JPH1120252A - Printer with movable paper guide plate mechanism and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: In a printer, an auto-loading mechanism using a movable paper guide plate for conveying a recording sheet along a printing position opened to a print head side is configured to be small, compact, and inexpensive. thing. SOLUTION: A movable paper guide plate mechanism 34, 36, 38 is provided.
Moves the movable guide plate 31 in a direction in which it appears at the printing position 11 and in a direction in which it is retracted from the position. The roller opening / closing mechanisms 44 and 45 move the pressing roller 41b to a position where the pressing roller 41b is pressed against the sheet feeding roller 41a and to a position apart therefrom. The stopper opening / closing mechanisms 51 and 47 move the stopper 42 to a position where the stopper 42 opens and closes the recording paper conveyance path.
Each of these mechanisms is driven by a common motor, and after detecting that slip paper has been inserted, a movable paper guide plate mechanism,
By driving the roller opening and closing mechanism and the stopper opening and closing mechanism with a common motor, the opening and closing of the roller, the opening and closing of the stopper, and the elevation of the movable guide plate are sequentially performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing on a recording sheet conveyed along a paper guide surface by reciprocating a print head along a paper guide surface defining a printing position. . More specifically, in this type of printer, a movable paper guide plate mechanism that can reliably convey a recording paper having a curl or a bend at the leading end along a paper guide surface facing a print head is provided. The present invention relates to a printer provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a cash register used as a POS terminal or the like is equipped with a printer for printing on roll paper, and prints a purchase price, a received amount, a settlement amount, etc. of a product on roll paper. Later, it can be issued as a receipt or the like by separating it.

In a printer that performs printing on roll paper, a paper guide surface that defines a print position by a print head is formed at an intermediate position of the roll paper transport path, and the print head faces the paper guide surface. It has become. That is,
The portion of the transport path defined by the paper guide surface is open for printing on roll paper passing therethrough by the print head.

Therefore, when the roll paper is replaced, while the leading portion of the newly loaded roll paper is being transported along the transport path, only one side of the open transport path is paper. It is only guided on the guide surface.
For this reason, the transport direction of the leading portion of the roll paper is bent toward the open side where the guide surface is not formed, that is, toward the print head side, and deviates from the transport path to easily cause a problem such as a paper jam. In particular, when the leading end of the roll paper has a curl, bend, or the like, paper jam at the print position tends to occur.

In order to avoid such a paper jam at the time of exchanging roll paper, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-219672 discloses a method in which a portion of a conveyance path in which a print head side is open is moved by a movable guide when exchanging roll paper. There has been proposed a roll paper setting mechanism of a printer having a structure capable of being closed. In this roll paper setting mechanism, when the auto load switch lever is operated during roll paper replacement, the print head is retracted from the transport path, the space between the print head and the platen is expanded, and the movable guide is moved to the expanded transport path. Is moved to define a transport path closed on both sides by the movable guide and the platen, and the leading end of the roll paper is guided to the discharge side along the transport path.

[0006] By moving the movable guide in this manner, a transport path with both sides closed is temporarily formed, so that the leading end of the roll paper can be reliably delivered to the discharge-side transport path. After the roll paper exchange operation is completed, the movable guide retreats from the position facing the platen again, the platen returns to the state facing the print head, and the roll conveyed along the platen by the print head. The printer is ready for printing on paper.

[0007]

However, the roll paper setting mechanism having the movable guide has the following problems to be solved.

On the other hand, in a cash register or the like,
In some cases, it is desired to print on slip paper such as a form wider than roll paper. In this case, a slip sheet used as a recording sheet in a supermarket, a convenience store, or the like often has wrinkles, curls, folds, and the like, unlike cut sheets used in general office-related companies. For this reason, even when printing on slip paper or the like, the transport direction of the transported recording paper deviates from the surface of the platen or the like, as in the above-described case of replacing the roll paper, and a paper jam occurs in this portion. It is likely to be.

In order to set such various kinds of slip sheets accurately and easily in the printer as compared with the setting of roll paper, a mechanism for opening and closing a sheet feed roller provided in a slip sheet conveyance path, and the like. In some cases, a stopper for determining the position of the inserted slip paper is provided. Even if the roll paper setting mechanism disclosed in JP-A-2-219672 is simply used, these mechanisms (stopper, paper feed roller, If the movable guides (mechanisms for driving the movable guides) are individually arranged in the printer, the size of the apparatus increases. In addition, the operator detects the slip paper after inserting it, and automatically opens and closes the stopper, opens and closes the paper feed roller, and raises and lowers the movable guide as needed to auto-load to the printing position without causing paper jam. It must be controlled, which complicates the control.

