JPH06191102A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] It is an object of the present invention to obtain a printer that can reduce the time and effort required for jam handling for paper jams in a plurality of printing units arranged in parallel. [Structure] A plurality of printing units arranged side by side having a platen roller 48 and a print head 47 that is brought into contact with and separated from the peripheral surface of the roller 48.
36 to 40, each of which is located at the paper carrying-in side of the printing unit 36 in which at least the paper is first carried in among the printing units 36 to 40, and the paper guide 24 for guiding the paper is provided with a jam paper ejection port. Provide 46. The print head 47 to the roller
Move the head-up motor 56 away from the 48 to the paper sensors 32-35.
Operates when a paper jam is detected based on the output signal of. The rollers 48 and the conveyance rollers 28 to 31 are driven by the conveyance motors 62 to 66 that can rotate in the forward and reverse directions, respectively, and the rotation of the conveyance motors 62 to 66 is reversed by operating the jam paper ejection switch 13a to eject the paper. It was returned to 46 and pulled out to the outside through this take-out port 46 to facilitate the jam treatment.

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 a thermal transfer color printer, which has a plurality of printing units arranged in parallel with each other and sequentially prints sheets through the printing units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a transfer type printer, an ink ribbon of an ink ribbon cassette is passed between a platen roller and a print head together with a sheet conveyed by a conveying roller, and the ink of the ribbon is transferred onto the sheet by the print head. In such a printer, sometimes the conveyed sheet is wrapped around a platen roller or the like to cause a sheet jam.

Conventionally, in order to cope with a paper jam that has occurred, after turning off the power of the entire printer,
By manually rotating the platen roller and the conveyance roller, the jammed paper (hereinafter abbreviated as jam paper) is returned to the carry-in direction side and moved outside the printing unit,
It is designed so that it can be removed by grasping it outside of the printing section by hand.

Further, when a paper jam occurs in the paper feeding path in the paper feeding device for the printing unit, the pickup roller of the paper feeding path is separated from the paper feeding roller to cope with the jam. A technique in which after the rotation is stopped, the conveyance system that applies a conveyance force to the paper by rotating the drive motor in the reverse direction is rotated in the reverse direction to return the jammed paper to the paper feed stacker is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-124647. Has been.

[0005]

However, in the conventional example in which the jam processing is manually performed as described above, there is a problem that the work requires a considerable amount of labor and the interruption time required for the jam processing is long. .

Further, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-124647, a printer having one printing section can be diverted to a paper feed path to the printing section, but a plurality of printing sections arranged in parallel are used. In the case of a printer equipped with it, when a paper jam occurs in a certain printing section, the printing section located on the paper loading side of the printing section interferes with the jam paper return operation, and the jam paper is deformed. Therefore, in the returning operation, the printing portion which is about to pass is easily clogged. Therefore, it is difficult to simply divert the above-described conventional technique to a printer including a plurality of printing units arranged in parallel with each other.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer which can reduce the labor required for jam processing for paper jams in a plurality of printing units arranged in parallel with each other and can shorten the interruption time for sham processing. It is in.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of printing units each having a platen roller and a print head capable of coming into contact with and separated from the peripheral surface of the roller are provided side by side on a mechanism frame.
A printer in which at least one paper guide and a carrying roller for applying a carrying force to the paper guided by the paper guide are respectively provided in the mechanism frame, and the paper is sequentially passed through the printing units to print on the paper. Applied to. Further, in order to achieve the above object, a transport motor capable of rotating the platen roller and the transport roller, respectively, which can be rotated in forward and reverse directions, and a paper sensor provided on a paper carry-in side or a paper discharge side of each printing unit, respectively. A head-up motor that is operated when a paper jam is detected based on the output signals of these paper sensors and separates the print head from the platen roller; and the paper is carried into at least the first of the printing units. The jammed paper ejecting ports, which are provided on the paper carry-in side with respect to the printing unit and which are provided on the paper guides and which face each other, and which face each other, and which are open to the side edges opposite to the mechanism frame. And a jammed paper takeout switch for reversing the rotation of the carry motor.

