Paper discharging device for a thermal printer

Abstract: The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a heat transfer printer. The printer comprises: a pair of upper and lower chutes (33, 34) for guiding printed paper; an idle roller (42) provided on the upper chute (33); a paper discharging motor bracket (36) provided on the lower chute (34); a paper discharging lever (40) rotatably provided on the paper discharging motor bracket (36); and a paper dis­ charging pulley (41) disposed at a tip of the paper discharging lever (40), wherein, at the time of dis­ charging the paper, the paper discharging lever (40) is rotated by a driving force of a motor (37) provided on the bracket (36) to cause the paper discharging pulley (41) to project from the lower chute (33) so as to come into contact with the idle roller (42), while, at the time of printing, the motor (37) is stopped.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a printer. Description of the Prior Art: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional heat transfer color printer. As shown in the drawing, the conventional heat transfer color printer comprises the following components or portions: a lower cabinet 1; a circuit portion 2; a power supply panel 3; a pinch roller 4; a capstan roller 5, against which the pinch roller 4 is adapted to abut to impart a driving force to the same; a platen roller 6, which, together with the pinch roller 4 and the capstan roller 5, constitutes a paper feeding mechanism; a main motor 7 for driving the pinch roller 4 and the platen roller 6; a pinch lever 8 adapted to be interlinked with the movement of a cam to cause the pinch roller 4 to be brought into contact with the capstan roller 5 or to cancel the contact thereof; a release roller 9 for releasing an ink film from paper; a paper feed roller 10 for bringing the paper into contact with the platen roller 6; a paper guide 11 for guiding the paper; and a paper support 12 for supporting the paper wound into the form of a roll. The printer further comprises a cover frame 13; a lock lever 14; a lock lever shaft 15, which engages or disengages with the lock lever 14 to open or close the cover frame 13; a ribbon feed gear 16 disposed on the cover frame 13 and adapted to effect positioning of one end of a ribbon feed in which an ink film is rolled; a ribbon holder 17 similarly disposed on the cover frame 13 and adapted to impart a pressing force against the other end of the ribbon feed; a head holder 18; a head 19 secured to the head holder 18; a head arm 20 which is interlinked with the operation of a cam and to which the head 19 is secured; a cooling fan 21 for radiating heat from the main motor 7, the circuit portion 2, and the like; an operation panel 22; a top cover 23; and an upper cabinet 24. In the conventional heat transfer color printer, the paper feeding and printing are carried out in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2a and 2b. First, during paper feeding, as illustrated in Fig. 2a, by virtue of the counterclockwise rotational driving forces of the pinch roller 4 and the platen roller 6, the paper is fed from the paper holder 26 by an amount corresponding to one image plane in the direction of the arrow A. At this time, the head 19 is located away from the platen roller 6, the ink film 27 is in a stopped state, and printing is not effected. Incidentally, in Fig. 2a, reference numeral 28 denotes an ink film holder, while numeral 29 denotes an ink film takeup holder. During printing, as shown in Fig. 2b, the platen roller 6 and the pinch roller 4 rotate clockwise, and the paper 25 is thus unwound by the amount of one image plane in the direction of the arrow B. At this time, the head 19 is in contact with the platen roller 6, and the ink film holder 28 and the ink film takeup holder 29 rotate counterclockwise, so that the ink film 27 and the paper 25 are unwound in the direction of the arrow B in an interlinking relationship. Thus, heat is applied from the head 19 to the ink film 27, and predetermined printing is effected on the paper 25. Incidentally, yellow, magenta, and cyan are arranged on the ink film sequentially for each image plane, and color printing is effected by repeating the above-described operation three times. The printing section is arranged as described above. The paper for which printing has been completed is discharged to the outside by a paper discharging device. Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view of a conventional paper discharging device. In the drawing, upper and lower rollers 30, 31 are rotatively driven by a drive motor 32. Reference numerals 30a, 31a denote upper and lower shafts, respectively. Numerals 33, 34 are upper and lower chutes, respectively, and the paper is guided therebetween to be discharged. With such an arrangement, however, it is necessary to machine the upper and lower shafts 30a, 31a with high precision, and a large number of components, including the drive motor 32, is required, thereby hampering a reduction in the costs. In addition, in the case of a heat transfer colour printer, in terms of its basic principle, it is necessary to reciprocate the paper a plurality of times, as described above. Accordingly, during printing, it is necessary to open the gap between the upper and lower shafts 30a, 31b and to prevent the advance of the paper 35 from being hindered by the upper and lower followers 30, 31. At the time of discharging the paper, it it necessary to discharge the paper by bringing the upper and lower rollers 30, 31 into contact with each other. For this reason, there has been a drawback in that the paper discharging device is complicated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION; Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a