An object of the present invention is to provide a movable paper guide plate mechanism capable of transporting various kinds of slip paper so as not to cause a paper jam at the printing position, focusing on such a conventional problem. The idea is to propose a printer. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer having a movable paper guide plate mechanism that is optimal for automatic loading of slip paper without increasing the size of the apparatus and without complicating the control.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, a printer according to the present invention faces a print head at a predetermined interval to define a print position by the print head. And a movable paper guide plate capable of guiding recording paper along the paper guide surface to a downstream side in the transport direction from the printing position, wherein the movable guide plate comprises: A movable paper guide plate mechanism for moving in a direction that appears at a position facing the print head and the paper guide surface, and in a direction to retract from the position, and disposed upstream of the printing position in the recording paper transport direction A feed roller pair including a feed roller and a press roller, and a roller opening / closing mechanism for moving the press roller to a position pressed against and away from the feed roller. The movable paper guide mechanism includes a common motor for driving the roller opening / closing mechanism and the movable paper guide plate mechanism. By driving the motor, the movable paper guide is moved in a direction in which the pressing roller contacts the paper feed roller. In this case, the plate is sequentially moved in a direction in which the plate appears at a position facing the paper guide surface.

In addition, a paper stopper capable of opening and closing the recording paper transport path between the paper feed roller pair and the printing position, and a stopper opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the paper stopper are provided. May be performed by a motor for driving the movable paper guide plate mechanism.

According to the printer configured as described above,
After detecting that the operator has inserted slip paper,
By driving the movable paper guide plate mechanism, the roller opening / closing mechanism, and the stopper opening / closing mechanism with a common motor, the roller is opened and closed, the stopper is opened and closed, and the movable guide plate is moved up and down sequentially.

That is, after detecting that the recording paper has been inserted up to the position of the pair of paper feed rollers in a state where the press roller is away from the paper feed roller, the press roller is moved to the paper feed roller. Move to a position pressed against rollers, move the movable guide plate to a position facing the paper guide surface that defines the printing position, and drive the paper feed roller pair to move the recording paper. It is conveyed to the printing position.

After detecting that the recording paper has been inserted to the position of the stopper, the press roller is moved to a position pressed against the paper feed roller, and further, the recording paper transport path is moved. The paper stopper in the closed state is moved in the opening direction, the movable guide plate is moved to a position facing the paper guide surface that defines the printing position, and the paper feed roller pair is driven to perform the recording. The paper may be transported to the printing position.

According to the present invention, since each mechanism is arranged so as to be sequentially driven by one drive source,
The device can be compactly housed inside the printer,
Further, the control of the automatic loading of the slip paper is performed more easily.

When the recording paper is set at the printing position, the movable guide plate is moved to a position facing the paper guide surface defining the printing position while the recording paper is being conveyed to the printing position. You may. In this case, if the recording paper and the movable paper guide plate are simultaneously moved while pressing the vicinity of the leading end of the recording paper with a paper pressing surface provided on the movable paper guide plate, Even if the recording paper has curls, bends, wrinkles, etc., the recording paper is securely transported to the printing position along the paper transportation path that is temporarily formed at this printing position and is closed on both sides. Is done. In this case, if the paper pressing surface of the movable paper guide plate is always urged toward the paper guide surface side by a spring force, the recording paper conveyed by the spring force is moved to the paper guide surface. It is preferable because it can be prevented from floating.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of a printer having a movable guide plate mechanism to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Overall Configuration of Printer) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a paper transport path. Explaining with reference to these figures, the inkjet printer 1
It has a roll paper loading mechanism 2 and a paper feed port 3 for cut paper of A4 size or the like, slip paper, etc., and the roll paper 4 supplied from the roll paper loading mechanism 2 and the slip paper inserted from the paper feed port 3. The transport path is configured so that the sheet 5 is guided by the paper guides 13 and 14 and is transported through the print position 11 (the area surrounded by a dashed line in the figure). An inkjet head 8 is held by a carriage mechanism 9 so as to face the surfaces of the roll paper 4 and the slip paper 5 passing through the printing position 11.

The carriage mechanism 9 includes a guide shaft 6
A carriage 7 held reciprocally along the guide shaft 6 in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the roll paper 4 and the slip paper 5 are transported, and a carriage driving motor (not shown). . Ink is supplied to the inkjet head 8 from an ink supply unit 10 mounted at a position adjacent to the roll paper loading mechanism 2 via an ink tube (not shown).

The printing position 11 has a platen roller 26 whose one portion in the width direction (carriage moving direction or printing direction) defines the printing position of the roll paper 4 and a surface which is smoothly continuous with the platen roller 26. Paper guide 2
7. The other half of the printing position is defined by the paper guide member 11A having a flat surface. The paper guide surface defined by the platen roller 26 and the paper guide 27 defines a printing position common to the roll paper 4 and the slip paper 5, and the paper guide defined by the paper guide member 11A on the other side. The surface defines the printing position for the slip paper 5.

