Paper width automatic identification structure for printer

Abstract

The utility model discloses an automatic paper width identification structure for a printer, which comprises a width adjusting mechanism arranged in the printer and at least one limiting arm driven by the width adjusting mechanism, an inductor is further arranged in the printer, the width adjusting mechanism or the limiting arm is contacted with the inductor in a one-way sliding process, and the width adjusting mechanism or the limiting arm is driven by the inductor. And the sensor outputs a corresponding displacement signal. Compared with the prior art, the printer has the beneficial effects that the inductor is arranged in the printer, when the printer is used, a user can directly push the limiting arm with a hand or control the width adjusting mechanism to drive the limiting arm, so that paper is just clamped by the limiting arm, and the width adjusting mechanism or the limiting arm is in contact with the inductor in the sliding process; the width of the paper is indirectly detected according to the displacement signal output by the sensor, a user can send the displacement obtained by the sensor to the upper computer without a length measuring tool, and the actual width of the paper is determined according to the mapping relation preset in the upper computer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of printers, in particular to an automatic paper width recognition structure for a printer. Background Art

[0002] A paper width adjusting mechanism is arranged inside the printer, which can respond to the paper size input by the user, so as to control the paper width adjusting mechanism to clamp the paper, ensure that the paper can pass through the printing area of the printer correctly and smoothly, and avoid problems such as paper jams and printing misalignments caused by mismatched paper sizes. Therefore, the user needs to set the length and width size specifications of the paper on the computer application or the mobile phone APP side, synchronously send the size control instruction to the printer, and the printer controls the paper width adjusting mechanism to move according to the instruction, so as to clamp the paper to be printed.

[0003] However, when the user does not have a measuring tool or it is inconvenient to obtain the paper size specifications, they do not know how to set the paper size specifications. If the set size is inconsistent with the actual size of the paper, it will cause defects such as offset, missing, or printing across pages of the printed text or pattern, resulting in waste of consumables such as paper and ink. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] In view of the above problems, the utility model provides an automatic paper width recognition structure for a printer, mainly solving the problem that the existing printer has no paper width recognition function.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the utility model discloses an automatic paper width recognition structure for a printer, including: a width adjusting mechanism installed inside the printer, and at least one limiting arm driven by the width adjusting mechanism. Among them, a sensor is also arranged inside the printer. During the one-way sliding process of the width adjusting mechanism or the limiting arm, it contacts the sensor, and the sensor outputs a corresponding displacement signal.

[0006] In some embodiments, the width adjusting mechanism includes an adjusting gear, a right rack and a left rack respectively meshing with the upper and lower ends of the adjusting gear. The distal ends of the right rack and the left rack are respectively fixed with one of the limiting arms, and the upper end surface of the right rack contacts the sensor during the sliding process driven by the adjusting gear.

[0007] In some embodiments, the two limiting arms are arranged in parallel at the paper inlet of the printer.

[0008] In some embodiments, a guiding inclined surface is arranged on the upper end surface of the right rack near the sensor.

[0009] In some embodiments, the guiding inclined surface is a rounded corner or a chamfer.

[0010] In some embodiments, the sensor is a multi-contact capacitive sensor, and the arrangement direction of the contacts on the surface of the capacitive sensor is consistent with the sliding direction of the right rack.

[0011] In some embodiments, a hemispherical bump is provided on one side of the upper end surface of the right rack close to the sensor. The bump is located in the vertical plane formed by a plurality of the contacts, and the bump sequentially contacts the contacts on the sensor during the driven sliding process.

[0012] In some embodiments, the bump is detachably mounted on the upper end surface of the right rack.

[0013] In some embodiments, the installation height of the sensor is adjustable.

