Patent Publication Number: US-2009232575-A1

Title: Printer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-64371, filed on Mar. 13, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a printer in which a continuous form long is pulled from a form box held in the printer housing and data is printed in a particular manner on the continuous form. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, continuous forms, such as fanfold paper sheets, on which printers may print data, are distributed, each in the form of a sheet contained in a cardboard form box and folded along transverse perforations made in it. Continuous forms are susceptible to temperature or humidity, and their hygroscopicity and amount of moisture may change with environmental changes. In order not to have its hygroscopicity and amount of moisture from changing, the continuous form is usually wrapped with a vinyl sheet and then packed in a form box. 
     To print data on a continuous form by a printer, it is fed from the form box and set on a form tray that is provided in the printer. Alternatively, the form box containing the continuous form may be first opened and then set on the form tray, because the form box, which contains the continuous form, its content is heavy. 
     Once the form box containing the continuous form has been set on the sheet tray, when a space may be available below the printer, it is positioned below the printer and the continuous form may be fed to the printer from below. In a printer  40  of ordinary type shown in  FIG. 3 , which prints data on a continuous form  41 , the form  41  is fed from the form box  43  set in the sheet hopper  42 . The continuous form  41  has sprocket holes (not shown) in either edge of continuous form, spaced at intervals of ½ inch. The continuous form  41  is so positioned that the pins  45   a  arranged at regular intervals at a tractor unit  44  extend into the sprocket holes of the sheet  41 . The continuous form  41  is fed forward until its forward end reaches a stacker  48  as a motor (not shown) drives a wheel having the pins  45   a  in the direction of arrow b and drives also a wheel having pins  45   b  of a tractor unit  46  in the direction of arrow c. Data can be printed on the continuous form  41  thus fed to the stacker  48  by rotating puller rollers  47   a  and  47   b  as a fixing section. (Refer to, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. Publication No. 2005-247534.) 
     No space may be available below the printer, for accommodating the continuous form. In this case, the continuous form must be set at the back of the printer, in the plane where the printer is installed. For example, as shown in  FIG. 4  schematically, a continuous form  51  on which a printer  50  should print data is placed in a form box  51 A provided at the back of the printer  50 . The continuous form  51  is introduced into the printer  50  through the recording-medium feeding port  53  made in the rear of the upper cover  52  of the printer  50 . In the printer  50 , the form  51  is fed forwards through the nip between the platen roller  54  and the thermal head  55 . (Refer to, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-001069.) 
     Assume that the form box  43  containing the continuous form is set below the printer as schematically shown in  FIG. 3 . Then, as the data printing proceeds, the continuous form  41  is gradually fed from the form box  43 . As a result, the total weight of the form  41  and form box  43  gradually decreases. The friction between the continuous form  41  being fed upwards and the inner surface of the form box  43  pulls the box  43  upwards. Consequently, the form box  43  is moved not only upwards, but also sideways. As the form box  43  is moved sideways, it may collide with the continuous form  41  and may damage the form  41 . If damaged, the form  41  may not be smoothly transported in the printer  40 , or data may not be printed on the form  41  as desired. In view of this, a device that can transport the continuous form  41  smoothly must therefore be provided in the printer  40 . The use of such a device would increase the manufacturing cost of the printer. 
     Assume that no space available below the printer, for accommodating the continuous form. In this case, the continuous form therefore is set at the back of the printer, in the plane where the printer is installed. This requires some floor area for the form box containing the continuous form. Inevitably, the printer and the form box inevitably occupy a larger floor area than otherwise. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer that needs neither a device for transporting a continuous form nor a large floor area, even if it has a form box containing the continuous form. 
     In an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer that includes a printing mechanism unit configured to transport a continuous form and to print data on the continuous form, and a body case containing the printing mechanism unit. The body case has an inclined upper surface, a form-box support section configured to support, on the inclined surface, a form box containing the continuous form, and a form-feeding port located in front of an upper edge of the incline surface and configured to guide the continuous form to the printing mechanism unit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a modification of a form-box support section incorporated in the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic side view showing a conventional printer. 
         FIG. 4  is another schematic side view showing the conventional printer. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Throughout this description, the embodiment and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and methods of the present invention. 