[0009]

In the above structure, the paper sensor detects the presence / absence of paper guided by the paper guide. Paper jam is detected based on the output signal of the paper sensor. Then, a head-up motor provided corresponding to each print head of each printing unit operates so as to separate the print head of each printing unit from the platen roller when the paper jam is detected.

Further, the jam paper take-out switch is manually operated after the paper jam is detected to operate the carry motor. At this time, the conveyance motor reverses its rotation to the case of normal sheet feeding, reverses the platen roller and the conveyance roller, respectively, and gives the jammed sheet a conveying force in the returning direction. The jammed paper that has been returned and conveyed to that position is exposed at the jammed paper ejection port, and the jammed paper that has been returned at this ejection port can be picked up and pulled out.

Therefore, when the paper jam is detected, at least the print heads of all the printing units located on the paper carry-in side with respect to the position where the paper jam occurs are automatically separated from the platen roller. Then, based on the operation of the jam paper eject switch thereafter, the jam paper is passed between the platen roller and the print head of the printing unit positioned in the returning direction from the paper jam position, and the paper is ejected. It can be automatically returned to the jam paper ejection opening formed on the guide. The jammed paper returned in this way can be manually pulled out from the jammed paper ejection port and removed outside the paper guide.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes a box-shaped case of the printer P having an open front surface. For example, a substantially right half of the case 11 is closed by a fixed front panel 12. An operation unit 13 for displaying and operating the state of the printer P is provided on the upper portion of the fixed front panel 12, and a pair of upper and lower drawers 14 and 15 that can be pulled out to the front of the case 11 are provided on the lower portion. Installed. The fixed front panel 12 includes an operation unit 13 and a drawer 1.
A maintenance panel section 16 and a power switch 17 are provided between the terminals 4 and 15.

The operation section 13 is provided with a jam paper take-out switch 13a for clearing a paper jam, in addition to various operators not shown. This switch 13a and other operators are key controllers 9 as shown in FIG.
It is connected to the CPU 91 and the like via 0. The maintenance panel section 16 is opened during maintenance and inspection of the printer P.
Inside the case 11, a power supply unit and a control unit (not shown) are provided behind the fixed front panel 12, respectively.

The case 1 is provided on the substantially left half of the case 11.
A print mechanism unit 21 that can be pulled out is provided in front of the printer 1. The movement of the unit 21 in the front-rear direction is performed by, for example, a guide provided on at least one of the left side wall 11a (see FIG. 1) and the bottom wall of the case 11, similar to a guide structure that is usually used in a desk drawer or the like. And a slider provided in the printing mechanism unit 21 and in sliding contact with the guide, the guide structure (not shown).

The printing mechanism unit 21 includes a front panel 22.
, Mechanism frame 23, and first to fourth paper guides 24
To 27, the first to fourth transport rollers 28 to 31, and the first
-Fourth paper sensors 32 to 35, first to fifth printing units 36 to 28, and a pair of hoppers 41 as paper supply units,
42, a transport path 85, a stacker 43, and the like.

The front panel 22 is a printing mechanism unit 21.
Fixed front panel 12 when is stored in case 11.
Are arranged flush with each other to close the opening between the panel 12 and the left side wall 11a of the case 11.

The mechanism frame 23 is provided on the front panel 22 so as to project rearward. As shown in FIG. 1, the frame 23 is exposed to the outside of the case 11 when the printing mechanism unit 21 is pulled out, and includes a bottom plate portion (not shown) and a vertical vertical plate portion 23a extending in the vertical direction. When,
The vertical plate portion 23a has an upper plate portion 23b which is bent at a right angle and extends toward the side wall 11a. The side wall 11a of the vertical plate portion 23a is attached to the side surface of the shaft of the printing portion drive mechanism, and the upper portion thereof is covered with the upper plate portion 23b.

