Patent Abstract:
A printing device including: a first conveyance path and a second conveyance path configured to conveying print media; a skew correction unit configured to correct skewing of the print medium conveyed along the first conveyance path; and a print unit configured to print on the print medium conveyed on the first conveyance path or the second conveyance path; the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path merging downstream of the skew correction unit; print media conveyed from the second conveyance path.

Full Description:
[0001]    Priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Application no. 2015-221003 filed on Nov. 11, 2014 which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present disclosur relates to a printing device to which print media can be supplied from multiple conveyance paths, and more specifically relates to a printing device capable of reliably preventing collisions between print media and controlling print media conveyance appropriately to the situation. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    Manual feed printers are often used to print booklets such as bank passbooks. Such manual feed printers have an opening provided in the front for a user to insert a print medium such as a passbook. The print medium is then ejected from the opening (the insertion opening) after printing. The printer may also have a means for correcting skewing of the inserted print medium. 
         [0006]    Ideally this kind of printer is provided with a conveyance path other than the path for manually inserting print media, can print to other types of print media such as paper rolls or precut sheets, and has a variety of print functions. 
         [0007]    However, a way to prevent print media from colliding at a junction of the conveyance paths in a printer having multiple print media conveyance paths. 
         [0008]    In a printer having a main feed section and a manual feed section, JP-A-H06-271152 proposes providing a locking mechanism that prevents releasing the manual feed table to prevent print media from both routes from overlapping. 
         [0009]    In a manual feed printer having a function for correcting skewing of the print medium as described above, the print medium conveyance roller in the skew correction unit usually also functions as a feed roller that feeds the print medium to the print position. When such a printer is provided with a second print media conveyance path, the junction of the manual-feed conveyance path and the second conveyance path is generally designed to be upstream from the skew correction unit that also functions as a feed roller. 
         [0010]    However, a magnetic reader is often provided between the print medium insertion opening and the junction in this type of printer, and because of the distance between the insertion opening and the junction, the user is unable to see junction. Consequently, the user may insert a passbook or other print medium into the insertion opening without seeing that another print medium is being supplied from another conveyance path, and the print media are likely to collide. 
         [0011]    Additionally, the skew correction unit requires a member that contacts the print medium to correct any skewing, and this member is implemented as a shutter (gate) capable of opening and closing the conveyance path downstream of the conveyance roller. When executing the printing process on print media supplied from the other conveyance path, the shutter must be open to supply the print medium to the print position because of the location of the junction. Therefore, when inserting a passbook or other print medium from the manual insertion opening, the user may mistakenly shove the print mediumpast (downstream of) the shutter even when no other print medium is at the junction. 
         [0012]    Moreover, when the print medium from the other conveyance path exits from the front, the print medium inserted from the insertion slot and the print medium being ejected may also collide. 
         [0013]    The technology described in JP-A H06-271152 cannot solve this problem. 
         [0014]    The disclosur is directed to a printing device in which print media can be supplied from multiple conveyance paths and which can reliably prevent collisions between print media and control print media conveyance appropriately to the situation. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0015]    To achieve the above object, a printing device according to one aspect of the present disclosur includes a first conveyance path and a second conveyance path configured to conveying print media; a skew correction unit configured to correct skewing of the print medium conveyed along the first conveyance path; and a print unit configured to print on the print medium conveyed on the first conveyance path or the second conveyance path; the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path merging downstream of the skew correction unit; print media conveyed from the second conveyance path. 
         [0016]    This configuration can reliably prevent the print medium supplied from the second conveyance path from colliding with or overlapping print media inserted to the first conveyance path because the shutter is closed when printing using the second conveyance path. 
         [0017]    Further preferably in another aspect of the disclosur, if print media is inserted to the first conveyance path while printing on print media conveyed from the second conveyance path, the skew correction unit corrects skewing of the print medium inserted to the first conveyance path. 
         [0018]    By correcting skewing of the print medium inserted to the first conveyance path while the print medium conveyed from the second conveyance path is being printed, this configuration can quickly start printing on the print medium inserted to the first conveyance path. 
