JP2820585B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer such as an ink jet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as an ink jet printer, there is known an ink jet printer in which a printing unit, a sheet transport surface, a sheet storage unit, and the like are inclined with respect to the installation surface in order to reduce the projection area on the installation surface and to reduce the size. Have been.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional configuration of such a printer.
In the drawing, reference numeral 2 denotes an ink jet head, which forms a printing unit 1 in cooperation with a sheet conveying surface 9 facing the ink jet head. Also,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a feed roller, and reference numeral 4 denotes a leaf plate, which forms an upstream-side sheet conveying means. Reference numeral 6 denotes a paper tray.

[0004] Reference numeral 10 denotes a downstream sheet conveying means, which includes a discharge roller 11 and a spur 12. Also,
Reference numeral 20 denotes a vertical paper storage unit, and reference numeral 30 denotes a paper discharge mechanism. The paper discharging mechanism 30 moves the arm 31 provided between the downstream paper transporting means 10 and the vertical paper storage unit 20 and formed so as to be able to engage and move the lower end of the paper P, thereby resuming movement of the downstream paper. The paper P detached from the transport means 10 is discharged to the vertical paper storage unit 20.

[0005] In the ink jet printer having the above structure,
The paper P automatically fed from the paper tray 6 (or the arrow A
The paper manually inserted from the direction) is pressed against the feed roller 3 by the leaf plate 4, is fed and urged, and is fed to the printing unit 1. Then, the paper P is conveyed upward along the paper conveyance surface 9 after being printed by the printing unit 1.
When the upper end of the paper P reaches the downstream paper transport means 10 (discharge rollers 11, spurs 12), the transport means 10
Is also energized. When the sheet P is conveyed upward and comes off the sheet conveying means 10 in this manner, the arm 31
Rotates forward about the support shaft 32, engages with the lower end of the paper P, pushes up the paper P, and discharges the paper P to the vertical paper storage unit 20 in a substantially vertical state (see FIG. 6).

[0006]

By the way, in the above-described ink jet printer, the paper P is
Is not pushed to the bottom surface 22 side of the vertical paper storage unit 20 due to the frictional force generated between the paper P and the paper discharged earlier, and the lower end of the paper P is moved toward the upper side 21 of the storage unit 20. Sometimes it stops.

When such a situation occurs, the vertical paper storage unit 20
The number of sheets that can be stored in the printer is substantially reduced. for that reason,
When printing a large number of sheets continuously, it is necessary to take out the sheets from the storage section 20 many times, which is troublesome.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer capable of smoothly and surely discharging sheets to a vertical sheet storage section to increase the number of sheets actually stored.

[0009]

In order to find a solution to the above-described paper storage failure, the surface of the arm engaged with the lower end of the paper is made smooth to reduce the frictional force generated between the arm and the lower end of the paper. Or, the experiment was performed with the distance slid on the previously ejected paper shortened, but the situation still occurred in which the paper could not be pushed into the bottom side of the vertical paper storage unit.

Therefore, the present invention achieves the above object by forming the lower end of the sheet so as to be forcibly pushed into the bottom side of the vertical sheet storage portion by utilizing the forward rotation of the arm.

That is, in the printer according to the present invention, the arm provided between the downstream paper transport means and the vertical paper storage section and formed so as to be able to engage and move the lower end of the paper is moved forward and backward. A printer having a paper discharge mechanism for discharging paper detached from the side paper transport means to the vertical paper storage unit;
A stopper is provided on the upper side of the vertical paper storage unit to prevent the lower end of the ejected sheet from being pulled back when the arm is rotated backward, and the arm is moved forward and backward. A forcible pushing member is provided which forcibly pushes the lower end of the previously ejected sheet, which is locked to the stopper by using a dynamic movement, toward the downstream side of the vertical sheet storage section.

[0012]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the sheet detached from the downstream sheet conveying means is moved by the forwardly rotating arm and discharged to the vertical sheet storage section. At this time, even if the sheet is not pushed into the bottom side of the vertical sheet storage unit due to frictional force generated between the arm and the arm, the lower end of the sheet is locked by the stopper when the arm is rotated back, so that the outside of the storage unit is stopped. There is no going out.

After the sheet is discharged, if the next sheet fed by the downstream sheet conveying means is moved by the arm in the same manner as described above, the forced pushing member is provided before the sheet is discharged to the vertical sheet storage section. Engages with the lower end of the previously discharged paper locked by the stopper, and forcibly pushes the lower end of the paper toward the bottom side of the vertical paper storage unit. On the other hand, the sheet sent this time is stored in the vertical sheet storage unit with its lower end placed on the forcible pressing member. When the arm is rotated back in this state, the lower end of the current sheet is about to be pulled back to the sheet conveying surface side by the forcible pushing member, but is locked by the stopper.

As a result, the previously discharged paper is pushed into the bottom of the vertical paper storage unit, and the paper discharged this time is stored in the storage unit with its lower end locked by the stopper.

By repeatedly performing such a sheet storing operation, a large number of sheets can be stored in the vertical sheet storing section.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG.
Basic Configuration [Downstream Paper Conveying Means 10 (Discharge Roller 1
1, spur 12), vertical paper storage unit 20, paper transport mechanism 30
(E.g., arm 31)] is the same as in the conventional example (FIG. 5). A stopper 25 is provided in the vertical paper storage unit 20 and a forced pushing member 35 is provided in the arm 31, so that the paper is ejected first while preventing pullback of the paper. The paper can be forcibly pushed into the bottom side of the storage unit 20. Note that the same components as those in the conventional example (FIG. 5) are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted or simplified.

