JP2001139213A - Printer with cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a device for cutting blank space around an image recording area. SOLUTION: Images are recorded on recording paper 2 by successive three- color faces by a thermal head 7. On a carrier path of recording paper 2, a cutter unit 20 is arranged. The cutter unit 20 is constituted by integrally incorporating a front/rear end blank space cutter 21 and a both-side end blank space cutter 22. The front/rear end blank space cutter 21 moves a disc blade 40 in the width direction of recording paper 2 by utilizing one direction driving of a single motor. As a result, a front end or rear end blank space of the carrier direction of recording paper 2 is cut. The both-side end blank space cutter 22 cuts both side blank space of recording paper 2 by a pair of slitters constituted of an upper rotary blade and a lower rotary blade. By moving the pair of the slitters from a cutting position to an evacuating position by the other direction driving of the motor, recording paper 2 is finished into two kinds of the presence of blank space and the absence of blank space.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer having a cutter for cutting recording paper such as a long sheet or a cut sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a color thermal printer, one thermal paper is reciprocated between a forward direction from a paper supply side to a discharge side and a reverse direction from a discharge side to a paper supply side. There is a type in which three-color images are thermally recorded by a head in a frame-sequential manner.

In the above-described color thermal printer, recording paper is nipped by a pair of conveying rollers including a capstan roller and a pinch roller, and the recording paper is reciprocated in a forward direction and a reverse direction by rotation of the capstan roller. Then, when the conveying roller pair conveys the recording paper in any direction, the thermal head thermally records an image of a specific color on the recording paper. In order to stably perform the thermal recording, an image is recorded in a range of a size smaller than the recording paper. Therefore,
There is a blank space all around the image recording area. On the other hand, in print photographs and the like, marginless prints without margins are generally used. In view of this, prints without margins are desired even in thermal printing. For this reason, there is a demand for selectively cutting a margin around the image recording area.

In order to cut the margins, a cutter for cutting the margins at the front and rear ends and a slitter for cutting the margins at both ends may be provided. For example, Japanese Patent No. 2833185 describes an electrostatic plotter in which front and rear margin cutters and slitters are arranged side by side along a recording paper conveyance path. The slitter moves the upper rotary blade relative to the lower rotary blade between the cutting position and the retracted position.

[0005]

In the electrostatic plotter described in the above publication, the front and rear margin cutters and the slitters are arranged side by side along the transport path, so that it takes a long time to assemble the apparatus, and the transport direction of the apparatus is increased. However, there is a drawback that the length becomes long and the size becomes large. Further, it is necessary to provide two driving means, a motor for operating the front and rear margin cutters and an actuator for moving the slitter to the retracted position, which is expensive. Further, in the slitter described in the above publication, the upper rotary blade is flipped up to displace it from the cutting position to the retracted position. For this reason, a space for raising the upper rotary blade is required. There is a problem that the thickness of the apparatus is increased by the amount of the splashing space, and it is not possible to reduce the size of the apparatus. It is also necessary to separately provide a paper discharge roller and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a low cost printer with a cutter which can be easily assembled and which can reduce the size of the apparatus itself.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer with a cutter, which transports a recording sheet in a direction perpendicular to a width direction of the recording sheet, and forms an image on the recording sheet. Image forming means, and a cutter unit for cutting a margin around an image forming area after image formation, a cutter for cutting the recording sheet in the width direction while the conveyance of the recording sheet is stopped, and a recording sheet for the cutter. And a slitter which is disposed on the upstream side or the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the recording paper and which cuts the recording paper in the conveyance direction.

In the printer with the cutter according to the second aspect, the slitter is moved in the width direction of the recording paper between a cutting position for cutting to a predetermined width and a retracted position retracted to an outer position in the width direction of the recording paper. The moving means is provided on the slitter. In the printer with a cutter according to the third aspect, a single motor and transmission switching means for selectively transmitting the drive of the motor to one of the moving means and the cutter according to the rotation direction of the motor are provided in the cutter unit. In preparation for. In the printer with a cutter according to the fourth aspect, the moving means driving system for transmitting the driving to the moving means, the cutter driving system for transmitting the driving to the cutter, and the planetary gear according to the rotation direction of the sun gear to which the driving of the motor is input. The transmission switching means comprises a planetary gear mechanism in which a gear meshes with one of the moving means driving system and the cutter driving system.

In the printer with a cutter according to the fifth aspect,
The cutter comprises a movable blade provided movably in the width direction of the recording paper and a driving means for moving the movable blade by rotating the motor in one direction. In the printer with the cutter according to the sixth aspect, the driving means according to the fifth aspect is configured to convert the rotational driving in one direction of the motor into a reciprocating motion, and reciprocate the movable blade using the reciprocating motion. It was done. In the printer with a cutter according to the seventh aspect, the moving means according to the second aspect is configured to reciprocate the slitter between a cutting position and a retreat position by transmitting rotation of the motor in the other direction. It was done. The printer with a cutter according to claim 8, further comprising a nip roller for nipping and transporting the recording paper, and a slitter provided on both outer sides of the axis of the nip roller so as to be movable along the axis. Is configured to move the pair of slitters along the axis of the nip roller.