         [0019]    Further preferably, the printing device also has a print media exit downstream of the skew correction unit, and if print media is inserted to the first conveyance path while printing on a print medium conveyed from the second conveyance path, discharges the print medium being printed from the paper exit. 
         [0020]    This configuration can control print media conveyance appropriately to the situation. 
         [0021]    To achieve the above object, another aspect of the present disclosur is a control method of a printing device including a first conveyance path and a second conveyance path configured to conveying print media; a skew correction unit configured to correct skewing of the print medium conveyed along the first conveyance path; and a print unit configured to print on the print medium conveyed on the first conveyance path or the second conveyance path; the first conveyance path and the second conveyance path merging downstream of the skew correction unit, and the skew correction unit having a shutter that opens and closes the first conveyance path; and the control method including the shutter closing the first conveyance path when printing to a print medium conveyed from the second conveyance path. 
         [0022]    Additional objects and features of the disclosur will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the disclosur. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a schematic side view of a printing device according to the disclosur. 
           [0024]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the conveyance control process when using a paper cassette. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0025]    A preferred embodiment of the present disclosur is described below with reference to the drawings. However the embodiment described is not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosur. Note that in the drawings, the same or similar elements are described using the same reference numerals or the same symbols. 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a printing device according to the disclosur. The printer  1  according to the disclosur as shown in  FIG. 1  has a manual-feed conveyance path  20  (first conveyance path) for manual printing, and a cassette-feed conveyance path  80  (second conveyance path) for feeding paper from a paper cassette. The printer  1  is also provided with a skew correction unit  70  (skew correction device) on the manual-feed conveyance path  20 , and the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  merge downstream from the skew correction unit  70 . The shutter  40  of the skew correction unit  70  is closed when printing on media from the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 . Therefore, the printer  1  can reliably prevent the collision of print media (such as a passbook or other booklet and precut sheets), supplied from multiple conveyance paths, and the printer can print on various kinds of print media. 
         [0027]    In one example, the printer  1  is an inkjet passbook printer such as used at a bank. As described above, the printer  1  has two conveyance paths ( 20 ,  80 ) as conveyance paths for the print media  5 . As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , to print on a passbook as the print medium  5  (booklet), the print medium  5  is inserted (in the direction of arrow E in  FIG. 1 ) by the user from the front (the left side in  FIG. 1 ) of the printer  1 , and after printing the print medium  5  is returned to and ejected from the insertion location (in the direction of the arrow F in  FIG. 1 ). To print to print media  5  (precut sheet) stored in a paper cassette (not shown), the print medium  5  is fed in the direction of the arrow G in  FIG. 1 , and after printing the print medium  5  (precut sheet) may be ejected from the front (in the direction of the arrow F in  FIG. 1 ) or the rear (in the direction of the arrow H in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0028]      FIG. 1  is a general side view of the configuration of the printer  1 , and in particular illustrates the conveyance routes for the print medium  5  (the booklet or the precut sheet). Parts of the printer  1  are described below with reference to  FIG. 1 . Note that in  FIG. 1  arrow A represents the normal conveyance direction of the print medium  5 , and the arrow B represents the reverse conveyance direction of the print medium  5 . 
         [0029]    To manually print on the print medium  5  (booklet), a manual-feed insertion opening  10  (entrance) is provided at the front of the printer  1  for manually inserting the print medium  5  (booklet). The print medium  5  (booklet) is inserted to the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . Note that, as described above, the manual-feed insertion opening  10  is also the paper exit when the printer  1  ejects the print medium from the front. 
         [0030]    The manual-feed conveyance path  20  is the conveyance path that carries print media  5  (booklet) inserted from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  to the print position. When discharged to the front, the manual-feed conveyance path  20  is the path carrying the print medium  5  in the reverse direction. 
         [0031]    The skew correction unit  70  corrects skewing of the print medium  5  (booklet) inserted from the manual-feed insertion opening  10 , and includes a manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30 , the shutter  40 , a paper detection sensor (A)  50 , and paper detection sensors (B)  60 . 
