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Inventors
Saito, Daisuke
Matsuda, Hideaki
Application #
301962
Filed
Sep-7-1994
Published
Mar-18-1997
Current US Class
083/383
083/614
083/676
International Classes
B26D 005/00
Field of Search
83/383 83/614 83/380 83/385 83/386 83/378 83/455 83/676
Assignee
Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd. (Miyagi-ken, JP)
Examiners
Peterson; Kenneth E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm
Armstrong, Westerman, Hattori, McLeland & Naughton
US Patent References
| 4516451 |
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Apparatus for cutti... |
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| 5086682 |
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Band cutting appar... |
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| 5168786 |
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Cutting apparatus |
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| 5312058 |
|
Device for cutting a... |
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Referenced by:
View Backward References
Citation
Cite This Patent
More From Subclass 614
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Abstract
In a cutting device having a moving (disc) cutter and a fixed cutter which extends in a cutting direction, wherein the moving cutter moves along the fixed cutter, thereby cutting a medium which is interposed therebetween, a presser member which is movable together with a medium pressing interlocking plate is lowered to press on the medium to fix the same at a portion close to a cutting position since a bearing attached to the moving cutter engages with the medium pressing interlocking plate to press down the same as the moving cutter moves. Since the moving cutter cuts the medium at this state, the cut edge of the medium can be excellent in linearity even if it has low rigidity in the outward-surface direction at right angles to the surface thereof. While the moving cutter does not cut the medium, the presser member is retracted to a standby position.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cutting device comprising:
at least a pair of a moving disc cutter and a fixed cutter which extends in a cutting direction, wherein the moving disc cutter moves along an edge of the fixed cutter extending in the cuffing direction when the moving disc cutter is brought into contact with the fixed cutter, thereby cutting a continuous medium which is interposed between the moving disc cutter and the fixed cutter;
a presser member for pressing and fixing the continuous medium to be cut at a portion close to a cutting position where the continuous medium is cut by the moving cutter and the fixed cutter;
presser member moving means for retracting the presser member to a standby position where the presser member is retracted from a surface of the continuous medium when the medium is fed to the cutting position and for moving the presser member in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the continuous medium to a position where the continuous medium is pressed and fixed when the continuous medium is fed to the cutting position to be cut there; and
a separation guide member which advances between the presser member and the medium to separate the presser member from the medium so that the continuous medium does not contact the presser member when the moving disc cutter is not performing a cutting operation, and guides the continuous medium in a feeding direction when the continuous medium is fed to the cutting position to be cut by the moving disc cutter and the fixed cutter, and which retracts interlocking with a cutting operation of the moving disc cutter to release a separation of the presser member from the continuous medium when the continuous medium is fed to the cutting position to be cut.
2. A cutting device according to claim 1, wherein said presser member moving means includes an engaging member which is moved together with the moving disc cutter in the cutting direction when the moving disc cutter moves to cut the continuous medium, a presser member interlocking member having the presser integrally fixed thereto, the presser member interlocking member engaging the engaging member to move the presser member interlocking member during a cutting operation of the moving disc cutter when the continuous medium is cut, thereby moving the presser member to the position where the continuous medium is pressed and fixed, and biasing means for biasing the presser member interlocking member in a direction to bring the same in contact with the engaging member so as to position the presser member at the standby position when the moving disc cutter is stopped at a position where it does not cut the medium.
3. A cutting device according to claim 1, further including a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting pressure with which the presser member presses on the continuous medium to fix the continuous medium.
4. A cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the presser member is formed of a conductive elastic material at least at a portion where it contacts the continuous medium and the conductive elastic material comprises one of felt, urethane, rubber and sponge.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cutting device which is provided in a printer, a ticket vending machine, etc. for cutting off a piece of a predetermined length from a long medium to be cut (referred to simply as a medium hereinafter in this specification) by a movable cutter and a fixed cutter, the medium being, e.g., a print medium such as a paper belt, a cloth belt, a label belt or the like on which printing is made continuously and successively.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
There is a conventional cutting device for successively cut off a piece of a predetermined length from a continuous belt of medium by a disc cutter that is a moving cutter and a fixed cutter such as that shown in FIG. 34 as a simplified view.
After a medium 2 has been fed on a guide plate I in the direction of an arrow A to be stopped at a predetermined cutting position, the cutting device cuts a medium 2 with a disc cutter 3 which cuts in the medium 2 from a side edge 2a in the direction of an arrow B which is perpendicular to the feeding direction of the medium 2 and a fixed cutter 4 which is fixed to a side of the guide plate 1 along the moving direction of the disc cutter 3.
Some cutting devices cut off a piece of a predetermined length from a belt of medium inserted between a rotating cutter 6 which is rotated in the direction of an arrow J by a motor 5 and a fixed cutter 8 which is swingably supported by a shaft 7 and is pressed on the rotating cutter 6 by a spring 9 as illustrated in FIGS. 35A and 35B.
In case of the cutting device illustrated in FIG. 34, however, when the medium 2 to be cut is thin paper, cloth label, etc., the medium 2 is liable to be twisted while being cut since friction generated between the disc cutter 3 and the medium 2 deforms the medium 2 in the direction of Z (deformation in the outward-surface direction).
As a result, it often caused the poor linearity of cut surface of the medium 2 so that nearly cut surface could hardly be obtained.
A guillotine-type cutter device as illustrated in FIGS. 35A and 35B can easily obtain the linearity of cut surface compared with the disc-type cutting device, but causes resistance against cutters larger than that in case of the disc-type cutting device at the time of cutting the medium 2 so that repeatedly cutting the medium 2 at sufficient speed requires a large power source corresponding thereto, resulting in a problem of increasing power consumption as well as increasing the size of the cutting device.
Accordingly, the applicant discloses a cutting device employing presser rollers in former Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-213514 (stacker) as a trial to improve the linearity of cut surface of the medium in a cutting device using the disc and fixed cutters.
A cutting device provided in a printing device equipped with the stacker comprises a carriage 15 which rotatably supports a disc cutter 3 and reciprocates in the direction of an arrow M, presser arms 12 supported by the carriage 15 to be swingable about a fulcrum 11 and presser rollers 13 and 13 rotatably provided at the lower end portions of the opened presser arms 12 respectively.
The presser rollers 13 and 13 press on the medium 2 to prevent the same from getting out of position when the disc cutter 3 moves fight or left in the figure to cut the medium 2 cooperating with the fixed cutter 4 so as to prevent the deformation of the medium 2 even if the cutting resistance is generated.
Even this cutting device, however, is not enough to obtain the linearity of the cut surface preventing the deformation of the medium when the same is cut since the direction of force which generates the outward deformation of the cut medium in the direction perpendicular to the surface thereof as indicated by Z in FIG. 34 conforms to that of friction generated by the rotation of the presser rollers 13 and 13.
Moreover in case of a printing device such as a thermal printer etc. which is generally equipped with such a cutting device, the medium is liable to be charged with static electricity in the process of bringing an ink ribbon into close contact with the medium to print characters thereon by heating using a thermal head, the process of peeling off a ribbon using a ribbon peeling plate, etc., in case a cloth label or the like is used for the print medium.
