1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic document feeding mechanism and a thermal sublimation printer therewith, and more particularly, to an automatic document feeding mechanism adapted to a paper roll and a thermal sublimation printer therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, when a paper roll is installed into a conventional thermal sublimation printer, a front edge of a printing medium on the paper roll needs to be manually installed into a zone where a feeding roller conveys the printing medium. In such a manner, the feeding roller of the thermal sublimation printer is capable of conveying the printing medium to a thermal print head module for performing following thermal printing operations for the printing medium. However, a surface of the printing medium might be polluted due to careless touch of users during the above-mentioned installation process. In addition, since the user might not be sufficiently familiar with the installation operations, it often results in improper installation of the printing medium, such as skew, folding of the printing medium and so on during the above-mentioned installation process and generates issues of feeding failure accordingly.
The present invention provides an automatic document feeding mechanism adapted to a paper roll and a thermal sublimation printer therewith for solving above drawbacks.
According to the claimed invention, an automatic document feeding mechanism adapted to a paper roll includes a first pivotal member, a document pressing module, a driving member and a document guiding module. The document pressing module is pivoted to the first pivotal member for pressing the paper roll. The driving member is for driving the document pressing module, such that the document pressing module respectively presses the paper roll in a first position and a second position. The document guiding module is connected to the document pressing module. The document guiding module is driven by the document pressing module to move from a first guiding position to a second guiding position when the document pressing module is moved from the first position to the second position, so as to adjust a gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll.
According to the claimed invention, the document guiding module includes a second pivotal member, a first document guiding member and a second document guiding member. The second document guiding member is pivoted to the second pivotal member and connected to the document pressing module and the first document guiding member. The second document guiding member is driven by the document pressing module for moving the first document guiding member from the first guiding position to the second guiding position when the document pressing module is moved from the first position to the second position, so as to adjust the gap between the first document guiding member and the paper roll.
According to the claimed invention, the document pressing module includes a sliding member. A slot is formed on the second document guiding member. The sliding member is slideably installed inside the slot, such that the second document guiding member slides and rotates relative to the document pressing module. The first document guiding member includes a main body, an adjustment member and a recovery member. The adjustment member is pivoted to the main body and connected to the second document guiding member. The recovery member is for driving the adjustment member to rotate relative to the main body when the document guiding module is driven by the document pressing module.
According to the claimed invention, the document guiding module further includes a connecting member disposed on the adjustment member for connecting the adjustment member with the second document guiding member.
According to the claimed invention, the recovery member is a torsion spring.
According to the claimed invention, the document pressing module includes a first idle roller for rollably pressing a printing medium on the paper roll. The automatic document feeding mechanism further includes a sensor and a transmission shaft. The sensor is disposed on the main body for sensing the printing medium on the paper roll. The transmission shaft is for driving the paper roll to rotate in a first direction when the sensor does not sense the printing medium, and further for driving the paper roll to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction when the sensor senses the printing medium.
According to the claimed invention, the automatic document feeding mechanism further includes a guiding member and a second idle roller. The guiding member is pivoted to the second document guiding member and abuts against the paper roll. The guiding member is for guiding the printing medium to enter the second document guiding member when the paper roll rotates in the second direction. The second idle roller is for rollably pressing the paper roll. The second idle roller is for keeping the paper roll firmly shaped cooperatively with the first idle roller when the paper roll rotates in the second direction.
According to the claimed invention, the driving member is a torsion spring.
According to the claimed invention, a thermal sublimation printer includes a paper roll, a feeding roller and an automatic document feeding mechanism. The feeding roller is for moving a printing medium on the paper roll. The automatic document feeding mechanism is for conveying the printing medium on the paper roll to the feeding roller. The automatic document feeding mechanism includes a first pivotal member, a document pressing module, a driving member and a document guiding module. The document pressing module is pivoted to the first pivotal member for pressing the paper roll. The driving member is for driving the document pressing module, such that the document pressing module respectively presses the paper roll in a first position and a second position. The document guiding module is connected to the document pressing module. The document guiding module is driven by the document pressing module to move from a first guiding position to a second guiding position when the document pressing module is moved from the first position to the second position, so as to adjust a gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll.
According to the claimed invention, a transmission mechanism is for driving the transmission shaft to rotate.
In summary, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention utilizes the transmission mechanism, the transmission shaft and the sensor to automatically guide the printing medium on the paper roll into the feeding roller, such that the printing medium on the paper roll is installed into the feeding roller without manual operations. In such a manner, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention can prevent a surface of the printing medium from being polluted due to careless touch of users during the above-mentioned installation process, and further prevent issues of feeding failure generated by improper installation of the printing medium. In addition, by connection among the document pressing module, the second document guiding member and the first document guiding member, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention can be used for adjusting the gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll. For example, the automatic document feeding mechanism can be used for adjusting the gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll according to the paper rolls with different sizes or according to a thickness of the paper roll in use, such that the printing medium on the paper roll is capable of being guided into the feeding roller by the document guiding module precisely. Accordingly, it can prevent the printing medium from damages, such as skew, folding of the printing medium and so on, when the feeding roller moves the printing medium to the thermal print head module.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
Furthermore, the thermal sublimation printer 30 further includes an automatic document feeding mechanism 46. The automatic document feeding mechanism 46 cooperates with the conveying mechanism 38 for conveying the printing medium 44 on the paper roll 36 to the feeding roller 40. When the paper roll 36 is installed, the printing medium 44 on the paper roll 36 can be automatically guided into the feeding roller 40, such that the printing medium 44 on the paper roll 36 is installed into the feeding roller 40 without manual operations. In such a manner, the automatic document feeding mechanism 46 can prevent a surface of the printing medium 44 from being polluted due to careless touch of users during installation process, and further prevent issues of feeding failure, such as skew, folding of the printing medium 44 and so on, generated by improper installation of the printing medium 44.