         [0032]    The manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  is a pair of rollers that convey the inserted print medium  5  (booklet) forward, and is powered by a drive mechanism (such as a motor and power transfer device) not shown.. The manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  can also be driven in reverse, and conveys the printed print medium  5  in reverse to discharge the print medium  5 . 
         [0033]    The shutter  40  is a bumper (plate) capable of moving vertically (in the direction of arrows C, D in  FIG. 1 ), and is powered by a drive mechanism (such as a motor and power transfer device) not shown.. The shutter  40  is raised (depicted by the dotted lines in  FIG. 1 ) when correcting skewing of the print medium  5  (booklet) and blocks (closes off) the conveyance path. By driving the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  in the forward direction, the print medium  5  (booklet) contacts the shutter  40  and skewing of the print medium  5  (booklet) is corrected. 
         [0034]    The shutter  40  is lowered (the location depicted by the solid line in  FIG. 1 ) to open the conveyance path when conveying the print medium  5  (booklet) to the print position, and when ejecting the print medium  5  from the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . When printing using the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 , the shutter  40  is raised to block (close) the conveyance path. 
         [0035]    The paper detection sensor (A)  50  and the paper detection sensors (B)  60  are sensors for detecting the presence of a print medium  5 , and are respectively provided before (upstream) and after (downstream) the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30 . To check that skewing of the print medium  5  (booklet) has been corrected, multiple paper detection sensors (B)  60  are provided perpendicularly to the width (the conveyance direction (arrows A, B in  FIG. 1 )) of the print medium  5  (booklet) and the vertical axis (indicated by arrows C, D in  FIG. 1 ). Sensors known from the literature may be used for paper detection sensor (A)  50  and paper detection sensors (B)  60 . 
         [0036]    Although not illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a magnetic reader may be disposed to the manual-feed conveyance path  20  between the manual-feed insertion opening  10  and the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  for reading magnetic information from the inserted print medium  5  (booklet). 
         [0037]    The cassette-feed conveyance path  80  is a conveyance path that carries print media  5  (precut sheets) supplied from a paper cassette not shown. The paper cassette is disposed at the upstream end of (the upstream side of arrow G) of the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  ( FIG. 1 ). In the forward conveyance direction, the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  merges with the manual-feed conveyance path  20  downstream of the skew correction unit  70  (the shutter  40 ). More specifically, the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  merge at junction  90  in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0038]    An upstream conveyance roller pair  110  is a pair of rollers that conveys a print medium  5  supplied from the manual-feed conveyance path  20  or the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  in the forward direction and supplies the print medium  5  to the print position (the location of the print unit  120 ), and is powered by a drive mechanism (such as a motor and power transfer mechanism) not shown.. The upstream conveyance roller pair  110  can also be driven in reverse, and when ejecting the print medium  5  conveys the printed print medium  5  in reverse. 
         [0039]    A paper detection sensor (C)  100  is a sensor that detects the presence of a print medium  5  and is disposed in before (upstream) of the upstream conveyance roller pair  110  in the conveyance direction. Sensors known from the literature may be used for the paper detection sensor (C)  100 . 
         [0040]    The print unit  120  is the part that prints on the print medium  5  (a booklet or a precut sheet) supplied on the conveyance surface  150  by the upstream conveyance roller pair  110 , and has multiple nozzles for ejecting ink. 
         [0041]    A platen  130  is disposed opposite the print unit  120  with the print medium  5  therebetween. 
         [0042]    The downstream conveyance roller pair  140  is a pair of rollers that conveys the printed print medium  5  (booklet) in the forward conveyance direction, and is powered by a drive mechanism (such as a motor and power transfer device) not shown.. The downstream conveyance roller pair  140  can also be driven in reverse, and when ejecting the print medium  5  conveys the printed print medium  5  in reverse. 
         [0043]    A rear exit  160  (print media exit) is used when the printed print medium  5  cannot be ejected from the front (manual-feed insertion opening  10 ). 