The first to fourth sheet guides 24 to 27 are attached to the upper surface of the vertical plate portion 23a, that is, the upper side surface opposite to the side surface of the side wall 11a, and arranged in a straight line. There is. Each of the paper guides 24 to 27 is formed of a pair of metal guide plates 44 and 45 vertically opposed to each other with a slight distance therebetween as shown in FIG. These guide plates 44 and 45 are cantilevered by the vertical plate portion 23a, respectively, and a gap between them, that is, a sheet passage is opened at a side edge of the mechanism frame 23 opposite to the vertical plate portion 23a.

The first to third sheet guides 24, which are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction,
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the jam sheet 26 is provided with jam paper ejection ports 46, respectively. These outlets 4
6 is located on the sheet carry-in side of the first to third sheet guides 24 to 26 (in other words, the sheet carry-in side with respect to each of the first to third printing units 36 to 38), and the guide plates 44, 4 are provided.
5 are formed by notches formed so as to face each other, and are opened at the side edges on the side opposite to the vertical plate portion 23a.

On the upper surface of the vertical plate portion 23a, that is, on the upper side surface opposite to the side surface of the side wall 11a, there are
Fifth printing units 36-40 are provided. 2 to 4
As shown in FIG.
7, the platen roller 48, and the ink ribbon cassette 4
And 9 are formed.

The upper portions of the platen rollers 48 of the first to third printing portions 36 to 38 are arranged in the paper passage through the through holes 50 respectively provided facing the guide plates 44 and 45 from the lower side. In addition, the upper part of the platen roller 48 of the fourth printing portion 39 passes through the through hole 51 provided in the lower guide plate 45. In addition, the platen roller 4 of the fifth printing unit 40
The lower part of 8 is the guide plates 44, 45 of the fourth paper guide 27.
Are arranged in the paper passage through the through holes 52 opened facing each other from above.

The print head 47 of each of the first to third printing units 36 to 38 passes through the through hole 50 from the upper side and the platen roller 48.
Is in contact with the upper peripheral surface of the fourth printing section 39.
The print head 47 is in contact with the upper peripheral surface of the platen roller 48 without passing through the upper guide plate 44 of the fourth paper guide 27. In addition, the print head 47 of the fifth printing unit 40 passes through the through hole 52 from the lower side and the platen roller 48.
Is in contact with the lower peripheral surface of. The print heads 47 of the printing units 36 to 40 are individually controlled by the CPU 91 via the ink head controller 92 as shown in FIG.

Each print head 47 provided as described above
The end face type line thermal head is adopted for.
Each print head 47 is individually supported by a head holding mechanism 55 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 so as to be vertically movable.

The head holding mechanism 55 includes the mechanism frame 23.
The platen roller 4 is attached to one end of a rotating arm that penetrates the vertical plate portion 23b and is rotatably connected to the vertical plate portion 23b.
A central portion of the print head 47 in the longitudinal direction (the same direction as the axis) is rotatably connected via a pivot extending in a direction orthogonal to the axis of 8, and a cam receiving portion is provided at the other end of the rotating arm. A spring is interposed between the other end and the vertical plate to press the print head 47 against the peripheral surface of the platen roller 48 between the other end and the vertical plate.

Further, the head holding mechanism 55 includes the vertical plate portion 23.
It is formed by attaching a cam and a head-up motor 56 (see FIG. 6) to a. The cam rotates the rotating arm in the direction away from the platen roller 48 against the biasing force of the spring by being brought into contact with the cam receiving portion, and the head-up motor 56 is provided for rotating the cam. ing. The head-up motors 56 provided separately corresponding to the print heads 47 are individually controlled by the CPU 91 via the head-up controller 93 as shown in FIG.

Each head holding mechanism 55 normally presses the print head 47 against the peripheral surface of the platen roller 48 by the urging force of a spring, and the operation of the head-up motor 56 when the ink ribbon cassette 49 is attached or detached and when the paper is fed. Thus, the rotating arm is rotated via the cam to separate the print head 47 from the peripheral surface of the platen roller 48.