Furthermore, such a cloth label or the like is liable to be deformed since it has low rigidity in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the medium, the direction being indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. 34, it is liable to cause trouble in feeding when it comes off the upper and lower guide plates (the upper guide plate is omitted to be shown in FIG. 34) which apply force to keep it in position.
Whereas a printing device such as a thermal printer etc., which successively draws out a print medium, e.g., a roll of long paper etc. and performs necessary printing thereon by a thermal head with a thermal transfer ribbon in close contact with the print medium, is also equipped with a cutting device for cutting a piece of a predetermined length from every time printing has been performed thereon.
The cutting device, for example, comprises a fixed cutter I provided widthwise at right angles to the feeding direction (direction of an arrow A) of the medium 2 and a disc cutter 3 that is a moving cutter reciprocating in the direction of an arrow Q and is pressed on the fixed cutter I so as to successively cut off a piece of a predetermined length from the medium 2 such as a long paper, which has been fed onto the fixed cutter 1, by moving the disc cutter 3 along the edge of the fixed cutter 1.
In case of the cutting device having a disc cutter which is moved along the edge of the fixed cutter while being pressed thereon, however, when the piece of a predetermined length is successively stacked on one another just after it is cut off from the medium such as a long paper, the cut medium is liable to be aslant relative to the fixed cutter 1 at the cut edge 2b thereof as the cut medium 2' illustrated in FIG. 37.
Accordingly, many such cutting devices which cut a medium such as long paper by moving a disc cutter feed the cut medium downstream in the feeding direction instead of stacking the same just after cutting and stack the same on a tray at a position apart from the cutting portion or cuts down the same without piling the same to be collected afterwards.
Moreover, in case the medium is stacked on a tray just after the same is cut off, the uppermost medium which has been stacked on the tray is liable to be pushed off by the tip end of next medium which is successively fed, so that the stack is liable to be disturbed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem in cutting devices. It is an object of the invention to obtain an excellent linearity of cut surface even if a cut medium is low in rigidity in a direction at right angles to the surface thereof (the outward direction of the surface).
It is another object of the invention to prevent the generation of trouble such as defective feeding caused by static electricity generated in the cut medium in a stage of feeding by instantly removing the static electricity.
It is still another object of the invention to form a neat and undisturbed stack of cut mediums in case of cutting a medium such as long paper by moving a moving cutter along an edge of a fixed cutter even if the cut medium is successively stacked just after cutting.
In order to attain the above objects, the cutting device according to the invention comprises a presser member for fixing the medium to be cut by pressing on the same at a position close to a cutting position by the moving cutter and the fixed cutter set forth above and a presser member moving means for retracting the presser member to a standby position when the medium is fed to the cutting position, while for moving the presser member to a position to which the medium is pressed on to be fixed when the same is fed to the cutting position.
In the thus constructed cutting device, the presser member moving means moves the presser member to press on and fix the medium at a position close to the cutting position, so that even if the cut medium is low in rigidity in a direction perpendicular to the surface thereof (the outward direction of the surface), the excellent linearity of cut surface can be obtained.
Since the presser member moving means retracts the presser member to the standby position when the medium is fed to the cutting position, it does not interfere with the feeding of the medium.
When the presser member moving means is equipped with an engaging member, a presser member interlocking member and a biasing member, the movement of the moving cutter for cutting the medium is followed by the movement of the engaging member, which engages the presser member interlocking member to move the same to a position where the presser member presses on and fix the medium.
Accordingly, it is possible to interlock the movement of the presser member with that of the moving cutter without providing a control system for moving the presser member following that of the moving cutter.
Moreover, if the engaging member is movable to a position where it engages with the presser member interlocking member and a position where it does not engage therewith, it is possible to move the engaging member to the non-engaging position set forth above in case of cutting a medium which need not be pressed on to be fixed in cutting due to its high rigidity.
If the presser member interlocking member is provided with an inclination restricting member for restricting the inclination of the presser member relative to the above medium pressed on by the presser member which has been moved to a fixing position, the presser member can press on the medium at a position close to the cutting position almost uniformly all over a cutting line for more securely fix the medium since the inclination restricting member restricts the inclination of the presser member relative to the pressed-on medium when the presser member interlocking member being interlocked with the cutting operation of the moving cutter moves to the position where the presser member presses on the medium to fix the same.
Furthermore, if the presser member moving means is provided with a moving means for moving the presser member to a position where the presser member presses on the medium to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position and to the standby position and a control means for moving the presser member from the standby position to the fixing position, it is possible to arbitrarily move the presser member from the standby position to the fixing position by selectively driving a driving source of the moving means depending on the kind of the medium to be cut.
Still furthermore, when a cutting device is provided with a separating guide member, even if a medium charged with electricity is fed to a position where the presser member is disposed, the separating guide member advances between the presser member and the medium to separate the former from the latter and further guides the medium in the feeding direction when the latter is fed to the cutting position.
Accordingly, even if the fed medium is charged with electricity, it is possible to prevent the same from sticking to the presser member caused by static electricity.
Still Furthermore, if the presser member is equipped with a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pressure with which the presser member presses on the medium to fix the same, it is possible to prevent the medium from being stained when an excessive pressure is applied thereto since the mechanism can adjust pressure depending on the kind of medium.
Still furthermore, if at least the portion of the presser member which is in contact with the medium is made of conductive elastic material such as conductive felt, urethane foam, rubber, sponge or the like each having electrical conductivity, it is possible to prevent the medium from being electrostatically attracted by a feeding surface such as the guide plate etc. and consequently feed the same smoothly since even if the medium is charged with electricity, it can be discharged via the presser member when the medium is brought into contact with the presser member.
Still furthermore, the cutting device may be provided with a medium displacement restricting member which is disposed downstream the cutting position of the moving and fixed cutters with regard to the feeding direction of the medium and which is movable to a position where the medium displacement restricting member presses the medium on to prevent the same from slipping in the direction along the surface thereof and to a standby position where the medium displacement restricting member stays away from the surface of the medium and a stack tray on which the medium cut by the moving and fixed cutters and then pressed on by the medium displacement restricting member is successively stacked and which is held by a fixed portion of the cutting device in such a way as to go away from the medium displacement restricting member in accordance with the number of stacked mediums.
With this arrangement, if the medium displacement restricting member moves to the position where it prevents the medium from getting out of position as the moving cutter moves to cut the medium, the medium is cut as it is pressed on by the medium displacement restricting member, so that the stack is not disturbed even if the medium is stacked on the stack tray just after it is cut.
Moreover, since the stack tray goes down in accordance with the number of cut mediums successively stacked thereon, the upper surface of a lastly cut medium is kept at a given height relative to the feeding surface of the medium.
If the medium displacement restricting member is made of a flexible belt, it is possible to adopt a disc cutter for the moving cutter and pass the belt along the outer periphery thereof where the belt does not influence the disc cutter in cutting the medium.