In the printer with a cutter according to the ninth aspect,
A selection operation member which is provided so as to be operable externally and selects whether or not to cut a margin generated after recording an image on a recording sheet, and drives a moving means to move the slitter to a cutting position and allows the operation of the cutter. One of a cutting mode and a non-cutting mode in which the slitter is moved to the retracted position and the operation of the cutter is prohibited is provided with a control unit that selectively switches according to the operation of the selection operation member.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer with a cutter, comprising: a recording sheet having a plurality of thermosensitive coloring layers formed on a support;
A recording unit for performing thermal recording with a thermal head in order from the upper heat-sensitive coloring layer of the recording paper using a conveying means for reciprocatingly transporting the recording paper, and the heat of the lower heat-sensitive coloring layer with respect to the heat-recorded heat-sensitive coloring layer. An image forming unit is constituted by a fixing unit that irradiates fixing light before recording.

[0012]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a color thermal printer embodying the present invention. In this color thermal printer, a sheet of color thermal recording paper (hereinafter referred to as
It is called “recording paper”. 2) is used. The recording paper 2 is supplied from a paper supply unit 3. The paper feed unit 3 feeds a plurality of recording papers 2 stored in a cassette by a paper feed roller.

A thermal head 7 is provided downstream of the paper feeding section 3.
And a platen roller 8. The thermal head 7 is provided with a heating element array 7a in which many heating elements are arranged in a line. This thermal head 7
Pivots about the support shaft 9 between a printing position where the recording paper 2 is pressed on the platen roller 8 and a retracted position away from the platen roller 8.

As is well known, the recording paper 2 is provided with a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, and a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer in this order on a support. The yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, which is the uppermost layer, has the highest thermal sensitivity and develops yellow with small heat energy. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, which is the lowermost layer, has the lowest thermal sensitivity and develops cyan with large thermal energy. Further, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer loses its coloring ability when irradiated with near-ultraviolet rays of 420 nm. The magenta thermosensitive coloring layer develops magenta color with a thermal energy intermediate between the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer and the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer,
The coloring ability disappears when irradiated with 5 nm ultraviolet rays. The recording paper 2 may have a four-layer structure by providing, for example, a black thermosensitive coloring layer.

On the downstream side of the thermal head 7, the recording paper 2
Roller pair 10 for transporting the sheet. The transport roller pair 10 includes a capstan roller 12 and a pinch roller 13 rotatable above the capstan roller 12. Capstan roller 12
Are arranged below the recording paper 2 and are driven by a recording paper feed motor 11 composed of a pulse motor. The pinch roller 13 moves between a position separated from the capstan roller 12 and a pressed position. When the position sensor 14 detects the leading end of the recording paper 2, the conveying roller pair 10 presses the recording paper 2 by pressing the pinch roller 13.
, And the recording paper 2 is turned from the paper supply side to the paper discharge side by the rotation of the capstan roller 12 (arrow A direction), and the reverse direction from the paper discharge side to the paper supply side (arrow B direction). And are transported alternately.

An encoder 15 is provided on a rotating shaft of the pinch roller 13. The encoder 15 detects the number of rotations of the pinch roller 13 and measures the transport amount of the recording paper 2.

An optical fixing device 16 is disposed downstream of the transport roller pair 10 in the forward direction. This optical fixing device 16
Is composed of an ultraviolet lamp 17 for yellow which emits near-ultraviolet light having an emission peak of 420 nm, an ultraviolet lamp 18 for magenta which emits ultraviolet light having an emission peak of 365 nm, and a reflector 19 covering the back of these lamps.

A cutter unit 20 is disposed downstream of the optical fixing unit 16 in the forward direction. In the cutter unit 20, a front and rear end margin cutter 21 and both side end margin cutters 22 are integrally incorporated. The front and rear margin cutters 21 cut the recording paper 2 along the width direction, and form a forward-direction downstream margin (hereinafter, referred to as a “front-end margin”) around the image recording area and a forward-direction upstream margin. (Less than,
"Rear end margin").

When cutting the front end margin, the control unit 23 specifies the cutting position based on the measurement of the number of rotations of the pinch roller 13 and stops the conveyance of the recording paper 2 before cutting.
Controls the operation of the recording paper feed motor 11 and the cutter motor 24.

A position sensor 25 is provided upstream of the front and rear margin cutters 21 in the forward feeding of the recording paper. The position sensor 25 detects the rear end of the recording paper 2. When the position sensor 25 detects the trailing end of the recording paper 2, the recording paper 2
The position where the rear end margin is cut matches the cutting position of the front and rear end margin cutter 21. The control unit 23 controls the operation of the recording paper feed motor 11 and the cutter motor 24 so as to stop the conveyance of the recording paper 2 based on the trailing edge detection signal obtained from the position sensor 25 and to cut after the stop. I do.

A discharge roller pair 29 is incorporated in the both-side margin cutter 22. The discharge roller pair 29 is driven by the recording paper feed motor 11, and nips the recording paper 2 and conveys it in the forward direction. The both side margin cutters 22 cut the recording paper 2 conveyed by the discharge roller pair 29 in the conveyance direction, and simultaneously separate the left and right margins around the image recording area in the width direction. A discharge port 30 is provided on the downstream side in the forward direction with respect to the both side margin cutters 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cutter unit 20 has a form in which the front and rear margin cutters 21 and both side margin cutters 22 can be handled as one unit. The cutter unit 20 includes a single motor 24.
The cutting operation of the front and rear end margin cutters 21 and the operation of setting the both side end margin cutters 22 to the cutting position or the retracted position are performed by using the above driving.

