal head), and the single feed roller 7, which is used for both reading and writing, are displaced by a small distance relative to each other.
Reading and recording are both possible, and the transport path and transport drive system can be shared, resulting in significant cost reduction and miniaturization.

2 shows the mechanism for displacing the feed roller 7. The position of the feed roller 7 shown by the solid line is the position during recording, and the dashed line is the position during reading. The lever 18 is pulled against the biasing force of the compression spring 17 by the attraction of the solenoid 16, and the lever 18 rotates about the fulcrum 19, displacing the feed roller 7 and switching it from the recording section to the reading section. To facilitate the movement of the feed roller 7 during switching, a solenoid 20 is provided.
, and the head unit
The solenoid 20 is provided to temporarily lift the head unit 10 by suction when an original or recording paper arrives, ensuring that the original or recording paper is gripped, but may not be necessary depending on the contact pressure, transport force, and other conditions.

Fig. 3 shows a mechanism for displacing the head unit 10 in the opposite manner to Fig. 2. The attraction of the solenoid 22 pulls the lever 24 against the biasing force of the compression spring 23, causing the lever 24 to rotate about the fulcrum 25, displacing the head unit 10 and switching it from the reading section to the recording section. Note that a motor and a cam may be used instead of the solenoid to move the lever.

There are layout issues with the placement of the reading and recording units,
By disposing the reading unit on the upstream side of the conveying path, the reading unit can detect the leading edge and trailing edge of the recording paper, as well as the remaining amount.
The state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, etc. can be detected. Figure 4 shows an example of detecting the remaining amount of recording paper. Characters 27 or marks 28 indicating the remaining amount are printed on the roll of paper.
For example, it can be printed in yellow (a color different from the color of the recording paper and which does not cause any problems) and the remaining amount can be detected by reading it.

In the conventional apparatus, generally, there are problems such as the presence or absence of recording paper in the recording paper transport path leading to the recording unit, the jam of recording paper, and in the case of an apparatus which allows the use of recording paper of different sizes, the shape of the recording paper,
A paper sensor is provided to detect the size (paper width).
In addition, a mark is placed on the recording paper to indicate that the remaining recording paper is low, and the recording paper near-end (meaning that the recording paper will soon run out) is detected by detecting the mark. This is to avoid applying power to the recording element when there is no recording paper. Also, abnormal conditions of the device such as recording paper jams in the transport path, skew (oblique movement), and recording outside the recording paper width are detected, and warnings and indications are given to the operator.

The following describes in detail how to detect the time lapse of the conveyance of the recording paper, the state of the recording paper, the shape of the recording paper, and how to read characters, symbols, etc. printed on the recording paper.
In this embodiment (FIG. 1), the reading section uses a contact type sensor, but the driving method and operation of the sensor are well known and therefore will not be described here.

In a reading device using a contact sensor, a white roller is used as a feed roller (JP Patent Publication 58-73275
In the present embodiment,
A white roller is used as a feed roller for both reading and recording. Note that the roller for recording does not necessarily have to be white.

The first problem is whether the reading unit can distinguish between the white of the recording paper and the white of the roller when using a white feed roller, i.e., whether the recording paper can be detected. The reading unit uses an LED (light emitting diode) or other illumination to detect the reflected light from the document and read it.
The same is true for recording paper. In FIG. 5, if the range that the sensor of the reading section can read (the distance between the sensor and the object surface where the sensor can read information from the object surface, called the focal depth of the sensor here) is p, when there is no recording paper, the lower part of the reading section will have a focal depth of p
Since the feed roller is located at a position of a larger distance q and there are no other members within the focal depth p, the sensor does not detect the object. On the other hand, when the recording paper is conveyed, the recording paper passes within or near the focal depth p of the sensor, so it becomes the object of detection. Therefore, depending on whether or not the detection object is within the focal depth, the signal from the reading unit changes accordingly, for example, if there is no object within the focal depth... a "black" signal, if there is an object within the focal depth... a "white" signal. Of course, even in the latter case, if a symbol or character as shown in Figure 4 is printed on the recording paper, it is the same as when reading a document. Then, the "black" and "white" signals are input to the system control unit, and various state judgments are performed. These system control units can also be processed by software such as a μCPU. The guide plate 30 in Figure 5 guides the recording paper so that it passes through a specified position.