The carriage 7 is capable of reciprocating in the width direction in a range including the printing position 11, and a retreat position of the ink jet head 8 is located at a position deviating from the printing position 11 to one side in the width direction. Capping mechanism 1
1B capping surface 11C is arranged. When the inkjet head 8 is in a state of waiting for a printing operation, its nozzle surface is set to be closed by the capping surface 11C, so that the ink meniscus of each ink nozzle is prevented from receding and the ink is dried. Further, in the printer 1 of the present embodiment, as described later, even when the slip paper 5 inserted into the paper feed port 3 is conveyed until the leading end of the slip paper 5 reaches a position beyond the printing position 11, the evacuation is performed. Held in position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the slip paper 5 conveys the slip paper 5 from the paper feed port 3 toward the printing position 11,
The printed slip paper 11 is discharged from the printing position 11 to the outside. In this transport path, a paper feed roller pair 41 is disposed at a position downstream of the paper feed port 3, and a main feed roller pair 21 is disposed between the paper feed roller pair 41 and the printing position 11. . Further, a discharge roller pair 22 is disposed downstream of the printing position 11. Further, a movable paper guide plate mechanism 30, which will be described later, is incorporated in a portion from the paper feed roller pair 41 to the printing position 11.

A circuit board that constitutes a controller for controlling the printer 1 and a controller including a RAM, a ROM, and the like is disposed below the printer. The controller is
The ink jet head 8 detects the position of a movable paper guide 31, which will be described later, and the movable paper guide 31 is driven so that the printing position 1 is detected.
1 while the ink jet head 8 is held at its standby position 11C, and while the ink jet head 8 is driven, the movable paper guide 31 is held at a position retracted from the printing position. In such a manner, the movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 and the carriage mechanism 9 are controlled.

(Movable paper guide plate mechanism) Here, the transport path is almost entirely defined by a pair of guide plates 13 and 14 facing each other at a fixed interval. However, at the printing position 11, the side of the inkjet head 8 is in an open state, and printing can be performed by the inkjet head 8 on the surface of the slip paper 5 passing through the printing position 11.

As described above, since the printing position 11 is open on one side, when the slip paper 5 having a curl, wrinkle, or fold at the leading end is conveyed, the printing position is not changed. Paper guide surface 11 defining 11
D (the surface defined by the surface of the platen roller 26, the paper guide 27, and the paper guide member 11A) may be directed toward the open side to contact the nozzle surface of the ink jet head 8 or to hit the portion to cause a paper jam. There is.

In order to avoid this problem, in the printer 1 of this embodiment, a movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 is incorporated in a portion surrounded by imaginary lines in FIG. The movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 includes a movable paper guide plate 31 and the slip paper 5.
While the top of the sheet is conveyed to a position beyond the printing position 11, the movable paper guide plate 31 temporarily shields an open portion of the printing position 11 that is open to the inkjet head 8 side. I have. In the shielding state, the slip paper 5 is transported along a transport path defined between the movable paper guide plate 31 and the paper guide surface 11D. Therefore, the conveyance direction does not deviate to the side of the ink jet head 8 and a paper jam does not occur. Further, while being in the shielded state by the movable paper guide plate 31, the ink jet head 8 is held in a state of being retracted to its retracted position 11C.

Referring mainly to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the structure of the movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 will be described.

First, FIG. 3A shows a schematic configuration of a movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 incorporated in a lower portion of a partition plate 91 (see FIG. 2) disposed below the carriage mechanism 9. FIG. 3B is a schematic configuration diagram when the movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 is viewed from the lateral direction. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a part of the movable paper guide plate mechanism 30.

As shown in these figures, the movable paper guide plate mechanism 30 includes a stepping motor 32 as a driving source, and the output shaft of the stepping motor 32 is moved through a reduction gear train 33 in the carriage moving direction ( (Horizontal direction). A spiral cam groove 34a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical cam 34. A sliding pin 35 is engaged with the cam groove 34a, and the sliding pin 35 is attached to a slider 36 which can slide in the carriage moving direction.

The slider 36 can reciprocate along a slide shaft 36a attached to a horizontally long holding plate 37. By appropriately setting the pitch of the cam groove 34a,
When the cylindrical cam 34 is rotated, the slider 36 reciprocates along the slide shaft 36a in the carriage movement direction by an amount corresponding to the amount of rotation.

