CA1088372A - Constant printing pressure mechanism for portable label printing and applying machine, or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

CONSTANT PRINTING PRESSURE MECHANISM FOR
PORTABLE LABEL PRINTING AND APPLYING MACHINE, OR THE LIKE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure concerns a constant printing pressure mechanism for a portable label printing and applying machine. The machine has a printing head which is interlocked to move with a hand lever. It has a platen that carries a label strip and that is disposed opposite to the printing head. The constant pressure mechanism turns the platen up against the type faces of the printing head with a constant pressure in synchronism with the downward movement of the printing head. The platen is slightly released from the printing head immediately after the printing operation. A linkage is connected with the hand lever for moving inking rollers across the type faces of the printing head and then out of the way of the type faces at printing time. The label strip of labels to be printed is fed to the platen by a feed roller, and the feed roller is rotated a desired distance for each label imprinting and the roller is mechanically blocked against inertial overrolling. The label strip is separated from the backing strip therefor by formation of a loop of the backing strip. A device regulates the size of the loop formed in the backing strip at the point it is peeled from the overlying label strip.

Description

1C~88372 ;

( ., CONSTANT PRINTING PRESSURE MECHANISM FOR
PORTABLE LABEL PRINTING AND APPLYING MACHINE, OR THE LIKE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a constant pressure mechanism for a portable label printing and applying ma-chine, in which a pressure-sensitive self-adhesive label strip is intermittently delivered in single label lengths on a platen by the squeezing operation of a hand grip and a hand lever. A printing head above the label strip and the platen under the label strip are moved separately but toward each other so as to exert a constant printing pressure on the label strip for highly precise printing.
~ In conventional label printing and applying ma-'~ chines, the printing presssure o~ a printing device against a label is liable to vary depending upon whether the hand lever is squeezed strongly and weakly. Further, when the hand lever is squeezed ~or a long time and then released ra-'i pidly the quantities of ink applied to labels dif~er even though the printing pressure is made constant. Therefore, invariable precision in printing has never been attained.

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In the past, however, such indistinctly printed ' labels have caused no inconvenience because they are in practice used for human readable labels for price indication and they can be almost read with the naked eye when custo-;j 5 mers buy several goods or cashiers totalize sales.
In recent years, POS (point of sales) systems have been widely adopted all over the world. In these systems, management data such as stock, sales, the relation between customers and commodities required, calculation of profits, etc. are processed and memorized by electronic computers.
In this system, machine readable bar codes or characters for OCR (optical character reader) printed on labels are read out by optical readers connected to computers in place of cashiers. Accordingly, it is necessary that label printing always be precise.
In order to always attain highly precise printing, the type faces of the printing head must be pressed against the surfaces of labels with a constant pressure even when the hand lever is squeezed strongly or weakly. The type faces of the printing head must contact the surfaces of la-; bels for a definite time length with uniform printing pres-sure no matter what the duration of a squeeze of the hand lever may be. Accordingly, label printing machines having constant printing pressure mechanisms are now demanded.
In connection with the art of constant pressure -mechanisms, there have been several applications filed by the inventor hereof:
I. A movable platen system in which a printing ` head is fixed to the machine frame and a platen is moved through its connection with a hand lever:
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 681,251, filed April 28, 1976, for "Portable Label Printing Machine" which U.S. application was abandoned and replaced by Continuation -Application 822,813, filed August 8, 1977, now U.S. Patent j 35 4,091,728;
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Canadian Patent Application Serial ~o. 260,520, filed September 3, 1976, for "Print Head Constant Pressure Mechanism for Labeling Machine";
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 723,556, filed September 15, 1976, for "Portable Label Printing Dispensing Machine", now U.S. Patent 4,144,810.
II. A movable printing head system in which a platen is fixed to the machine frame and a printing head is moved through its connection with a hand lever;
Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 268,286, filed December 20, 1976, for "Portable Label Printing and Applying Machine".
BRIEF SUMMARY OF TH~ INVENTION
-It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved constant pressure mechanism for a la-bel printing and applying machine, or the like, which mechanism exerts a constant printing pressure in printing operation irrespective of the strength and duration of the s~ueezing of a hand grip and a hand lever of the machine.
Another object of the present invention is to pro-vide a constant pressure mechanism used for a label printing and applying machine of the type described above, which is effective for attaining high precision of a label printing, particularly adaptable to an optical character reading sys-tem.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a constant pressure mechanism for a label printing and applying machine which is relatively compact and simple and able to be produced easily at low cost.
As described above, the constant pressure mechan-lsm is attached to a label printing and applying machine of the type in which a printing head is connected to a hand le-ver and a platen for supporting the labels of a label strip is disposed opposite to the printing head. The constant pressure mechanism includes a constant pressure means to i .: , .
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raise the platen against the type faces of the printing head with a constant printing pressure in synchronism with the downward movement of the printing head, and it also includes a releasing means to separate the platen slightly from the printing position immediately after the printing operation.
The constant pressure means for the platen ac-cording to the present invention comprises a hook which is actuated by the hand lever, action arms which are brought into engagement with the hook and are provided with constant pressure springs, contact rollers attached to rocking arms that are supported by the action arms, and other contact rollers secured to the platen.
The constant pressure means may be provided with first pushing pawls which are actuated by the squeezing of the hand lever, rotation pins formed on rotary discs and en-gaging with the first pushing pawls, action members engaging with the above rotation pins to move the rotary discs, en-gaging grooves having stopping sections and sliding sections for the above action members, constant pressure springs operative with the action members, and action levers to move the platen.
Furthermore, release springs to urge the platen downward are attached to the platen to serve as releasing means to separate the platen from the type faces of the printing head.
When the hand lever is squeezed, the platen is re-tained as it stands until the hand lever and the yoke arms having the printing head are moved for the greater part of rotation angle (17 degrees out of 18 degrees), and the pla-ten is then moved up and down relative to the type faces ofthe printing head in a moment in the final stage of the ro-tation (l degree) of the hand lever squeezing.
The constant pressure mechanism of the present in-vention has the following characteristic features and advan-tages:

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(l) The platen is moved only to a slight degree so that the type faces are lightly pressed against the labels supported on the platen. Precise printing can be attained without double printing.
(2~ The contact pressure of the type faces on the labels is relatively small so that the types may give long service.
(3) Since the platen is only slightly moved, the constant pressure springs also give long service. At the same time, the force necessary for squeezing the hand levercan be reduced, which facilitates the operation of the ma-chine.
(4) A hinged link plate for vertically moving the platen over a long distance is not necessary, so that block-ing of the ~eeding movement of the label strip can be avoi-, ded.
(5) The machine can be made easily as the internalmechanism is compact.
(6) The number of required parts is small so that the mechanism can be produced at low cost and can work well without trouble.
Other aspects and features of a label printing and applying machine are also described herein, including means for adjusting the ~abel striking angle of the printing head type faces by twisting the type face orientations; a linkage arrangement connected with the hand lever for moving inking rollers across the type faces and out of the way of the type faces at printing time; a device for passing the label strip which opens a pathway for the label strip to be inserted into the machine and then recloses the pathway to hold the label strip to a feeding means; a device which rotates the label strip feed roller a desired distance and mechanically I blocks inertial overrolling by the feed roller; and a device ; which regulates the size o~ the loop formed in the backing ;` 35 strip at the point it is peeled from the overlying label strip.