         [0044]    The printer  1  also has with a controller (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). The controller controls the printing process of the print unit  120  and conveyance of the print medium  5 . To control media conveyance, the controller controls operation of each roller pair  30 ,  110 ,  140 , and the shutter  40  on the basis of the detection results from paper detection sensor (A)  50 , paper detection sensors (B)  60 , and paper detection sensor (C)  100 . The controller may comprise a CPU, RAM, ROM, ASIC, or firmware (program), for example. 
         [0045]    The printer  1  thus comprised conveys print media  5  as described below. 
         [0046]    First, during manual feed printing, the user (operator) inserts a print medium  5  (booklet) from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  in the direction of arrow E ( FIG. 1 ). When the paper detection sensor (A)  50  detects that a print medium  5  (booklet) is inserted, the controller raises the shutter  40  to block (close) the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and drives the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30 . 
         [0047]    Driving the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  causes the print medium  5  (booklet) to bump into the shutter  40 , and skewing is corrected. Once the controller determines that skew correction is complete based on the results from the paper detection sensors (B)  60 , the controller lowers the shutter  40  to open the manual-feed conveyance path  20 . 
         [0048]    The print medium  5  (booklet) is conveyed in forward as the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  is driven, and is detected by the paper detection sensor (C)  100 . When the print medium  5  is detected, the controller drives the upstream conveyance roller pair  110  and the downstream conveyance roller pair  140  and conveys the print medium  5  (booklet) in the forward direction. 
         [0049]    The print medium  5  (booklet) is thus supplied to the print position and the print unit  120  then prints on the print medium  5  (booklet). 
         [0050]    Once printing is complete, the controller drives the upstream conveyance roller pair  110 , the downstream conveyance roller pair  140 , and the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  in reverse to convey the print medium  5  (booklet) in reverse. The print medium  5  (booklet) passes over the open shutter  40  moving in the direction of arrow F ( FIG. 1 ) along the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and exits from the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . 
         [0051]    Conveyance of the print medium  5  (precut sheet) is controlled as described below when printing to a print medium  5  (precut sheet) conveyed from the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 .  FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing an example of the conveyance control process when printing from a paper cassette. 
         [0052]    On receiving an instruction to feed paper from the paper cassette (step S 1  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller checks whether or not the detection values from the paper detection sensors (B)  60  and the paper detection sensor (C)  100  indicate “No Paper” (step S 2  in  FIG. 2 ). If the detection value from either of the paper detection sensors indicates “Paper Present” (No, step S 2  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines that the print medium  5  is at the paper detection sensors (B)  60  or the paper detection sensor (C)  100 , and waits before feeding paper from the paper cassette. 
         [0053]    When the detection values from both of the paper detection sensors indicates “No Paper” (Yes, step S 2  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines that no print medium  5  is at the paper detection sensors (B)  60  or the paper detection sensor (C)  100 , and closes the shutter  40  to close the manual-feed conveyance path  20  (step S 3  in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0054]    The controller then begins feeding paper from the paper cassette (step S 4  in  FIG. 2 ). When the detection value from the paper detection sensor (C)  100  indicates “Paper Present” (Yes step S 5  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines that the print medium  5  (precut sheet) from the paper cassette has been conveyed up to the paper detection sensor (C)  100 , and drives the upstream conveyance roller pair  110  and the downstream conveyance roller pair  140  (step S 6  in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0055]    The print medium  5  (precut sheet) is then conveyed to the print position, and processed by print unit  120 . The controller periodically checks the detection value from the paper detection sensor (A)  50  (step S 7  in  FIG. 2 ) until the printing process is complete (No, at step S 11  in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0056]    If the detection value from the paper detection sensor (A) indicates “No Paper” (Yes at step S 7  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines no print medium  5  (booklet) was inserted from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  and takes no particular action. 
         [0057]    If the detection value of the paper detection sensor (A) indicates “Paper Present” (No at step S 7  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines that a print medium  5  (booklet) was inserted from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  and determines whether a skew correction flag is set (step S 8  in  FIG. 2 ). The skew correction flag is set (stored) when a skew correction process is run (completed) in step S 9  described below. 