The slider 36 is connected to a drive plate 38 having inclined cam grooves 38a and 38b formed on both sides in the same direction. This drive plate 38 is also a slider 36
And is slid integrally therewith, and is disposed on the back side of the pressing plate 37. The movable guide plate 31 is arranged on the back side of the drive plate 38.

The movable guide plate 31 is attached to the holding plate 37 so as to be movable in a slip sheet transport direction parallel to the paper guide surface 11D. On the surface of the movable guide plate 31, an inclined cam groove 38a formed in the drive plate 38,
The tip is inserted into 38b, and slide pins 31a and 31b slidable along the groove are attached. Further, the tip is inserted into a vertical cam groove 37a extending in the slip paper transport direction opened on the holding plate 37 which is fixedly arranged, and a sliding pin 31c movable along the groove is also attached.

Therefore, when the cylindrical cam 34 rotates from the state shown in FIG. 3A, the slider 36 slides in the carriage moving direction. As described above, the movable guide plate 31
The vertical cam groove of the holding plate 37 in which a pair of sliding pins 31a, 31b attached thereto are inserted into the inclined cam grooves 38a, 38b of the driving plate and one sliding pin 31c is fixedly arranged. 37a. Therefore, when the driving plate 38 slides together with the slider 36,
The movable paper guide plate 31 is pushed up in the slip paper conveyance direction along the vertical cam groove 37a. As a result, the movable paper guide plate 31 hidden behind the pressing plate 37 rises along the paper guide surface 11D that defines the printing position 11, and is in a state of facing the paper guide surface 11D. .

That is, the state shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is formed. Therefore, if the movable paper guide plate 31 is pushed up in synchronization with the transport operation of the slip paper 5, the slip paper 5 is formed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the printing position 11 by the movable paper guide plate 31. To the transport path 11E.

Here, the movable paper guide plate 31 of this embodiment has a paper press 31e having a paper press surface 31d protruding toward the paper guide surface 11D, and a holding device that holds the paper press 31e. And a plate 31f. The paper pressing surface 31d of the paper pressing 31e is a continuous surface having a length including the maximum width of the slip paper 5 to be conveyed. By forming the paper pressing surface 31d in this form, the entirety of the conveyed slip paper 5 in the width direction can be conveyed while being pressed against the paper guide surface 11D, so that the conveyance of the slip paper having wrinkles, curls, and the like can be performed. It can be done smoothly.

The paper presser 31e is rotatably attached to a hole 31g of the holding plate 31f.
e, a spring attached between the holding plates 31f (not shown)
Is always urged in the direction of pressing the paper pressing surface 31d of the paper pressing 31e against the paper guiding surface 11D. With this spring force, it is possible to prevent the conveyed slip paper 5 from being conveyed while being lifted from the paper guide surface 11D.

When the cylindrical cam 34 is rotated from the position shown in FIG. 4A to the position shown in FIG. 3A, that is, when the movable paper guide 31 is retracted from the printing position 11, the slide pin 31a , 31b and the backlash existing between the corresponding inclined cam grooves 38a, 38b, the movable paper guide 31 does not completely return to the hidden position (the retracted position) on the back side of the pressing plate 37. There is. If the carriage on which the inkjet head 8 is mounted is driven in such a state, the carriage may collide with the movable paper guide. Therefore, a coil spring 31h is provided between the upper paper guide 13 and the holding plate 31f. The movable paper guide 31 is urged in the direction of the retracted position (downward).

Next, in the printer 1 of this embodiment, a pair of paper feed rollers and a paper stopper 42 are arranged in this order on the transport path from the paper feed port 3 to the print position 11.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing components of these parts in an exploded manner. The structure of these parts will be described mainly with reference to FIGS.

First, the feed roller pair 41 includes a drive-side feed roller 41a and a driven-side press roller 41b. The press roller 41b is driven by the drive-side feed roller 41a.
Can be moved between a contact position contacted with a constant pressing force and a separation position separated from the paper feed roller 41a. That is, the pressing roller 41 b is rotatably supported by one end 43 a of the turning lever 43. A sliding pin 44 as a cam follower is fixed to the other end 43b of the turning lever 43. The sliding pin 44 always contacts the cam surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the disc-shaped cam plate 45 by a spring force. The disc-shaped cam plate 45 is connected to the cylindrical cam 34 via a gear train 39.

Accordingly, the disk-shaped cam plate 45 is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the cylindrical cam 34, and when the cam plate 45 is rotated, the sliding pins 44 contacting the outer peripheral surface of the cam plate 45 are rotated. Move according to. That is, the turning lever 43 to which the sliding pin 44 is attached turns around the turning center. As a result, the pressing roller 41b supported at the other end of the turning lever 43 is moved between the contact position shown in FIG.
It moves between the separated positions shown in (B).