As shown in FIG. 3, the drive system of the cutter unit 20 includes a cutter motor 24, a planetary gear mechanism 32, a both-end margin cutter transmission system 33 composed of a gear train and a belt transmission, and front and rear end margin cutters. And a transmission system. The planetary gear mechanism 32 has a sun gear 35 and a cutter motor 24.
Is transmitted. The planetary gear 36 revolves around the sun gear 35, and meshes with one of the input gear 33 a of the both-side end margin cutter transmission system 33 and the input gear 34 a of the front and rear end margin cutter transmission system 34. As a result, the marginal cutter transmission system 33 on both sides and the front and rear margin cutter transmission systems 3
4, the driving according to the rotation direction of the cutter motor 24 is input. Hereinafter, the front and rear margin cutter transmission system 3
The rotation direction of the cutter motor 24 for transmitting the drive to the cutter 4 is forward rotation, and the rotation direction of the drive for transmitting the drive to the both-end margin cutter transmission system 33 is reverse rotation.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the front and rear end margin cutters 21 include a movable blade 37, a fixed blade 38, a tool post 39, a tool post guide 40, and switches 41 and 42 for detecting a tool post standby position. It is composed of

The movable blade 37 is disposed so as to face the recording surface, and the fixed blade 38 is disposed between the movable blade 37 and the conveyance path 2a.
Are arranged to face each other. The fixed blade 38 has a blade edge 38 a longer than the width of the recording paper 2, and is arranged along the width direction of the recording paper 2. The cutting edge 38a is attached at a position slightly lower than the conveying path 2a. The movable blade 37 is composed of a disk-shaped rotary blade, and moves one reciprocatingly in the width direction of the recording paper 2 to move the fixed blade 38.
And the recording paper 2 is cut.

The fixed blade 38 and the tool rest guide 40 are formed integrally by bending a sheet metal into a U-shaped cross section. The upper horizontal plate is a fixed blade 38, and the other L
The letter-shaped portion is a tool post guide 40. A tool post 39 is mounted on the guide main body 40a of the tool post guide 40. The tool rest 39 is movable in the width direction of the recording paper 2 by being guided by the guide body 40a.

The movable blade 37 is rotatably attached to the protective cover 43. The movable blade 37 is in contact with the cutting edge 38a of the fixed blade 38. The protective cover 43 includes the movable blade 3
7 is formed in a U-shaped cross section by two parts, a base cover 43a and a lid member 43b, so as to cover the upper part 7 from the upper side, the conveying direction of the recording paper 2 and the width direction of the recording paper 2, respectively. The tool rest 39 is formed integrally with the base cover 43a. The protective cover 43 has an opening 44 exposing a part of the movable blade 37. The opening 44 is provided on the side of the transport path 2a and on the side of the movable blade 37 in the forward movement direction so that the movable blade 37 can cut the recording paper 2 between the movable blade 37 and the fixed blade 38 during the forward movement. I have.

A pair of belt wheels 45 and 46 are attached between the guide body 40a of the tool rest guide 40 and the connecting plate 40b facing the guide body 40a. A pair of belt wheels 4
Reference numerals 5 and 46 have the same diameter and are rotatably disposed on both sides in the width direction of the recording paper 2. These belt wheels 4
A toothed belt 47 is hanged in parallel to the recording paper 2 along the width direction of the recording paper 2. The output gear 34b of the front and rear end margin transmission system 34 is mounted coaxially on one belt wheel 45, and the one-way drive of the cutter motor 24 is transmitted. The toothed belt 47 is rotated in one direction by the cutter motor 24 via the pulleys 45 and 46.

The tool rest 39 is provided with a drive conversion mechanism 48. The drive conversion mechanism 48 converts the rotational driving in one direction of the toothed belt 47 into reciprocating motion, and makes the movable blade 37 reciprocate in the width direction of the recording paper 2 using the reciprocating motion. Elastic claws 39a, 39b, sector gear 49,
Belt guide plate 50 and a pair of stoppers 40b, 40
c and the like. The sector gear 49 is provided on the reverse side belt 47a of the toothed belt 47 or the forward side belt 47.
It is rotatably attached to a shaft 39c provided on the tool rest 39 so as to mesh with the shaft b. The belt guide plate 50 is
It has a U-shaped cross section, acts to prevent the sector gear 49 from coming off the shaft, and has both ends 50 bent into an L shape.
a, 50b, the backward belt 47a and the forward belt 4
7b guides so as not to escape from the meshing position with the sector gear 49.

The sector gear 49 has a pair of fixed claws 49.
a, 49b are formed. A pair of fixed claws 49a, 4
9b are provided on both sides of the center of rotation, and the sector gear 49 is connected to the backward belt 47a or the forward belt 4
7b engages with a pair of elastic claws 39a, 39b. The pair of elastic claws 39a and 39b are provided on the surface of the tool rest 39 on which the shaft 39c is formed, and transmit the movement of the backward belt 47a or the forward belt 47b to the tool rest 39.

