PRINTING APPARATUS

Abstract

A printing apparatus is provided with a storage unit that is configured by a curved carrying route including first and second arc carrying routes which are sequentially connected to a carry-out side of a main carrying path along a sheet carrying direction, and the first and second arc carrying routes are arranged on upper and lower sides of a line component extending along a sheet carrying surface in a printing device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-063401, filed Mar. 16, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus mounted in, for example, an automatic teller machine.

BACKGROUND

This type of printing apparatus carries a sheet to a printing unit along a carrying path and prints transaction information on the sheet. In addition, after printing, the sheet is discharged to a discharge unit so as to be received by a client. However, there may be a case where a plurality of the sheets are continuously carried to the printing unit so as to be printed. In this case, in order that the client may easily receive the sheets, the plurality of the sheets printed are temporarily stored in a storage unit in an overlapped state. Then, the stored sheets are taken out of the storage unit at once to be discharged to the discharge unit (for example, refer to JP-A-2007-156406).

However, in a related art, the printed sheets are dropped by their own weight to be stored in the storage unit in a vertical direction. Therefore, a vertical space having a length of at least the sheet is needed as the storage unit, so that there is a problem in that a greater height of the apparatus is needed.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the invention is to provide a printing apparatus which enables a compact size and can properly carry and store sheets without jamming.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a printing apparatus including: a carrying device that continuously carries sheets along a main carrying path; a printing device that prints information on the sheets which are continuously carried along the main carrying path; a storage unit that is configured by a curved carrying route including first and second arc carrying routes which are sequentially connected to a carry-out side of the main carrying path along a sheet carrying direction; and a pair of carrying rollers that nip and carry the sheets that are introduced sequentially in the storage unit while curving the sheets along the first and second arc carrying routes so as to be stored in an overlapped state, wherein the first and second arc carrying routes are arranged on upper and lower sides of a line component extending along a sheet carrying surface in the printing device.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printing apparatus in a state where a stopper of FIG. 1 is moved to an upstream side of a second arc carrying route.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating third and fourth drive rollers and third and fourth pinch rollers of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a drive control system of the printing apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state where a roll paper printed in FIG. 1 is sent from a main carrying path along a curved carrying route and cut.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state where the sheet cut in FIG. 5 is carried and stored in the curved carrying route.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state where the sheet following the sheet stored in FIG. 6 is sent to the curved carrying route.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state where the following sheet of FIG. 7 is stored in the curved carrying route.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state where a plurality of the sheets stored in the curved carrying route of FIG. 8 is being discharged through a discharge opening.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the sheet which is discharged through the discharge opening and left as is of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state where the sheet of FIG. 10 is sent toward a recovery unit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state where the sheet sent in FIG. 11 is recovered by the recovery unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus mounted in an automatic teller machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes a roll paper loaded in a roll paper loading unit 2. A front end portion of the roll paper 1 is carried along a main carrying path 3 drawn from the roll paper loading unit 2. In addition, a sheet is not limited to the roll paper, and a fanfold sheet may be employed. A carry-out end side of the main carrying path 3 is connected to a curved carrying route 28 as a storage unit that stores the sheet curved to be carried. The curved carrying route 28 includes a first arc carrying route 26 connected to the carry-out end side of the main carrying path 3 and a second arc carrying route 27 connected to a carry-out end side of the first arc carrying route 26.

On the main carrying path 3, along a sheet carrying direction, first and second printing units 5a and 5b, a cutter unit 6, and first and second carrying roller units 7 and 8 as carrying devices are sequentially arranged.

The first and second printing units 5a and 5b include platens 11a and 11b opposed to each other with the main carrying path 3 interposed therebetween and thermal heads 13a and 13b. The thermal heads 13a and 13b are elastically biased toward the platens 11a and 11b by a head spring (not shown). The platens 11a and 11b are driven by a platen drive motor 14 so as to rotate. The cutter unit 6 includes a cutter 17 and a cutter drive motor (not shown) that drives the cutter 17.

The first carrying roller unit 7 that nips and carries the roll paper 1 includes a first drive roller 20 and a first pinch roller 21 which are opposed to each other with the main carrying path 3 interposed therebetween. The pinch roller 21 is elastically biased toward the first drive roller 20 by a roller spring.

The second carrying roller unit 8 that nips and carries the roll paper 1 includes a second driver roller 23 and a second pinch roller 24 which are opposed to each other with the main carrying path 3 interposed therebetween. The second pinch roller 24 is elastically biased toward the second drive roller 23 by a roller spring. The first and second drive rollers 20 and 23 are driven by a first drive motor 51 so as to rotate.