On the other hand, the paper stopper 42 is normally kept at the closed position where the conveyance path is closed as shown in FIG. 3A by the spring force of the coil spring 46. The spring force of the coil spring 46 is such that the paper stopper 42 closes the transport path when the slip paper 5 is in the transport path.
The load is set so that the slip paper 5 is fed even when the slip paper is sandwiched between the leading end of the paper and the transport path surface. Therefore, even after the slip paper 5 passes through the paper stopper 42, the paper stopper 42 is rotated to the closed position by the turning lever 47 to be described later, and closing the transport path does not affect the paper transport.

The paper stopper 42 has a swing lever 47
Is engaged at one end 47a. This turning lever 47 is connected to a turning lever 4 formed at the other end via a connecting portion 47b.
8 and is configured to rotate integrally therewith. A sliding pin 49 as a cam follower is attached to the tip of the turning lever 48. The sliding pin 49 is constantly pressed against a cam surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the disc-shaped cam plate 51 by a spring force. Disc-shaped cam plate 5
1 is connected to the aforementioned cylindrical cam 34 via a gear train 46 and a cam plate 45.

Accordingly, the disc-shaped cam plate 51 also rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the cylindrical cam 34, and when the cam plate 51 rotates, the sliding pins 49 abutting on the outer peripheral surface of the cam plate 51 rotate the rotation position of the cam plate 51. Move according to. That is, the turning lever 48 to which the sliding pin 49 is attached turns around the turning center axis 43c that defines the turning center. As a result, the swivel lever 47 integrated with the swivel lever 48 also swivels, and the paper stopper 42 supported by the swivel lever opposes the spring force to move the transport path as shown in FIG. Move to the open position.

(Slip Paper Conveying Operation) Next, referring to the timing chart of FIG. 7, the movable paper guide plate 31, the slip holding roller 41b and the paper stopper 4
A description will be given of the operation of transporting the slip paper inserted into the paper feed port 3 with a focus on the operation 2.

At time T0, the cam 34 is at the home position HP (phase angle: 345 °), and the initial state of each part at this time is as follows. The movable paper guide plate 31 is provided with a pressing plate 37 as shown in FIGS.
It is in the evacuation position hidden behind the back of the. Pressing roller 41b
Is at a position away from the paper feed roller 41a, and the paper stopper 42 is at a closed position where the transport path is closed. On the other hand, the main paper feed roller pair 21 arranged on the upstream side of the printing position 11 always has its feed roller 21a and the pressing roller 2a.
1b is in a contact state. On the other hand, the printing position 11
In the discharge roller pair 22 disposed downstream of the sheet feeding roller 22, the feed roller 22a and the pressing roller 22b are in a state of being separated from each other.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3A, the home position HP (345 °) of the interlocking cylindrical cam 34, the disk-shaped cam plates 45 and 51, and three reference positions R1 (1).
5 °), R2 (105 °), and R3 (255 °), a rotating blade 52 that rotates integrally with the disk-shaped cam plates 45 and 51 is formed.
By detecting the rotational position of No. 2 by a sensor including a photocoupler 53 and the like, a detection signal (HP detection signal) indicating the position of these members is obtained.

FIG. 8 shows that when the power of the printer is turned on,
It is a flowchart which shows the method of initializing a movable paper guide mechanism to the state of the initial state T0.

After the power is turned on, it is detected in step T0 whether the HP detection signal is in the ON state. If on,
The cam 34 is at the home position HP or the reference positions R1 to R
3 will be located. If it is on, the stepping motor is driven so that the cam 34 rotates every 1 ° in the CW direction until the HP detection signal is turned off (steps S2 and S3). Immediately before step S4, the rotational position of the cam 34 is the home position HP
And the reference position R3 or between two adjacent reference positions.

In steps S4 and S5, the stepping motor is driven such that the cam 34 rotates in the CCW direction every 1 ° until the HP detection signal is turned on. As a result, the 34 rotation positions of the cam are located at the left edge of any one of the four pulses of the HP detection signal shown in FIG. In step S6, the cam 34 is turned by 20 ° in the CCW direction.
The stepping motor is driven to rotate. Thus, when the HP detection signal is turned off, the rotational position of the cam 34 is on the right side of one of the reference positions,
It returns to step S4. If the HP signal is not turned off after step S6, the rotational position of the cam 34 is at about 320 °.
Rotation in the CW direction completes the initialization.