Accordingly, as the disc cutter moves in the cutting direction while rotating, it successively pressed down the portion of the belt which is brought into contact with the outer periphery thereof to press on the surface of the medium, so that it is possible to cut the medium with certainty and at the same time to keep the cut medium in position after it is cut.
Moreover, in the cutting device provided with the belt and the moving cutter (disc cutter) which travels in the cutting direction while rotating, the belt may be a toothed belt and grooves which engages with the toothed belt may be formed on the moving cutter or a member which rotates integrally with the moving cutter, or a helical projection having a given pitch may be formed on the outer surface of the belt and grooves may be formed on the portion of the moving cutter or a member which rotates integrally with the moving cutter which is in contact with the belt.
Furthermore, if the medium displacement restricting member is a medium presser member disposed in parallel with the fixed cutter, the medium presser member can press on a wide range of the medium along the cutting direction at the time of cutting the medium, so that the surface of the medium can be more efficiently restrained from getting out of position in the direction along the surface thereof. As a result, it is possible to cut the medium with more certainty and stack the cut medium on the stack tray without disturbing the stack.
Still furthermore, if the cutting device is provided with a cutting operation interlocking member, since it interlocks with a member, which travels in the cutting direction together with the moving cutter at the time of cutting when the moving cutter travels, the member moves the medium presser member to the position to press on the medium so that it is possible to cut the medium in this state.
Still furthermore, if the cutting device is provided with an actuator which arbitrarily moves the medium presser member between the standby position where it is retracted from the surface of the medium to the position where it presses on the medium and a means which selectively actuates the actuator, it is possible to selectively allow the medium presser member to press on the medium depending on the kind or use of the medium by selectively actuating the actuator depending on the kind of the medium.
If the stack tray is held by the fixed portion of the cutting device to be movable in a direction away from the medium displacement restricting member by way of a mechanism making use of friction, it is possible to simplify the control and mechanism of the device since the stack tray need not be lowered by the thickness of the medium by way of an elevator unit using a motor etc. every time a cut medium is stacked on the stack tray.
Moreover, the cut mediums stacked on the stack tray is prevented from being pushed out by next cut medium fed onto the stack tray by providing a medium stack rising restricting member for restricting the height of the surface of the uppermost cut medium on the stack tray slightly lower than that of a feeding path at the cutting position set forth above when the medium displacement restricting member is retracted from the surface of the uppermost medium.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description which is to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A and 1B are front views of a cutting device according to a first embodiment of the invention before and during cutting the medium respectively;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are side views of the cutting device in FIG. 1 before and during cutting the medium respectively;
FIG. 3 is a view showing a whole construction of a printing device on which the cutting device is mounted;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a medium comparatively low in rigidity such as cloth label etc. for explaining the deformation thereof after it passes an upper guide plate 45;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a static eliminator brush for eliminating static electricity from an electrified medium;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cutting device on which the static eliminator brush in FIG. 5 is mounted;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cutting device according to a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the cutting device in which a presser member is separated from a medium by a separating guide member which is a characteristic portion of the cutting device in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the cutting device in which the separation of the presser member by way of a separation guide plate in FIG. 8 is canceled;
FIG. 10 is a side view of the cutting device in FIG. 7 before cutting the medium:
FIG. 11 is a side view of the cutting device in FIG. 7 during the cutting of the medium;
FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram showing only an essential portion of a control system for a printing device equipped with the cutting device according to the second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 11;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a cutting device according to a third embodiment of the invention provided with a mechanism for moving the separation guide plate interlocking with the movement of a disc cutter;
FIG. 14 is a side view of the cutting device in FIG. 13 in which the separation guide plate separates the presser member from the medium;
FIG. 15 is a side view of the cutting device in FIG. 13 in which the separation of the presser member by way of the separation guide plate is canceled;
FIG. 16 is a front view of a cutting device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention in which pressure applied to the medium by the presser member is adjustable;
FIG. 17 is a front view of a cutting device according to a fifth embodiment of the invention provided with a switching mechanism which can cancel the pressure applied to the medium by the presser member interlocking with the cutting operation of the disc cutter;
FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the cutting device in FIG. 17 in which the switching mechanism is switched to the pressing operation;
FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the cutting device in FIG. 17 in which the switching mechanism is switched to the canceling the pressing operation;
FIGS. 20A and 20B are front views of a cutting device according to a sixth embodiment of the invention in which a presser member interlocking plate is equipped with an inclination control member for controlling the inclination of the presser member;
FIGS. 21A, 21B and 21C are the front views of the cutting device in FIGS. 20A and 20B for explaining that without the inclination control member the presser member fails to uniformly press on a wide range of the medium along the cutting direction at the time of cutting the medium;
FIG. 22 is a side view of a cutting device according to a seventh embodiment of the invention provided with a medium displacement restricting member for preventing the displacement of the medium by pressing on the surface of the medium and a stack tray which goes away from the medium displacement restricting member in accordance with the number of cut mediums stacked thereon;
FIG. 23 is a view showing the whole construction of a printing device on which the cutting device in FIG. 22 is mounted;
FIG. 24 is a rear side view of the cutting device in FIG. 22;
FIG. 25 is a perspective view for explaining a mechanism which hold the stack tray by friction vertically slidably along the fixed portion of the cutting device;
FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a cutting device having a different mechanism for holding the stack tray vertically movably according to a first modification of the seventh embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a cutting device having another different mechanism for holding the stack tray vertically movably according to a second modification of the seventh embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 28 is a schematic view of a cutting device according to an eighth embodiment of the invention in which a medium displacement restricting belt is directly looped over a V-shaped groove formed on the outer periphery of the disc cutter;
FIG. 29 is a rear view of a cutting device according to the eight embodiment in which the portions of the disc cutter and the medium displacement restricting belt which are in contact with each other have shapes which remarkably reduce relative slippage.
FIG. 30 is a rear view of a cutting device according to a modification of the eight embodiment in which the portions of the disc cutter and the medium displacement restricting belt which are in contact with each other have shapes which remarkably reduce relative slippage.
FIG. 31 is a schematic view of a cutting device according to a ninth embodiment of the invention provided with a medium displacement restricting member having a shape different from that illustrated in FIG. 22;
FIG. 32 is a rear view of the cutting device in FIG. 31;
FIG. 33 is a schematic view of a cutting device according to a tenth embodiment of the invention provided with an actuator which can arbitrarily move the medium displacement restricting member to a position where the same presses on the surface of the medium;
FIG. 34 is a perspective view of a conventional cutting device which cuts the medium with a moving disc cutter and a fixed cutter;
FIGS. 35A and 35B are a front and a longitudinally cross-sectional view of a conventional cutting device comprising a disc cutter and a fixed cutter which is swingably supported by the device and pressed on the disc cutter for cutting a medium inserted therebetween;
FIG. 36 is a front view of a conventional cutting device provided with presser rollers 13 and 13 to keep the medium in position when the same is cut by way of a moving disc cutter and a fixed cutter; and
FIG. 37 is a perspective view of a conventional cutting device wherein a cut medium is positioned aslant relative to the edge of the fixed cutter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
First Embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 4 )
The embodiments of the present invention will be described in concrete hereinafter with reference to drawings.