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Field of the Invention - INKING DEVICE
This invention also relates to a print head type face inking device for use in a label printing and applying machine, or the like machine. The inking device applies ink evenly so as to attain precise printing of labels.
Description of the Prior Art In conventional label printing and applying ma-chines and tag printing and attaching machines, devices for applying ink to the type faces of the printing heads usually comprise inking rollers that are attached to the free ends of spring-actuated rocking arms. The inking rollers are pressed to and rolled over the type faces so as to apply the ink.
A typical inking device of this type comprises a pair of spring-actuated rocking arms attached to the front end portion of the printing machine body. A supporting frame carrying an inking roller is attached to the rocking arms through springs. When the hand lever of the printing machine is squeezed, the rocking arms are turned simultane-ously, and this moves the inking roller supporting frame.Thus, the inking roller is rolled over the type faces of the printing head. This conventional inking device has a number of disadvantages:
(a) Since the inking roller is brought into con-tact with the type faces by spring action, ink applicationis liable to deteriorate when the force of the spring be-comes weakened after long use of the machine. Therefore, the printing of labels becomes indistinct, which is fatal to optical character reading systems requiring highly precise printing.
(b) When the inking roller spring force becomes weak, only the ink contained in the portion near the surface of the inking roller is used, because the type faces no lon-ger dig deeply into the inking roller and the ink that is impregnated in the middle portion of the inking roller is . . .. . . . . .
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not pumped out. Therefore, the printing of numerous labels is impossible, which is uneconomical.
(c) When the hand lever of the printing machine is squeezed quickly, the inking roller sometimes makes slight contact or no contact with type faces due to the rebounding action caused by the squeeze. Thus, reliable printing can-not be expected.
(d) Strong force is necessary to operate such la-bel printing machine, so that some operators, like the wea-ker ones, are tired by long term handling of a machine.
(e) In the conventional label printing machine,the rocking arms, supporting frame and inking roller are moved forwardly through the front part of the printing ma-chine when the hand lever is fully squeezed until they pro-trude in front of the machine frame. The protruding parts o~struct the operator's view as the just printed label is being applied to the surface of an article, and accurate ap-plication of the label becomes difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present invention to pro-j vide an improved inking device for use in a label printing and applying machine, or the like, in which the force re-quired for squeezing the hand lever is effectively reduced.
Another object of the present invention is to pro-vide an inking device for a label printing and applying ma-! chine, in which inking rollers are brought into contact with the type faces of the printing head at a constant pressure so as to evenly apply a suitable amount of ink to the type faces, thereby attaining precise and uniform printing of la-bels over long periods of time of operation.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such an inking device in which the inking rollers carried by a multi-link mechanism are stowed inside the ma-chine body following the squeezing of the hand lever. Thus, there is no obstacle to the operator's view as labels are applied to the surfaces of articles.
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Still a further object of the present invention is to provide such an inking device in which the inking device is simple in structure, durable in use and produced easily at low cost.
These objects are attained by the invention which contemplates a constant printing pressure mechanism for a label printing machine which comprises an operating lever movable between an operating condition and a released con-dition with a printing head attached to the operating lever and movable therewith toward a platen, and a platen disposed in opposition to the printing head so that a label on the platen may be imprinted by the printing head. The constant printing pressure mechanism comprises platen raising means for raising the platen against the printing head, and the platen raising means comprises an action lever movable with respect to the platen. That action lever includes engage-able means, action lever engaging means normally in engage-ment with the engageable means for restraining motion of the action lever under the influence of a constant pressure spring, and a constant pressure spring is connected with the action lever and is adapted to be charged as the operating lever is being moved to its operating condition, thereby to bias the action lever to move in one direction, which the movement of the action lever is restrained by the action le-ver engaging means. Release means is connected with theoperating lever for releasing the engagement between the ac-tion lever engaging means and the engageable means upon mo-tion of the operating lever of a predetermined distance to-wards the operating condition, thereby releasing the charged ; 30 spring to discharge and to move the action lever in the one direction. The predetermined distance is such that the 'I printing head is in condition to be engaged by a label on the platen when the platen is raised. A first impact means is connected with the action lever to move therewith and a second impact means is connected with the platen. The first !`