In this state T 0, the operator inserts the slip paper 5 from the paper feed port 3 and pushes it until it hits the paper stopper 42. Thereby, the slip paper 5 is set. When slip paper is detected by a paper sensor provided on the slip paper conveyance path and it is confirmed that the ink jet head 8 is held at the standby position 11C, the controller drives the step motor 32. When the step motor 32 is driven, the cylindrical cam 34
Rotates, and the two disk-shaped cam plates 45 and 51 connected thereto rotate in conjunction with each other. As a result, the first of FIG.
The pressing roller 41b is moved from the time T1 to the sheet feeding roller 41a.
, And the paper stopper 42 also starts turning in the direction to open the transport path.

At the next second time point T2, the pressing roller 4
1b is a paper feed roller 4 from the top of the inserted slip paper 5;
It reaches a position where it is pressed with a constant pressing force against 1a, and is maintained in this state. The paper stopper 42 also reaches the open position where the transport path is completely opened, and is maintained in this state.

Next, at a time between the second time T2 and the third time T3, after confirming the ON state of the HP detection signal, the paper feed motor (not shown) is driven to drive the first paper feed. The operation is performed (“sheet feed 1” in FIG. 7). That is,
A slip feed roller 4 is driven by a paper feed motor (not shown).
1a is rotated. At the same time, the main feed roller 21a constituting the main feed roller pair 21 arranged on the upstream side of the printing position 11 is rotated. Here, the leading end of the paper feed amount is the transport path 11E downstream of the print position 11.
It is set to the amount just before entering.

From the third point in time T3 thereafter, the slider 36 starts to slide with the rotation of the cylindrical cam 34, and the movable paper guide plate 31 starts to gradually ascend toward the printing position 11. I do. Then, at a fourth time point T4, the movable paper guide plate 31 is completely exposed and the printing position 1
1 is in a state of facing the paper guide surface 11D defining the number 1. This state is the state shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

Here, when the movable paper guide plate 31 is moved, the operation of transporting the slip paper 5 is also performed by the main feed roller 21a and the paper feed roller 41a as described above. By appropriately setting the pitch of the cam grooves 34a of the cylindrical cam 34, the leading end of the slip paper 5 to be conveyed is just between the paper pressing surface 31d at the end of the movable paper guide plate 31 and the paper guiding surface 11D. The slip paper 5 and the movable paper guide plate 31 can be synchronously moved while maintaining the state of being sandwiched between the papers. That is, the second paper feeding operation (paper feeding 2) is performed.

When the movable paper guide plate 31 has been moved in this state, the paper pressing surface 31d and the paper guide surface 11D at the end thereof are moved.
Slip paper 5 conveyed with the leading portion sandwiched therebetween reaches the conveyance path 11E on the downstream side of the printing position 11, and
It is guided into this transport path 11E. Thereafter, the pressing roller 41b is separated from the sheet feeding roller 41a from the fifth time point T5 to the sixth time point.

As a result, the slip paper 5 is positioned at a state where the leading portion of the slip paper 5 has passed through the printing position 11 and has entered the transport path 11E on the downstream side, that is, the start position of the printing operation. Thereafter, the rotation direction of the step motor 32 is reversed and the step motor 32 is rotated a predetermined number of steps to return to the state at time T0 (home position).

At this time, the paper stopper 42 is
, The slip paper 5 is conveyed between the leading end of the paper stopper and the paper conveyance guide surface. The elastic force of the spring is set to a load that does not hinder the paper conveyance. Paper can be fed without any problems.

After the step motor 32 is reversed and rotated a predetermined number of steps, it is possible to confirm that the cam 34 has returned to the home position HP by detecting that the HP detection signal is on. . That is, when it is confirmed that the movable paper guide 31 is retracted to the retracted position, the carriage mechanism 9 is driven to move the inkjet head 8 retracted to the retracted position 11C, and the slip paper is moved. 5 is printed. After the printing operation is completed by repeating the printing and the conveying operation of the slip paper 5, the slip paper 5 is discharged.

At this point, immediately before the trailing end of the slip paper 5 after printing is disengaged from the main paper feed roller pair 21, the paper discharge roller pair 22 disposed downstream from the print position 11 closes. As a result, the slip paper 5 discharged is
The paper is transferred from the main paper feed roller pair 21 to the paper discharge roller pair 22 and completely discharged.

Next, another control method for the operation of transporting the slip paper inserted into the paper feed port 3 will be described.

In the initial state, the operator inserts the slip paper 5 from the paper feed port 3 and pushes it until it hits the paper stopper 42.

Thereafter, the step motor 32 is driven, and from the first time T1 to the second time T2 and the third time T2 shown in FIG.
Move to a point between 3. The press roller 41b moves to the paper feed roller 41a to pinch the slip sheet 5, and the paper stopper 42 turns to open the transport path.

Thereafter, the paper feed motor is driven to rotate the slip feed roller 41a, and the slip paper 5
Convey until just before 1E. (First cue). At this time, since the movable paper guide 31 has not moved to the surface facing the paper guide surface 11D, the slip paper 5 is not regulated.