The construction of a cutting device according to a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B and that of a printing device on which the cutting device is mounted will be described with reference to FIG. 3 hereinafter.
The printing device illustrated in FIG. 3 comprises a pair of a disc cutter 35 that is a moving cutter and a fixed cutter 36 which extends in the cutting direction represented by a face-to-back direction in the figure.
The printing device is provided with a cutting device 21. The cutting device 21 moves a carriage 34 along a guide, not shown, along the edge of which extends in the cutting direction at the upper end of the left surface of the fixed cutter 36 in FIG. 3 while pressing the disc cutter 35 on the fixed cutter 36 by way of a spring etc. so as to cut a medium 22 such as long paper etc. which is continuous in a shape of belt lying between the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36.
The cutting device 21 is provided with a presser member 37 for pressing on the medium 22 to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36 (a position illustrated in FIG. 2B) in order to cut the medium 22 straight and with certainty even if the medium 22 from which a piece of a predetermined length is cut off after characters are printed thereon is a medium such as thin paper, cloth label or the like, which is comparatively low in rigidity the direction perpendicular to the surface of the medium, i.e., the outward direction of the surface indicated by an arrow Z.
The cutting device 21 is also provided with a presser member moving means for moving the presser member 37 to a position where it presses on the medium 22 at a position close to the cutting position set forth above interlocking with the movement of the disc cutter 35 of the cutting device 21 and a standby position (a position illustrated in FIG. 2A) where the presser member 37 allows the medium 22 to be fed to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36.
The presser member moving means will be described in detail later.
A feed roller pair 23 which are pressed on each other in rotation is provided upstream the feeding path of the cutting device 21 on the right side of FIG. 3 and a thermal head 24 for performing printing on the medium 22 is provided further at the upstream side of the feed roller pair 23.
The thermal head 24 is a line-type thermal head, which is fixed to the lower surface of a thermal head plate 25 and is pressed on a platen roller 27 by way of a presser member, not shown, mounted on a head frame 26.
The medium 22 on which printing is performed and a heat transfer ribbon 28 placed over the medium 22 are inserted between the thermal head 24 and the platen roller 27 and the platen roller 27 is rotated in the direction of an arrow E while selectively heating the heat transfer ribbon 28 by the thermal head 24 to print a predetermined characters on the medium 22.
Following the feeding of the medium 22 by the platen roller 27, the heat transfer ribbon 28 is fed from the side of a ribbon supply spool 29 to be brought into close contact with the upper surface of the medium 22 after it passes a guide shaft 30 when printing is performed by the thermal head 24 thereon.
Then the heat transfer ribbon 28 is peeled off from the medium 22 by the ribbon peel-off plate 32 to be rolled round a take-up spool 31 via the winding guide shaft 33, the heat transfer ribbon 28 being peeled off due to tension applied to the portion thereof which was used for printing by the take-up spool 31 which rotates in the direction of an arrow F and due to tension applied to the medium 22 by the feeding force of the feed roller pair 23 which rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3.
On the other hand, the printed medium 22 is fed to the cutting device 21 by the feed roller pair 23.
Then the carriage 34 which rotatably holds the disc cutter 35 of the cutting device 21 by way of the shaft 43 alternately moves face-to-back and back-to-face in the figure at every cutting timing corresponding to the feeding length of a piece to be cut off from the medium 22 based on a data of rotating amount of the platen roller 27, a signal issued by a transmission-type or reflector-type sensor, not shown, mounted on the feeding path upon detection of the medium 22 or based on the feeding amount of the medium 22 so as to cut the medium 22 by a predetermined length using the moving-type disc cutter 35 and the fixed cutter 36 fixed to the device.
Then a presser member moving means which retracts the presser member 37 to a standby position when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36, and moves the presser member 37 to a position where the presser member 37 presses on the medium 22 to fix the same when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position will be described in detail mainly referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B.
The presser member 37 is fixedly mounted on the lower surface of the bracket 18 as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and the bracket 18 has mounting plates at both ends thereof, the mounting plates respectively having long holes 18a and 18b formed therein.
The presser member 37 is held by fixing screws 40 and 40 which are stepped screws for fixing the presser member 37 to left and right spring receiving frames 47 and 47 at both ends of the presser member 37 together with the cutter frame 55 (also refer to FIG. 2) in such a way as to be vertically movable between a position where the fixing screws 40 and 40 are in contact with the upper end of the long holes 18a and 18b and that where the fixing screws 40 and 40 are in contact with the lower end of the long holes 18a and 18b respectively.
The lower sides of the left and right spring receiving frames 47 and 47 are fixed to the cutter frame 55 by the screws 53 and 53 respectively.
The bracket 18 extends from right to left in the moving direction of the disc cutter 35 in FIG. 1A and the presser member interlocking plate 38 serving as a presser member interlocking member is fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the bracket 18 integrally therewith to be symmetrical with respect to the longitudinally central point of the bracket 18.
The above-mentioned spring receiving frames 47 and 47 respectively fixed to the cutter frame 55 are provided between the left and right mounting plates of the bracket 18 and the cutter frame 55 and compression coil springs 39 and 39 are respectively mounted between the upper surfaces of the spring receiving frames 47 and 47 and the lower surfaces of the bracket 18 at a position close to the both ends thereof.
In a normal state wherein external force pushes down the bracket 18, each of the compression coil springs 39 and 39 pushes up the bracket 18 so that the lower ends of the long holes 18a and 18b are in contact with the fixing screws 40 and 40 respectively as illustrated in FIG. 1A.
Accordingly in this state, it is possible to feed the medium 22 by the feed roller pair 23 while being guided by a lower guide plate 41 through a gap between the presser member 37 which is pushed up together with the bracket 18 and the fixed cutter 36.
The disc cutter 35 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 43 by way of the bearing 52 and the shaft 43 is fixed to the carriage 34.
The carriage 34 holds the disc cutter 35 relative to the fixed cutter 36 in a positional relationship suitable for cutting the medium 22, and a timing belt 42 is fixed to the carriage 34 in such a way as to pierce the both side surfaces thereof as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
The timing belt 42 is driven normally or reversely by a driving source, not shown, to reciprocate the disc cutter 35 together with the carriage 34 along the fixed cutter 36 left and right in FIG. 1A.
A bearing 44 which is an engaging member moved in the cutting direction together with the disc cutter 35 to cut the medium 22 therewith is rotatably mounted on the shaft 43 to which the disc cutter 35 is fixed corresponding to the presser member interlocking plate 38.
When the disc cutter 35 is moved to the cutting side as illustrated in FIG. 1B, the lower portion of the peripheral surface of the bearing 44 is brought into contact with the stage 38c heaping one step at the central portion of the presser member interlocking plate 38 to push down the stage 38c so that the presser member 37 fixed to the lower surface of the presser member interlocking plate 38 presses on the medium 22 to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position.
