Manual sheet jam clearance in printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10864755-B2
Application number	US-201916374917-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2019
Priority date	Apr 16, 2018
Publication date	Dec 15, 2020
Grant date	Dec 15, 2020

Abstract

A printer includes a feeding roller, a sheet conveyer, and a handle. The feeding roller is configured to feed a single slip and a continuous sheet conveyed through first and second conveyance paths, respectively, to a printing head. The sheet conveyer is at the second conveyance path. The handle is mechanically engaged with a shaft of the feeding roller and configured to rotate the shaft. The handle is manually movable along an axis direction of the shaft between first and second positions. At the first position, the handle is mechanically disengaged with a driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer. At the second position, the handle is mechanically engaged with the driving mechanism and capable of moving the sheet conveyer. An urging mechanism is urging the handle toward the first position. A stopper is configured to prevent the handle at the second position from moving toward the first position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A printer comprising:
a printing head;
a feeding roller configured to feed a single slip conveyed through a first conveyance path to the printing head and a continuous sheet conveyed through a second conveyance path to the printing head;
a sheet conveyer at the second conveyance path and configured to convey the continuous sheet to the feeding roller;
a handle mechanically engaged with a shaft of the feeding roller and configured to rotate the shaft in response to a manual rotation of the handle, the handle being manually movable along an axis direction of the shaft between a first position at which the handle is mechanically disengaged with a driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer and a second position at which the handle is mechanically engaged with the driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer and capable of moving the sheet conveyer according to the manual rotation of the handle;
an urging mechanism urging the handle toward the first position; and
a stopper configured to prevent the handle at the second position from moving toward the first position with an urging force by the urging mechanism.

2. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the stopper is deformable to a state at which the stopper no longer holds the handle at the second position.

3. The printer according to claim 2 , wherein the stopper has a portion exposed at a surface of the handle, and the stopper is manually deformable using the exposed portion.

4. The printer according to claim 3 , wherein the handle includes a knob and the portion of the stopper is exposed at a surface of a center of the knob.

5. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the stopper includes an engaging portion manually movable between a third position at which the engaging portion allows movement of the handle from the second position to the first position and a fourth position at which the engaging portion prevents movement of the handle from the second position to the first position.

6. The printer according to claim 5 , wherein the handle includes a portion mechanically engaged with the stopper and configured to move the stopper between the third position and the fourth position.

7. The printer according to claim 6 , wherein the engaging portion of the stopper is urged toward the third position by an urging member.

8. The printer according to claim 5 , wherein the stopper includes a second engaging portion manually movable between a fifth position at which the second engaging portion allows movement of the handle from the second position to the first position and a sixth position at which the second engaging portion prevents movement of the handle from the second position to the first position.

9. The printer according to claim 8 , wherein the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion of the stopper are opposite in a radial direction of the handle across a center of the handle.

10. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the urging mechanism includes a spring.

11. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein a first gear of the handle is mechanically engaged with a second gear of the driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer when the handle is at the second position.

12. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the printing head is a dot impact head.

13. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the feeding roller is included in a platen facing the printing head.

14. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet conveyer includes an endless belt having a surface on which the continuous sheet is conveyed.

15. A manual operation method of a printer including a printing head, a feeding roller configured to feed a single slip conveyed through a first conveyance path to the printing head and a continuous sheet conveyed through a second conveyance path to the printing head, a sheet conveyer at the second conveyance path and configured to convey the continuous sheet to the feeding roller, and a handle mechanically engaged with a shaft of the feeding roller, the operation method comprising:
when the single slip is jammed, rotating the handle at a first position along an axis direction of the shaft to rotate the feeding roller, the handle being mechanically disengaged with a driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer at the first position;
when the continuous sheet is jammed,
moving the handle from the first position to the second position along the axis direction of the shaft against an urging force of an urging mechanism urging the handle toward the first position, such that the handle is held at the second position by a stopper against the urging force, the handle being mechanically engaged with the driving mechanism of the sheet conveyer at the second position; and
rotating the handle at the second position to move the sheet conveyer and rotate the feeding roller.

16. The manual operation method of claim 15 , further comprises releasing the handle that is held at the second position by the stopper, to cause the handle to move from the second position to the first position with the urging force of the urging mechanism.

17. The manual operation method of claim 16 , wherein
said releasing the handle that is held at the second position by the stopper comprises deforming the stopper.

18. The manual operation method of claim 16 , wherein
said releasing the handle that is held at the second position by the stopper comprises moving an engaging portion from and a third position at which the engaging portion prevents movement of the handle from the second position to the first position to a fourth position at which the engaging portion allows movement of the handle from the second position to the first position.

Assignees

• Toshiba Tec Kk

Inventors

• Otake Atsushi

Classifications

• B41J11/006 Primary

  Means for preventing paper jams or for facilitating their removal · CPC title

• B65H2801/12

  Single-function printing machines, typically table-top machines · CPC title

• B41J15/048

  Conveyor belts or like feeding devices (B41J11/007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65H20/20

  by web-penetrating means, e.g. pins · CPC title

• B41J11/30

  Pin traction elements other than wheels, e.g. pins on endless bands · CPC title