The pair of stoppers 40b and 40c are formed at both ends of the tool post guide 40 so as to be one step higher. When the movable blade 37 is moved to the retracted position where the movable blade 37 is retracted from the transport path 2a of the recording paper 2 and the cutting position where the movable blade 37 enters the transport path 2a and cuts the recording paper 2,
9 contacts. The elastic claws 39a and 39b are connected to the stopper 4
When the tool rest 39 is brought into contact with the fixed claws 49a, 49b, the tool rest 39 is elastically deformed by the load on the tool rest 39, thereby releasing the engagement with the fixed claws 49a, 49b. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the setter gear 49 rotates substantially 180 degrees following the rotation of the belt 47, and meshes with the belt 47 on the opposite reversing side 47a or forward side 47b. I do. At this time, the fixing claws 49a, 49b
Engage with the elastic claws 39a and 39b. Thereby, the drive of the belt 47 on the opposite side is transmitted to the tool post 39, and the movable blade 37 moves in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the switches 41, 42
Are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the recording paper 2 so that the switch pieces enter the movement path of the protective cover 43. One switch 41 detects that the tool rest 39 has moved to a standby position where the passage of the recording paper 2 is not hindered. The other switch 42 is a safety switch for urgently stopping the driving of the cutter motor 24 when the tool post 39 is overrun from the cutting position. The drive stop of the cutter motor 24 is controlled based on a signal obtained from one switch 41.

As described above, by employing the drive conversion mechanism 48 which reverses the driving direction when a load is applied, for example, when the recording paper 2 is multiplex-fed or is movable without contacting the stoppers 40b and 40c. Even when the blade 37 is lost for some reason, the driving direction is reversed by the load and the movable blade 37 automatically returns to the standby position.
Inconveniences such as jamming of the recording paper 2 caused by the trouble can be prevented. In addition, by timing the opening and closing of one switch 41 and comparing the measured value with a predetermined reference value at the time of normal cutting, it is possible to specify whether the cutting by the movable blade 37 is normal or abnormal. . This allows
If an abnormality is specified at the time of cutting the front margin, which is performed for the first time after image recording, the cutting of both side margins and the cutting of the rear margin are stopped, the recording paper 2 is discharged, and a paper jam or the like is discharged. Safety control for preventing inconvenience can also be performed.

The margin cutters 22 at both ends are shown in FIGS.
, A pair of discharge rollers 29 and a pair of slitters 28a and 28b for cutting both side edges of the recording paper 2 in the transport direction.
And a moving mechanism 66 for moving the slitters 28a and 28b in the width direction of the recording paper 2. Moving mechanism 66
Moves the slitters 28a and 28b between a cutting position where the recording paper 2 is cut and a retracted position where the conveyance of the recording paper 2 is not hindered. The discharge roller pair 29 includes an upper roller 53 and a lower roller 54 that nip the recording paper 2 and discharge it toward the discharge port 30. The upper roller 53 includes an upper roller shaft 53a disposed parallel to the width direction of the recording paper 2 and an upper roller shaft 53.
a two roller main bodies 53b fixed at a predetermined distance from each other
Consists of

The lower roller 54 includes a lower roller shaft 54a disposed parallel to the width direction of the recording paper 2 and two roller bodies fixed to the lower roller shaft 54a so as to contact the pair of roller bodies 53b. 54b. One end of each of the upper and lower roller shafts 53a and 54a has a gear 59 meshing with each other.
60 are respectively fixed. These gears 59, 6
In the case of 0, the drive of the recording paper feed motor 11 is transmitted to one of the gears 59 to rotate the upper and lower roller shafts 53a and 54a, respectively.

The left slitter 28a includes an upper rotary blade 62 and a lower rotary blade 64. Also, the right slitter 28
b also includes a pair of upper rotary blades 63 and lower rotary blades 65. The lower rotary blades 64 and 65 are coaxial with the lower roller shaft 54a and are fixed to both outer sides of the roller body 54b. The blade edge interval between the lower rotary blades 64 and 65, that is, the interval L1 shown in FIG. 10 is an interval corresponding to a predetermined width of the image recording area or a slightly smaller width. The lower rotary blades 64 and 65 have the same blade tip diameter as the roller body 54b.

The upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are lower rotary blades 64 and 6
The recording mechanism 2 is moved by the moving mechanism 66 between a cutting position that abuts the recording paper 5 and a retracted position that retracts to the outer position in the width direction of the recording paper 2.
Is moved in the width direction. The moving mechanism 66 is configured to move the blade slide members 67 and 68, the support blocks 69 and 70, and the support blocks 69 and 70 in conjunction with one shift unit 6.
And 1.

The upper rotary blades 62, 63 are attached to the blade slide members 67, 68. Support block 69,
70 supports the blade slide members 67 and 68 so as to be movable along the axial direction of the upper roller shaft 53a and to rotate together with the upper roller shaft 53a.

The shift portion 61 includes a guide bracket 72,
73, cam pins 74 and 75, a cam plate 78, and output gears of a both-end margin cutter transmission system. The left guide bracket 72 has a left support block 69 at one end and a left cam pin 74 at the other end. The right guide bracket 73 also holds the right support block 70 at one end, and has the right cam pin 75 at the other end. The pair of rectilinear guide openings 76 and 77 are provided with a pair of cam pins 74 and 7.
5 is an opening for guiding the recording paper 5 movably in the width direction of the recording paper 2, and is provided in the cutter frame 80. The cutter frame 80 rotatably supports both ends of the first and second shafts 53 and 56.

The cam plate 78 is formed in an elliptical shape.
It rotates together with the output gear 33b around the same shaft 81 as the output gear 33b. An elliptical cam groove 82 is formed in the cam plate 78. The cam groove 7 has a cam pin 7
4,75 are engaged. Therefore, when the cam plate 78 rotates, the guide brackets 72, 73 are moved in the width direction of the recording paper 2 via the cam pins 74, 75. Since the guide brackets 72 and 73 are fixed to the support blocks 69 and 70, the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 move between the cutting position and the retracted position.

