JP2651594B2 - Paper guide mechanism in paper feeder - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a single sheet paper guiding mechanism capable of reliably sending a plurality of types of printing paper having different thicknesses to a printing area.

(Prior Art) When printing on a cut sheet or a so-called cut sheet using a serial printer, as shown in FIG. By using a paper feeder provided with a separation claw F to be locked at a corner of the paper, the pulling force of the paper by the roller is applied to the front paper, and only one front paper is buckled by the separation claw F. Separation and removal are performed one by one.

However, when the printing medium has a strong stiffness such as a card or an envelope, it is difficult to buckle with the separation claw, and it is difficult to separate the printing medium. An inclined surface E is formed, and is separated by a frictional force generated by the inclined surface E.

For this reason, in such a paper feeder, when printing on a thick print medium such as a card, an attachment is attached so that the corner of the thick print medium does not contact the separation claw F. It is necessary to store the paper in an offset position, and there is a problem that it takes time and effort to attach and detach an attachment when printing on plain paper and a thick print medium.

(Purpose) The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a purpose thereof is to provide a paper that can quickly respond to the type of print medium without requiring attachment and detachment operations of an attachment. To provide a guide mechanism.

(Summary of the Invention) That is, a feature of the present invention is that a paper position regulating member projecting toward the center side from the separation claw inside the paper guide portion of the main body is rotated so as to be able to advance and retreat to the paper storage path. It is in the point which was made.

(Embodiment) Therefore, the details of the present invention will be described below based on an illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
A frame mounted on the printer main body, which has a drive gear 3 that engages with a platen gear G connected to the shaft of the platen P when set in the printer. Paper rollers 5, 5 and hopper members 6, 6 are provided.

The hopper members 6, 6 are mounted so as to be movable along guide shafts 9, 9 (FIG. 2) parallel to the platen P, and the hopper members 6, 6 are provided on the inner side, that is, the surface facing the side of the sheet H1 according to the present invention. Are provided so as to be rotatable in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet H1.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the above-mentioned hopper members (the left one in FIG. 1).
Is a side wall member that regulates a side portion of the sheet H1, and a receiving plate 11 that supports a lower end of the sheet H1 is horizontally fixed to an inner side. At the leading end of the receiving plate 11 on the paper feed roller side, a thick print medium separating member 11 having a slope 12 with the paper feed roller side downward is provided, and a lower corner of the paper H1 is opposed. A separation claw 13 is provided at the position.

Further, on the rear side of the space formed by the side wall member 10 and the receiving plate 11, as shown in FIG.
The paper pressure plate 19 is guided in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the paper and constantly urged toward the paper feed rollers 5 and 5 by the compression spring 17.

Returning to FIG. 2 again, reference numeral 7 in the figure is a lateral width regulating member which is a feature of the present invention described above, and is a surface that comes into contact with the side of the sheet.
7a is formed in an elongated water drop shape so as to protrude toward the center side from the separation claw 13, and crosses the paper storage portion when the upper end is tilted to the back side, and the side portion of the paper is the side wall member 10 when tilted forward. It is rotatably attached to the side wall member 10 so that it can be brought into contact with the side wall.

That is, if the distance from the surface of the side wall member 10 to the tip of the center of the separation claw 13 is 1, and the distance from the surface of the side wall member 10 to the paper contact surface 7a of the width regulating member 7 is W, then 1 <W. The dimensions are set as follows.

Reference numeral 20 in the figure is a stopper for holding the position when the width regulating member 7 is tilted forward,
It is operated by 27.

In this embodiment, when printing on plain paper, the lateral width regulating members 7, 7 on both sides are tilted forward (in the direction of arrow A in the figure) and retracted from the paper insertion path (indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 2). Position). In this state (FIG. 4I), the hopper members 6, 6 are moved along the shafts 9, 9 so that the side portions of the paper abut against the side wall member 10 (in the direction of arrow B in the figure), and the hopper member is moved. Adjust the position of 6,6.

When such preparation is completed, a pair of side wall members 1
When plain paper is set between 0 and 10 and the printer body is operated, the rotating force of the platen P is
To the paper feed rollers 5, 5, and the hopper member 6,
The plain paper on the surface set at 6 is drawn downward. In this process, the forces of the rollers 5 and 5 are also transmitted to the second and third sheets of plain paper, but the movement is prevented by the separation claws 13 and 13, and only the first sheet of plain paper H1 has the lower end corner. Over the separation claw 13 and move downward. As a result, plain paper moves between the platen P and a paper guide (not shown) and is set in the printer. Hereinafter, by repeating the above-described process, the plain paper set in the hopper members 6
Each sheet is automatically transferred to the printer.

When printing on a thick print medium H2 such as a postcard or an envelope, the width regulating members 7, 7 are tilted toward the paper pressure plates 19, 19 and protruded into the storage section (the position indicated by a solid line in the figure). ), The positions of the hopper members 6, 6 are adjusted according to the width of the print medium H2.

In this state, the thick print medium H2 is
When the sheet is inserted in such a manner as to come into contact with the side wall member 10, the corners of the thick print medium H2 are offset from the side wall member 10 by the lateral width regulating members 7, 7 so that the corners of the thick print medium H2 are located closer to the center than the separation claws 13. (Fig. 4 II).

When the printer is operated in this state, the thick print medium H2 is fed by the feed rollers 5, 5 rotated by the platen P.
Is pulled downward. At this time, the thick print medium H2 has its lower corners separated by the width regulating members 7,
Since it is extruded to the outside, that is, the center side, it moves without contacting the separation claws 13 and 13 and is separated by the friction of the slope 12 formed on the receiving plate 11 and set in the printer.

At the stage when printing on the thick print medium H2 is completed, if the lateral width regulating members 7, 7 are tilted to the trouble side, they are evacuated from the accommodating portion, so that the positions of the hopper members 6, 6 are adjusted according to the size of plain paper. For example, plain paper can be fed.

(Effect) As described above, according to the present invention, the lateral width regulating member that contacts the side surface of the print medium and positions the side surface of the print medium closer to the center than the separation claw is moved forward and backward to the paper storage unit. Since it is rotatably provided on the side wall portion, it is possible to quickly respond to the type of print medium without rotating the width regulating member and without requiring the attachment / detachment operation of the attachment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a hopper member in the apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross-sectional structure of the hopper member, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the above-described apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional paper guide mechanism. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Frame, 3 ... Drive gear 5 ... Feed roller, 6 ... Hopper member 7 ... Width control member, 10 ... Side wall member 12 ... Receiving plate, 12 ... Slope 13 ... Separation claw 19 …… Press plate, H1, H2 …… Print media P …… Platen

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A pair of hopper members comprising a side wall portion for regulating a lateral width direction of a accommodated print medium, a receiving plate for regulating a lower surface, and a pressure plate portion for pressing a back surface of the print medium toward a paper feed roller. A paper feed roller for drawing out a print medium by contacting the front side of a sheet, a separation claw contacting a corner of the print medium on the paper feed roller side, and a thick plate formed on the paper feed roller side of the receiving plate. A paper guide mechanism having a print medium separating slope, wherein a width regulating member that abuts against the side surface of the print medium and positions the side surface of the print medium closer to the center side than the separation claw advances and retreats to the paper storage unit. And a sheet guide mechanism in a sheet feeding device rotatably provided on the side wall portion.