Accordingly, the presser member interlocking plate 38 which travels interlocking with the cutting operation of the disc cutter 35 while engaging with the bearing 44 at the time of cutting the medium 22 moves the presser member 37 to a position where the same presses on the medium 22 to fix the same.
Moreover, the presser member interlocking plate 38 is pushed up by the compression coil springs 39 and 39 which are biasing members to be in contact with the bearing 44 at the upper surface thereof so that the presser member 37 may be at a standby position in the figure when the disc cutter 35 stops at either of the positions represented by solid and chain lines in FIG. 1A where the disc cutter 35 does not cut the medium 22.
Accordingly in this embodiment, the bracket 18, the presser member interlocking plate 38, the bearing 44 mounted on the shaft 43 and two compression coil springs 39 and 39 correspond to the presser member moving means which retracts the presser member to a standby position when the medium is fed to the cutting position of the disc cutter and fixed cutter, and moves the presser member to a position where the presser member presses on the medium to fix the same when the medium is fed to the cutting position to be cut.
The cutting device 21 turns the timing belt 42 by rotating a cutter motor, not shown, when the medium 22 which has been fed to the cutting position is successively cut by a predetermined length so as to move the carriage 34 along the edge of the fixed cutter 36, which extends in the cutting direction, from the position represented by a solid line to that represented by a chain line or to the contrary from the position represented by the chain line to that represented by the solid line.
When the bearing 44 rotatably mounted on the shaft 43 fixed to the carriage 34 reaches the inclined surface 38a of the presser member interlocking plate 38 as the result of movement of the carriage 34, the bearing 44 which is rotationally brought into contact with the inclined surface 38a pushes down the presser member interlocking plate 38 and consequently the presser member 37 fixed to the lower surface of the presser member interlocking plate 38.
As a result, the medium 22 which has been fed to the cutting position to be cut is pushed against the upper surfaces of the tip end portion of the lower guide plate 41 at a position close to the cutting position and to the fixed cutter 36 by the presser member 37 as illustrated in FIG. 2B and the medium 22 is cut between the fixed cutter 36 and the disc cutter 35 which moves to the left in FIG. 1B.
The presser member 37 presses on the medium 22 until the bearing 44 passes the inclined surface 38b of the presser member interlocking plate 38 as represented by the chain line in FIG. 1A.
As described above, since the cutting device 21 presses on the medium 22 to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position with the presser member 37 when it cuts the medium 22 with the disc cutter 35 and the fixed cutter 36, even if force is applied to the surface of the medium to deform the same in the outward direction of the surface which is perpendicular to the surface of the medium indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. 3 due to resistance generated by the disc cutter 35 moving to cut the medium 22, the deformation of the medium 22 can be restrained.
As a result, the cut edge of the medium 22 which has been cut by the cutting device 21 can be straight neatly.
Whereas if cloth label etc. is used for the medium 22, the medium 22 is liable to be charged with electricity when the heat transfer ribbon 28 stuck to the medium 22 being heated under pressure by the thermal head 24 in printing process is peeled off therefrom by the ribbon peel-off plate 32.
The print medium such as the cloth label is comparatively low in rigidity in the direction (the direction indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. 3) perpendicular to the surface of the medium.
Accordingly, although the upper and lower guide plates 45 and 41 restrain the deformation of the medium 22 in the direction of low rigidity set forth above, they cannot restrain it after the medium 22 passes the upper guide plate 45, so that the medium 22 is liable to be deformed at the tip end portion thereof which has passed the upper guide plate 45 as illustrated in FIG. 4.
In this case, if the contact surface of a member such as the presser member 37 is made of material which is comparatively liable to stick other material by static electricity, the medium 22 is liable to stick the presser member 37 or other materials at a position close to the same when the former is brought into contact with the latter, causing trouble in feeding.
Therefore, if the contact portions of the presser member 37 or members which are located adjacent thereto so that they can be brought into contact with the medium 22 are made of either of or a combination of more than two of elastic materials such as conductive felt, urethane foam, rubber, sponge and the like each having electrical conductivity, is electrically coupled to the cutting device body made of electric conductor, it is possible to always feed the medium 22 smoothly even if the medium 22 is charged with electricity since the medium 22 can discharge the electricity when it is brought into contact with a conductive elastic member such as the presser member 37 etc.
Moreover, if a self-discharging static eliminator 54 such as a static eliminator brush etc. as illustrated in FIG. 5 is provided upstream the presser member 37 with regard to the feeding path of the medium, the longitudinal direction of the self-discharging static eliminator 54 being arranged perpendicular to the feeding direction of the medium 22 indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 6, i.e., the face-to-back direction in the figure, the static eliminator brush can more effectively eliminate static electricity from the fed medium 22 which has been fed being charged with electricity.
Second Embodiment (FIGS. 7-12)
A cutting device according to a second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12.
In FIGS. 7 to 11, elements corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are denoted at the same numerals and the description thereof is omitted.
The cutting device comprises a bracket 58 to the lower surface of which a presser member 37 is fixed and which has long holes 58a and 58b formed in the mounting plates at the both longitudinal end portions thereof and fixing screws 40 and 40 which are stepped screws inserted into the long holes 58a and 58b respectively as illustrated in FIG. 7 similarly to the bracket 18 illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 7 omits showing a fixing screw 40 on the side of the long hole 58b.
The fixing screws 40 and 40 are screwed to fix the bracket 58 to the cutter frame 55 so as to be movable only in the direction indicated by an arrow Z within a range wherein the long holes 58a and 58b on both sides of the bracket 58 restricted by the fixing screws 40 and 40 respectively.
Cams 49 and 49 are provided at the positions corresponding to the both end portions of the lower surface of the bracket 58 and the cams 49 and 49 are fixed to the both ends of a shaft 48 which extends in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the bracket 58 and is rotatably journaled by the fixed portion of the cutting device to be identical in phase with each other in the rotating direction.
A separation guide plate 46 which is a separating guide member is provided on the lower surface of the bracket 58 upstream the cams 49 and 49 with regard to the feeding path on the right side in the figure as illustrated in FIG. 8.
The separation guide plate 46 advances between the presser member 37 and the medium 22 to separate the former from the latter for guiding the same in the feeding direction so as to prevent contact therebetween when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36.
The separation guide plate 46 retracts interlocking with the cutting operation of the medium 22 to release the separation of the presser member 37 from the medium 22 when the same is fed to the cutting position to be cut.
The separation guide plate 46 formed of a plate member which extends along the bracket 58 substantially as long as the same comprises spring receivers 46a and 46b at both sides of the feeding downstream end thereof and a separation plate portion 46c formed between the spring receivers 46a and 46b for separating the presser member 37 from the medium 22 as illustrated in FIG. 7.
Long holes 46d and 46e are formed at both end portions of the fiat guide surface of the separation guide plate 46 along the feeding direction of the medium 22 and screws 59 and 59 which are stepped screws (the illustration of that on the side of the long hole 46d is omitted in the figure) are screwed into the lower guide plate 41 through the long holes 46d and 46e respectively to fix the separation guide plate 46 to the lower guide plate 41 (FIG. 10).
