JP4967167B2 - Sheet issuing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet issuing apparatus that issues a sheet represented by, for example, a receipt or a ticket.

  The sheet issuing apparatus has a printer connected to a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal main body as a host apparatus. The printer is a receipt printer when issuing a receipt, and is a ticket printer when issuing a ticket.

  Among self-external point-of-sale (POS) terminals used for gas stations, especially those with built-in measuring devices have been required to save space.

  The same applies to the receipt printer built in the external POS terminal, and the printer main body and the stacker for storing receipts are also required to save space.

  In addition, as a condition for installation of the external POS terminal, the stacker is always exposed to wind and rain, so the stacker was provided with an openable / closable lid to make it less susceptible to wind and rain.

  Furthermore, in the past, receipts that were smaller than the stacker's volume were output and stored in the stacker, but nowadays point tickets, service tickets, advertisements, etc. are issued simultaneously with receipts or with partial cut between sheets. There has been a demand to connect and issue continuously, and more receipts than stacker volumes have been issued.

  For this reason, troubles such as paper jams, cut failures due to multiple cuts due to backflow of receipts after cutting into the printer, sensor malfunctions due to the occurrence of paper pieces, etc. frequently occurred.

  Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-316122) summarizes the paper of a printer provided with a discharge control means (printer control device) that operates the discharge mechanism in response to the cutting operation of the cutter mechanism to discharge the paper. Discharging device is disclosed.

  Patent document 2 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-87360) discloses in its summary a folding stacker of continuous paper that is pressed down on a mounting table by a rotating impeller of a continuous paper discharged from a printer or the like. .

JP-A-6-316122 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-87360

  In general, the receipt printer cannot control the behavior of the output paper. If there is an obstacle at the discharge destination, or if the paper portion coming out from the discharge port is suppressed by hand, the output paper is cut and then returned from the discharge port. The returned part is cut together when the paper is cut at the time of the next receipt discharge, and the cut end remains inside, and printing failure or cutting failure, and further, a piece of paper enters the sensor, causing various sensor failures. There was a problem that there was.

  In order to solve the problem, the inventors of the present application have found that the path for guiding the sheet conveyance needs to be accurate, and not only the discharge mechanism but also the impeller for urging the sheet conveyance is necessary. Then, the inventors of the present application will develop a failure such as paper jam if the rotation of the impeller is not controlled in accordance with the output of the receipt, and further, if the output receipt is excessively carried out, it will jump out. As a result, it was found that the paper could not be held at the outlet, and a further problem was caused that the paper was blown away by wind.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet issuing apparatus that solves the above-described problems.

  A specific object of the present invention is a conveyance function that is attached to a printer and pushes an output sheet from the printer forward along a guide path by the rotational operation of the impeller, and the impeller and guide by stopping the rotational operation of the impeller. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet issuing apparatus provided with a forcible discharge mechanism that achieves a holding function of holding a rear end portion of a sheet cut by a path.

According to one aspect of the invention,
A sheet issuing device having a printer having a control unit connected to a host device, and a forced discharge mechanism attached to the printer,
When the control unit receives a print command from the host apparatus, the printer performs a printing operation on the sheet, an output operation of the printed sheet by the printer as an output sheet to the forced discharge mechanism, and a printing by the printer. It controls the operation to make a cut sheet by cutting the sheet,
The forced discharge mechanism includes a discharge port, a guide path that receives the output sheet output from the printer and guides the output sheet to the discharge port, an impeller, and an impeller motor that rotationally drives the impeller. After the sheet cut by the impeller and the guide path by the conveyance function of pushing the output sheet forward along the guide path by the rotational operation of the impeller and by stopping the rotational operation of the impeller A holding function for holding the end,
The control unit is also connected to the impeller motor, and the rotation operation of the impeller and the stop of the rotation operation of the impeller motor are controlled so that the forced discharge mechanism achieves the transfer function and the holding function. It is possible to obtain a sheet issuing apparatus that is controlled by driving and stopping driving.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a conveyance function that is attached to a printer and pushes an output sheet from the printer forward along a guide path by a rotating operation of the impeller, and an impeller and a guide by stopping the rotating operation of the impeller. It is possible to obtain a sheet issuing apparatus provided with a forcible discharge mechanism that achieves a holding function of holding the rear end portion of the sheet cut by the path.

  In both of Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-316122) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-87360), an output sheet from the printer is used for the forced discharge mechanism attached to the printer. It does not disclose that the sheet is pushed forward along the guide path by the rotation operation, and the rear end portion of the sheet cut by the impeller and the guide path is held by stopping the rotation operation of the impeller.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a sheet issuing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The sheet issuing apparatus is an apparatus that issues a receipt 21 as a sheet, and includes a receipt printer 1 and a forced discharge mechanism 100 attached to the receipt printer 1. The receipt printer 1 cooperates with a receipt motor 300 that drives the platen 301 to convey the receipt (sheet) 21, a print head (thermal head) 40 that performs printing on the receipt (sheet) 21, and a fixed blade 81. And a movable cutter 82 that cuts the printed receipt (printed sheet) 21 and outputs the printed receipt (printed sheet) to the forced discharge mechanism 100 as an output receipt (output sheet). To do.

