Printer module paper feed-out procedure

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a printer module for using in a game machine, lottery machine, ticket issuing machine or any of a variety of automatic vending machines for issuing a receipt, evidence of payment, certificate or the like, and more particularly, to a printer module paper feed-out procedure for printer module, which uses paper feed-out rollers to hold down the lead end of the paper sheet for enabling the printed part of the paper sheet to be detained in a spare space inside the printing module, and then to transfer the cutoff piece of paper to the out side of the paper outlet on the face panel of the printer module and to hold down the rear end of the cutoff piece of paper after the cutoff piece of paper has been transferred to the outside of the paper outlet, so that when a person takes the printed cutoff piece of paper, the paper sheet of the paper roll will not be stretched, and the printing on the printed cutoff piece of paper is maintained clear.

2. Description of the Related Art

Following fast development of technology, advanced products, such as automatic vending machines, automatic teller machines and many other information machines have been continuously created to serve people, bringing convenience to people. The application of these advanced machines saves much labor, and enables the business to run 24 hours a day. Following the step of the automation era, many people have changed their work schedule and enjoy teeming night life. The service of advanced machines enables people to purchase many different products (beverage, instant noodles, tobacco, ticket, etc.) or to take cash from the cashback account conveniently after the duty hour.

However, following the creation of electronic cards and electronic money, people's consuming behaviors have been changed. Many shops accept electronic cards or electronic money for the payment. Further, many automatic vending machines accept tokens

Further, after a transaction, an automatic processing machine may issue a message or receipt to the consumer. An automatic processing machine having the function of issuing a message or receipt after each transaction has a printer module therein. After each transaction, the printer module is started to print a paper sheet and to transfer the printed part of the paper sheet to an outlet on the face panel of the machine so that the consumer can take the message or receipt.

According to conventional designs, the front end of the printed part of the paper sheet is transferred out of the outlet of the face panel before the end of the printing action. If the consumer pulls the printed message or receipt before the end of the printing action, the printed message or receipt is not cut off from the paper sheet of the paper roll. At this time, the paper will be stretched. When the paper sheet is stretched before the end of the printing action, the printing will rubbed against the internal parts of the machine, and the paper sheet may be torn, resulting in a paper waste or printing vague problem and lowering the consumer's will to use the machine again.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a printer module that eliminates the aforesaid problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a printer module paper feed-out procedure for printer module, which avoids waste of paper, keeps the printing clear, and prevents damage to the internal parts of the printer module when the user takes away the printed cutoff piece of paper.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the printer module paper feed-out procedure, which enables paper feed-out rollers to be rotated for a predetermined time period to catch the lead end of the paper sheet and then stopped when the paper sheet is being transferred forwards by a sheet-transfer roller set, so that the printed part of the paper sheet is detained in a spare space between the paper cutting unit and the paper feed-out unit of the printer module. When the printing action is finished, the printer module paper feed-out procedure stops the sheet-transfer roller set and drives the paper cutting unit to cut off the paper sheet, and then enables the paper feed-out rollers to transfer the cutoff piece of paper out of the paper outlet of the face panel of the printer module. Because the paper sheet is kept inside the printer module during the printing action of the printing unit, the invention avoids stretching of the paper sheet by a person during printing. Therefore, no any extra part of the paper sheet will be wasted, and the printing of the cutoff piece of paper is kept clear.

Further, because the cutoff piece of paper has been separated from the paper sheet of the paper roll, any person taking the cutoff piece of paper does not stretch the paper sheet to damage the sheet-transfer roller set or the paper feed-out rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a printer module constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the printer module constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart, explaining the paper feed-out procedure of the printer module according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the printer module according to the present invention, showing the lead end of the paper sheet of the paper roll transferred to the paper feed-out rollers.

FIG. 5 corresponds to FIG. 4, showing the printed part of the paper sheet of the paper roll curved downwards and detained in the spare space.

FIG. 6 corresponds to FIG. 5, showing the cutoff piece of paper separated from paper sheet of the paper roll and secured to the paper feed-out roller.

FIG. 7 corresponds to FIG. 6, showing the front end of the cutoff piece of paper extended out of the paper outlet of the face panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a printer module is shown comprising a base frame 1, a printing mechanism 2, a paper feed control module 3 and a face panel 4.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 1 and 2 again, the base frame 1 comprises a pivot holder 11 disposed near one side, namely, the rear side. The pivot holder 11 has two upright supports 111. A pivot shaft 112 is pivotally connected between the two upright supports 111 to support a paper roll 5. An encoder wheel 12 is fixedly fastened to one end of the pivot shaft 112 and disposed outside the pivot holder 11. A sensor 13 is provided adjacent to the encoder wheel 12 for sensing the angle of rotation of the encoder wheel 112.