Please refer to
In this embodiment, the driving member 52 can be a torsion spring sheathing on the first pivotal member 48. A first end P1 of the driving member 52 abuts against a fixing structure 501 of the document pressing module 50, as shown in
It should be noticed that the document pressing module 50 of the thermal sublimation printer 30 of the present invention can includes a first idle roller 503 and a pressing member 505. An end of the pressing member 505 is pivoted to the first pivotal member 48, and the other end of the pressing member 505 is connected to the first idle roller 503. In this embodiment, the fixing structure 501 of the document pressing module 50 is connected to the pressing member 505. As known above, when the document pressing module 50 is located in the first position shown in
When the document pressing module 50 is moved from the first position shown in
As shown in
In summary, when the document pressing module 50 is driven by the driving member 52 to move from the first position to the second position, since the document pressing module 50 is connected to the second document guiding member 60 and the second document guiding member 60 is connected to the first document guiding member 58, the first document guiding member 58 and the second document guiding member 60 of the document guiding module 54 can be driven by the document pressing module 50 simultaneously. Accordingly, the document guiding module 54 can move from the first guiding position shown in
Furthermore, the document pressing module 50 of the automatic document feeding mechanism 46 includes a sliding member 507, and a slot 601 is formed on the second document guiding member 60. The sliding member 507 of the document pressing module 50 is slideably installed inside the slot 601 on the second document guiding member 60. When the document pressing module 50 is driven by the driving member 52 to drive the second document guiding member 60, the sliding member 507 of the document pressing module 50 is capable of sliding along the slot 601 on the second document guiding member 60. In such a manner, the second document guiding member 60 is capable of sliding relative to the document pressing module 50 when the second document guiding member 60 is driven by the document pressing module 50 to rotate relative to the second pivotal member 56. In addition, the first document guiding member 58 of the document guiding module 54 includes a main body 581, an adjusting member 583 and a recovery member 585. The adjusting member 583 is pivoted to the main body 581 and connected to the second document guiding member 60. When the document guiding module 54 is driven by the document pressing module 50, the recovery member 585 drives the adjusting member 583 to rotate relative to the main body 581, such that the first document guiding member 58 of the document guiding module 54 is capable of moving from the first guiding position shown in
Please refer to
More detailed description for principle of the automatic document feeding mechanism 46 is provided as follows. Please refer to
It should be noticed that the automatic document feeding mechanism 46 of the present invention can further include a guiding member 68. The guiding member 68 is pivoted to the second document guiding member 60 and abuts against the paper roll 36. When the paper roll 36 is rotated in the second direction X2, the guiding member 68 is used for guiding the front edge of the printing medium 44 to enter the second document guiding member 60 of the document guiding module 54, so as to guide the printing medium 44 on the paper roll 36 into the feeding roller 40 automatically. In such a manner, the guiding member 68 can be used for preventing the front edge of the printing medium 44 from falling onto the paper roll 36 due to rigidity deficiency when the printing medium 44 is guided into the feeding roller 40. Accordingly, it can prevent an issue that the front edge of the printing medium 44 inserts into a gap between the first idle roller 503 and the paper roll 36 along a periphery of the paper roll 36 as well as prevent feeding failure and so on. In addition, the automatic document feeding mechanism 46 further includes a second idle roller 70 for rollably pressing the paper roll 36. When the paper roll 36 is rotated in the second direction X2, the second idle roller 70 is used for pressing the paper roll 36 cooperatively with the first idle roller 503, so as to keep the paper roll 36 firmly shaped when the paper roll 36 is driven by the transmission shaft 64 to rotate in the second direction X2. As a result, it can prevent the paper roll 36 from being loosened as the paper roll 36 is rotated in the second direction X2 to avoid the feeding failure issue.
Compared to the prior art, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention utilizes the transmission mechanism, the transmission shaft and the sensor to automatically guide the printing medium on the paper roll into the feeding roller, such that the printing medium on the paper roll is installed into the feeding roller without manual operations. In such a manner, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention can prevent a surface of the printing medium from being polluted due to careless touch of users during the above-mentioned installation process, and further prevent issues of feeding failure generated by improper installation of the printing medium. In addition, by connection among the document pressing module, the second document guiding member and the first document guiding member, the automatic document feeding mechanism of the present invention can be used for adjusting the gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll. For example, the automatic document feeding mechanism can be used for adjusting the gap between the document guiding module and the paper roll according to the paper rolls with different sizes or according to a thickness of the paper roll in use, such that the printing medium on the paper roll is capable of being guided into the feeding roller by the document guiding module precisely. Accordingly, it can prevent the printing medium from damages, such as skew, folding of the printing medium and so on, when the feeding roller moves the printing medium to the thermal print head module.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100148076 | Dec 2011 | TW | national |