In the retracted position, as shown in FIG. 11, the blade edge interval L2 between the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 is made larger than the width W of the recording paper 2. The cam groove 82 of the present embodiment is provided with a pair of upper rotary blades 6 by rotating the cam plate 78 at every 90 degrees.
2, 63 are alternately moved to a cutting position and a retreat position. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper rotary blades 62, 6
The detecting means for detecting that the position No. 3 has moved to the cutting position and the retreat position is one switch 85 and the switch 85 is turned on.
And four pressing projections 86. The pressing projection 86 is formed integrally with the rotation surface of the output gear 33b, and turns on the switch 85 at each position corresponding to the movement of the upper rotary blades 62, 63 to the cutting position or the retracted position.

As shown in FIG. 1, a disconnection selection switch 87 operably provided externally is connected to the control unit 23. By operating the cut selection switch 87, a selection operation signal as to whether or not to cut the margin of the recording paper 2 is input to the control unit 23. The control unit 23 drives the cutter motor 24 to rotate in the reverse direction to rotate the cam plate 78 when the margin selection is selected by the cutting selection switch 87. And the control unit 2
3 monitors the ON signal obtained from the switch 85 while the cutter motor 24 is being driven, and stops driving the cutter motor 24 when the signal is obtained.

Since the blade slide members 67 and 68 and the support blocks 69 and 70 have the same configuration, only one of the configurations will be described below, and the same reference numerals will be given to the other. Here, detailed description is omitted.

The blade slide member 67 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating blade holding sleeve 100, the sliding sleeve 101, and the coil spring 102 are provided.
The rotary blade holding sleeve 100 holds the upper rotary blade 62. The sliding sleeve 101 is formed in a cylindrical shape,
The upper roller shaft 53a is movably supported in the axial direction. The sliding sleeve 101 has a guide hole 103 and inner and outer stoppers 104 and 105 comprising flanges at both ends.
Is formed, and the rotary blade holding sleeve 100 is slidably held by the outer peripheral surface between the stoppers 104 and 105.

The coil spring 102 has an outer stopper 105
And the rotary blade holding sleeve 100, and urges the rotary blade holding sleeve 100 toward the inner stopper 104. By moving the upper rotary blade 62 to the cutting position in a state where the upper rotary blade 62 is biased by the coil spring 102 in this manner, the upper rotary blade 6
It is possible to alleviate the shock when the second blade 2 comes into contact with the lower rotary blade 64, and to keep the force of pressing the upper rotary blade 62 against the lower rotary blade 64 constant.

At the upper and lower ends of the support block 69, a pair of elastic claws 108 and 109 are provided so as to sandwich the upper roller shaft 53a. The elastic claws 108 and 109 hold the outer stopper 105 so as not to move in the axial direction of the upper roller shaft 53a and to be rotatable in a rotational direction about the upper roller shaft 53a.

As shown in FIG. 13, a hole 110 is provided in the upper roller shaft 53a. The hole 110 has a pin 1
11 is press-fitted with both ends protruding from the shaft.
A pin 111 is provided in the hole 107 of the rotary blade holding sleeve 100.
A guide groove 112 is formed in the axial direction to be engaged with both ends. A guide groove 113 through which both ends of the pin 111 are inserted is also formed in the sliding sleeve 101. These guide grooves 112 and 113 are provided at least for the blade slide member 67.
Is formed in the axial direction of the upper roller shaft 53a with a length corresponding to the movement amount of the upper roller shaft 53a. Therefore, the rotational force of the upper roller shaft 53a is transmitted to the rotary blade holding sleeve 100 and the sliding sleeve 101 by the pin 11.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the initial state of the printer, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the thermal head 7 is set at the retracted position away from the platen roller 8, and
The 0 pinch roller 13 is set at a position away from the capstan roller 12. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the movable blade 37 of the front and rear end margin cutter 21 has moved to a standby position where it does not prevent the recording paper 2 from passing.
As shown in FIG.
Reference numerals 2 and 63 are located at the retracted positions respectively retracted outside the recording paper 2 in the width direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, before starting printing, the cutting selection switch 87 is used to selectively input whether or not margin cutting is possible. When the print button 88 is operated after selecting margin cutting with the cutting selection switch 87, first, the control unit 23 performs paper feeding. As a result, the recording paper 2 is sent out from the paper supply unit 3 and is supplied to the thermal head 7.

The fed recording paper 2 passes between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 with the recording surface facing upward, and moves between the pinch roller 13 and the capstan roller 12 of the transport roller pair 10. Sent to. Then, the front end of the recording paper 2 is moved by the position sensor 14 to the pinch roller 1.
When it is detected that the recording paper 2 has passed between the pinch roller 3 and the capstan roller 12, the pinch roller 13 descends, and the recording paper 2 is sandwiched between the pinch roller 13 and the capstan roller 12.

After the transport roller pair 10 is sandwiched,
The thermal head 7 moves to the print position. Thereafter, the recording paper feed motor 11 is driven to rotate the capstan roller 12 to convey the recording paper 2 in the forward direction.