The separation guide plate 46 is movable left and fight between the position where the separation plate portion 46c on the tip end of the separation guide plate 46 advances between the presser member 37 and the medium 22 to guide the latter in the feeding direction indicated by an arrow A separating the former from the latter so as to prevent contact therebetween illustrated in FIG. 10 and a position to which the separation plate portion 46c retracts to release the separation of the presser member 37 from the medium 22 as illustrated in FIG. 11.
The separation guide plate 46 is always forced in the direction of an arrow A by the biasing force of compression coil springs 61 and 61 mounted between the spring receivers 46a and 46b on both sides thereof and the fixed portion of the cutting device as illustrated in FIG. 7.
Compression coil springs 60 and 60 are similarly mounted also between the both end portions of upper surface of the bracket 58 and the fixed portion of the cutting device.
As a result, when the cams 49 and 49 are turned to the positions illustrated in FIG. 8, the spring receivers 46a and 46b are pressed on the cams 49 and 49 on the left surfaces thereof in the figure, while the bracket 58 similarly presses on the cams 49 and 49 at the lower surfaces of both end portions of the lower surface thereof to which the presser member 37 is fixed.
An arm 57 is fixed to one end portion of the shaft 48 to which the cams 49 and 49 are fixed at one end thereof and is connected to the movable shaft 50a of a solenoid 50 by way of a tension coil spring 56 at the other end thereof as illustrated in FIG. 7.
A tension coil spring 51 which is in contact with the fixed portion of the cutting device at one end thereof and the side edge of the arm 57 at the other end thereof is mounted on the shaft 48 by fitting the coiled portion thereof onto the shaft 48 to always force the arm 57 to turn counterclockwise in FIG. 7 and a stopper, not shown, restrains the turning position of the cams 49 and 49 to the positions illustrated in FIG. 8 when the solenoid 50 is not actuated.
In the cutting device, the cams 49 and 49 are turned to the positions illustrated in FIG. 8 being urged by the tension coil spring 51 set forth above when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36.
In this state, the large eccentric portions 49a of the cams 49 and 49 push up the bracket 58 to form a gap between a lower guide surface 71 (FIG. 8) formed of the upper surfaces of the lower guide plate 41 and the fixed cutter 36 (refer to FIG. 10 with regard to both) and the presser member 37 fixed to the lower surface of the bracket 58.
At that time, since the separation guide plate 46 is forced to the left in FIG. 8 by the biasing force of the compression coil springs 61 and 61 to be in contact with the small eccentric portions 49b of the cams 49 and 49 at the left surface thereof, the separation plate portion 46c at the tip end thereof enters between the lower guide surface 71 and the presser member 37 to shelter the same, so that the medium 22 to be cut is smoothly fed between the lower guide surface 71 and the separation guide plate 46 which also serves as an upper guide surface.
When the medium 22 is cut, the solenoid 50 in FIG. 7 is turned on to turn the arm 57 clockwise so as to turn the cams 49 and 49 at both sides of the shaft 48 to the positions illustrated in FIG. 9 by way of the shaft 48.
Then the bracket 58 is pressed down by the biasing force of the compression coil springs 60 and 60, so that the presser member 37 fixed to the lower surface of the bracket 58 presses on the medium 22, which has been fed to a predetermined cutting position on the lower guide surface 71, to temporarily fix the same.
Since the separation guide plate 46 is moved to the right in FIG. 9 against the biasing force of the compression coil springs 61 and 61 when the cams 49 and 49 are brought into contact with the left surfaces of the spring receivers 46a and 46b of the separation guide plate 46 at the large eccentric portions 49a thereof, the separation plate portion 46c at the tip end of the separation guide plate 46 gets out of the gap between the lower guide surface 71 and the presser member 37 to release the presser member 37 from being sheltered.
As a result, when the presser member 37 lowers, it does not interfere with the separation plate portion 46c.
According to this embodiment, the presser member moving means which presses on the medium 22 at a position close to the cutting position when it is cut is provided with the solenoid 50 that is a driving source driven at an indicated timing and a moving means for moving the presser member 37 to the position where the same presses on the medium to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position and to the standby position.
The moving means is composed of the solenoid 50, the cams 49 and 49, the bracket 58, the compression coil springs 60 and 60 etc.
The presser member moving means also comprises a main control portion 80 illustrated in FIG. 12 which functions as a control means for moving the presser member 37 from the standby position to the position where it presses on the medium 22 to fix the same by driving the solenoid 50 set forth above that is the moving means interlocking with the cutting operation of the medium 22 by the disc cutter 35 that is a moving cutter.
The main control portion 80 composed of a microcomputer receives detection signals from sensors 81 and 82, not shown, the detecting portions of which are turned on or off by the carriage 34 illustrated in FIG. 10 as the same travels. The sensors 81 and 82 are transmission-type photosensors.
The main control portion 80 receives a solenoid driving selection signal from a selection key provided on a control panel, not shown, when the selection key is pushed down.
The selection key is used when an operator selects whether the pressing-on operation of the medium is performed by operating the solenoid 50 or not depending on the kind of used medium.
The main control portion 80 exchanges signals between a print control portion 83 and itself, and the print control portion 83 supplies a signal for performing printing to a thermal head driver portion 84 based on a print information supplied by the main control portion 80.
The main control portion 80 also exchanges signals between a cutter control portion 85 and itself, and the cutter control portion 85 supplies a signal for driving a cutter motor 86 which moves the carriage 34 of the cutting device to a cutter motor driver portion 87.
Moreover, the main control portion 80 also exchanges signals between itself and a feeding control portion 88 which controls driving various feeding systems of the printing device, and the feeding control portion 88 supplies a signal for operating a feeding motor 89 to a feeding motor driver portion 91 to drive the feeding motor 89.
When the main control portion 80 receives a detection signal of the carriage 34 from the sensor 81 during it receives the solenoid driving selection signal set forth above, it supplies a signal for turning on the solenoid 50 to a solenoid driver portion 92 and similarly when it receives the detection signal of the carriage 34 from the sensor 82, it turns off the solenoid 50.
There is, for example, a method of moving the presser member 37 from the standby position to the position where it presses on the medium 22 to fix the same by turning on the solenoid 50 interlocking with the cutting operation of the disc cutter 35 and returning the presser member 37 again to the standby position by turning off the solenoid 50 after cutting the medium 22, as described hereinafter.
That is, the sensor 81 is disposed at a position where it can detect the carriage 34 when the bearing 44 reaches the position corresponding to the inclined surface 38a of the presser member interlocking plate 38 illustrated in FIG. 1 and the sensor 82 is disposed at a position where it can detect the carriage 34 when the bearing 44 reaches the position corresponding to the inclined surface 38b of the presser member interlocking plate 38.
The main control portion 80 can control the solenoid 50 in such a way as to turn on the same when the sensor 81 detects the carriage 34 for the first time during the travel from the home position thereof on the left side in FIG. 7 in the cutting direction together with the disc cutter 35 and turn off the solenoid 50 when the sensor 82 detects the carriage 34 thereafter.