         [0058]    The controller takes no particular action if the skew correction flag is set (is stored; Yes at step S 8 ). Processing then returns to step S 11 . 
         [0059]    However, if the skew correction flag is not set (is not stored) (No at step S 8  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller runs a skew correction process (step S 9  in  FIG. 2 ). More specifically, the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  conveys the print medium  5  (booklet) at the paper detection sensor (A)  50  forward until the print medium  5  (booklet) contacts the shutter  40 , which is closed. Once the controller determines from the paper detection sensors (B)  60  that skew correction is complete, the controller sets (stores) the skew correction flag (step S 10  in  FIG. 2 ). Processing then returns to step S 11 . 
         [0060]    Once the printing process ends (Yes at step S 11  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines which exit to eject the printed print medium  5  (precut sheet) from based on whether or not the skew correction flag is set. More specifically, if the skew correction flag is set (Yes at step S 12  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines that a print medium  5  (booklet) is on the manual-feed conveyance path  20  waiting to be printed, and selects the rear exit  160 . If the skew correction flag is not set (No at step S 12  in  FIG. 2 ), the controller determines there is no print medium  5  (booklet) on the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and selects the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . 
         [0061]    When the rear exit  160  is selected, the controller continues to drive the upstream conveyance roller pair  110  and the downstream conveyance roller pair  140  in the forward direction, and ejects the printed print medium  5  (precut sheet) from the rear exit  160  (step S 13  in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0062]    When the manual-feed insertion opening  10  is selected, the controller drives the upstream conveyance roller pair  110  and the downstream conveyance roller pair  140  in reverse and opens the shutter  40  to open the manual-feed conveyance path  20 . The controller then drives the manual-feed conveyance roller pair  30  in reverse to eject the printed print medium  5  (precut sheet) from the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . 
         [0063]    In either case, once the media has been ejected, the controller stops driving the conveyance roller pairs and resets the skew correction flag (step S 15  in  FIG. 2 ). This completes conveyance control when the print medium is supplied from the paper cassette ends. 
         [0064]    This embodiment describes a configuration having a conveyance path from a paper cassette (cassette-feed conveyance path  80 ) as a conveyance path separate from the manual-feed conveyance path  20 , but instead of or in addition thereto may have a conveyance path for feeding a print medium  5  stored as a roll. In this case, the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and the separate feed path will also merge downstream from the shutter  40 , and conveyance of the print media is controlled in the same manner as described based on  FIG. 2  when feeding the print unit from the separate feed path. 
         [0065]    As described above, in a printer  1  according to this embodiment, the junction  90  where the manual-feed conveyance path  20  and the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  merge is downstream of the skew correction unit  70  (shutter  40 ) in the forward conveyance direction, and because the shutter  40  is closed when printing using the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 , print media  5  (precut sheet) supplied from the paper cassette can be reliably prevented from colliding or overlapping with a print medium  5  (booklet) inserted by the operator from the manual-feed insertion opening  10 . 
         [0066]    Providing a new shutter to prevent print media  5  collisions is also not necessary. 
         [0067]    When the user inserts a print medium  5  (booklet) from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  while printing using the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 , skewing of the inserted print medium  5  (booklet) is corrected while printing, and the print unit can then quickly transition to printing the inserted print medium  5  (booklet). 
         [0068]    Finally, when a print medium  5  (booklet) is inserted from the manual-feed insertion opening  10  while printing using the cassette-feed conveyance path  80 , conveyance is controlled so that the print medium  5  (precut sheet) supplied from the cassette-feed conveyance path  80  is ejected from a rear exit  160 , and conveyance can be controlled appropriately to the situation. 
         [0069]    The printer  1  can thus print to various kinds of media with no problems. 
         [0070]    The scope of the disclosur is not limited to the foregoing embodiment, and includes the disclosur described in the accompanying claims and equivalents thereof.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1