Next, the step motor 32 is driven to
At the time T6, the movable paper guide 31 is made to appear on the paper guide surface 11D, and a paper transport path defined on both sides by the movable paper guide plate 31 and the paper guide surface 11D is formed. Even if the slip paper 5 is bent toward the ink-jet head 8, the slip paper 5 is regulated into the paper transport path which is temporarily formed by the movable paper guide plate 31 and is closed on both sides.

Next, the paper feed motor is driven again. The slip paper 5 is provided with an ink jet head 8 by a movable guide plate.
Since the side is regulated, the tip can be inserted into the transport path 11E. (Second cueing) Therefore, as in the case of the simultaneous driving of the paper feed and the movable paper guide, the paper is transferred to the discharge roller pair 22 without being affected by the curl or wrinkle state of the slip paper 5. Can be

Thereafter, the step motor 32 is driven to
From the time T6 to the first time T1, and the movable paper guide 3
1 and the ink jet head 8 is moved to the retracted position 11C.
To start printing. The paper discharge is performed by closing the paper discharge roller pair 22 just before the rear end of the slip paper 5 comes off the main paper feed roller pair 21 in the same manner as the control described above.

According to this control method, the movable paper guide 31
And the paper feed motor are not driven at the same time, so that the cam groove shape of the cylindrical cam 34 does not need to be synchronized with the paper feed, and the peak current can be reduced. There is an effect that it can be made.

In either of the above-mentioned controls, if the discharge roller pair 22 is returned to the open state after the paper is discharged, it can be returned to the initial state.

The operation modes of the movable paper guide plate 31, the pressing roller 41b, and the paper stopper 42 as described above are based on the cam groove of the cylindrical cam 34 constituting a power transmission mechanism for driving these. Disc-shaped cam plates 45, 5
This can be realized by appropriately setting the contour shape of the cam surface on the outer periphery of the first cam.

[0071]

As described above, in the printer having the movable paper guide plate mechanism of the present invention, the direction in which the movable guide plate appears at the position facing the print head and the paper guide surface, and A movable paper guide plate mechanism for moving in a retracting direction from a position, a roller opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing a paper feed roller pair disposed upstream of the printing position in the recording paper conveyance direction, the paper feed roller pair and the By driving a stopper opening and closing mechanism that opens and closes a paper stopper that can open and close the recording paper transport path between the printing positions by a common motor, the roller is opened and closed, the stopper is opened and closed, and the movable guide plate is moved up and down sequentially. . Since each mechanism is arranged to be sequentially driven by one drive source, the apparatus can be compactly housed inside the printer, and the automatic loading control of the slip paper can be more easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an inkjet printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a paper transport path in the inkjet printer of FIG.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a movable paper guide plate mechanism in the ink jet printer of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 3A is a schematic configuration diagram showing a planar configuration thereof, and FIG. 3B is a schematic configuration diagram showing a side configuration thereof.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a movable paper guide plate mechanism in the ink jet printer of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the movable paper guide plate appears, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which looked at the state which appeared from the side.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a driving portion of the movable paper guide plate of the movable paper guide plate mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a driving portion of a slip holding roller and a paper stopper of the movable paper guide plate mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the movable paper guide plate mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an initialization operation of the movable paper guide plate mechanism of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink jet printer 2 Roll paper loading mechanism 3 Paper feed port 4 Roll paper 4a Roll paper unwinding part 5 Slip paper 6 Guide shaft 7 Carriage 8 Inkjet head 9 Carriage mechanism 10 Ink supply unit 11 Printing position 11D Paper defining printing position Guide surface 12 Printer frame 21 Main paper feed roller pair 22 Discharge roller pair 30 Movable paper guide plate mechanism 31 Movable paper guide plate 31a, 31b, 31c Sliding pin 31d Paper press surface 31e Paper press 31f Holding plate 32 Motor 34 Cylindrical cam 34a Cam groove of cylindrical cam 35 Sliding pin 36 Slider 37 Press plate 37a Vertical cam groove 38 Drive plate 38a, 38b Inclined cam groove 41 Paper feed roller pair 41a Paper feed roller 41b Press roller 42 Paper stopper 43 Rotating lever 44 Sliding pin 5 disc shaped cam plate 47 pivoting lever 49 sliding pin 51 disk-shaped cam plate