  The forced discharge mechanism 100 includes a discharge port 2b, a guide path 2 for receiving an output receipt (output sheet) 21 output from the receipt printer 1 and guiding it to the discharge port 2b, an impeller (paddle) 4, and the impeller 4 An impeller motor (illustrated later). The forced discharge mechanism 100 further includes a receipt guide 5 a for guiding the impeller 4, an intermediate receipt guide 5, and a receipt guide 6. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a cover that is swingably attached to the POS terminal main body (host device).

  Referring to FIG. 2, the control system of the sheet issuing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is shown. In FIG. 2, the receipt printer 1 includes a print head (thermal head) 40, a receipt motor 300, a cutter motor 800, and a control unit 200 connected to a POS terminal main body (higher level device) 500. The forced discharge mechanism 100 is connected to the cascade side of the receipt printer 1 connected to the POS terminal main body 500, and the receipt output of the receipt printer 1 and the forced discharge mechanism are performed in the firmware common part 202 of the control unit 200 in the receipt printer 1. 100.

  Here, the forced discharge mechanism 100 has an impeller motor 101 and an impeller 4 (FIG. 1) attached to the impeller motor 101, and the impeller motor 101 is included in the control unit 200 in the receipt printer 1. Under the control of the firmware common part 202, the impeller 4 is rotationally driven.

  The control unit 200 in the receipt printer 1 is firmware that controls the firmware common part 202, the receipt control part 203 that is firmware for controlling the receipt motor 300, the print head 40, and the cutter motor 800, and the impeller motor 101. It has an impeller control portion 204 and a motor control IC 201. The motor control IC 201 is connected to the receipt motor 300, the cutter motor 800, and the impeller motor 101. The receipt control unit 203 controls the receipt motor 300 and the cutter motor 800 via the motor control IC 201. The impeller control unit 204 controls the impeller motor 101 via the motor control IC 201. The impeller control part 204 has a timer 205.

  The basic operation of the control system shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When receiving a print command from the POS terminal main body (higher-level device) 500, the control unit 200 starts the receipt conveyance by turning on the receipt motor 300. Subsequently, the control unit 200 starts conveyance of the receipt by the impeller 4 by setting the impeller motor 101 to an operation (ON) state. When receiving the print data from the POS terminal main body 500, the control unit 200 causes the print head 40 to print the print data on the receipt.

  At this time, in FIG. 1, the forced conveyance mechanism 100 achieves a conveyance function of pushing the output sheet from the receipt printer 1 forward along the guide path 2 by the rotation operation of the impeller 4.

  2 and 3, when printing on the receipt is completed (finished), the control unit 200 stops the receipt by setting the receipt motor 300 to an operation stop (OFF) state. When receiving a cut command from the POS terminal main body 500, the control unit 200 operates the cutter motor 800 and cuts the receipt with the movable cutter 82 (FIG. 1). The control unit 200 stops the rotation operation of the impeller 4 by setting the impeller motor 101 to the operation stop (OFF) state after a predetermined time from the completion (end) of cutting, and stops the receipt conveyance by the impeller 4.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the forced conveyance mechanism 100 has a holding function of holding the rear end portion 21 c of the sheet 21 cut by the impeller 4 and the guide path 2 by stopping the rotation operation of the impeller 4. Have achieved.

  As described above, the control unit 200 controls the rotation operation of the impeller 4 and the stop of the rotation operation by driving and stopping the impeller motor 101 so that the forced discharge mechanism 100 can achieve the transport function and the holding function. .

  Next, the control of the control unit 200 in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the control unit 200 detects the timing of completion (end) of the cut of the receipt 21 printed by the receipt printer 1 (the state in the center of FIG. 5, the state where the receipt 21 is cut by raising the cutter 82). A prescribed timer value from the detected cut end timing to the impeller motor 101 drive stop timing is set in the timer 205 in the impeller control portion 204, and the timeout of the timer 205 is set as the impeller motor 101 drive stop timing. The driving of the impeller motor 101 is stopped. Thus, the forced discharge mechanism 100 achieves a holding function for holding the rear end portion 21c of the cut receipt 21.

  At this time, if the impeller motor 101 is a stepping motor, the control unit 200 determines the timing of completion (end) of cutting the receipt 21 printed by the receipt printer 1 (the state in the center of FIG. When the receipt 21 is cut), the specified number of steps of the stepping motor 101 from the detected cut end timing to the driving stop timing of the stepping motor 101 is reset to the timer 205 as a specified timer value. A time-out occurs when the stepping motor 101 completes the rotation of the specified number of steps from the detected cut end timing, and the driving of the stepping motor 101 is stopped using the time-out as the timing for stopping the driving of the stepping motor 101. Thus, the forced discharge mechanism 100 achieves a holding function for holding the rear end portion 21c of the cut receipt 21.

  FIG. 6 shows the detailed operation of the controller 200 when the impeller motor 101 and the receipt motor 300 are stepping motors.

