JPH11198482A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal printer comprising a housing section which is used to be shared by an AC adapter and a battery and is integrally formed with the thermal printer. SOLUTION: A housing section 100a having an attaching/detaching hole whereby a battery an AC adapter 110 can be detachably loaded from an external section of a printer body 100 and a connection section for connecting a DC supply for supplying a DC power from the battery or AC adapter 110 to the printer body 100, is provided integrally with the thermal printer body 100. The battery and AC adapter 110 are so constituted that both of them have identical shapes and identical housing structures. As a result, the AC adapter 110 can be integrally installed in the thermal printer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal non-impact printer, and more particularly to a thermal printer which can be supplied with power from a battery or an AC adapter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A configuration in a case where an AC adapter is used in a conventional general thermal printer will be described with reference to FIG.

The conventional AC adapter 11 comprises an adapter body 11a, a DC code 24 and an AC code 5, and has a DC plug 24 at the end of the DC code 24 and an AC plug 6 at the end of the AC code 5. . In addition, there is an AC adapter in which the AC plug 5 is directly attached to the adapter main body 11a without the AC cord 5.

When supplying DC power from the AC adapter 11 to a general thermal printer 1, the thermal printer 1
The battery (not shown) housed in the printer is removed, and a D provided in the thermal printer 1 separately from the electrical connection with the battery is removed.
The DC of the prepared AC adapter 11 is connected to the C jack 26.
By connecting the plug 25, DC power is supplied.

As described above, since the AC adapter 11 is prepared separately from the thermal printer 1, when the AC adapter 11 is connected to the thermal printer 1 and printing is performed, the printer 1 and the AC adapter 11 are connected to each other. It is necessary to secure both installation places, and there is a problem that it is difficult to use the space in terms of securing space.

Further, since the printer is a portable printer, AC
The adapter 11 must be provided separately from the thermal printer 1, and the storage space for carrying it in a bag or the like is also A.
There is a problem that the size and the size of the C adapter 11 become complicated and complicated. Further, the DC jack 26 and the DC plug 2
There is also a problem that the connection portion with the connection portion 5 is easily detached due to pulling of the DC cord 24 or the like, which causes a contact failure of the connection portion.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to reduce the installation space of the thermal printer and the storage space when the thermal printer is carried, when the thermal printer is commercialized as a small and thin portable device. Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the cause of a contact failure at the connection between the AC adapter and the thermal printer.

For this purpose, it is necessary to avoid complication when printing using the AC adapter or when carrying the AC adapter and the thermal printer together. Further, the plug of the AC adapter may be detached due to the pulling of the cord or the like, which may cause a poor connection with the thermal printer. Therefore, it is necessary to remove these causes of the failure.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.
The battery and the AC adapter are both used, and the AC
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer having an accommodating portion in which an adapter can be accommodated compactly.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal printer according to the present invention is characterized in that a battery or AC adapter can be attached to and detached from the outside of the printer body, and a battery or AC adapter can be attached and detached. The storage unit having a connection unit for connecting DC power supplied from the battery or the AC adapter to the printer main body with the attachment / detachment of the printer main body is provided integrally with the printer main body. Specifically, the present invention provides the following: Provide a thermal printer.

According to the present invention, a plurality of thermal heads having a heating element and a platen roller for pressing the thermal heads are operated by using a DC voltage supplied from a battery or an AC adapter to a printer main body. And a thermal printer that prints with thermal paper sandwiched between the platen roller and the platen roller, with a detachable opening through which the battery or the AC adapter can be detached from the outside of the printer main body, and with the detachment of the battery or the AC adapter, A thermal printer is provided, wherein a housing having a connection portion for connecting a DC power supplied from the battery or the AC adapter to the printer main body is provided integrally with the printer main body.

[0012] Preferably, the accommodating portion is installed at a position where the outer peripheral surface of the battery or the AC adapter accommodated in the accommodating portion is substantially flush with the top and side surfaces of the printer main body.