The printing mechanism 2 comprises a support base 21 and a printing unit 22. The support base 21 has a paper guide portion 211 for guiding the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 forwards. The printing unit 22 has a sheet-transfer roller set 221 disposed at an elevation below the paper guide portion 211 of the support base 21 and is driven to transfer the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 forwards, and a print head 222 controllable to print marks or images to the surface of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5.

The paper feed control module 3 is disposed at one side of the printing mechanism 2 at a location far from the pivot holder 11, comprising a paper cutting unit 31 and a paper feed-out unit 32. The paper cutting unit 31 defines therein a paper passage 311 for the passing of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5. Further, the paper cutting unit 31 comprises a cutter 312 for cutting off a predetermined length of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5, and a guide board 313 for guiding the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 from the sheet-transfer roller set 221 of the printing mechanism 2 into the paper passage 311. The paper feed-out unit 32 comprises a paper sensor 321 disposed at the top and bottom sides relative to the path for the paper sheet 51 for sensing the presence of the cutoff piece of paper 52 that was cut from the paper sheet 51 (see FIG. 6), a feed-out channel 323 disposed at the front side thereof remote from the paper cutting unit 31, a plurality of paper feed-out rollers 322 adapted for transferring the cutoff piece of paper 52 into the feed-out channel 323. Further, a spare space 33 is defined between the paper passage 311 of the paper cutting unit 31 and the paper sensor 321 of the paper feed-out unit 32 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

The face panel 4 is disposed at one side, namely, the front side of the base frame 1 remote from the pivot holder 11, having a paper outlet 41 facing the feed-out channel 323 for enabling the cutoff piece of paper 52 to be extended to the outside of the printer module (see FIG. 7).

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIGS. 2 and 4 again, the operation of the printer module includes the steps of:

• (100) Start printer module printing action;
• (101) The printing head 222 of the printing mechanism 2 is started to print the paper sheet 51, at the same time, the sheet-transfer roller set 221 of the printing unit 22 is driven to transfer the paper sheet 51 forwards;
• (102) Determine whether or not the lead end of the paper sheet 51 triggered the paper sensor 321 of the paper feed-out unit 32 of the paper feed control module 3. And then proceed to step (103) when positive, or return to step (101) when negative;
• (103) The paper feed-out rollers 322 are driven forwards for a predetermined time period and then stopped, enabling the paper feed-out rollers 322 to hold down the lead end of the paper sheet 51;
• (104) The printing head 222 of the printing mechanism 2 keeps printing the paper sheet 51, the sheet-transfer roller set 221 keeps transferring the paper sheet 51 forwards to have a part of the paper sheet 51 be temporarily accumulated in the spare space 33;
• (105) The printing action is finished, and the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is stopped at this time, and then the paper cutting unit 31 is started to cut off the printed front part of the paper sheet 51, thereby obtaining a cutoff piece of paper 52;
• (106) The paper feed-out rollers 322 are driven forwards to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4;
• (107) Determine whether or not the rear end of the cutoff piece of paper 52 triggered the paper sensor 321. And then proceed to step (108) when positive, or return to step (106) when negative; and
• (108) The paper feed-out rollers 322 are stopped to hold down the rear end of the cutoff piece of paper 52, avoiding falling of the cutoff piece of paper 52 away from the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4˜7, when using the printer module, load the paper roll 5 on the pivot shaft 112 of the pivot holder 11 for rotation with the pivot shaft 112, and then pull the lead end of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 over the paper guide portion 211 of the support base 21 of the printing mechanism 2 to let the sheet-transfer roller set 221 be pressed on the lead end of the paper sheet 51. Thus, when started the printing mechanism 2, the sheet-transfer roller set 221 transfers the paper sheet 51 forwards to the guide board 313 for enabling the lead end of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 to be guided by the guide board 313 from the sheet-transfer roller set 221 of the printing mechanism 2 into the paper passage 311 and the spare space 33. When the paper sheet 51 is being transferred forwards, the paper roll 5 is rotated with the pivot shaft 112. When the lead end of the paper sheet 15 enters the spare space 33, it will trigger the paper sensor 321. When the paper sensor 321 is triggered by the lead end of the paper sheet 15, the paper feed-out rollers 322 are driven to rotate forwards for a predetermined time period and then stopped, thereby holding down the lead end of the paper sheet 15. Further, when the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is transferring the paper sheet 51 forwards, the printing unit 22 of the printing mechanism 2 is controlled to print the paper sheet 51.