     An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The printer of the present invention is designed to print a continuous form. The following description is based on the assumption that the printer performs wire-dot matrix printing, as a printing scheme. The printer is not limited to a wire dot matrix printer, nevertheless. This invention can be applied to any other type of a printer, such as a double-side thermal printer. 
       FIG. 1  is schematic side view showing the configuration of a printer according to the embodiment of present invention. 
     The printer  1  has a body case  2 . The body case  2  holds a printing mechanism unit constituting the printer  1  that is another component of the printer  1 . That side of the body case  2 , at which an operator may performs some operations (hereinafter, referred to as “operation side”), has a form-feeding port  4 . Through the form-feeding port  4 , a continuous form  3 , such as a fanfold paper sheet, can be fed into the printing mechanism unit. Near the form-feeding port  4 , alignment plates  5  are provided to adjust the both lateral edges of the continuous form  3  in position, thereby to align the centerline of the form  3  with the direction of transporting the form  3 . The alignment plates  5  that adjust the lateral edges of the form  3  to align the form  3  with the direction of transporting the form  3  may be replaced by a sprocket wheel that engages with the feed holes made in the continuous form  3 , thereby to feed the form  3  by so-called tractor method. 
     Various components constituting the printing mechanism unit are arranged in the body case  2 . That is, through the form-feeding port  4 , a pair of entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b  are provided. At the back of the entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b,  a guide plate  7  configured to guide the form  3  define a form-transporting path  8 , jointly with some other members. On the form-transporting path  8 , a printing unit  9  is provided downstream at the entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b,  in the direction of transporting the form  3 . 
     The printing unit  9  has a carriage  11 . The carriage  11  lies above the print side (obverse side on which to print data) of the continuous form  3  being transported through the form-transporting path  8 . The carriage  11  can move back and forth in parallel to the print side of the form  3 , in a direction orthogonal to the form-transporting path  8 . The carriage  11  holds a wire-dot printer head  12 , an ink ribbon cassette  13 , and the like. The ink ribbon cassette  13  can be removed from the carriage  11 . The carriage  11  reciprocates when driven with a drive force supplied from a drive unit  15 . The drive force of the drive unit  15  is controlled by a control unit  14 . 
     A platen  16  is arranged at the reverse side of the continuous form  3  being transported through the form-transporting path  8 . The platen  16  is opposed to the wire-dot printer head  12  across the continuous form  3 . The platen  16  is set to be longer than the distance where the wire-dot printer head  12  reciprocates in parallel to the form  3  as the carriage  11  moves. 
     In the printer according to this embodiment, the wire-dot printer head  12  has the structure well known in the art. Therefore, the head  12  will not be described in terms of printing operation. It should be noted, nonetheless, that in the head  12 , the coil is excited, whenever needed, the armature is thereby attracted to the magnetic poles of the core, and selected wires strike the continuous form  3  on the platen  6  via the ink ribbon, thereby printing data on the continuous form  3 . 
     A pair of transporting rollers  17   a  and  17   b  facing each other across the form-transporting path  8  are provided downstream at the printing unit  9 , with respect to the direction of transporting the form  3 . Further, a curved guide plate  18  having a curved cross section is arranged downstream at the transporting rollers  17   a  and  17   b,  with respect to the direction of transporting the form  3 . The curved guide plate  18  is configured to change the orientation of the form  3  being transported. 
     A form-extracting unit  19  is provided downstream at the curved guide plate  18 , with respect to the direction of transporting the form  3 . If the continuous form  3  is a fanfold paper sheet, it will be held in the form-extracting unit  19 , folded at the perforations. The form-extracting unit  19  lies on the operation side of the body case  2 , where the operator uses the printer  1  to operate the unit  19 . The operator can therefore easily handle the continuous form  3  held in the form-extracting unit  19 . 