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g and the second impact means are so placed that after prede-termined motion of the action lever in the one direction thereof under the înfluence of the discharging spring, the first and the second impact means meet, and the platen and the impact means are so placed and so connected that upon such meeting of the first and the second impact means, the platen moves to the print head.
In accordance with the present invention, there is a multi-link mechanism for the inking device which comprises yoke arms that are operated ~y the squeezing of a hand le-ver, a supporting member for supporting the inking rollers, and a plurality of links operatively connecting the yoke arms and the supporting member. A guiding means for guiding the inking rollers is formed in the link mechanism. When the hand lever is fully squeezed, the link mechanism moves the inking rollers to a location inside the body of the la-bel printing and applying machine so as to be stowed there-in.
The link mechanism is further provided with a pair of fixed fulcrums attached to the machine frames, two other pairs of fixed fulcrums attached to the yoke arms and a plurality of pairs of mo~able fulcrums, all connecting the links. Furthermore, the link mechanism is provided with a pair of spring-actuated operation links which are attached to one pair of the fixed fulcrums, and a pair of rocking links which are attached to the other pair of fixed fulcrums on the yoke arms. The guiding means for the inking rollers comprise supporting shaft that are secured to the supporting member of the inking rollers and slots formed in the links to guide the supporting shafts.
Field of the Invention - ANGLE ADJUSTING DEVICE
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This invention also relates to an angle adjusting device for adjusting the tilt angle of type faces of the :, ....... , : :
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printing head with respect to the platen of a hand-held label printing and applying machine, a price-tag attaching machine, or the like.
Description of Prior Art In conventional label printing machines, or the like, the printing head is attached to yoke arms that swing down with the squeezing of a hand lever, or it is attached to the machine frame of the label printing machine. In the former case, the type faces on the underside of the printing head are lowered by the yoke arms until they contact a label that is held on a platen fixed to the machine frame, thereby performing the printing of the label. In the latter case, a platen is raised by the operation of a hand lever, and a la-bel seated on the platen is pressed against the type faces of the printing head.
In any system, accordingly, the printing head re-ceives an impact when it contacts the platen during the printing. The alignment of type faces is sometimes varied owing to the loosening of fixing members or due to errors in clamping the fixing members for the printing head. The , parallel relationship between the type faces and the surface ' of platen thus cannot be maintained. Therefore, the dark-r' ness of the ink at one side of printed characters on labels becomes different from the darkness of the ink at the other ' 25 side of the printed characters.
Furthermore, in a label printing and applying ma-chine in which the printing of labels involves turning mo-tion by both the printing head and the platen, the starting point of platen movement, the relative velocity between the printing head and the platen and other factors are caused to vary during the use of the machine. As a result, tha con-tact or printing position between the printing head and the platen are also varied. As the result, the type faces of the printing head are not maintained parallel to the surface of the platen, and variable and indistinct printing of la-bels is liable to occur.
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Even distinctly printed labels made with these la-bel printing machines have been accepted as human readable price indicating means, because they can be read with the naked eye by customers and by cashiers who operate cash registers.
In recent years, however, the point of sales sys-tem has been widely adopted. Management data, such as in-ventor stocks, sales, customer's data relative to sold goods, profit account and so forth are stored and processed by a computer. Further, machine readable bar codes or op-tically readable characters that are printed on labels are read out by the optical reader that is connected to the com-puter, instead of being visually read by cashiers. In such system, labels which are clearly and precisely printed are required.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a hand-held label printing and applying machine or the like, with which clear and precise printing of labels, without uneven darkness of impressions, can be attained.
It is another obiect of the invention to provide a novel angle adjusting device for adjusting the type faces of a printing head.
Another object of the present invention is to pro-vide such an angle adjusting device with which the orienta-tion of type faces can be finely controlled so as to keep the type faces parallel to the surface of the platen carry-ing a label strip.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such an angle adjusting device which is serviceable for long time use without problems and which can be produced -and attached at low cost.
In accordance with the present invention, the an-gle adjusting device for the types faces of a printing head ..... . . i ,., . - .
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The rocking means comprises an adjusting member which is fixed to the frames of the printing head, covers which are attached to the side walls rockably supporting the frames, and an adjusting screw, the front portion of which is screwed to the adjusting member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ~HE DRAWINGS
These and other objects and features of the in-vention will become more apparent from the following des-cription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figs. 1 to 8 show the first embodiment of the con-stant pressure mechanism of the present invention, in which:
Fig. 1 is a side view of a label printing and ap-plying machine which is provided with the constant pressure mechanism;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the machine in which the machine frame on the near side is removed and the hand lever is released;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the main part of the constant pressure mechanism;
Fig. 5 is a side view of the label printing and applying machine, in which the machine frame on the near side is removed and the hand lever has been squeezed to the state immediately before the disengagement of a constant j pressure hook;
Fig. 6 is a side view of the machine at the time of printing;
Fig. 7 is a side view of the machine immediately after the printing stroke, in which the platen has been .