On a downstream side of the second drive roller 23, a flapper 25 biased by its own weight or by a weak spring is provided. One end side of the flapper 25 is rotatably supported by a spindle 25a, so that the flapper 25 rotates in a vertical direction about the spindle 25a to open or close the carrying path.

On a downstream side of the flapper 25, the first arc carrying route 26 is provided, and on the first arc carrying route 26, a third drive roller 29 and a fourth drive roller 30 are arranged. The third drive roller 29 and the fourth drive roller 30 are driven to rotate in normal and reverse directions by a second drive motor 52.

The third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 are respectively opposed to third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34. The third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are pulled up by tension springs (not shown) so as to be separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30.

A cam 54 is provided near the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 so that the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are pushed down by the rotation of the cam 54 via a plate spring (not shown). Accordingly, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 respectively come in contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30.

In addition, the cam 54 is rotated by a cam drive motor 55, and on the basis of a degree of the rotation of the cam 54, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are weakly or strongly pressed against the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 via a plate spring.

In the vicinities of the flapper 25 and a flapper 36 described later, first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 that detect a front end portion of the carried sheet are respectively arranged. The first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 detect the sheet and the cam 54 is rotated accordingly.

In addition, on one peripheral side of each of the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30, as illustrated in FIG. 3, concave-convex portions 29a and 30a each of which has a double helical shape continuing along a circumferential direction are formed. The concave-convex portions 29a and 30a come in contact with the sheet and apply stable carrying forces to the sheet even if the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 come in contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 with a weak force.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, on a downstream side of the fourth drive roller 30, the flapper 36 is provided, and a lower end side of the flapper 36 is rotated via a spindle 36a. The flapper 36 is rotated in left and right directions by a flapper drive motor 37. Accordingly, the carrying route is switched between the second arc carrying route 27 and a recovery carrying path 46.

The above-mentioned second arc carrying route 27 is provided on a downstream side of the flapper 36, and a stopper 39 which comes in contact with the front end portion of the sheet that is being carried so as to be stopped is provided on the second arc carrying route 27. The stopper 39 is supported by a lower end portion of a stopper arm 40, and the stopper arm 40 is rotated in the normal and reverse directions by a stopper drive motor 41 depending on a length of the sheet. The stopper 39 moves along the second arc carrying route 27 due to the rotation of the stopper arm 40. That is, in a case of a long sheet, the sheet is moved toward a downstream side of the second arc carrying route 27, and in a case of a short sheet, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheet is moved toward an upstream side of the second arc carrying route 27 and is then stopped.

A rotation center 40a of the stopper arm 40 is positioned to be closer to the second arc carrying route 27 than a radial center of the second arc carrying route 27. Accordingly, it is possible to increase a radius of the second arc carrying route 27 and reduce a curvature of the sheet as much as possible, thereby preventing jamming of the sheet.

Moreover, in this case, since the radial centers of the stopper arm 40 and the second arc carrying route 27 are different from each other, the stopper 39 and the stopper arm 40 are slid to vary a radius of the stopper 39.

On an inclined upper side of the second drive roller 23 provided on the main carrying path 3, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a fifth pinch roller 43 is provided. The fifth pinch roller 43 is placed in contact with or separated from the second drive roller 23 by a third drive motor 53.

A discharge opening (discharge portion) 44 that discharges the sheet is provided above the second drive roller 23 and the fifth pinch roller 43, and the discharge opening 44 is opened and closed by a shutter 56. The shutter 56 is operated by the third drive motor 53. Under the shutter 56, a discharge detection sensor 58 that detects the sheet that is being discharged is provided.

In addition, on the recovery carrying path 46 switched by the second flapper 36, a recovery drive roller 48 and a pinch roller 49 that is biased by a spring so as to come in pressing contact with the recovery drive roller 48 are arranged. Below the recovery drive roller 48 and the pinch roller 49, a recovery unit 50 is provided. The recovery drive roller 48 is driven by the second drive motor 52 to rotate.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a drive control system of the printing apparatus.

The first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 and a discharge detection sensor 58 are connected to a control unit 60 via a detection signal circuit. The platen drive motor 14, the first to third drive motors 51, 52, and 53, the cam drive motor 55, the flapper drive motor 37, and the stopper drive motor 41 are connected to the control unit 60 via a control circuit.