[0014] In some embodiments, a signal transmitter coupled to the sensor is further included, and the signal transmitter unidirectionally transmits the displacement signal output by the sensor to a mobile device or a computer that has established communication.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present utility model are as follows: By arranging a sensor in the printer, during use, the user can directly push the limit arm by hand or control the width adjustment mechanism to drive the limit arm so that the limit arm just clamps the paper. When the width adjustment mechanism or the limit arm contacts the sensor during the sliding process, the width of the paper is indirectly detected according to the displacement signal output by the sensor. Without the need for a length measuring tool, the user can send the displacement amount obtained by the sensor to the upper computer, and determine the actual paper width through the mapping relationship preset in the upper computer. Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a paper width automatic recognition structure for a printer disclosed in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0017] Figure 2 It is a connection schematic diagram of the width adjustment mechanism and the limit arm;

[0018] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the width adjustment mechanism disclosed in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0019] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of another paper width automatic recognition structure for a printer disclosed in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0020] Wherein: 1 - printer, 2 - width adjustment mechanism, 3 - limit arm, 4 - sensor, 201 - adjustment gear, 202 - left rack, 203 - right rack, 204 - guiding inclined surface, 205 - bump. Detailed Implementation Manner

[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present utility model clearer and more definite, the following further elaborates on the content of the present utility model in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation manners. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining the present utility model and not for limiting the present utility model. Additionally, it should be noted that for the sake of description, only parts related to the present utility model rather than all content are shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0022] This embodiment provides an automatic paper width recognition structure for a printer, as shown in Figure 1 and 2 and includes: a width adjustment mechanism 2 installed in the printer 1, and at least one limit arm 3 driven by the width adjustment mechanism 2. Among them, a sensor 4 is also provided inside the printer 1. During the unidirectional sliding of the width adjustment mechanism 2 or the limit arm 3, the sensor 4 is contacted, and the sensor 4 outputs a corresponding displacement signal. It should be known that the above-mentioned limit arm 3 is used to limit the width of the paper, and there should be at least one. In this case, one limit arm 3 can be used to fix one side of the paper, and one end of the paper inlet of the printer 1 fixes the other side of the paper. Optionally, a double-limit arm solution can also be adopted, using two limit arms 3 to fix both sides of the paper.

[0023] In this embodiment, by providing the sensor 4 inside the printer 1, during use, the user can directly push the limit arm 3 by hand or control the width adjustment mechanism 2 to drive the limit arm 3 so that the limit arm 3 just catches the paper. During the sliding process of the width adjustment mechanism 2 or the limit arm 3, the sensor 4 is contacted. The width of the paper is indirectly detected according to the displacement signal output by the sensor 4. Without the need for a length measurement tool, the user can send the displacement amount obtained by the sensor 4 to the upper computer, and determine the actual paper width through the mapping relationship preset in the upper computer.

[0024] In the present utility model, both the width adjustment mechanism 2 and the limit arm 3 can be used as the parts specifically contacting the sensor 4. In an optional solution, taking the width adjustment mechanism 2 as the contact part as an example, as shown in Figure 3As shown in the figure, the width adjustment mechanism 2 includes an adjustment gear 201, a right rack 203 and a left rack 202 that are respectively engaged with the upper and lower ends of the adjustment gear 201. Limit arms 3 are respectively fixed to the distal ends of the right rack 203 and the left rack 202. Moreover, the upper surface of the right rack 203 contacts the inductor 4 during the process of being driven by the adjustment gear 201 to slide. Taking the example of manually pushing the limit arm 3 on the right rack 203, assuming that the right rack 203 slides towards the inductor 4, the upper surface of the right rack 203 continuously contacts the detection points on the inductor 4 during the sliding process, thereby detecting the stroke of the right rack 203 and outputting a corresponding displacement signal accordingly. At this time, the adjustment gear 201 rotates counterclockwise and drives the left rack 202 to slide to the right, realizing the synchronous control of the two limit arms 3. In the above solution, when the limit arm 3 is manually driven, the adjustment gear 201 only serves as a connecting member between the right rack 203 and the left rack 202. When the limit arm 3 is electrically driven, the rotation of the adjustment gear 201 can be controlled by a motor to control the two limit arms 3 to move towards each other and clamp the paper. Optionally, the start and stop of the motor can be controlled by a sensor, such as visual detection or sensor detection. When the limit arm 3 contacts the paper, the electrode immediately stops rotating.

[0025] Specifically, the two limit arms 3 are arranged in parallel at the paper inlet of the printer 1, and the maximum distance between the two limit arms 3 when they are opened should not exceed the width of the paper inlet.

[0026] A guiding inclined surface 204 is arranged on the side of the upper surface of the right rack 203 close to the inductor 4. The guiding inclined surface 204 can be selected as a fillet or a chamfer, and its purpose is to smooth the head of the right rack 203 to avoid collision between the head of the right rack 203 and the inductor 4.