During this transport, the control unit 23 operates the encoder 1
5 is monitored. When the leading end of the image recording area reaches the position of the heating element array 7a of the thermal head 7, the thermal head 7 is driven to thermally record a yellow image line by line in the image recording area of the recording paper 2. During this thermal recording, the yellow ultraviolet lamp 17 of the optical fixing device 16 is turned on to optically fix the thermally recorded yellow thermosensitive coloring layer.

When the thermal recording of the yellow image is completed, the thermal head 7 is moved to the retracted position, and thereafter the recording paper 2
Is transported in the reverse direction, and the transport is continued until the position sensor detects the rear end of the recording paper 2 in the reverse direction. Thereafter, the thermal head 7 is moved to the printing position, and the recording paper 2 is transported again in the forward direction. During this transport, the thermal recording of the magenta image by the thermal head 7 and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer by the ultraviolet lamp 18 for magenta are performed. Light fixing is performed.

When the thermal recording of the magenta image is completed, the thermal recording of the cyan image is similarly performed. The magenta ultraviolet lamp 18 is also turned on during the cyan thermal recording, and the unrecorded area with a yellow tint is bleached.

When the thermal recording of the cyan image is completed, a full-color image is formed in the image recording area by three color planes sequentially. Then, after the recording of the cyan image, the recording sheet 2 after the image recording is returned in the reverse direction B by the transport roller pair 10. Then, when the leading end of the recording paper 2 passes through the position sensor 14, the returning of the recording paper 2 ends.

Next, the control unit 23 controls the margin cutter 2 on both sides.
The upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are controlled to be set at the cutting position. In this control, first, the cutter motor 24 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction. This drive is carried out on both sides of the margin
(See FIG. 3) to the cam plate 78. This causes the cam plate 78 to rotate in one direction, as shown in FIG. By this rotation, the cam pins 74 and 75 engaged with the cam groove 82 move the cam groove 82 and the linear guide opening 76 and
It moves with the movement of the intersection with 77. This allows
The guide brackets 72, 73 to which the cam pins 74, 75 are fixed move. This movement is performed by the support block 6
9, 70 and the blade slide members 67, 68.

The control unit 23 monitors a signal from the switch 85 while the cutter motor 24 is being driven, and upon receiving a detection signal from the switch 85,
Stop driving. Thereby, the pair of blade slide members 67 and 68 are respectively moved to the cutting position, and the upper rotary blade 6 is moved.
2 and 63 are in contact with the lower rotary blades 64 and 65 from both ends of the upper roller shaft 53a.

At this time, a pair of support blocks 69, 70
Is moved by an amount slightly longer than the amount of movement of the upper rotary blades 62, 63 in contact with the lower rotary blades 64, 65, respectively.
Therefore, as shown in FIG.
After the blade 3 comes into contact with the lower rotary blades 64 and 65, the rotary blade holding sleeve 100 is further pushed against the bias of the coil spring 102 to a position slightly away from the inner stopper 104. Thus, the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are pressed by the lower rotary blades 64 and 65 by the bias of the coil spring 102. With this configuration, for example, when dust or foreign matter hits between the upper and lower rotary blades 62 to 65, the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 can escape against the bias of the coil spring 102. In addition, damage to the upper and lower rotary blades 62 to 65 can be prevented.

When the setting of the both-side margin cutters 22 at the cutting position is completed, the recording paper 2 is fed in the forward direction A. When the leading edge of the recording paper 2 is detected by the position sensor 14, the rotation number of the pinch roller 13 is measured,
Based on the measured value, it is specified that the cutting position of the front margin of the recording paper 2 has reached the cutting position of the front margin cutter 21. Then, at the specified time, the conveyance of the recording paper 2 is stopped,
Thereafter, the front margin cutter 21 is operated.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 23
While the driving of the paper feed motor 11 is stopped, the cutter motor 2
4 is driven forward. As a result, the planetary gears 36 mesh with the front and rear margin cutter transmission system 34, and the toothed belt 47 is rotated in one direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the sector gear 49 is in a standby state in a state in which it is meshed with the reversing-side belt 47a.
The tool post 39 is moved in the backward movement direction. As soon as the tool rest 39 moves, it comes into contact with the stopper 40b. As a result, the elastic claws 39a and 39b are elastically deformed and the fixed claws 49 are formed.
a, 49b are released, and the sector gear 49 is
It rotates counterclockwise around 9c. Thereafter, the sector gear 49 is engaged with the forward movement belt 47b, and the fixed claws 49a, 49b are engaged with the elastic claws 39a, 39b.
Thus, the tool rest 39 moves in the same direction as the forward movement belt 47b, that is, in the forward movement direction. During this forward movement, the movable blade 37 cuts the recording paper 2 in the width direction between the movable blade 37 and the fixed teeth 38.

After the cutting is completed, the tool rest 39 comes into contact with the stopper 40c on the opposite side. Thereby, the elastic claws 39
a and 39b are elastically deformed. Thereby, the sector gear 4
9 is released, and the sector gear 49 rotates counterclockwise. Then, the sector gear 49 is moved to the return side 47 belt 4.
7a, the fixed claws 49a, 49b are
9a and 39b, and the rotation of the sector gear 49 is prevented. Thereby, the tool rest 39 moves in the backward movement direction.
Then, by turning on the switch 41, the control unit 23 stops driving the cutter motor 24. Thereby, the tool rest 39 is returned to the standby position.