When the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is transferring the paper sheet 51 forwards, the printing unit 22 of the printing mechanism 2 keeps printing the paper sheet 51. After the printing action is finished, the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is stopped. If the length of the printed area of the paper sheet 51 is greater than the distance between the sheet-transfer roller set 221 and the paper feed-out rollers 322, the paper sheet 51 will curve downwards and will be detained in the spare space 33. When the paper sheet 51 curves downwards and is detained in the spare space 33 after a printing action, the cutter 312 of the paper cutting unit 31 is driven to cut off the printed part of the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5, and the paper feed-out rollers 322 are then driven to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 forwardly through the feed-out channel 323 and the paper outlet 41 to the outside of the face panel 4. After cutting off the printed part of the paper sheet 51, the rear end of the cutoff piece of paper 52 stays in the spare space 33 between the paper cutting unit 31 and the paper feed-out unit 32, and the paper feed-out rollers 322 are driven to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 forwards without causing rotation of the paper roll 5. Because the cutoff piece of paper 52 has been separated from the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 when it is partially extended out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4, pulling the cutoff piece of paper 52 by a person does not stretch the paper sheet 51, avoiding waste of the paper sheet 51. Because the printer module uses a mechanical mechanism to transfer the paper sheet 51, pulling the paper sheet 51 by force will cause damage to the mechanical mechanism, such as gear tooth damage or biasing of roller axle.

Further, the printing unit 22 can be a dot array printing device, hot-press printing device, ink-jet printing device, or any other type of printing device capable of printing marks or images on the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5. Further, the printer module can be used in, for example, but not limited to, a game machine, lottery machine, ticket issuing machine or any of a variety of other machines for issuing a receipt, evidence of payment, certificate or the like.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6 again, the distance between the cutter 312 of the paper cutting unit 31 and the feed-out rollers 322 of the paper feed-out unit 32 is shorter than the length of the cutoff piece of paper 52. When the paper feed-out rollers 322 are rotated to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 forwards or when the lead end of the paper sheet 51 is being transferred by the sheet-transfer roller set 221 to the paper feed-out rollers 322, the lead end of the paper sheet 51 or the rear end of the cutoff piece of paper 52 is guided upwards, the paper feed-out rollers 322 can positively and smoothly transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4 or accurately catch the lead end of the paper sheet 51 for cutting.

As stated above, the invention provides a printer module paper feed-out procedure, which has the following features and advantages:

1. When the paper sheet 51 is being transferred forwards by the sheet-transfer roller set 221 to trigger the paper sensor 321, the paper feed-out rollers 322 are rotated for a predetermined time period to catch the lead end of the paper sheet 51 and then stopped, at this time the sheet-transfer roller set 221 keeps transferring the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5 forwards and the printing unit 22 of the printing mechanism 2 keeps printing the paper sheet 51, enabling the printed part of the paper sheet 51 to be detained in the spare space 33 between the paper cutting unit 31 and the paper feed-out unit 32. When the printing action is finished, the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is stopped, the paper cutting unit 31 is operated to cut off the paper sheet 51, and then the paper feed-out rollers 322 are rotated to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4. Because the paper sheet 51 is kept inside the printer module during the printing action of the printing unit 22, the invention avoids stretching of the paper sheet 51 by a person during printing.

2. After the paper cutting unit 31 cut off the printed part of the paper sheet 51, the paper feed-out rollers 322 are rotated to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4, therefore when a person takes the cutoff piece of paper 52, the paper roll 5 is immovable, and no any extra part of the paper sheet 51 will be wasted.

3. The printer module uses the mechanical structure of sheet-transfer roller set 221 and paper feed-out rollers 322 to transfer the paper sheet 51 and the cutoff piece of paper 52. Because the cutoff piece of paper 52 has been separated from the paper sheet 51 of the paper roll 5, any person taking the cutoff piece of paper 52 does not stretch the paper sheet 51 to damage the sheet-transfer roller set 221 or the paper feed-out rollers 322.

In conclusion, the printer module paper feed-out procedure of the invention enables the paper feed-out rollers 322 to hold down the lead end of the paper sheet 51 when the printing unit 22 of the printing mechanism 2 is printing the paper sheet 51 and the sheet-transfer roller set 221 is transferring the paper sheet 51 forwards, and to transfer the cutoff piece of paper 52 out of the paper outlet 41 of the face panel 4 after the printed part of the paper sheet 51 has been cut off by the paper cutting unit 31. Therefore, when a person takes the cutoff piece of paper 52, the printing action is finished and the paper sheet 51 will not be stretched, avoiding paper waste or vague printing.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.