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slightly separated from the type faces of the printing head;
Fig. 8 is a side view of the same just before the rest position with the hand lever being released;
Figs. 9 to 12 show the second embodiment of the constant pressure mechanism of the present invention, in which:
Fig. 9 is a side view of a label printing and ap-plying machine having the constant pressure mechanism, in which the machine frame on the near side is removed and the hand lever is released;
Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective assembly draw-ing of the main portion of this embodiment of the constant pressure mechanism;
Fig. 11 is a side view o~ the label printing and applying machine, in which the machine frame on the near side is removed and the hand lever has been squeezed to the printing position of the printing head and the platen;
Fig. 12 is a side view of the machine immediately after the printing stroke, in which the platen has been slightly released;
Figs. 13 to 26 show embodiments of angle adjusting '~ devices for type faces, in which:
Fig. 13 is a vertically bisected view of a label printing and applying machine having this device;
Figs. 14 to 19 show a first embodiment of angle ' adjusting device, in which:
. Fig. 14 is a partially cutaway front view of a ' printing head having this first embodiment;
Fig. 15 is a vertical bisectional side view of this embodiment;
; Fig. 16 is an exploded perspective, assembly draw-ing of this embodiment;
Fig. 17 is a vertical bisectional front view of this embodiment taken on a plane that is at right angles to the plane of Fig. 15;

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Fig. 18 is a partially cutaway side view of this embodiment in which the posture of the angle adjusting de-vice is normal;
Fig. 19 is also a partially cutaway side view of this embodiment, in which the angle of type faces is not ad-justed;
Fig. 20 is a perspective view of a tape-like label strip;
Figs. 21 and 22 show a second embodiment of angle adjusting device, in which:
Fig. 21 is a partially cutaway front view of a printing head;
Fig. 22 is a vertical bisectional view of that printing head;
Fig. 23 is a perspective view of another tape-like label strip;
Fig. 24 is a vertical bisectional view of a print-ing head with a third embodiment of an angle adjusting de-vice;
Fig. 25 is a plan view of a label for use in a three-line system, which label is printed with the printing head of the embodiment before angle adjustment;
Fig. 26 is a plan view of a bar code label which is printed with the same printing head before angle adJust-ment;
Figs. 27 to 32 show an embodiment of an inking de-vice, in which:
Fig. 27 is a side view of a label printing and ap-plying machine that is provided with the inking device, in which the machine frame on the near side has been removed;
Fig. 28 is a perspective view of the main portion of the inking device;
Fig. 29 is a side view of the inking device in a rest position;
Fig. 30 is a side view of the inking device in which a push-up portion is brought into contact with a con-tact pin in a multi-link mechanism of the inking device;

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Fig. 31 is also a sidè view of the inking device showing the state in which ink is applied to the type faces of the printing head by inking rollers;
Fig. 32 is a side view of the inking device in which the multi-link mechanism and the inking rollers are stored within the machine body;
Figs. 33 to 36 show a label feeding device, in which:
Fig. 33 is a side view of a label printing and applying machine having the label feed device;
Fig. 34 is a perspective view of the label feeding device;
Fig. 35 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the label feeding device in which the locking lever and bottom cover are locked after feeding the label strip;
Fig. 36 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the -'~ feeding device in which the label strip is being inserted;
Figs. 37 and 38 show an embodiment of an inertial rotation preventing device for a delivery roller, in which:
Fig. 37 is a side view of the device in an engaged state; and Fig. 38 is a side view of the same in an operating state;
Figs. 39 and 40 show an embodiment of a label peeling regualting device for the label strip, in which:
Fig. 39 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device before adjusting; and Fig. 40 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device after adjusting.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the accompanying drawings, embodi-ments of the present invention are described in detail.
The first embodiment of the constant pressure mechanism of the invention is shown in Figs. 3 to 8, and es-pecially in Figs. 3 and 4. A portable label printing and applying machine having the constant pressure mechanism of the invention is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the machine, ~ .
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the rear parts of its machine frames 36 extend to form an integral hand grip 1. A hand lever 2 is pivotally secured on a pivot shaft 3 that is attached to the machine frame 36.
The lever 2 can be pivoted about the shaft 3 relative to the hand grip 1 by squeezing the hand lever 2. The front por-tion of the hand lever 2 is provided with bifurcated yoke arms 4 that support a printing head 5 at their free ends.
The printing head 5 has a plurality of stamp belts that are arrayed side by side across the space between frames 36.
Type faces 6a for printing labels are disposed on the under surface of the printing head 5.
One end of a return spring 7 is attached to a pin 8 ~ormed on the hand grip 1. The other end of the spring 7 is attached to an attachment hole 9 of the hand lever 2.
The return spring 7 returns the hand lever 2 into a rest po-sition when the squeezing of the hand lever 2 is released.
Further, a roller 10 is pivotally secured to the upper front portion of the hand lever 2 and to the right of the pivotal shaft 3 in Fig. 3. A hook 11 to be engaged with the roller 10 is pivotally secured to a pin 12 that carries a spring 13. The engaging portion lla of the hook 11 is de- -tachably fitted to an engaging pin 14 that is bridged be-tween a pair of action arms 19 pivoted to the shaft 3. The engaging portion lla of the hook 11 is urged by the spring 13 to move toward the engaging pin 14, i.e. counterclockwise in the drawings.
To both of the outer sides of the engaging pin 14 are attached a pair of spring supporting members 15 that operate together with the action arms 19. Each spring sup-porting member 15 is provided with a spring support 17 whichsupports one end of one of a pair of constant pressure springs 16. The other end of each constant pressure spring 16 is attached to a spring support 18 that is formed in a portion of the yoke arm 4.
The tip ends of the action arms 19 have rocking cams 20. The tip ends are urged counterclockwise about the ~, : . .