The first to third conveying rollers 28 to 30 have the first
-The third printing units 36 to 38 are provided in proximity to the paper carry-in side, and the upper portions of these are provided at the first to third paper guides 2.
4 to 26 upper and lower guide plates 44 and 45, which are located in the paper passage through the through holes 57 provided so as to face each other from below. Further, the driven rollers 58 to 60, which are provided through the through holes 57 from the upper side, are individually in rolling contact with the upper portions of the first to third transport rollers 28 to 30, respectively. Also,
The fourth transport roller 31 is provided in the vicinity of the sheet unloading side of the fourth printing unit 39, and the driven roller 61 is rollingly contacted thereto from above.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, 62 to 66 are vertical plate portions 23.
It is the 1st-5th conveyance motor which is attached to a and is reversible. Each of the motors 62 to 66 has the first to fifth printing units 36.
No. 40 to No. 40, and the first to third transport motors 62 to 64 are provided with a first gear via a drive gear 67 and a driven gear 68 that mesh with each other as shown in FIG.
~ Separately connected to the third transport rollers 28 ~ 30,
These rollers 28 to 30 are individually rotated. In addition, the fourth and fifth conveyance motors 65 and 67
Is connected to each platen roller 48 of the fourth and fifth printing units 39 and 40 via a drive gear and a driven gear (not shown),
These are individually rotated. These carry motors 62 to 66 are controlled by the CPU 91 via a carry motor controller 94 as shown in FIG.

A platen roller gear 69 is attached to the platen roller 48 of each of the first to third printing units 36 to 38, as shown in FIG. 4 as a representative, and the gear 69 is driven by a corresponding idler gear 70. It is connected to 68. Therefore, in association with the operation of the first to third transport motors 62 to 64, the platen roller 48 of the first to third printing units 36 to 38 is different from the first to third transport rollers 28 to 30.
Each of them is separately rotated in the same direction as normal rotation or reverse rotation.

Although not shown, a conveying roller gear is attached to the fourth conveying roller 31, and this is connected to a driven gear (not shown) attached to the platen roller 48 of the fourth printing section 39 via an idler gear (not shown). ing.
Therefore, in association with the operation of the fourth carry motor 65, the fourth
The platen roller 48 and the fourth conveying roller 31 of the printing unit 39
And, it is designed to be rotated in the forward or reverse direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ink ribbon cassette 49 has a pair of cylindrical ribbon winding cores 72, 73 rotatably in a cassette case 71 having a pair of arms 71a spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction. Two ribbon guides 74 and 75 are provided in parallel. Ink ribbon 76
Is provided over the ribbon cores 72 and 73. Further, four fitting portions 77 are provided in the cassette case 71, and ribbon guides 78, 79 each made of a round bar are also provided at the tip ends of both arm portions 71a.

The cassette case 71 made of synthetic resin has a long shape in the direction in which the pair of ribbon cores 72 and 73 are arranged, and a pair of arm portions 71a provided at one end of the case 71 and facing each other. A head accommodating portion 80 is formed between them.

The ink ribbons 76 of the first to fourth printing portions 36 to 39 arranged side by side have a width substantially the same as the length of the print head 47. For example, as shown in FIG. It is wrapped around the outer circumference of. The ink ribbon 76 fed from the ribbon core 73 is
After passing through 79, it is wound around the other ribbon winding core 72 via ribbon guides 74 and 75. Also, the fifth
The ink ribbon 76 of the printing section 40 is also wound around the ribbon core 73 as shown in FIG.
The ribbon core 72 is wound around the ribbon cores 72, 74, 75 sequentially.

Therefore, in the ink ribbon 76 of each of the printing portions 36 to 40, the portion provided between the ribbon guides 78 and 79 is exposed to the outside of the cassette case 71 facing the head accommodating portion 80. The exposed portion is slightly bent by being sandwiched between the print head 47 and the platen roller 48.

The ink ribbon cassette 49 has a pair of drive shafts 81 and 82 (see FIG. 2) projecting from the cassette mounting surface of the vertical plate portion 23a, and the ribbon winding cores 72 and 7.
The vertical plate portion 23
It is attached to a. The drive shaft 81 of each printing unit 36-40,
82 are rotated in the same direction by the first to fifth ribbon motors 83 to 87 (see FIG. 6), respectively, and ribbon cores 72 and 7
In the fitted state with 3, the ribbon winding cores 72 and 73 are simultaneously rotated by fitting the concave and convex portions provided on both of them.