Preferably, the connection section is a first connection section for connecting DC power supplied from a battery to the printer main body, and a second connection section for connecting DC power supplied from the AC adapter to the printer main body. Connection part.

[0014] Preferably, the battery and the AC adapter are formed in substantially the same shape and the same housing structure.

As described above, since not only the battery but also the AC adapter can be housed integrally with the thermal printer, the use of the AC adapter or carrying the AC adapter and the thermal printer together is complicated. In addition, portability and space saving can be improved. AC
The connection failure between the adapter and the thermal printer can be eliminated.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a state in which an AC adapter is stored in a storage section of the thermal printer of FIG. FIG.

First, the overall structure of the thermal printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 16 denotes a connector for connecting a cable to an information processing device (not shown), and print data and the like are transmitted from the information processing device to the thermal printer 1 via the connector 16.

When printing, first, the power switch 12 is turned on, and heat-sensitive paper or two sheets of copy paper are passed through the paper sensor 8 and inserted from the paper insertion section 20, and the paper is inserted between the platen roller 7 and the heat-sensitive line head 18. set.

Next, the user presses the paper feed / discharge switch 13 to feed the thermal paper or the two sheets of paper by an automatic paper feeding mechanism (hereinafter referred to as "auto-loading"). Wait for printing to start.

The automatic loading of the thermal paper or two sheets of copy paper is performed by pressing the paper feed / discharge switch 13 to control the control board 4.
Signal from the control board 4 to the line feed motor 1
A signal is sent to 0 to operate the line feed motor 10.

The rotation of the line feed motor 10 is
, The heat-sensitive paper or two sheets of copy paper are moved between the heat-sensitive line head 18 and the platen roller 7 to a cue reference position.

The thermal paper or the two-copy paper is moved smoothly by pressing the thermal paper against the platen roller 7 from below with a leaf spring (not shown) against the thermal line head 18. .

Thereafter, when a print start command is input from the information processing apparatus, the platen roller 7 is rotated by the control board 4 and, at the same time, heat is applied to a plurality of heating resistors (not shown) of the thermal line head 18. With the heat, the surface of the thermal paper or the two-sheet copy paper is colored and printed, and the thermal paper or the two-sheet copy paper is transferred to the printer cover 3 through the paper guide 19 integrated with the main body upper case 2. The paper is discharged through the top to complete the printing.

On the control board 4, a CPU 21, a motor drive driver IC, a thermal line head drive IC and the like are arranged. The thermal line head 18 and the line feed motor 10 are controlled by the CPU 21.

The control board 4 has a fixed DC voltage supplied from the battery 15 or the AC adapter 110 shown in FIG.
A power supply circuit for supplying an optimal voltage to the CPU 21, the motor drive driver IC, the thermal head drive IC, and the like by a voltage is formed on the same substrate or on another substrate.

The battery 15 is housed in a housing portion 100a provided in the main body case 100 of the thermal printer 1, and an electrical connection provided at a joint portion between both sides of the housing side and the bottom surface of the housing side of the housing portion 100a. A constant DC voltage is supplied to the electric circuit of the thermal printer 1 through a unit, for example, the battery fixing terminals 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d shown in FIG.

The battery 15 has battery fixing terminals 22a,
The battery is locked by battery fixing ribs 23a and 23b provided at the bottom of the storage side of the storage portion 100a and 22b, 22c and 22d.

The battery 15 is usually stored in the storage section 100a. However, when the thermal printer 1 is used for a long time in a place where an AC power supply can be connected, the battery 15 is removed. , Adapter body 1 of AC adapter 110
A DC voltage can be supplied by attaching 10a to storage section 100a.

Next, the configuration of the storage section 100a in which the AC adapter 110 is stored will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

An AC adapter 110 is provided on the inner surface of the storage portion 100a opposite to the attachment / detachment opening for attaching / detaching the adapter body 110a.
A DC jack 26 for receiving the DC plug 14
By sliding the adapter body 110a in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the DC plug 1 of the adapter body 110a is
4 is connected to the DC jack 26 and the storage portion 100a
And supplies electricity to the thermal printer 1.