  In FIG. 6, the processing contents for S1 to S7 in the operation flow are as follows.

  S1: When the receipt printing command is received by the firmware common part 202, the "firmware printing start" and the "impeller conveyance start" are performed by the firmware common part 202.

  S2: The receipt control unit 203 performs management of print data, motor conveyance timer value, and the like for the phase interruption that enters every STEP of the receipt conveyance motor 300, and performs receipt print control.

  S3: The impeller control unit 204 performs management of the motor conveyance timer value and the like for the phase interruption that enters every one STEP of the impeller motor 101, and performs receipt print control. Here, the rotation of the impeller 4 is intentionally slid by rotating the impeller 4 faster than the receipt conveying speed.

  S4: The firmware common part 202 detects that the printing of the receipt is completed, and sets the stop count of the impeller 4. Here, in the impeller control part 204, conveyance by the impeller 4 is performed until the set count (decrement every 1 STEP) becomes zero.

  S5: The firmware common part 202 receives a cut command, requests the receipt control part 203 for the cut process, and then monitors the completion of the forward rotation process (FIG. 5) of the movable cutter 82.

  S6: Completion of the forward rotation processing of the movable cutter 82 is detected as the reset timing of the impeller stop count, and the impeller control portion 204 is reset of the impeller stop count.

  S7: When the stop count reaches 0 in the impeller control portion 204, the impeller 4 is stopped and the holding function of the rear end of the receipt is achieved (FIG. 4).

  Thereby, since the receipt is accurately held, it is possible to prevent the receipt from flying by wind or the like.

  In order to securely hold the receipt after the receipt is output, it is necessary that the rear end of the receipt 21 is sufficiently above the impeller initial contact point as a receipt stop position as shown in FIG. The impeller is stopped by rotating 80 STEP.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments and examples, the present invention is not limited to the above exemplary embodiments and examples. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

  For example, a ticket printer may be used instead of the receipt printer 1.

It is sectional drawing which shows the sheet | seat issuing apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the sheet issuing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a time chart for explaining basic operations of the control system shown in FIG. 2. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the impeller stop position for the cut sheet holding | maintenance of the sheet | seat issuing apparatus shown by FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the movable cutter of the sheet | seat issuing apparatus shown by FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining detailed operations of the control system shown in FIG. 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Receipt printer 2b Discharge port 2 Guide path 4 Impeller 21c Rear end part of receipt (sheet) 40 Print head 82 Movable cutter 100 Forced discharge mechanism 101 Impeller motor 200 Control unit 205 Timer 300 Receipt motor 301 Platen 500 POS terminal main body ( Host device)

Claims (6)

A sheet issuing device having a printer having a control unit connected to a host device, and a forced discharge mechanism attached to the printer,
When the control unit receives a print command from the host device, the printer performs a printing operation on the sheet, an operation for outputting the printed sheet by the printer as an output sheet to the forced discharge mechanism, and a printing operation performed by the printer. Controls the operation of cutting a sheet by cutting the sheet,
The forced discharge mechanism includes a discharge port, a guide path that receives the output sheet output from the printer and guides the output sheet to the discharge port, an impeller, and an impeller motor that rotationally drives the impeller. After the sheet cut by the impeller and the guide path by the conveyance function of pushing the output sheet forward along the guide path by the rotational operation of the impeller and by stopping the rotational operation of the impeller A holding function for holding the end,
The control unit is also connected to the impeller motor, and the rotation operation of the impeller and the stop of the rotation operation of the impeller motor are controlled so that the forced discharge mechanism achieves the transfer function and the holding function. It is controlled by driving and driving stop,
The control unit starts driving the impeller motor when receiving the print command,
The drive of the impeller motor is stopped after a specified time from the time when the cut end of the printed sheet is detected by the printer, whereby the forced discharge mechanism holds the rear end of the cut sheet. To achieve the holding function ,
The control unit rotates the impeller faster than the sheet conveyance speed .   The control unit sets a specified timer value from the detected cut end timing to the impulsive motor drive stop timing in the timer when the printer detects the cut end timing of the printed sheet. The holding function of stopping the driving of the impeller motor using the timer timeout as the timing of stopping the driving of the impeller motor, thereby holding the rear end portion of the cut sheet in the forced discharge mechanism. The sheet issuing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The sheet issuing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the impeller motor is a stepping motor. The control unit detects the specified number of steps of the stepping motor from the detected cut end timing to the timing of stopping the driving of the stepping motor at the time of detecting the cut end timing of the printed sheet by the printer. The timer is reset as a specified timer value, and the time-out occurs when the stepping motor completes the rotation of the specified number of steps from the detected cut end timing, and the stepping motor is used as the timing for stopping the driving of the stepping motor. The sheet issuing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the drive function of the motor is stopped, thereby causing the forcible discharge mechanism to achieve the holding function of holding a rear end portion of the cut sheet. Wherein the control unit, the sheet issuing device according to any response of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to control the cut start of sheets printed by the printer to cut command received from the host device. The host device, POS (Point Of Sales) sheet issuing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a terminal body.

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