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A print head, a paper guide surface facing the print head at a predetermined interval to define a printing position by the print head, and a recording paper along the paper guide surface. In a printer having a movable paper guide plate capable of guiding to a downstream side in a transport direction from a printing position, a direction in which the movable guide plate appears at a position facing the print head and the paper guide surface, and A movable paper guide plate mechanism for moving in a retracting direction from a position, a paper feed roller pair comprising a paper feed roller and a press roller disposed upstream of the print position in the recording paper transport direction, and the press roller A roller opening / closing mechanism for moving the roller to a position pressed against and away from the paper feed roller, and a roller opening / closing mechanism for driving the roller opening / closing mechanism and the movable paper guide plate mechanism. By driving the motor, in the direction in which the press roller contacts the paper feed roller, in the direction in which the movable paper guide plate appears at a position facing the paper guide surface, sequentially. A printer provided with a movable paper guide plate mechanism, which is adapted to move. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a paper stopper capable of opening and closing a recording paper transport path between the pair of paper feed rollers and the printing position, and a stopper opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing the paper stopper. A printer having a movable paper guide mechanism, wherein the opening and closing operation of the paper stopper is performed by a motor for driving the movable paper guide mechanism. 3. The movable paper guide according to claim 2, further comprising a cam mechanism for moving the movable paper guide plate, the pressing roller, and the paper stopper. A cylindrical cam for converting a reciprocating linear motion of the plate, a first disc-shaped cam plate for converting a rotational motion of the motor into a movement of the recording paper pressing roller, and a rotational motion of the motor for the paper; And a second disc-shaped cam plate for converting the movement into the movement of the stopper. 4. The movable paper guide plate mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the movable paper guide plate mechanism includes a cylindrical cam for converting a rotational motion of the motor into a reciprocating linear motion of the movable paper guide plate. A first disk-shaped cam plate for converting a rotational movement of the motor into a movement of the recording paper pressing roller, wherein the stopper opening / closing mechanism converts the rotational movement of the motor into a movement of the paper stopper. A movable paper guide mechanism provided with a second disk-shaped cam plate. 5. A position at a first point away from the sheet feed roller according to the rotation of the cylindrical cam and the first and second disc-shaped cam plates by the motor. The pressing roller starts moving in the direction in contact with the paper feed roller, and the paper stopper in the state where the recording paper conveyance path is closed starts moving in the opening direction. The press roller and the paper stopper reach a position where they come into contact with the paper feed roller and a position where the recording paper conveyance path is opened, respectively. At a third time, the movable paper guide plate is at the printing position. The movable paper guide plate is provided with a movable paper guide mechanism at a fourth point in time, wherein the movable paper guide plate appears at a position facing the paper guide surface. Printer. 6. A main paper feed roller pair comprising a main paper feed roller and a press roller disposed between the paper feed roller pair and the print position, and a main paper feed roller pair downstream of the print position. A discharge roller pair comprising a discharge roller and a pressing roller disposed therein, wherein the main paper feed roller pair is in a state capable of transporting the recording paper, and the discharge roller pair is a recording paper to be transported. A printer that has a movable paper guide plate mechanism that switches to a state in which paper can be discharged immediately before a rear end of the paper is fed from the main paper feed roller pair. 7. The movable paper guide plate according to claim 1, wherein the movable paper guide plate has a paper pressing surface protruding toward the paper guiding surface, and the paper pressing surface is conveyed. A movable paper guide plate mechanism having a continuous surface wider than the maximum width of the recording paper. 8. The movable paper guide according to claim 7, wherein the paper pressing surface of the movable paper guide plate is constantly biased toward the paper guide surface by a spring force. Printer with plate mechanism. 9. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects that the recording paper has been inserted up to a position of a pair of paper feed rollers in a state where the pressing roller is located at a position apart from the paper feed roller. Then, the pressing roller is moved to a position pressed against the paper feed roller, the movable guide plate is moved to a position facing the paper guide surface that defines the printing position, and the paper is fed. A method for controlling a printer, comprising driving a pair of rollers to convey the recording paper to the printing position. 10. The printer control method according to claim 2, wherein after detecting that the recording paper has been inserted to the position of the stopper, the pressing roller is moved to a position pressed against the paper feed roller. Moving, further moving the paper stopper in a state in which the recording paper conveyance path is closed in a direction to open, and moving the movable guide plate to a position facing the paper guide surface that defines the printing position; A method for controlling a printer, comprising driving the pair of paper feed rollers to convey the recording paper to the printing position. 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the movable guide plate is moved to a position facing the paper guide surface defining the printing position while conveying the recording paper to the printing position. Printer control method. 12. The recording paper and the movable paper guide plate according to claim 11, wherein the recording paper and the movable paper guide plate are simultaneously moved while holding the vicinity of the leading end of the recording paper with a paper pressing surface provided on the movable paper guide plate. A method for controlling a printer, comprising: 13. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein after the recording paper is conveyed to the printing position, the movable guide plate is moved to a position facing the paper guide surface that defines the printing position. Printer control method.