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~ , pivotal shaft 3 by the springs 16. The rocking cams 20 are pivotally secured to the inside walls of the end portions of the action arms 19 by respective cam shafts 21. The cams 20 are urged counterclockwise around shafts 21 by springs 22 that are attached on the cam shafts 21. The counterclock-wise most end portion of each cam 20 is brought into contact with a stop pin 24 that is formed on the action arm 19. The rocking cams 20 are further provided with respective contact rollers 23 that are brought into contact with another pair of contact rollers 28 that are respectively attached to a pair of platen arms 25.
The platen arms 25 are disposed at the insides of the rocking cams 20 and are pivotally secured to the shaft 26 of a delivery roller 60 that intermittently advances the tape-like label strip 41. Between the platen arms 25 is fixed a supporting bar 27. The contact rollers 28 are at-tached to both protruding ends of the supporting bar 27.
Extending in front of the platen arms 25, there is a platen 30 for receiving the label strip 41. The platen 30 is disposed in opposed relation to the type faces 6a of the printing head S. On and just above the surface of the pla-ten 30, a leaf spring 29 is resiliently fitted for support-ing the label strip 41.
Platen arms 25 are provided with release springs 32 so as to urge the platen arms 25 counterclockwise about the shaft 26. The coiled portion of each release spring 32 is held by a pin 31 that is fixed to the inside wall of the machine frame 36. One end of the spring 32 is fitted to a stop pin 34 that is also formed on the inside wall of the machine frame. The other end of the release spring 32 is held by a spring support 33 formed on the outside wall of each platen arm 25.
To a portion of the hand lever 2 near the pivotal shaft 3 are attached contact members 35 for receiving the action arms 19.

