Typewriting machines – Sheet or web – For feeding sheet from stack or pack holder
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-14
2003-09-30
Hirshfeld, Andrew H. (Department: 2854)
Typewriting machines
Sheet or web
For feeding sheet from stack or pack holder
C400S625000, C400S628000, C271S117000, C271S121000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626595
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic sheet-feeding device of a printer, and more particularly, to an automatic sheet-feeding device of a printer which separates a plurality of stacked recording sheets one by one and subjects the recording sheets to printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, various types of printers, such as thermal transfer printers and ink-jet printers, are used as output devices for computers, word processors, facsimile machines, and the like.
In order to perform desired printing in such printers, a plurality of recording sheets are loaded on a sheet loading section mounted on a printer frame, and are separated and supplied one by one by rotating delivery rollers in contact with the uppermost recording sheet. The recording sheet supplied by the delivery rollers is further conveyed by the rotational force of feeding rollers provided ahead of the printing position in the printer, that is, the feeding rollers take over the role of feeding the recording sheet from the delivery rollers.
As shown in
FIG. 6
, a printer
101
to which a conventional automatic sheet-feeding device is applied is configured such that printing is performed while a recording sheet
100
is fed substantially vertically. In this printer
101
, a platen
104
shaped like a flat plate extends in the widthwise direction of a printer frame
103
so that the surface of the recording sheet
100
to be printed is held substantially vertically. On one side of the printer frame
103
, a carriage
105
is disposed so as to be reciprocally moved along the platen
104
by a driving mechanism (not shown). At one end (the right side in
FIG. 6
) of the carriage
105
, a thermal head
123
having an array of heating elements (not shown) is disposed so as to be moved closer to and further apart from the platen
104
by a driving mechanism (not shown).
A ribbon cassette is detachably mounted on the carriage
105
. The thermal head
123
is pressed against the platen
104
while the recording sheet
100
and an ink ribbon contained in the ribbon cassette are supplied between the platen
104
and the thermal head
123
.
At the center of the printer frame
103
, a delivery roller driving shaft
111
extends in the widthwise direction of the printer frame
103
and is supported by the printer frame
103
at both ends. A plurality of delivery rollers
114
are mounted in the axial direction on the delivery roller driving shaft
111
at predetermined intervals.
A cam lever
112
is mounted at the axial end of the delivery roller driving shaft
111
to corotate therewith.
A sheet loading section support shaft
124
is disposed in the upper part of the printer frame
103
on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction. The sheet loading section support shaft
124
pivotally supports a sheet loading section
125
which has an upper surface functioning as a sheet stacking plate
107
on which a plurality of recording sheets
100
are stacked. When the sheet loading section
125
is pivoted in the sheet feeding direction, the front part of the sheet stacking plate
107
can be pressed against the delivery rollers
114
by an urging means
113
such as a spring member.
A protuberance
126
is formed at the lower end of the sheet stacking plate
107
of the sheet loading section
125
. The leading end of the cam lever
112
can either be engaged with or disengaged from the protuberance
126
depending on the rotation of the delivery rollers
114
.
A separating plate
120
is disposed below the delivery rollers
114
, and the leading edges of the recording sheets
100
placed on the sheet stacking plate
107
make contact with the separating plate
120
. The separating plate
120
is inclined at a predetermined angle so that only the uppermost recording sheet
100
is separated.
A feeding roller driving shaft
116
is disposed below the platen
104
and on the side diagonally above the delivery roller driving shaft
111
so as to extend in the widthwise direction and to be supported by the printer frame
103
at both ends. A plurality of feeding rollers
117
are mounted on the feeding roller driving shaft
116
at predetermined intervals. On the side diagonally below the feeding rollers
117
, auxiliary rollers
118
are disposed so that they are in contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the feeding rollers
117
so as to corotate therewith. Between the sheet loading section
125
mounted in the printer frame
103
and the feeding rollers
117
, a curved guide plate
119
is formed so as to guide recording sheets
100
supplied from the sheet loading section
125
by the delivery rollers
114
between the feeding rollers
117
and the auxiliary rollers
118
placed on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction.
On the downstream side of the platen
104
in the sheet feeding direction, a discharge-roller driving shaft
121
rotatably extends in the widthwise direction of the printer frame
103
and is supported by the printer frame
103
. A plurality of discharge rollers
122
are mounted on the discharge-roller driving shaft
121
at predetermined intervals so as to discharge recording sheets
100
, which have been subjected to printing, outside.
In this way, a recording sheet
100
delivered from the sheet loading section
125
by the delivery rollers
114
is guided by the guide plate
119
and is transferred to the feeding rollers
117
and the auxiliary rollers
118
ahead of the printing position, and is conveyed upward to the printing position while being pinched therebetween. The printed recording sheet
100
is discharged from the printer
101
by the discharge rollers
122
.
In the automatic sheet-feeding device of the printer with such a configuration, the upper side of the sheet loading section
125
is pivoted away from the platen
104
against the urging force of the urging means
113
so that the sheet loading section
125
separates from the delivery rollers
114
. In this state, recording sheets
100
are placed on the sheet stacking plate
107
while the leading edges thereof slide on the upper surface of the sheet stacking plate
107
from above.
Then, the sheet loading section
125
is pivoted again by the urging force of the urging means
113
so that the sheet stacking plate
107
moves closer to the platen
104
, whereby the protuberance
126
of the sheet loading section
125
and the cam lever
112
of the delivery rollers
114
are brought into contact with each other. Subsequently, an automatic sheet supply operation and a printing operation of the printer
101
are started, and only the uppermost recording sheet
100
placed on the sheet stacking plate
107
is conveyed toward the feeding rollers
117
by the rotation of the delivery rollers
114
.
The conveyed recording sheet
100
is guided by the guide plate
119
and is transferred between the feeding rollers
117
and the auxiliary rollers
118
.
Subsequently, the recording sheet
100
is fed back to the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction by reversely rotating the feeding rollers
117
, and is cued up to a printing start position.
After the recording sheet
100
has been cued up to the printing start position, desired printing is performed thereon by pressing the thermal head
123
against the platen
104
with the ink ribbon and the recording sheet
100
therebetween and by selectively driving the heating elements of the thermal head
123
according to printing information, such as image information, while moving the carriage
105
along the platen
104
.
In the printer
101
to which the conventional automatic sheet-feeding device is applied, when a plurality of recording sheets are loaded on the sheet stacking plate
107
of the sheet loading section
125
, the delivery rollers
114
are separate from the sheet loading section
125
.
In this case, the delivery roller driving shaft
111
with the delivery rollers
114
thereon is fixed to the printer frame
103
, and the sheet stacking plate
107
is pivoted downward on the shee
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Ghatt Dave A.
Hirshfeld Andrew H.
LandOfFree
Automatic sheet-feeding device of printer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Automatic sheet-feeding device of printer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Automatic sheet-feeding device of printer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3010209