First, the arm 31 is provided so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 32, and is rotated forward (rotated clockwise in FIG. 1) within a predetermined angle range by a driving means (not shown).
-It is configured to be turned backward (turned counterclockwise). More specifically, the arm 31 is retracted to a position where the arm 31 does not come into contact with the sheet conveyed on the sheet conveying surface 9 during standby shown in FIG. A sheet bending member 39 that engages with both side edges of the sheet P and curves the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction is provided on the sheet conveying surface 9 between the discharge roller 11 and the vertical sheet storage unit 20. Is provided.

Next, the stopper 25 is connected to the vertical paper storage unit 2.
The lower end of the sheet that has been ejected when the arm 31 is rotated backward is prevented from being pulled back.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the stopper 25 is formed so that its upper surface 25a has a smaller inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane than the sheet conveying surface 9 and its rear surface 25b is It is formed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the upper part 21. Thus, the paper can be smoothly discharged through the upper surface 25a of the stopper 25, and the lower end of the paper is connected to the back surface 25b of the stopper 25.
Can be securely locked.

Further, the forcible pushing member 35 is provided on the arm 31 and uses the forward rotation of the arm 31 to hold the lower end of the previously ejected sheet locked by the stopper 25 to the vertical sheet storage section. 20 is formed so as to be forcibly pressed into the bottom surface 22 side.

In this embodiment, the forcible pressing member 35 is
As shown in the figure, the upper surface 35a is formed at a substantially right angle with respect to the arm 31 and the lower side surface 35b is formed in a triangular shape having an oblique side. 35a is provided so as to form a predetermined gap h between the stopper 25 and the back surface 25b.

Next, the operation will be described. Arm 31
Is rotated forward from the standby position shown in FIG.
When the lower end of the sheet P1 that has come off the
1 is discharged to the vertical paper storage unit 20. At this time, the paper P1
When the arm 31 is not pushed into the bottom surface 22 side of the vertical paper storage unit 20 due to a frictional force or the like generated between the paper P1 and the arm 31, the lower end of the paper P1 is locked by the stopper 25 when the arm 31 returns. You won't go outside.

After the sheet P1 has been discharged, the downstream sheet conveying means 10
When the next sheet P2 sent by the above is moved by the arm 31 in the same manner as described above, as shown in FIG. The lower surface 35b is the stopper 25
Is engaged with the lower end portion of the discharge paper P1 locked at
The sheet P1 is forcibly pushed into the bottom surface 22 of the vertical sheet storage unit 20.

On the other hand, the paper P2 is stored in the vertical paper storage unit 20 with its lower end placed on the upper surface 35a of the forcible pressing member 35. When the arm 31 is rotated backward in this state, the lower end of the sheet P2 is about to be pulled back toward the sheet conveying surface 9 by the forcible pushing member 35, but the stopper 2
5 locked.

Thus, the sheet P1 is stored in the vertical sheet storage section 20.
The paper P2 is forcibly pushed into the bottom surface 22 side, and the paper P2 is stored in the storage portion 20 with its lower end locked by the stopper 25.

By repeatedly performing the above-described sheet storage operation, a large number of sheets can be stored in the vertical sheet storage unit 20.

According to this embodiment, however, the lower end of the sheet P2 once ejected is pulled back when the arm 31 is rotated forward to the upper side 21 of the vertical sheet storage unit 20. A stopper 25 is provided to prevent the lower end of the previously discharged sheet P1 locked on the stopper 25 by using the forward rotation of the arm 31 on the arm 31 so that the lower end of the vertical sheet storage section 20 can be used. The paper (P)
, P2...) Can be smoothly and reliably discharged to the vertical paper storage unit 20 to increase the actual storage number.

Further, since the forcible pushing of the sheet is performed by utilizing the forward rotation of the arm 31, the size and cost can be reduced without requiring a special driving source.

Even if the lower end of the discharged paper cannot be locked by the stopper 25, it can be locked by the paper curving member 39, so that pulling back of the paper can be completely prevented.

Although the forced pushing member 35 is formed to have a triangular cross section, any shape may be used as long as the forced pushing operation of the sheet can be performed.

[0031]

According to the present invention, a stopper is provided at the upper side of the vertical paper storage section to prevent the lower end of the paper once discharged from being pulled back when the arm is rotated backward. The arm is provided with a forcible pushing member for forcibly pushing the lower end of the previously ejected sheet, which is locked to the stopper using the forward rotation of the arm, to the bottom side of the vertical sheet storage section. With this configuration, the paper can be smoothly and reliably discharged to the vertical paper storage unit, and the actual number of stored papers can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet is discharged to a vertical sheet storage unit by similarly rotating an arm in a forward direction.

FIG. 3 is also a view for explaining a stopper.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a positional relationship between a stopper and a forced pushing member.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view for explaining a configuration of a conventional ink jet printer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a sheet discharging operation in a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Downstream paper conveyance means 20 Vertical paper storage part 30 Paper discharge mechanism 31 Arm 35 Forced pushing member

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An arm disposed between a downstream paper transport means and a vertical paper storage section and formed so as to be capable of engaging and moving a lower end portion of the paper is rotated forward to disengage from the downstream paper transport means. In a printer provided with a paper discharge mechanism for discharging paper to a vertical paper storage unit, the lower end of the paper once discharged when the arm is rotated backward is pulled back to the upper side of the vertical paper storage unit. A stopper is provided to prevent the paper from being ejected, and the lower end of the previously ejected paper locked by the stopper by using the forward rotation of the arm is attached to the arm. A printer characterized in that a forced pushing member is provided on a bottom side forcibly pushing the member.