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A label holder 37 is formed on the machine body and it supports a rolled label strip 40, from which the la-bel strip 41 in tape-like form is paid out into the machine body. The label strip 41 is first passed through a label ` 5 guide (not shown) inside the machine. The label strip is advanced, one label at a time, by a delivery roller 60 by the squeezing operation of the hand lever 2. Then the label strip is removed onto the surface of the platen 30.
The operation of this constant pressure mechanism will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 5 to 8.
The constant pressure mechanism in Fig. 3 is in a rest position. When the hand lever 2 is squeezed, the ' printing head 5 sweeps through an angular pathway, as shown in Fig. 5. The yoke arms 4 formed in the front portion of the hand lever 2 are turned counterclockwise (downward) about the pivotal shaft 3. In this action, the printing head 5 attached to the yoke arms 4 moves down. In the first half of this downward movement, the type faces 6a of the ~ printing head 5 are applied with ink by an inking roller (of ; 20 the type described below, for example), which moves over the type faces as the printing head descends. Thus, the print-ing head 5 is in the condition in which printing is possi-~ ble.
,! As it is squeezed, the hand lever 2 turns about ,~ 25 the pivotal shaft 3 against the force of the return spring 7and the constant pressure springs 16, which springs 7 and 16 , are energized. When the hand lever 2 is further squeezed, the roller 10 of the hand lever 2 comes into contact with the engaging face llb of the hook 11 and rotates the hook 11 clockwise about the pin 12. This raises the engaging por-tion lla at the free end of the hook 11. Accordingly, the previous engagement between the engaging portion lla and the engaging pin 14 (Fig. 3) is released against the force of the spring 13 (see Fig. 5).
The state shown in Fig. 5 is at the moment just before the above described disengagement, and the angle of `~
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rotation of the hand lever 2 in this embodiment is about 1730'.
When the hand lever 2 is further squeezed to have rotated 18, the mechanism shifts to the printing position shown in Fig. 6. The engagement between the hook 11 and the engaging pin 14 is released. This releases the charged con-stant pressure springs 16 so that the engaging pin 14 is -shifted to the left in Fig. 1 toward the tip ends of the yoke arms 4 by the stored energy in the springs 16. The ac-tion arms 19 carrying the engaging pin 24 are rotated coun-terclockwise about the pivotal shaft 3. The contact rollers 23 of the rocking cams 20, which are attached to the free ends of the action arms 19, momentarily strike the contact rollers 28 of the platen arms 25.
Due to this impact of momentary engagement of the rollers 23, 28, the platen arms 25 are rotated clockwise about the shaft 26 against the force of release springs 32, and the label surface of the label of strip 41 then on the platen 30 is brought into contact with the type faces 6a of the printing head 5 and the label is printed.
As shown in Fig. 7, immediately after the printing of a label, the platen 30 is slightly away from the type fa-ces 6a of the printing head 5. After the above described contact of the type faces 6a of the printing head 5 with the platen 30, the platen 30 is pushed away from the type faces 6a by the release springs 32 of the platen arms 25.
In this action, the contact rollers 28 are moved above the contact rollers 23 of the rocking cams 20 attached to action arms 19 and the rollers 28 are positioned outside the loci 23a of the peripheral surfaces of other contact rollers 23.
When the hand lever 2 is then released, the yoke arms 4 pivot clockwise under the rebound force of the return spring 7 and arms 4 return to the rest position of Fig. 3, passing through the position of Fig. 8. With the printing head 5 returned to its original position, the constant pres-sure printing is completed.

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837~

During the return of the yoke arms 4 with the printing head 5, the action arms 19 are also returned clock-wise together with the yoke arms 4 because the contact mem-bers 35 formed on the hand lever 2 pivot with the hand lever and into contact with the contact faces l9a of the action arms 19 (see Figs. 5-7). In order to return the action arms 19 smoothly during the above described motion, it is neces-sary to turn away the rocking cams 20 of the action arms 19 slightly. The contact rollers 23 of the rocking cams 20 move along their loci 23a so that these rocking cams 20 are turned by being pushed by the contact rollers 28 of the pla-ten arms 25. The rocking cams 20 are turned clockwise about the cam shaft 21 against the force of the springs 22, while the action arms l9 are smoothly turned back. These rocking cams 20 that have been turned during the returning motion of the action arms 19 are soon returned counterclockwise by the force of the spring 22 until the cams 20 are again stopped by the stop pins 24.
, The second embodiment of the constant pressure - 20 mechanism is now described with reference to Figs. 9 to 12.
As shown in Figs. 9 and 10 particularly, a hand lever 2 is moved back and forth relatively to the hand grip 1 about the pivotal shaft 3. The front portion of the hand lever 2 is provided with bifurcated yoke arms 4 and a print-ing head 5 is attached to the yoke arms 4. The printinghead 5 has a plurality of stamp belts arrayed side by side and the type faces 6a of the stamp belts are disposed out-side on the under surface of the printing head 5.
Further, the mechanism is provided with a return spring 7 for returning the hand lever 2 to the rest position when it is released. One end of the return spring 7 is at-tached to a pin 8 formed on the hand grip 1 and the other end of the return spring 7 is hooked into the attachment hole 9 formed in the front portion of the hand lever 2.