The control unit 60 operates to drive the platens 11a and 11b, the first to fourth drive rollers 20, 23, 29, and 30, the recovery drive roller 48, the shutter 56, the pinch roller 43, the cam 54, the flapper 36, and the stopper 39 on the basis of detection signals of the first and second detection sensors 22 and 35 or the discharge detection sensor 58.

Next, operations of the printing apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5 to 12.

First, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in a state where a front end side of the roll paper 1 is nipped by the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b, the platen drive motor 14 is driven. As the platen drive motor 14 is driven, the roll paper 1 is nipped and carried by the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b, and transaction information is printed on front and rear surfaces of the roll paper 1 by heat of the thermal heads 13a and 13b. The printed roll paper 1 is nipped and carried by the first drive roller 20 and the first pinch roller 21 as illustrated in FIG. 5, and is then nipped and carried by the second drive roller 23 and the second pinch roller 24. The front end portion of the carried roll paper 1 pushes up and passes through the flapper 25 and then passes through a gap between the third drive roller 29 and the third pinch roller 33 and a gap between the fourth drive roller 30 and the fourth pinch roller 34. Here, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30. When the front end portion of the roll paper 1 is detected by the second detection sensor 35, the cam drive motor 55 is operated to operate the cam 54. Accordingly, the plate spring (not shown) is bent, so that the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 come in contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 by a weak pinch force so as to nip and carry the roll paper 1. When the roll paper 1 is carried for a predetermined distance, it is cut by the operation of the cutter 17 so as to be carried as a sheet P1. Here, the stopper drive motor 41 is operated such that the stopper 39 is moved along the second arc carrying route 27 depending on a length of the sheet P1 via the stopper arm 40. The front end portion of the carried sheet P1 comes in contact with the stopper 39 and stops as illustrated in FIG. 6. At this time, a rear end portion of the sheet P1 is at a position that passes through the flapper 25.

After the first sheet P1 stops, by the same operation described above, the following roll paper 1 is nipped and carried by the platens 11a and 11b and the thermal heads 13a and 13b, and transaction information is printed on front and rear surfaces of the roll paper 1 by heat of the thermal heads 13a and 13b. In addition, the roll paper 1 is nipped and carried by the first drive roller 20 and the first pinch roller 21, and is then nipped and carried by the second drive roller 23 and the second pinch roller 24. Due to the carriage, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a front end portion of the following roll paper 1 pushes up and passes through the flapper 25 and then passes through a gap between the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 and the preceding sheet P1. Here, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 by a tensile force of the tension spring. On the basis of the detection of the front end portion of the roll paper 1 by the second detection sensor 35, the cam drive motor 55 is operated to operate the cam 54 and the plate spring (not shown) is bent, so that the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 come in contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 by a weak pinch force via the preceding sheet 21 and the following roll paper 1, while the carrying of the roll paper 1 is continued. When the roll paper 1 is carried for a predetermined distance, the cutter 17 is operated to cut the sheet by the same length as that of the preceding sheet 21 so as to be carried as a sheet 22.

During the carrying of the sheet P2, the stopper 39 is in the stopped state as is, and as illustrated in FIG. 8, a front end portion of the sheet P2 comes in contact with the stopper 39 and stops. As the sheet P2 stops, rear ends of the preceding sheet P1 and the following sheet P2 are justified. When there are three or more sheets, similarly, the carriage is repeated to print and store a predetermined number of sheets.

Next, as described above, an operation of discharging the stored sheets P1 and P2 will be described.

In this case, first, the third drive motor 53 is operated from the state illustrated in FIG. 8 to open the shutter 56. Next, the cam drive motor 55 is operated to rotate the cam 54 so that a degree of bend of the plate spring (not shown) increases to allow the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 to come in pressing contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 so as to apply a strong pinch force. After the pressing contact, the second drive roller 23 is rotated in the normal direction and the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 are rotated in the reverse direction. Accordingly, the sheets P1 and P2 on the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 are carried toward the discharge opening 44 as illustrated in FIG. 9. When front ends of the sheets P1 and P2 in the carrying direction pass through the fifth pinch roller 43 and are detected by the discharge detection sensor 58 due to the carriage, the third drive motor 53 is operated and the fifth pinch roller 43 comes in pressing contact with the second drive roller 23. The sheets 21 and 22 are nipped and carried by the pressing contact and stopped at a time point when the front end portions thereof in the carrying direction are carried out by a predetermined length from the discharging opening 44. The sheets 21 and 22 of which the front end sides are discharged through the discharge opening 44 are received by a user. In addition, during the reception, in order that the user may easily pull out the sheets 21 and 22, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 are separated from the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 to be in an opened state, so that only the fifth pinch roller 43 is in a pinched state.