Moreover, since the solenoid 50 can be selectively turned on or off depending on the kind of medium according to this embodiment, the operation of pressing on the medium can be selectively performed depending on the kind of medium such as cutting the medium without turning on the solenoid 50 in case there is no need to press on the medium to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position as the medium has a high rigidity in the direction (the direction indicated by an arrow Z in FIG. 3) perpendicular to the surface of the medium.
Furthermore, since the separation plate portion 46c of the separation guide plate 46 enters between the lower guide surface 71 and the presser member 37 to shelter the same when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position as illustrated in FIG. 8, even if the medium 22 which has been fed to the cutting device after printing is charged with electricity, it can be prevented from sticking to the presser member 37 with certainty so that it can be fed smoothly.
Third Embodiment (FIGS. 13-15)
FIGS. 13 to 15 show a cutting device according to a third embodiment of the invention provided with a mechanism for moving the separating guide plate to the position where the presser member is sheltered and the position where the presser member is exposed interlocking with the movement of the disc cutter, wherein elements corresponding to those in FIGS. 7 to 11 are denoted at same numerals.
The cutting device comprises a separation guide plate 46' which substantially has a shape of U laid on its side in a side view to form an upper surface portion 46f having inclined portions 46g and 46h at the both end edges on the downstream side thereof with regard to the feeding direction different from the separation guide plate 46 in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7.
The separation guide plate 46' is movable only in the direction indicated by an arrow A and in the reverse direction thereof by way of screws 59 and 59 engaged in the long holes 46d and 46e respectively to be relatively movable therein.
The separation guide plate 46' projects to the position illustrated in FIG. 14 at the separation plate portion 46c thereof where the upstream end of long holes 46d and 46e regarding to the feeding direction are in contact with the screws 59 and 59 respectively urged by the compression coil springs 61 and 61 when the bearing 44 is outside the inclined surface 38a of the presser member interlocking plate 38 where the disc cutter 35 does not cut the medium 22 and when the bearing 44 is outside the inclined surface 38b thereof on this side as illustrated in FIG. 13.
When cutting the medium starts by moving the disc cutter 35 from the position illustrated in FIG. 13 in the direction of an arrow G, a sintered bearing 63 mounted on the shaft 43 to be unmovable in the axial direction thereof by way of a drop-off prevention member, not shown, is brought into contact with the inclined portion 46g of the separation guide plate 46' to push off the same, so that the separation guide plate 46' moves to the direction reverse to that of the arrow A and stops when the sintered bearing 63 passes the inclined portion 46g.
At that time, the separation guide plate 46' is displaced right from the position illustrated in FIG. 14 so that the tip end portion of the separation plate portion 46c that is the left end thereof in the figure is positioned right relative to the presser member 37.
Since the bearing 44 illustrated in FIG. 13 is brought into contact with the inclined surface 38a of the presser member interlocking plate 38 to push down the same substantially at the same time when the separation plate portion 46c retracts from the position of the presser member 37 as described above, the presser member 37 lowers until it presses on the medium 22 to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position, the medium 22 having been fed to the cutting position between the lower guide surface 71 and the guide surface 46j of the separation guide plate 46'.
The disc cutter 35 moves in the direction indicated by an arrow G in FIG. 13 while fixing the medium 22 to cut off a piece of a predetermined length straight therefrom, and when the bearing 44 reaches the inclined surface 38b of the presser member interlocking plate 38, the presser member 37 is lifted together with the bracket 18 to release the medium 22 from being pressed on.
The disc cutter 35 further continues to move until the sintered bearing 63 reaches the inclined surface 46h of the separation guide plate 46', when the separation guide plate 46' as a whole projects to return to the position where it shelters the presser member 37 again at the separation plate portion 46c thereof due to the biasing force of the compression coil springs 61 and 61 as illustrated in FIG. 14.
As described above, it is possible to interlock the vertical movement of the presser member 37 and the forward and backward movement of the separation guide plate 46' with the cutting operation of the disc cutter 35 so as to completely shelter the presser member 37 by the separation plate portion 46c of the separation guide plate 46' when the medium 22 is fed to the cutting position in the cutting device after printing is performed thereon, so that even if the medium 22 is charged with electricity, it can be fed with certainty without electrostatically sticking to the presser member 37.
Fourth Embodiment (FIG. 16)
FIG. 16 is a front view of a cutting device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention wherein the presser member can adjustably press on the medium. Elements corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted at same numerals.
According to this embodiment, screw holes are formed at both end portions of the presser member interlocking plate 38 which extends widthwise the medium in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction thereof and thumb screws 67 and 67 are screwed therethrough to be fit into bushes 68 and 68 at the tip end portions thereof, the bushes 68 and 68 being fixed to the both end portions of the bracket 18 respectively.
Stop rings 69 and 70 are fixed to of each thumb screw 67 at positions thereof which correspond to the upper and lower surfaces of each bush 68 so as to prevent the thumb screw 67 from dropping off from the bush 68, thereby to hold the presser member interlocking plate 38 on the bracket 18 to the lower surface of which the presser member 37 is fixed.
As a result, when the thumb screws 67 and 67 at the both end portions of the presser member interlocking plate 38 are rotated in the same direction by the same rotating amount, the presser member interlocking plate 38 with which engages with the thumb screws 67 and 67 at the screwed portions thereof is vertically displaced by a distance corresponding to the rotating amount of the thumb screws 67 and 67 in FIG. 16, so that it is possible to arbitrarily change the distance C between the upper surface of the stage 38c of the presser member interlocking plate 38 and the lower surface of the presser member 37.
Adjusting the distance C can change the lower limit of position of the presser member 37 to adjust the pressure applied to the medium 22 by the presser member 37 to press on and fix the former.
The displacement amount of the presser member 37 by which the presser member 37 is further lowered after it is brought into contact with the medium 22 when the presser member 37 presses on the medium 22 can be obtained by subtracting the clearance between the lower surface of the presser member 37 and the lower guide surface 71 (refer to FIG. 14) at the time before the presser member interlocking plate 38 is lowered from the displacement amount in the direction of Z of the presser member interlocking plate 38 which is pressed down by the bearing 44 and adding the thickness of the medium 22 thereto.
If a pressure adjusting mechanism using such thumb screws and a member having screw holes which engage with the thumb screws is adopted to the embodiment which has been described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, i.e., the presser member interlocking plate 38 illustrated in FIG. 16 is fixed to the bracket 58 by way of the thumb screws 67 and 67 at a position corresponding to the bearing 44, it is possible to adjust the pressure applied to the medium 22 by the presser member 37 in the same way.
Fifth Embodiment (FIGS. 17-19)
A cutting device according to a fifth embodiment provided with a switching mechanism capable of releasing the medium from being pressed on by the presser member interlocking with the cutting operation of the disc cutter will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 17 to 19.
Elements in FIGS. 17 to 19 corresponding to those in FIGS. 2A and 2B are denoted at same numerals.