The drive shafts 81 and 82 of the first to fourth printing units 36 to 39 are rotated clockwise, and the drive shafts 81 and 82 of the fifth printing unit 40 are rotated counterclockwise.
Further, the ribbon motors 83 to 87 are connected to the CPU 91 via the ribbon motor controller 95 as shown in FIG.
It is controlled by.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the vertical plate portion 23a of the mechanism frame 23 is attached to the cassette at the cassette mounting position.
Four parallel positioning shafts 83 are projectingly provided.
The tip of each positioning shaft 83 is formed in a tapered shape.
The fitting portion 77 is detachably fitted to the positioning shafts 83.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport path 85 is composed of an upper transport path portion 85a and a lower transport path portion 85b. The upper transport path portion 85a is inclined obliquely upward toward the stacker 43. And the 1st-4th printing parts 36-39 of the above-mentioned composition are installed in parallel at a fixed interval on the upper surface side of upper part conveyance way part 85a. Fifth printing unit 40
Is disposed between the upper and lower transport path portions 85a and 85b, and is located between the printing portions 38 and 39 and on the lower surface side of the upper transport path portion 85a.

A yellow ink ribbon 76 is used as the ink ribbon cassette 49 of the first printing section 36 closest to the end of the lower conveying path section 85b, and the second printing section next to it is used. 37 Ink Ribbon Cassette 4
9 uses a magenta ink ribbon 76, and a cyan ink ribbon 76 is used for the ink ribbon cassette 49 of the third printing unit 38 adjacent to the downstream side in the transport direction. ing. In addition, the ink ribbon cassette 49 of the fourth and fifth printing units 39 and 40
In each case, the one using the black ink ribbon 76 is used.

That is, this embodiment is an example in which multi-color printing can be carried out, and the first to fourth printing portions 36 to 39 are arranged in the descending order of the lightness of the color, and further, the fifth.
The printing unit 40 and the other printing unit 3 with the upper conveyance path unit 85a interposed therebetween.
It is arranged on the side opposite to 6 to 39 so that double-sided printing can be performed.

The first to fourth sheet sensors 32 to 35 are provided in the upper transport path portion 85a as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the first paper sensor 32 is arranged on the paper carry-in side of the first printing unit 36, and the second paper sensor 33 is arranged.
Is located on the paper loading side of the second printing unit 37. The third paper sensor 34 is arranged on the paper carry-in side of the third printing unit 38, and the fourth paper sensor 35 is arranged on the paper carry-out side of the fourth printing unit 39.

As shown in FIG. 6, these sensors 33 to 36 are controlled by the CPU 91 via the I / O port 96, and the signals from these sensors 33 to 36 are separately processed by the counters to perform addition processing. The control unit can detect a paper jam (jam). Note that FIG.
Medium 97 is a ROM and 98 is a RAM.

The hoppers 41 and 42 are provided with a lower conveying path portion 85.
They are provided below b. In the hoppers 41 and 42, a large number of tags A as cut sheets are stacked and stored. An elevator plate (not shown) on which the tag A group is placed is housed inside each hopper 41, 42, and an electric elevator mechanism (not shown) for raising and lowering the elevator plate is provided in each hopper 41, 42, respectively. Has been. The electric lifting mechanism raises the lifting plate little by little based on a sensor (not shown) so that the upper end of the tag A group on this lifting plate is kept at the same height position.