After the front margin cutting operation is completed, the control unit 23 drives the recording paper feed motor 11 to convey the recording paper 2 in the forward direction. During the conveyance, the leading end of the recording paper 2 is nipped by the discharge roller pair 29,
Conveyed by. The discharge roller pair 29 includes the transport roller pair 10
It rotates at the same peripheral speed as. Then, the left and right margins of the recording paper 2 in the width direction are cut in the transport direction by the upper and lower rotary blades 62 to 65 on both side margin cutters 22. Then, record paper 2
Is detected by the position sensor 25, the cutting position of the trailing margin of the recording paper 2 is located at the cutting position of the front and rear margin cutter 21. At this time, the driving of the recording paper feed motor 11 is stopped once, and then the cutter motor 24 is driven to rotate forward to operate the front and rear margin cutters 21 to cut the rear margin of the recording paper 2.

After the cutting of the trailing margin is completed, the recording paper feed motor 11 is driven again. When the recording paper 2 is the discharge roller pair 29
, The upper and lower rotary blades 62 to 65 continue cutting the left and right margins. At this time, the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are moved by the bias of the coil spring 102 so that the lower rotary blade 6
Since the upper and lower rotary blades 62 to 65 are rotated together with the upper and lower roller shafts 53a and 54a in a state where they are pressed against the upper and lower rollers 4 and 65, respectively, the cutting can be performed smoothly. Then, the recording paper 2 whose margin has been cut is discharged to the outside from the discharge port 30 by the discharge roller pair 29. After the recording paper 2 is discharged, the cutter motor 24 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction to move the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 to the retracted position. Thus, preparations for the next printing operation are completed.

In the present embodiment, since the fixed blades 38, 64, 65 are arranged on the opposite side of the recording surface of the recording paper 2, even if the recording paper 2 is curled by, for example, thermal recording. The recording paper 2 does not come into contact with these blades 38, 64, 65, and the recording surface is not scraped.

When a plurality of prints are instructed and margin cutting is selected, the next print is started after the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are at the retracted position. Then, after finishing the three-color surface sequential printing, as described above, the upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are moved to the cutting position, and then the front and rear end margin cutters 21 are operated to cut each margin.

When no margin cutting is selected by the cutting selection switch 87, the recording paper 2 is discharged from the discharge port 30 by the discharge roller pair 29 without stopping the driving of the recording paper feed motor 11 after image recording. To be discharged. When the recording paper 2 passes through the margin cutters 28 on both sides, the pair of upper rotary blades 62 and 63 are retracted to both outer sides in the width direction of the recording paper 2. The lower rotary blades 64 and 65 have the same diameter as or slightly smaller than the roller body 54b. For this reason, even if the recording paper 2 passes, it is possible to reliably prevent inconvenience such as damaging the paper surface with the lower rotary blades 64 and 65.

In the printer of the above embodiment, the recording paper 2
Is, for example, a postcard-sized recording paper 2 with margins cut off.
Is set to the same size as, for example, the L size of the silver halide print photograph, the recording paper 2 with the margins cut off can be put in an album or the like in the same manner as the print photograph, and the recorded image can be enjoyed. You can enjoy it as a post card.

In the above-described embodiment, the recording paper 2 cut into one sheet is used as a sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a sheet drawn in a belt form from a roll form may be used. In the case of using the recording paper in the form of a roll, the trailing margin can be cut together by cutting the sheet into a sheet.

Further, in the above embodiment, the front and rear end margins 21 are cut by reciprocating the movable blade 37 of the front and rear end margin cutters 21. Alternatively, the margins may be cut by the forward or backward movement. Good.

Further, in the slitter 28 of the above embodiment, the upper rotary blades 62, 63 are retracted, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper rotary blades 62, 63 are fixed.
The lower rotary blades 64 and 65 may be moved between the cutting position and the retracted position. In this case, the lower rotary blade 6
4 and 65 are applied from outside the upper rotary blades 62 and 63. In addition, the upper and lower rotary blades 62 and 64 and the upper and lower rotary blades 63 and 65
May be moved between the cutting position and the retreat position.

In the above embodiment, the front and rear margin cutters 2
1, and both side margin cutters 22 are arranged in this order,
In the present invention, the arrangement is not limited to this. For example, the left and right margins may be cut at the very beginning after image recording.

In the above embodiment, one of the front and rear margin cutters 21 is used to cut the front and rear margins. However, two cutters, a front margin cutter and a rear margin cutter, are provided. And the slitter 28 may be integrally incorporated. Further, the front and rear end margin cutters 21 are of a type in which the movable blade 37 is reciprocated in the width direction of the recording paper to cut the recording paper. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the straight blades arranged along the width direction are guillotine type. A movable cutter may be employed. In this case, if the motor is moved toward the fixed blade using one-way rotation and returned to the retracted position using the force of a spring, the motor can be driven in one-way rotation. Can be.

In the above-described embodiment, the discharge roller pair 29 is incorporated in the both-side margin cutter 22. However, the present invention does not necessarily need to incorporate the discharge roller pair 29. Further, as the drive conversion mechanism 48 of the above embodiment,
The one-way rotation drive of the motor 24 is converted into reciprocating motion by using the movement of the backward-moving belt 47a and the forward-moving belt 47b by rotating the parallel belt 47 in one direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one-way rotational driving may be converted into reciprocating motion using, for example, a reciprocating slider rotating mechanism.