The adapter body 110a is connected to the battery 15
It is made of the same housing structure as
Are formed in almost the same shape. Therefore, the battery 15
Battery fixing terminals 22a, 22b, 22 provided for storage
c, 22d and the battery fixing ribs 23a, 23b can be used in common. The adapter body 110a is attached to the storage section 100a by these terminals and ribs.

The mounting of the adapter body 110a is performed by aligning the positioning slit 31 provided on the upper surface of the main body case 100 of the thermal printer 1 with the positioning slit 32 provided on the upper surface of the adapter body 110a.
Push the adapter body 110a down, and
a. Slide it toward the inner surface facing the mounting opening of a and set it.

When the setting is completed, the battery fixing ribs 23a,
23b is a groove 3 provided on the bottom surface of the adapter body 110a.
3a and 33b, and has a structure for fixing the adapter main body 110a so as not to shift in the lateral direction.

The battery fixing terminal 2 on the side of the storage section 100a
2a, 22b, 22c, 22d and adapter body 110a
By sliding the adapter body 110a, the fixed terminals 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d on the side are fitted to each other, and the joining is completed. This fitting prevents the adapter body 110a from coming off in the vertical direction.

Fixed terminal 30 on adapter body 110a side
a, 30b, 30c, and 30d are formed of leaf springs, and the battery fixing terminals 22a, 22b, and 22 of the thermal printer 1 side.
Each of c and 22d is pressurized at a constant pressure.

Therefore, the adapter body 110a is properly housed in the housing part 100a, and in the housed state,
By inserting the AC plug 6 at the end of the AC cord 5 into a power supply of 100 V, electricity can be supplied to the DC jack 26 of the thermal printer 1 which is in contact via the DC plug 14. Therefore, the AC adapter 11
There is no need for a place where the thermal printer 1 is installed, and only a place where the thermal printer 1 is installed is sufficient.

Even if the DC cord 24 is pulled, the connection between the DC jack 26 and the DC plug 14 does not come off because the adapter main body 110a is completely set in the storage portion 100a. There is no danger of contact failure of the part.

Further, the adapter body 110a is
0a, the outer peripheral surface of the adapter main body 110a is substantially flush with the upper surface and side surfaces of the main body case 100 of the thermal printer 1, so that
It is possible to realize space saving without becoming complicated.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which an AC adapter is stored in a storage section of a thermal printer according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
0, the protruding positive terminal 27a and the protruding negative terminal 27 instead of the DC jack 26 of FIG.
b, and a surface-type positive terminal 28 a and a surface-type negative terminal 28 b are provided on the adapter body 110 a side instead of the DC plug 14.

The projection-type positive terminal 27a on the side of the storage portion 100a
The projection-type negative terminal 27b is formed of a leaf spring, and presses the surface-type positive terminal 28a and the surface-type negative terminal 28b on the adapter body 110a side at a constant pressure, respectively.
It has a structure for electrical connection. Therefore, even if the mounting positions of the terminals are slightly displaced, the electrical connection is reliably performed, and it is not necessary to restrict the terminal mounting positions more strictly than necessary.

Also, the adapter body 110a is completely set in the storage section 100a of the body case 100, as in FIG. 2, so that the adapter body 110a does not shift up, down, left and right. Can be supplied to the main body case 100 side.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the protruding positive terminal 27a and the protruding negative terminal 27b of FIG. 3 are installed on the right side of the mounting portion of the adapter body 110a of the storage section 100a. Protruding positive terminal 27a and protruding negative terminal 2
A surface-type positive terminal 28a and a surface-type negative terminal 28b are provided on the right side surface of the adapter main body 110a corresponding to 7b.