The cutting device according to this embodiment is different from that described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B only in comprising a switching mechanism which allows the bearing 44 to be movable to the position where it engages with the presser member interlocking plate 38 and to a position where it does not engage therewith so that the position of the bearing 44 mounted on the shaft 43 which supports the disc cutter 35 can be changed in position along the axial direction of the shaft 43.
That is, the bearing 44 is fit onto the shaft 43 so as to be movable in the axial direction thereof indicated by an arrow K, and a through hole 43a is formed diametrically in the shaft 43 and a ball plunger 73 is inserted into the through hole 43a to be fitted therein, wherein a ball 73a at the tip end of the ball plunger 73 is always forced to project from the outer circumference of the shaft 43 by a spring, not shown, as illustrated in FIG. 17.
A stop ring 72 is fitted in an annular groove formed around the tip end portion of the shaft 43 to position the bearing 44 as illustrated by a solid line in contact with or at a position close to the right side of the ball 73a of the ball plunger 73 in the figure.
Moreover, a stop ring 74 is fitted in an annular groove formed around the shaft 43 for positioning the bearing 44 in contact with or at a position close to the left side of the ball 73a after the same moves to a position illustrated by a chain line in FIG. 17 pressing down the ball 73a of the ball plunger 73 when the bearing 44 is moved to the left from a position illustrated in a solid line in the figure.
As described above, if the bearing 44 is movable along the axis of the shaft 43 between the position illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 17 where it engages with the presser member interlocking plate 38 to press down the same as illustrated in FIG. 18 and the position illustrated by a chain line in FIG. 17 where it does not engage with the presser member interlocking plate 38 as illustrated in FIG. 19, it is possible to let the presser member 37 to press down the medium 22 at a position close to the cutting position being interlocked with the cutting operation of the medium by way of the disc cutter 35 or to cancel the interlocking operation by selecting either of the positions of the bearing 44 set forth above.
Sixth Embodiment (FIGS. 20A, 20B 21A, 21B and 21C)
A cutting device according to a sixth embodiment of the invention provided with an inclination restricting member for restricting the inclination of the presser member relative to the medium will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B and 21C.
The cutting device is different from that described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B in that a presser member interlocking plate 38' that is a presser member interlocking member illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B is provided with inclination restricting members 38e and 38f for restricting the inclination of the presser member 37 relative to the medium 22 pressed on by the presser member 37 which has been moved to the fixing position as illustrated in FIG. 20B.
There is a possibility of failure in stably cutting the medium 22 straight when the presser member interlocking plate 38' is not equipped with the inclination restricting members 38e and 38f since the medium 22 can hardly be pressed on by the presser member 37 uniformly along the cutting direction all over the width thereof when the disc cutter 35 cuts the medium 22.
The process will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 21A, 21B and 21C.
FIG. 21A shows the cutting device wherein the presser member 37 is at a standby position. When the presser member 37 is at this position, printing is performed on the medium 22 and the medium 22 is fed.
Then cutting operation proceeds to FIG. 21B and then to FIG. 21C. At that time as illustrated in FIG. 21B, as the disc cutter 35 travels from right to left in the figure, the presser member 37 is in close contact with the right end portion of the medium 22 but is in incomplete contact with the left end portion thereof at the early stage of cutting illustrated in the figure.
On the contrary as illustrated in FIG. 21C, the presser member 37 is in close contact with the left end portion of the medium 22 but is in incomplete contact with the right end portion thereof at the stage just before the completion of cutting the medium 22.
As described above, if the presser member interlocking plate 38' is not equipped with the inclination restricting members 38e and 38f, the presser member 37 is liable to be inclined relative to the medium 22 both at the early stage and the stage just before the completion of cutting when the disc cutter 35 cuts the medium 22 which is pressed on to be fixed at the cutting position by the presser member 37.
When the presser member 37 is inclined, the medium 22 is not uniformly pressed on by the presser member 37 along the cutting direction all over the width thereof and consequently the medium 22 is fixed on the fixed cutter 36 incompletely, so that the medium 22 is liable to be cut along a line deviated from a straight line.
However, since the presser member interlocking plate 38' in the cutting device according to this embodiment is equipped with the inclination restricting members 38e and 38f for restricting the inclination of the presser member 37 relative to the medium 22 as illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the medium 22 can be almost uniformly pressed on all over the width thereof by the presser member 37 on the fixed cutter 36, it is possible to cut the medium 22 along a line excellent in linearity.
That is, when the disc cutter 35 moves from the position illustrated in FIG. 20A to the left in the figure to start cutting operation, the bearing 44 is brought into contact with the stage 38c of the presser member interlocking plate 38' to press down the same as illustrated in FIG. 20B.
As a result, the presser member 37 which moves vertically together with the presser member interlocking plate 38' integrally therewith moves to the position where it presses on the medium 22 to fix the same on the fixed cutter 36 as illustrated in the figure.
At that time, when the presser member interlocking plate 38' is pressed down, it is stopped at the position where the inclination restricting members 38e and 38f formed on both end portions of the presser member interlocking plate 38' are in contact with the upper surface of the fixed cutter 36 as illustrated in FIG. 20B, so that the surface of the presser member 37 which is in contact with the medium 22 becomes parallel to the upper surface of the medium 22.
As a result, the medium 22 can be almost uniformly pressed all over the width thereof, on the fixed cutter 36 so that it is possible to cut the medium 22 along a line which is excellent in linearity.
The inclination restricting members 38e and 38f formed on both sides of the presser member interlocking plate 38' are identical to each other in shape and size and have such a positional relationship therebetween so that the presser member 37 can almost uniformly press all over the width thereof along the cutting direction on the medium 22 on the fixed cutter 36 when the presser member interlocking plate 38' is pressed down by the bearing 44 during the cutting operation of the medium 22.
Seventh Embodiment (FIGS. 22 to 24)
Then a cutting device according to this embodiment wherein the medium cut by the moving and fixed cutters can be successively stacked will be described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 24 and an example of a printing device equipped with the cutting device will be described with reference to FIG. 23 respectively.
Elements in FIG. 22 corresponding to those in FIGS. 2A and 2B and elements in FIG. 23 corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted at the same numerals and the explanation thereof is omitted.
A cutting device 121 according to this embodiment which is, for example, mounted on a printing device illustrated in FIG. 23 cuts a medium 22 such as long paper which is continuous in a shape of belt.
The cutting device 121 comprises a pair of a disc cutter 35 that is a moving cutter similar to those in the embodiments set forth above and a fixed cutter 36 extending in the cutting direction for cutting a medium 22 placed therebetween by moving a carriage 34 along a cutter frame 156 by way of sliding members 168a and 168b so as to move the disc cutter 35 along the edge which extends in the cutting direction at the upper end of the left surface of the fixed cutter 36 illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 24 while pressing the disc cutter 35 on the fixed cutter 36 by way of a spring etc.
The cutting device 121 is provided with the presser member 37 for pressing on the medium 22 to fix the same at a position close to the cutting position of the disc cutter 35 and fixed cutter 36 so as to cut off a piece of a predetermined length from the medium 22 along a straight and neat line after printing is performed thereon even if the medium 22 is a medium such as thin paper, cloth lab |