     A form-box support section  20  is provided on the top of the body case  2 . The form-box support section  20  has an inclined surface. The inclined surface extends in the same direction as the form-transporting path  8  of the printer  1 . The form-box support section  20  is composed of a sliding guide unit  21  and a form-box holder  22 . The sliding guide unit  21  has a sliding surface layer  21   a  made of a stainless steel plate, fluororesin or the like. The form-box holder  22  is provided at the lower edge of the sliding guide unit  21  (At the lower edge of the sliding guide unit  21 , the distal end of a form box  20  lies when the form box  20  slides on the sliding surface layer  21   a ). The surface of the sliding guide unit  21  should preferably be inclined at about 30° to about 40° to the floor. This is because the continuous form  3  will not be folded at an excessively large angle, thereby preventing jamming of the form  3 . 
     The sliding surface layer  21   a  of the sliding guide unit  21  enables the form box  20 , which is relatively heavy, to slide easily down. The sliding guide unit  21  may be a plate having flat surfaces. Alternatively, the sliding guide unit  21  may comprise a plurality of rails arranged in parallel to one another. Either case will do. 
     The form-box holder  22  has an engagement part  24  made approximately orthogonal to the direction in which the sliding surface layer  21   a  the sliding guide section  21  guides the form box  23 . The engagement part  24  is rigid and strong enough to receive the lower edge of the form box  23  sliding down, while being guided by the sliding guide unit  21  (Note that the “lower edge” of the form  3  corresponds to the distal end of the form box  20  sliding on the sliding surface layer  21   a,  and faces away the above-mentioned form-feeding port  4 ). 
     Thus, the form-box holder  22  is composed of an engagement part  24 , an upper wall  25 , and two sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b . The engagement part  24  receives the lower side of the form box  23  sliding down, guided by the sliding guide unit  21 , and holds the from box  23 . The upper wall  25  is coupled to the engagement part  24  and positioned to contact the upper side of the form box  23 . The sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b  can contact the sides of the form box  23 . 
     That side of the form-box holder  22 , which is defined by the upper wall  25  and the side walls  26   a  and  26   b  and at which the form box  23  may be first inserted into the form-box holder  22 , is broader than the form box  23  so that the form box  23  may be smoothly enter the form-box holder  22 . That part of the holder  22 , which includes the engagement part  24 , has a cross section gradually narrowing toward the engagement part  24 , so that the form box  23  may smoothly move toward the form-box support section  20  and may finally contact the form-box support section  20 . Thus, the form box  23  can be set at its prescribed center position (also, the center position of the continuous form  3 ) when the form box  23  contacts the engagement part  24  of the form-box holder  22 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a modification of the form-box support section  20 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , a form-box holder  22   a  need not have an upper wall  25 . The holder  22   a  may be composed of only engagement part  24  and sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b . The form-box holder  22   a  can yet support the form box  23 . 
     Hence, the form-box support section  20  and the form-feeding port  4  are positioned in the body case  2  such that the port  4  for guiding the continuous form  3  to the printing mechanism unit is arranged in front of the upper edge of the inclined surface of the form-box support section  20 . 
     As  FIG. 1  shows, the form-extracting unit  19  from which to extract the printed continuous form  3  lies closer to the operator than the opening  23   a  of the form box  23 . Further, a reinforcing member  27  is provided in the body case  2  and opposed to the form-box holder  22 . The member  27  reinforces the form-box holder  22 , preventing the body case  2  from being deformed. 
     In the body case  2 , the form-box support section  20  must be located so that the printer  1  may keep standing upright, with the form box  23  held in the form-box support section  20 , in connection with the weight balance between the other components provided in the body case  2  and with the gravity centers of these components. This is because the printer  1  should not, of course, lose the balance while operating. 
     How to secure the form box  23  to the printer  1  configured as described above will be explained with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
     First, the operator opens the form box  23  containing a continuous form  3  such as a fanfold paper sheet. The form box  23  is a rectangular cardboard box that contains a continuous form  3 . The box  23  has a cutting line  30 , along which the upper part of the box  23  can be separated from the lower part thereof. 
     The operator may cut the box  23  along the cutting line  30 , dividing the box  23  into a form-containing part  31  and a cover part. The form-containing part  31  includes the bottom and back of the box  23 , while the cover part (not shown) includes the top and front of the box  23 . 