In the present embodiment, the adapter body 110a
3 from the mounting opening, similarly to FIG. 3, the protruding positive terminal 27 a and the protruding negative terminal 27 b on the storage unit 100 a side become the planar positive terminal 28 a and the planar negative terminal 28 b on the adapter body 110 a side, Each is pressurized at a constant pressure and electrically connected, and the same performance and effect as in FIG. 3 can be secured.

FIG. 5 shows that the protruding positive terminal 27a and the protruding negative terminal 27b of FIG. 3 are installed on the bottom surface of the housing 100a, and the surface positive electrode terminal 28a and the surface It is a figure showing the state where a negative electrode terminal 28b was installed. The attachment and electrical connection of the adapter main body 110a are the same as in FIG. 3, and therefore, the same performance and effects as those in FIG. 3 can be secured.

In the embodiment described above, AC
Although the adapter 110 and the battery 15 use almost the same shape and the same housing, they are configured as separate units. However, by using this housing, the functions of both the AC adapter and the battery are combined. Alternatively, a dual-purpose adapter may be formed.

In this case, for example, in FIG. 2, when the AC plug 6 is used as an AC adapter, when the AC plug 6 is plugged into a power supply of 100 V, electricity is supplied to the DC jack 26 of the thermal printer 1 via the DC plug 14. When the battery is used as a battery, the AC plug 6 is disconnected from the 100 V power supply to remove the AC adapter-side fixed terminals 30a, 3a.
Electricity is supplied to the battery fixing terminals 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d of the thermal printer 1 via the terminals 0b, 30c, 30d.

The dual-purpose adapter configured as described above is
By being integrally stored in the storage section 100a of the printer main body 110, further space saving can be realized, and portability and usability can be improved.

[0049]

According to the present invention, the thermal printer is provided with a storage section which can store both the battery and the AC adapter and can also store the AC adapter in a compact manner. And the usability can be improved.

Further, it is possible to eliminate a defect in a connection portion between the AC adapter and the thermal printer, thereby improving the quality of the thermal printer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a thermal printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state where an AC adapter is stored in a storage section of the thermal printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the electrical connection part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which connection terminals are provided on side surfaces in still another embodiment of the electric connection portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the electrical connection section of FIG. 3, and showing a state where connection terminals are installed on a bottom surface.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection between a general thermal printer and a conventional AC adapter.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Thermal printer, 5 ... AC cord, 6 ... AC plug, 11, 110 ... AC adapter, 11a, 110a ...
Adapter body, 14, 25 DC plug, 15 battery
16 connector, 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d battery fixing terminal, 23a, 23b fixing rib, 24 DC cord, 26 DC jack, 27a projecting positive terminal,
27b: Projection type negative terminal, 28a: Surface type positive terminal, 28
b: surface type negative electrode terminal, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d ...
Fixed terminal, 100: body case, 100a: storage section

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing from the front page (72) Ryoichi Kobayashi 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inside the Hitachi, Ltd.Electrical Equipment Division

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Using a DC voltage supplied from a battery or an AC adapter to a printer main body, a plurality of heat-sensitive heads having a heating element and a platen roller for pressing the heat-sensitive heads are operated, and the heat-sensitive head and the heat-sensitive head are driven. A thermal printer that prints with thermal paper sandwiched between a platen roller and a detachable opening through which the battery or the AC adapter can be attached and detached from outside the printer main body;
A heat-sensitive printer, wherein a storage portion having a connection portion for connecting DC power supplied from the battery or the AC adapter to the printer main body when the adapter is attached or detached is provided integrally with the printer main body. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the storage portion is provided at a position where an outer peripheral surface of the battery or the AC adapter stored in the storage portion is substantially flush with an upper surface and a side surface of the printer main body. A thermal printer. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the connection unit is configured to connect a DC power supply supplied from the battery to the printer main body, and a DC power supply supplied from the AC adapter to the printer main body. And a second connection portion for making a connection. 4. A thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein said battery and said AC adapter are formed in substantially the same shape and the same housing structure.