In the above embodiment, a thermal recording type thermal printer has been described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to a thermal transfer type using an ink ribbon or an ink sheet. Further, the present invention can be applied to a monochrome thermal printer other than the color thermal printer. Further, the present invention may be applied to other printers such as an ink dot system.

[0075]

As described above, in the printer with the cutter according to the first aspect, since the cutter for cutting the recording paper in the width direction and the slitter for cutting in the conveyance direction are integrally incorporated into a unit, the recording paper is formed. Of the apparatus in the transport direction can be shortened. In addition, since they can be handled integrally, the work at the time of assembly or maintenance is simplified.
In the printer with the cutter according to the second aspect, the recording paper is retracted in the width direction of the recording paper, so that a space such as a transport drive system generally disposed outside the recording paper in the width direction is used as the retraction space. Therefore, the device itself can be made compact. Moreover, unlike the flip-up method described in the prior art, the thickness of the device can be reduced, and the entire device can be made compact. Also,
In the printer with the cutter according to the third aspect, the moving means and the cutter are operated by using the drive of a single motor, so that the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where each of the driving means is provided. And the compactness can be achieved because there is no drive means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a printer with a cutter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cutter unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing a driving system of the cutter unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of a front and rear margin cutter for cutting a recording sheet in a width direction.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing front and rear margin cutters.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing a drive conversion mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a drive conversion mechanism showing a state in which a sector gear meshes with a belt on a backward movement side and a tool post is moved in a backward movement direction.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a drive conversion mechanism showing a state when a sector gear meshes with a forward belt and a tool post is moved in a forward direction.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of a margin cutter on both sides for cutting a recording sheet in a conveying direction.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a margin cutter on both sides in a state where the upper rotary blade is moved to a cutting position.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the margin cutters on both side edges in a state where the upper rotary blade has been moved to a retracted position.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a blade slide member and a support member.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of a margin cutter on both sides with the upper rotary blade moved to a cutting position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Recording Paper 7 Thermal Head 10 Conveying Roller Pair 14, 25 Position Sensor 16 Optical Fixer 20 Cutter Unit 21 Front and Rear End Margin Cutter 22 Side End Margin Cutter 28a, 28b Slitter 29 Discharge Roller Pair 37 Movable Blade 38 Fixed Blade 47 Toothed Belt 48 Drive conversion mechanism 49 Sector gear 62, 63 Upper rotary blade 64, 65 Lower rotary blade 69, 70 Support block

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A conveying unit for conveying a recording sheet in a direction orthogonal to a width direction of the recording sheet, an image forming unit for forming an image on the recording sheet, and a cutter unit for cutting a margin around an image forming area after image formation. A cutter for cutting the recording paper in the width direction while the conveyance of the recording paper is stopped; and a cutter arranged upstream or downstream in the conveyance direction of the recording paper with respect to the cutter. A printer with a cutter, comprising a slitter for cutting paper in a transport direction and a slitter integrated with the slitter. 2. A moving means for moving the slitter in the width direction of the recording sheet between a cutting position where the slitter is cut to a predetermined width and a retracted position where the slitter is retracted to an outer position in the width direction of the recording sheet. The printer with a cutter according to claim 1, wherein 3. The cutter unit includes a single motor and transmission switching means for selectively transmitting drive of the motor to one of the moving means and the cutter in accordance with a rotation direction of the motor. The printer with a cutter according to claim 2, wherein 4. The transmission switching means according to a rotation direction of a sun gear to which driving of a motor is input, a driving means driving system for transmitting driving to the moving means, a cutter driving system for transmitting driving to the cutter, and a motor. 4. A printer with a cutter according to claim 3, wherein the planetary gear comprises a planetary gear mechanism which meshes with one of the moving means driving system and the cutter driving system. 5. The cutter according to claim 1, further comprising a movable blade provided to be movable in a width direction of the recording paper, and a driving unit for moving the movable blade by rotating the motor in one direction. The printer with a cutter according to claim 3, wherein 6. The driving means for converting the one-way rotation of the motor into a reciprocating motion, and utilizing the reciprocating motion to reciprocate the movable blade. Item 6. A printer with a cutter according to Item 5. 7. The cutter according to claim 3, wherein the moving means reciprocates the slitter between a cutting position and a retracted position by transmitting rotation of the motor in the other direction. With printer. 8. A nip roller for nipping and transporting the recording paper, and the slitters are provided on both outer sides of the nip roller so as to be movable along the axis thereof, and the moving means includes a pair of the slitters for the nip roller. The printer with a cutter according to claim 7, wherein the printer is moved along the axis of (1). 9. A selection operation member which is provided so as to be operable externally and selects whether or not a margin can be cut after recording an image on the recording paper; and driving the moving means to move the slitter to a cutting position. And a cutting mode allowing the operation of the cutter,
A control unit for selectively switching according to an operation of the selection operation member, in one of a non-cutting mode in which the slitter is moved to a retracted position and operation of the cutter is prohibited. Item 9. A printer with a cutter according to any one of Items 2 to 8. 10. A recording paper having a plurality of thermosensitive coloring layers formed on a support, and conveying means for reciprocating the recording paper, wherein the image forming means comprises an upper thermosensitive coloring layer on the recording paper. And a fixing unit that irradiates a fixing light before the thermal recording of the lower thermosensitive coloring layer to the thermosensitive coloring layer on which the thermal recording has been performed. A printer with a cutter according to any one of claims 1 to 9.