     The cutting line  30  of the cardboard form box  23  may be perforation made in the box  23  or a tape adhered to the inner surface of the box  23 , partly on the form-containing part  31  and partly on the cover part, thus coupling the form-containing part  31  and the cover part together. In other words, the form box  23  is subjected to so-called “easy-to-open process” so that the box  23  may be easily torn open along the perforation or to so-called “tape sealing process” so that the box  23  is separated into two parts by pulling the adhesive tape from outside the box  23 . 
     After opening the form box  23 , the operator may set the form box  23  on the sliding guide unit  21  of the form-box support section  20 , with the form-containing part  31  contacting the sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b  of the form-box holder  22 . In this case, the perforations along which the form is folded, made in the continuous form  3  contained in the form box  23  extend orthogonal to the direction in which the sliding guide unit  21  guides the form box  23  (i.e., the direction of transporting the continuous form  3 ). 
     The form box  23  is made to slide down by virtue of its own weight, guided by the sliding guide unit  21  that defines the inclined surface of the form-box support section  20 . The form box  23  stops sliding when its distal end, i.e., distal end of the form-containing part  31 , abuts on the bottom of the form-box holder  22 , and is thereby held in the form-box holder  22 . 
     After the form box  23  has been so set in the form-box support section  20 , the operator may guide the continuous form  3  in the form box  23  until the distal end of the form  3  on the open side of the inner surface of the form box  23  comes to the form-feeding port  4  of the printer  1 . The form  3  eventually abuts, at both lateral edges, on the alignment plates  5 . The plates  5  therefore adjust the lateral edges of the form  3 , aligning the form  3  with the centerline of the form  3  with the centerline of the form-transporting path  8 . 
     At this point, the form box  23  has its sides contacting the sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b,  respectively. Hence, the centerline of the form  3  contained in the form box  23  and being transported is roughly aligned with the form-transporting line in the printer  1 . Thereafter, the alignment plates  5  provided at the form-feeding port  4  precisely align the continuous form  3 . 
     Now that the continuous form  3  has been aligned with the centerline of the form-transporting path  8 , its distal end is guided through the form-feeding port  4  into the nip between the paired entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b . An entrance sensor (not shown) detects the entrance of the-continuous form  3 . Then, the entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b  rotate a prescribed number of times, transporting the continuous form  3  through the form-transporting path  8  for a predetermined distance. As the entrance rollers  6   a  and  6   b  transport the form  3  until that part of the form  3 , on which to print data, comes to face the wire-dot printer head  12 . 
     To print data on the continuous form  3 , the operator may input a printing instruction at the operation side of the printer  1 . When the operator inputs this instruction, the wire-dot printer head  12  prints data on said part of the continuous form  3 . 
     The printer  1  may print data on the other parts of the form  3  existing in the form box  23  held by the form-box support section  20 , one after another. When the printer  1  prints data on the last part of the continuous form  3 , the form  3  no longer exists in the form box  23  held by the form-box support section  20 . After the form box  23  becomes empty, it may be removed from the form-box support section  20 . A new form box  23  containing a continuous form may then be set in the form-box support section  20 . Thus, the continuous form  3  can be replenished easily. 
     In the embodiment described above, the form box  23  containing a continuous form  3  can be easily set in the printer  1  and can be easily replaced by a new form box  23  after the form box  23  becomes empty. 
     The printer  1  requires no space for holding the continuous form  3 , outside the printer  1 . The printer  1  can therefore be installed in a limited floor area. 
     The embodiment has been described on the assumption that it performs wire-dot matrix printing as a printing scheme. The printing scheme need not be limited to the wire-dot matrix printing. The printing scheme can be, of course, any other one, such as electrophotographic printing, thermal printing or electrostatic printing. 
     A form box containing a continuous form can be set in the printer according to this embodiment. The printer therefore need not have a dedicated cassette for holding the continuous form. This simplifies the configuration of the printer. In addition, the jamming of the form can be suppressed because the form-transporting path extending from the form box is simple in shape. Moreover, the floor area occupied by the printer and the form occupy is small. 
     It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to only the embodiment described above. The components of the embodiment can be modified in various manners in reducing the invention to practice, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Further, the components of the embodiment described above may be combined, if necessary, in appropriate ways, thereby to make different inventions. For example, some of the component of the embodiment may not be used. Moreover, the components of possible different embodiments of the invention may be combined in any desired fashion.