(a) Method of detecting the time-dependent state of the recording paper Jams during transport, maximum recording length, time restrictions, etc. will be mainly explained with reference to Fig. 1. The leading edge of the recording paper is at a specified position between the delivery roller 5 and the feed roller 7.
When the recording operation starts, the recording paper is conveyed a predetermined distance at a predetermined speed. If the reading unit 8 cannot detect the recording paper after a predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the conveying system and an abnormality (jam) is detected. The flow is shown in FIG.
Next, when the recording paper is detected, recording is started, and when recording is finished, if recording continues indefinitely, that is, in some input/output devices, in such a case, a maximum length of recording is set and an abnormality of some kind is judged to have occurred, but this is possible by detecting the amount or time of transport of the recording paper.
Figure 6(b) shows the flow of maximum length restriction, and Figure 6(c) shows the corresponding time chart. In Figure 6(c), the time from detection of the recording paper is monitored, and the time T is measured and judged. Note that although it is shown as time here, the transport amount can also be judged. That is, transport is generally performed by a pulse motor, and it is possible to judge the transport amount of the recording paper by counting the number of steps.

(b) Method of detecting the state of recording paper This involves detecting the presence or absence of recording paper, skew, etc. The presence or absence of recording paper can be detected by the method described in (a). Next, recording paper skew can be detected as shown in Figures 7(a) and (b). When recording paper enters in the state shown in Figure 7(a), the signal from the reading line (main scanning direction) L becomes a signal like that shown in Figure 7(b), and as the recording paper is transported, the signal changes sequentially from , , ... , and it can be determined from these signals that the recording paper is skewed. The change in signal as the paper is transported can be determined by image processing.

(c) Method of detecting the shape of the recording paper An example of detecting the width size is shown in Fig. 8. A signal of a width corresponding to the width of the recording paper is obtained. If the leading edge of the recording paper is deformed due to a tear or the like, it is detected as shown in Fig. 9. A black signal is output corresponding to the torn portion x,
This is how it is determined.

(d) Reading symbols and characters printed on the recording paper. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the diameter of the recording paper roll gradually decreases and the remaining paper is low, a recording paper near-end mark appears. The reading unit detects or reads this, and the system control unit judges it to be necessary and issues a warning to the operator (buzzer, display, etc.), or
When communicating, it is also possible to notify the other device that "our recording paper is near end."

As described above, when the recording operation starts, the reading unit can detect various states and conditions of the recording paper while the recording paper is being transported, even after the recording paper has reached the recording unit and printing has started.
Furthermore, after detecting that there is no more recording paper, if the recording section is conveyed a predetermined distance, it is clear that there will be no more recording paper in the recording section, so recording can be stopped.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a single transport roller is used to transport both the document and the recording paper, and a head unit is provided with a reading section on the upstream side of the transport direction and a recording section on the downstream side, and the state or shape of the recording paper is detected by the reading section, which eliminates the need for a paper sensor as previously provided, and therefore eliminates the need for wiring members and assembly processes required for this, resulting in a significant cost reduction through a reduction in the number of parts and the number of mounting steps. Furthermore, after the recorded portion is cut off from the roll by the cutter, the unrecorded portion is pulled back to just before the reading section by the reverse rotation of the transport roller, so there is no hindrance to the next document reading section or recording.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a feed roller displacement mechanism in the embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of a head unit displacement mechanism according to another embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing characters and marks printed on the recording paper indicating the remaining amount. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining detection of the recording paper by the reading unit. FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams showing the flow of jam detection and maximum recording length limiting, respectively. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a timing chart for the flow of FIG. 1(b), FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method for detecting the skew of the recording paper, FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method for detecting the deformation due to a tear in the leading edge of the recording paper, etc. 1: original table, 2: separation roller, 4: recording paper roll, 5: delivery roller, 7: feed roller, 8: reading unit, 9: recording unit, 10: head unit, 13: discharge roller, 15: stacker, 16, 20, 22: solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An input/output device comprising: a recording unit which records image information on a roll of recording paper; a reading unit which reads the image information of an original and detects the condition or shape of the recording paper; transport rollers which transport the original and the recording paper; a head unit which positions the reading unit on the upstream side in the transport direction and the recording unit on the downstream side; and a cutter which cuts off the portion of the recording paper on which the image information has been recorded by the recording unit, and after cutting by the cutter, the transport rollers are reversed to pull the roll of recording paper back to the front of the reading unit.