Both hoppers 41 and 42 are the printing mechanism unit 2
The hoppers 41 on the front panel 22 side are arranged side by side along the moving direction (front-back direction) of the other hoppers 42.
Taller than. The hoppers 41 and 42 are connected to each other and are provided at an opening 22 provided in a lower portion of the front panel 22.
It is provided so as to be freely drawn out in front of the case 11 through a (see FIG. 1). The movement of these hoppers 41, 42 in the front-rear direction is performed by the guides provided on the mechanism frame 23 and the guides provided on the hoppers 41, 42 in the same manner as the guide structure that is usually used in the drawer of a desk or the like. This is performed by a guide structure (not shown) including a slider that is in sliding contact.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower transport path portion 85b of the transport path 85 is the first for removing the tag A in the hopper 41.
It is formed of a transport path portion 85b1 and a second transport path portion 85b2 for taking out the tag A in the hopper 42. The end-side portions of the two transport path portions 85b1 and 31b2 are bent in an arc shape and joined to the starting end of the upper transport path portion 85a. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 86 denotes a sheet feeding mechanism arranged at the starting end of the first conveying path portion 85b1, and 87 denotes a sheet feeding mechanism arranged at the starting end of the second conveying path portion 85b2. The tag A in 42 is sent out.

The stacker 43 has an upper conveying path portion 85a.
It is provided so as to be continuous with the end of. Stacker 43
Is disposed below the sheet take-out port 88 provided on the upper portion of the front panel 22, and its receiving portion is disposed diagonally upward with its receiving portion continuing to the end of the upper conveyance path 85a.

In the printer P having the above construction, the hopper 4
Of the groups of tags A stored in 1 and 42, the one located at the uppermost end is turned on via the power switch 17, so that the paper feed mechanisms 86 and 87 and the first transport path 85b1 and It is conveyed to a predetermined position through the operation of the two-conveyance path portion 85b2 and stands by. Such a pre-feed is performed from the hopper on the issuing side each time one tag A is issued.

When the control unit (not shown) receives the signal for printing the tag A, the printer P starts the issuing operation. That is, the first transport path portion 85b1 or the second transport path portion 85b2 selected according to the input signal is operated, and the transport motors 62 to 66 are respectively operated to operate the platen roller 48 of each of the printing portions 36 to 40. Since the transport rollers 28 to 31 are driven to rotate, the transport force given by them causes the tag A waiting at the pre-feed position to pass through the upper transport path portion 85a, and the first to third printing units 36 to 38, the fifth printing unit 40, and the fourth printing unit 3
9 are sequentially passed in this order of description.

In the upper transport path 85a, at least one printing unit of the printing units 36 to 39 is used to print on one side of the upper side of the tag A, and one side of the lower side of the tag A is printed. Is printed by the printing unit 40. The printed tag A is carried into the sheet take-out port 88 from the end of the upper transport path 85a. Then, by repeating the issuing operation as described above, the upper conveyance path portion 85
The tag A is stacked on the receiving portion of the stacker 43 that is diagonally upward with respect to the end of a. As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2, the printed tag A group stacked on the stacker 43 is taken out by grasping it with a finger.

By the way, the first to fourth sensors 32 to 35 detect the tag A passing through the upper conveyance path portion 85a. The conveyed tag A may sometimes be wound around the platen roller 48 or may enter the head containing portion 80 of the ink ribbon cassette 49 to cause a paper jam. In this case, the paper sensor located on the front side in the transport direction from the position where the paper jam occurs does not send the detection signal of the tag A to the control unit for a predetermined time or longer, and accordingly, the control unit determines that the paper jam has occurred. Is detected and the notification process is performed accordingly.

Then, the control section first causes the first to fifth transport motors 62 to 6 via the transport motor controller 94.
6 to stop the rotation of the platen roller 48 of each of the printing units 36 to 40 together with each of the transport rollers 58 to 61, and the print head 47 of each of the printing units 36 to 40 via the print head controller 92. Stop the printing operation of. Next, the control unit controls the head-up controller 9
Since the head-up motor 56 of each head holding mechanism 55 is operated via 3, the print heads 47 of the printing units 36 to 40 are lifted and the heads 47 are separated from the platen roller 48, respectively.

After this, the operator operates the printing mechanism unit 2
After pulling out 1, the jam paper ejection switch 13a of the operation unit 13 is manually operated. As a result, each of the transport motors 62 to 66 via the transport motor controller 94,
The rotation is driven so as to be opposite to that in the case of normal conveyance, and further, it is driven so as to be rotated at a low speed. Therefore,
The reversely conveyed conveyance rollers 58 to 61 and the platen roller 48 apply a conveyance force in the returning direction to the jammed paper (the tag A in which the paper jam has occurred) in contact with the jammed paper and return the jammed paper at a low speed.