[0027] In an example, the inductor 4 is a multi-contact contact-type induction sensor. The arrangement direction of the contacts on the surface of the contact-type induction sensor is the same as the sliding direction of the right rack 203, that is, the contact-type induction sensor is composed of multiple sensors 1, 2, 3, etc. In this solution, the above displacement signal is further simplified to the state of the sensor. As shown in Table 1 below, when the signals output by sensor 1, sensor 2, and sensor 3 are 1, 0, and 0 respectively, it means that the right rack 203 only contacts sensor 1, and the paper width at this time is W2.

[0028] Obviously, since the adjustment gear 201 is used as a connecting member in this solution, the right rack 203 and the left rack 202 move towards or away from each other with the same amplitude. On this basis, the displacement change amount of the right rack 203 is equivalent to half of the paper width change amount, that is, the distance between adjacent sensors is 1 / 2 of the adjacent two paper width sizes, which can be used as the design basis for Table 1.

[0029] Table 1 Mapping relationship between sensor state and paper width

[0030] Sensor 1 Status Sensor 2 Status Sensor 3 Status Paper Width 0 0 0 W1 1 0 0 W2 1 1 0 W3 1 1 1 W4

[0031] In another alternative, as Figure 4 shown, a hemispherical bump 205 is provided on the upper end surface of the right rack 203 on the side close to the inductor 4. The bump 205 is located in the vertical plane formed by a plurality of contacts. During the driven sliding process of the bump 205, it sequentially contacts the contacts on the inductor 4. This solution is an alternative to the direct contact between the upper end surface of the right rack 203 and the inductor 4. The bump 205 is used for direct contact with the inductor 4. Further, the bump 205 is detachably mounted on the upper end surface of the right rack 203. Correspondingly, the installation height of the inductor 4 is adjustable.

[0032] It further includes a signal transmitter coupled to the inductor 4. The signal transmitter unidirectionally transmits the displacement signal output by the inductor 4 to a mobile device or a computer that has established communication. Therefore, a printer adopting the structure described in this embodiment can automatically identify the width size of the paper, and can report the automatically identified paper width size to a computer application program or a mobile phone APP. Then, the editing interface size of the label paper is automatically adjusted according to the label width size, thereby reducing the professional technical difficulty for users to use this printing device, reducing the printing error rate, and improving the printing efficiency and experience.

[0033] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical concept and features of the present invention. The purpose is to enable ordinary technical personnel in the field to understand the content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and it cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes or modifications made according to the essence of the content of the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A paper width automatic recognition structure for a printer, characterized in that: include: A width adjustment mechanism installed in the printer, and at least one limit arm driven by the width adjustment mechanism, wherein a sensor is also provided inside the printer, and the width adjustment mechanism or the limit arm contacts the sensor during unidirectional sliding, and the sensor outputs a corresponding displacement signal.

2. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The width adjustment mechanism includes an adjusting gear, and a right rack and a left rack respectively meshing with the upper and lower ends of the adjusting gear, a limiting arm is fixed to the far ends of the right rack and the left rack respectively, and the upper end surface of the right rack contacts the sensor during the process of sliding driven by the adjusting gear.

3. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The two limit arms are arranged parallel to each other at the paper inlet of the printer.

4. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: A guiding inclined surface is arranged on a side of the upper end surface of the right rack close to the sensor.

5. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The guiding inclined surface is a rounded corner or a chamfered corner.

6. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The sensor is a multi-contact point contact sensor, and the arrangement direction of the contacts on the surface of the contact sensor is consistent with the sliding direction of the right rack.

7. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: A hemispherical convex block is arranged on one side of the upper end surface of the right rack close to the sensor. The convex block is located in a vertical plane formed by the plurality of contact points. The convex block sequentially contacts the contact points on the sensor during the driven sliding process.

8. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The protrusion is detachably mounted on the upper end surface of the right rack.

9. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The installation height of the sensor is adjustable.

10. The automatic paper width identification structure for a printer as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a signal transmitter coupled to the sensor, and the signal transmitter unidirectionally transmits the displacement signal output by the sensor to a mobile device or a computer with which communication has been established.

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