The sheets 21 and 22 carried out from the discharge opening 44 by a predetermined length are detected by the discharge detection sensor 58. In addition, when the detected state continues for a predetermined time or longer, it is determined that the user does not take out the sheets 21 and P2 from the discharge opening 44, so that the sheets 21 and 22 are recovered.

When the sheets 21 and 22 are to be recovered, the third and fourth pinch rollers 33 and 34 come in pressing contact with the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 so as to apply strong pinch forces, and as illustrated in FIG. 10, the sheets P1 and P2 are additionally carried for a predetermined distance in a discharge direction and are stopped when their lower ends pass through the flapper 36. Thereafter, by the operation of the flapper drive motor 37, the flapper 36 is rotated in the left direction about the spindle 36a so as to switch the carrying route to the recovery carrying path 46. The second drive roller 23 is rotated in the reverse direction from this state, and the third and fourth drive rollers 29 and 30 and the recovery drive roller 48 are rotated in the normal direction. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the sheets P1 and P2 are carried downwards and sent to the recovery carrying path 46, and as illustrated in FIG. 12, are sent to the recovery unit 50 so as to be recovered.

However, the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 constituting the arc carrying route 28 are arranged in the vertical direction on upper and lower sides of a line component 66 extending along a sheet carrying surface 65 in the first printing unit 5a as illustrated in FIG. 1.

That is, an upper side from the line component 66 is used as an arrangement space of the first arc carrying route 26 and a lower side from the line component 66 is used as an arrangement space of the second arc carrying route 27, so that the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 can be arranged while being gently curved in the wide spaces.

Therefore, the sheet is carried in the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 while being gently curved, so that the sheets can be properly carried and stored without jamming.

In addition, when both the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 are arranged in, for example, the space lower than the line component 66, the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 have to be curved in the narrow space. In this case, the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 are significantly curved, and the sheets are also significantly curved and carried, so that proper carriage cannot be expected.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the storage unit is configured by the curved carrying route 28 including the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27, and the sheets P1 and P2 are stored in the curved state, so that the vertical height of the sheet storage unit can be reduced, resulting in a compact size.

In addition, since the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 are arranged on the upper and lower sides of the line component 66 extending along the sheet carrying surface 65 in the first printing unit 5a, it is possible to arrange the first and second arc carrying routes 26 and 27 while being gently curved in the wide space. Therefore, the sheets can be carried in the gently curved state, so that it is possible to properly carry the sheets without jamming.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A printing apparatus comprising:

a carrying device that continuously carries sheets along a main carrying path;

a printing device that prints information on the sheets which are continuously carried along the main carrying path;

a storage unit that is configured by a curved carrying route including first and second arc carrying routes which are sequentially connected to a carry-out side of the main carrying path along a sheet carrying direction; and

a pair of carrying rollers that nip and carry the sheets that are introduced sequentially in the storage unit while curving the sheets along the first and second arc carrying routes so as to be stored in an overlapped state,

wherein the first and second arc carrying routes are arranged on upper and lower sides of a line component extending along a sheet carrying surface in the printing device.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of carrying rollers are provided to be placed in contact with or separated from each other so that the carrying rollers are separated from each other when a front end portion of the sheet that is carried along the first arc carrying route passes through and after the front end portion of the sheet passes, come in contact with the sheet and nip and carry the sheet.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein a continuous concave-convex portion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of an end side of one of the pair of carrying rollers along a circumferential direction thereof, and

the concave-convex portion is brought into contact with the sheet.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper which is provided in the second arc carrying route, moves along the sheet carrying direction depending on a length of the sheet, and comes in contact with and stops the front end portion of the carried sheet.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the stopper is provided on a rotation end portion of a stopper arm which rotates about a spindle, and

the spindle of the stopper arm is closer to the second arc carrying route than a radial center of the second arc carrying route.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of carrying rollers sequentially nip and carry the sheets and after the sheets are stored in the storage unit, are rotated in a reverse direction to send out the sheets at once.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a discharge unit that discharges the sheets sent out by the pair of carrying rollers at once.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the pair of carrying rollers are separated from each other after the sheets are sent out through the discharge unit.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sheets are nipped and carried in the reverse direction by the pair of carrying rollers so as to be carried in and recovered when the sheets sent out through the discharge unit are left for a predetermined time.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a recovery unit that accommodates the recovered sheets.