In the returning operation of the jammed paper, the print heads 47 of the printing units 36 to 40 are separated from the platen roller 48, so that the print heads 47 are caught when the jammed paper is returned and become an obstacle. Never.

Then, the operator visually confirms that the jammed paper sheet returns, and releases the operation of the jammed paper sheet ejection switch 13a when the leading end portion of the jammed paper sheet in the returning direction is located at the nearest jammed paper sheet ejection port 46. After that, the operator passes his / her finger through the jammed paper take-out port 46 in which the end of the jammed paper is located, and pulls out the jammed paper from the take-out port 46 to complete the jam processing work.

As described above, since the jam processing work can be performed without turning off the power, the restart of the operation after the jam processing can be promptly performed without requiring the start-up time of the printer. In the jam processing, the ink ribbon cassette 49 is attached or detached to remove the jammed paper,
Manual operation of the platen roller 49 and the transport roller 28-
Since it is not necessary to manually rotate 31 to return the jammed paper, it is possible to reduce the labor required for the jam processing and to shorten the interruption time for the jam processing.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the jam paper ejection port 46 is the first printing unit 3
It may be provided only on the paper carrying-in side of No. 6. Further, the print head 47 separated from the platen roller 48 in the jam processing operation may perform only the print portion on the paper carry-in side with respect to the position where the paper jam occurs. Similarly, the reverse rotation of the platen roller and the transport roller is performed. You may make it perform only about the paper carrying-in side with respect to the position where the paper jam occurred. Further, the first to fourth sheet guides may be integrated.

[0057]

According to the present invention having the structure described in detail above, it is possible to perform the jam processing without turning off the power source, and it is necessary to manually rotate the platen roller and the carrying roller and to attach and detach them. Since the jam processing can be performed without doing so, it is possible to reduce the labor required for the jam processing for the paper jam at the printing unit and to shorten the interruption time for the sham processing. Moreover, in the jam processing,
The jamming process can be performed in a state where the print heads are separated from the platen rollers of the plurality of printing units arranged in parallel with each other, and there is no fear that the jammed paper is caught in the printing units in the returning direction. It is suitable for a printer that prints by sequentially passing a sheet through a plurality of printing units.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention showing a state in which a printing mechanism unit is pulled out from a case.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of part of the printing mechanism unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a part of the printing mechanism unit shown in FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the printing mechanism unit shown in FIG.

5 is a plan view showing the vicinity of a paper guide of the printing mechanism unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the printer according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

13a ... Jam paper take-out switch, 21 ... Mechanical frame, 24-35 ... Paper guide, 28-31 ... Conveying rollers, 32-35 ... Paper sensor, 36-40 ... Printing section, 4
4, 45 ... Paper guide plate, 46 ... Jam paper ejection port,
47 ... Print head, 48 ... Platen roller, 55 ... Head holding mechanism, 56 ... Head-up motor, 62-66 ...
Conveyor motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of printing units including a platen roller and a print head that can be brought into contact with and separated from the peripheral surface of the roller are arranged side by side on a mechanism frame, and at least one paper guide and the paper guide are guided by the paper guide. In the printer, wherein each of the mechanism frames is provided with a transport roller that applies a transport force to the sheet, and the sheet is sequentially passed through the printing units to print on the sheet, the platen roller and the transport roller are respectively driven. Forward / reverse rotatable conveyance motors, paper sensors provided on the paper carry-in side or paper discharge side of each printing unit, and are operated when a paper jam is detected based on the output signals of these paper sensors. A head-up motor that separates the print head from the platen roller, and the paper is carried into at least first of the printing units. Facing jam paper ejection openings provided at the side edges on the opposite side of the mechanism frame to the respective paper guide plates of the paper guide, which are located on the paper carry-in side with respect to the letter portion, and which face each other, A printer having a jam paper ejection switch for reversing the rotation of the carry motor.