printer which is capable of overcoming the above-described drawbacks of the prior art. To this end, according to the present invention there is provided a printer comprising an upper chute and a lower chute for guiding paper to be discharged through a gap defined therebetween, the device is characterised in that it includes an idler roller rotatably mounted on said upper chute and which projects into the gap; a motor mounted on a bracket attached to said lower chute for rotatably driving a discharge pulley via gear means; the pulley is rotatably mounted on a lever which is itself rotatably mounted to the bracket; the lever includes an intermediate gear which is rotatable about the same axis of the lever and which engages both the pulley and a gear means of the motor to transmit drive from the motor to the pulley; and a biasing means is provided to urge the lever into contact with the intermediate gear and is arranged such that the weight of the lever and pulley acts thereagainst causing the lever and pulley to occupy a position below the lower chute when the motor is inoperative, but the drive of the motor, when operating, raises the lever and the pulley to an operative position where the pulley projects into the gap to contact the idler roller for paper discharging. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional heat transfer colour printer; Figs. 2a, 2b are diagrams illustrating the state of paper feeding and printing; Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view of a conventional paper discharging device; Figs. 4a and 4b are diagrams schematically illustrating the paper discharging device of the heat transfer color printer in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c are detailed diagrams explaining the paper discharging device; and Figs. 6a, 6b, and 6c are diagrams of the paper discharging device of the heat transfer color printer in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: Referring now to the accompanying drawings, description will be given of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Embodiment 1 Figs. 4a and 4b are diagrams schematically illustrating a paper discharging device of a heat transfer color printing in accordance with the present invention, in which Fig. 4a illustrates a state of printing, while Fig. 4b illustrates a state of discharging of the paper. In the drawings, reference numeral 6 denotes the platen roller, 33, an upper chute; 34, a lower chute; 35, a cutter; 36, a paper discharging motor bracket; 37, a paper discharging motor; 38, a paper discharging gear; 39, an intermediate gear; 40, a paper discharging lever; 41, a paper discharging pulley; 42, an idle roller; and 43, a stacker. During printing, as shown in Fig. 4a, the paper 25 reciprocates between the upper and lower chutes 33, 34 by means of the platen roller 6 and a drive roller. At that time, the paper discharging pulley 41 of the paper discharging device is installed below the lower chute 34 and at a position which does not hamper the reciprocating motion of the paper 25. At the time of discharging the paper 25 upon completion of multicolor printing, as shown in Fig. 4b, the paper is first cut to a prescribed length by the cutter 35, and the paper discharging motor 37 rotates counterclockwise. Accordingly, the intermediate gear 39 which is in contact with the paper discharging gear 38 rotates clockwise. The paper discharging pulley 41 rotates counterclockwise and, at the same time, undergoes planetary motion round the intermediate gear 39, while the paper discharging pulley 41 is raised by the paper discharging lever 40 up to a position at which the paper discharging pulley 41 abuts against the idle roller 42. Thus, the paper 25 is pinched between the idle roller 42 and the paper discharging pulley 41 and is discharged onto the stacker 43. Figs. 5a, 5b, and 5c are diagrams illustrating a specific example of the paper discharging device used in the heat transfer color printer of the present invention in which Fig. 5a is an exploded perspective view, Fig. 5b is a top plan view of an assembled state, and Fig. 5c is a schematic side elevational view of Fig. 5b. In the drawings, reference numeral 44 denotes a shaft; 45, a compression spring for pressing the paper discharging lever 40; 46, a shaft; 47, a pulley shaft; and 48, an O-ring. Namely, the paper discharging gear 38 is rotated by the paper discharging motor 37 with the shaft 44 as its axis. When the paper discharging gear 38 rotates counterclockwise, the intermediate gear 39 rotates clockwise. At this time, the paper discharging lever 40 and the intermediate gear 39 are brought into contact with each other by the spring 45, and the paper discharging lever 40 rotates clockwise with the shaft 46 as a center. The paper discharging pulley 41 is provided to a tip of the paper discharging lever 40 via the pulley shaft 47. This paper discharging pulley 41 is located on the lower chute 34 and rotates counterclockwise to discharge the paper 25. Meanwhile, when the motor 37 does not rotate, the counterclock rotational force of the paper discharging lever 40 produced by its own weight overcomes a retaining force of the spring 45 for retaining the paper discharging lever 40, and the paper discharging pulley 41 is thus located below the lower chute 34. As has been described above, in accordance with the present invention, since a simple and compact paper discharging device is provided to the paper discharging chute, it is possible to effect the discharging of the paper and the vertical motion of the paper discharging pulley by driving the motor. Embodiment 2 The paper 25 is wound around the paper holder 26 into the form of a roll, and therefore tends to be curled on the stacker 43 when the paper 25 is discharged from the upper and lower chutes 33, 34. When each sheet of the paper 25 becomes curled on the stacker 43, the advance of the paper 25 discharged consecutively becomes hampered, thereby possibly cuasing jamming of the paper. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the upper and lower chutes are provided with the following contrivance. Figs. 6a, 6b, and 6c are diagrams schematically illustrating the paper discharging device, in which Fig. 6a is a top plan view, Fig. 6b is a side elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow A, and Fig. 6c is a side elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow B. In the drawings, reference numeral 33 denotes the upper chute; 34, the lower chute; 34A, 34B are bent portions; 36, the paper discharging motor bracket; 37, the paper discharging motor; 38, the paper discharging gear; 39, the intermediate gear; 40, the paper discharging lever; 41, the paper discharging pulley, and 42 the idle roller. During printing, the paper 25 receiprocates between the upper and lower chutes 33, 34. At that time, the paper discharging pulley 41 of the paper discharging device is installed below the lower chute 34 and at a position which does not hamper the reciprocating motion of the paper 25. At the time of discharging the paper 25 upon completion of multicolor printing, the paper is first cut to a prescribed length by the cutter, and the paper discharging motor 37 rotates counterclockwise. Accordingly, the intermediate gear 39 which is in contact with the paper discharging gear 38 rotates clockwise. The paper discharging pulley 41 rotates counterclockwise and, at the same time, undergoes planetary motion round the intermediate gear 39, while the paper discharging pulley 41 is raised by the paper discharging lever 40 up to a position at which the paper discharging pulley 41 abuts against the idle roller 42. Thus, the paper 25 is pinched between the idle roller 42 and the paper discharging pulley 41 and is discharged onto the stacker 43. When the paper 25 is discharged, side end portions of the paper 25 are bent by an angle c by means of the bent portions 34a, 34b provided at corners of the side end portions of the lower chute 34 on the paper discharging side. Since this angle α is provided in the opposite direction to the winding direction of the paper 25 around the paper holder 26, when the paper is discharged through the upper and lower chutes 33, 34, the tendency of the paper 25 to become curled into the form of a roll is corrected. Accordingly, even if pieces of the paper 25 are discharged consecutively, the previously discharged paper does not hamper the advance of the paper to be discharged next, so that it is possible to provide a heat transfer color printer which is free from jamming. As has been described above, in accordance with the present invention, since a simple and compact paper discharging contrivance is provided to the paper discharging chute, it is possible to effect the discharging of the paper and the vertical motion of the paper discharging pulley by driving one motor, so that the arrangement of the paper discharging device becomes very simple. In addition, in the present invention, since at least one side end portion of at least the lower chute is bent, it is possible to prevent the paper from becoming curled into the form of a roll, so that the advance of the sheets of paper discharged onto the stacker is not hampered, thereby allowing the occurrence of jamming to be prevented.

Claims: A paper discharge device for a printer comprising: an upper chute (33) and a lower chute (34) for guiding paper (25) to be discharged through a gap defined therebetween, the device is characterised in that it includes an idler roller (42) rotatably mounted on said upper chute (33) and which projects into the gap; a motor (37) mounted on a bracket (36) attached to said lower chute (34) for rotatably driving a discharge pulley (41) via gear means (38, 39, 41); the pulley (41) is rotatably mounted on a lever (40) which is itself rotatably mounted to the bracket (36); the lever (40) includes an intermediate gear (39) which is rotatable about the same axis of the lever (40) and which engages both the pulley (41) and a gear means (38) of the motor (37) to transmit drive from the motor (37) to the pulley (41); and a biasing means (45) is provided to urge the lever (40) into contact with the intermediate gear (39) and is arranged such that the weight of the lever (40) and pulley (41) acts thereagainst causing the lever (40) and pulley (41) to occupy a position below the lower chute (34) when the motor (37) is inoperative, but the drive of the motor, when operating, raises the lever (40) and the pulley (41) to an operative position where the pulley (41) projects into the gap to contact the idler roller (42) for paper discharging. A paper discharge device according to claim 1, characterised in that the biasing means (45) comprise a compression spring (45) mounted axially on a shaft (46) about which the lever (40) is rotatably mounted to the bracket (36), the spring being arranged to act between a side portion of the bracket (36) and a side of the lever (40) to urge the lever (40) into contact with the intermediate gear (39). A heat transfer colour printer including a paper discharge device according to any of the preceding claims.

Inventors: KITAGAWA TOSHIHARU, NISHIYAMA RYUJI, TAKITA MASAAKI, TSURU YOSHIKAZU, KITAGAWA, TOSHIHARU, NISHIYAMA, RYUJI, TAKITA, MASAAKI, TSURU,YOSHIKAZU
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO LTD, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B41J15
IPC codes: B41J15