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1&8837~

To a shaft 65 that is fitted between the pair o~
external labeling machine frames 36, there is attached a de-livery roller 60 which intermittently shifts the tape-like label strip 41 by one label length at a time. A plurality of projections 62 for label transferring are formed on the circumferential surface of the delivery roller 60. Eight feed pins 61 are formed on each side wall of the roller 60 at regular intervals.
There are separate rotary discs 63 forming a part of the constant pressure mechanism and placed on both sides of the delivery roller 60. The roller 60 and the discs 63 may be rotated separately. Further, six pins 64 are dis-; posed at regular intervals on the outside side wall of each rotary disc 63.
First pushing pawls 69, which are pivotally se-cured to the yoke arms 4 by respective pins 70, are brought into detachable engagement with the side wall pins 64 on the rotary discs 63. At the same time, the pawl tips 69a of the first pushing pawls 69 are urged toward the pin 64 by a spring 71.
The pins 61 on the delivery roller 60 are detach-ably ~sngaged by delvery pawls 67 that are indirectly pivo-tally attached to the hand lever 2. As will later be ex-; plained in more detail, the delivery pawls 67 and second pushing pawls 83 are pivotally secured to a carrier 66formed at the front of the hand lever 2. The upper tip ends of the pawls 67 are urged toward the pins 61 by the springs 68.
The platen 30a having a pair of arm members 86 is pivotally secured to the shaft 65 of the rotary discs 63 and the delivery roller 60. In the recesses 88 formed in the upper surfaces of the arm members 86 are fitted release springs 32a. The upper ends of the release springs 32a are depressed by contact pieces 94 that are formed on the side walls of machine frames 36 so that, in its rest position, . " " .:
'' 8837;2 the platen 30a is depressed to the bottom portions of the machine frames 36 by the rebound force of the release springs 32a.
A pair of action levers 72 are pivotally secured to the platen 30a with respective pins 75. The action le-vers 72 are, in turn, pivotally secured to the machine frames 36 by their pivot pins 73. At the rear, right hand ends of the levers 72 (see Fig. 10), projections 74 are formed to be engaged with the pins 64a formed on the sides of the rotary discs 63.
Further, the rotary discs 63 are provided with ac-tion members each comprising a delivery pawl 76 a~d an en-gaging link 78 having a constant pressure spring 16a. The delivery pawls 76 are brought into pressure contact with the pins 64 of the rotary discs 63 so as to push the pins 64 and the discs 63 clockwise in Figs. 9 and 10. The pivot pins 77 of the pawls 76 are inserted into the fitting holes 79 of the engaging links 78, respectively, and are further sli-dably fitted into L-shaped engaging grooves 91 that are de-fined in the walls of the machine frames 36. The verticalportion of each engaging groove 91 forms a stopping section 91a for the delivery pawl 76 and the horizontal portion thereof forms a sliding section 91b for the same pawl 76.
Both the inner and outer sides of each engaging link 78 are provided with projecting pins, where the outer pin 80a is brought into engagement with a guide groove 92 defined in the machine frame 36, while the inner pin 80b is resiliently fitted to the pawl tip 83a of a second pushing pawl 83. The second pushing pawls 83 and the delivery pawls 67 are pivotally secured to the carrier 66 by the respective pivot pins 84. With the springs 85 fitted to the pivot pins 84, the pawl tips 83a of the second pushing pawls 83 are urged against the inner pins 80b of the engaging links 78.
The engaging links 78 are further provided with respective spring studs 81 and constant pressure springs 16a are 1C~8837Z

stretched between the spring studs 81 and other spring studs 93 that are formed on the walls of the machine frames 36, which pivots the links 78 clockwise.
The operation of this embodiment of constant pres-5 sure mechanism is now described.
The printing head 5 and the platen 30a are firstly shifted into the printing position of Fig. 11 from the rest position of Fig. 9. When the hand lever 2 is squeezed, the yoke arms 4 are pivoted counterclockwise and down about the 10 fulcrum of the pivotal shaft 3 and against the tension of the return spring 7. The printing head 5 moves down to-gether with the yoke arms 4. During this movement, the type faces 6a are applied with ink by the first and second inking rollers 202 and 203 of an inking device that comprises ;' 15 multi-link mechanism connected to the yoke arms 4. This inking device may be of any known type which operates upon movement of a print head relative to the inking device.
When the hand lever 2 is first turned through one angle (1730') and later to the final angle ~18), the des-20 cent of the printing head 5 and the rise of the platen 30a occur in the same sequence as in the first embodiment. The , pawl tips 69a of the first pushing pawls 69 descend together i with the yoke arms 4 and contact the pins 64 of the rotary J discs 63, rotating the discs 63 counterclockwise.
l 25 This rotation of the pin 64a in the lower portion ;l of each rotary disc 63 pushes and turns clockwise only the delivery pawl 76 without contacting the action lever 72.
Once the upper portion of pawl 76 is engaged by pin 64a, the delivery pawl 76 is pushed down until the pivot pin 77 of ~ 30 the pawl 76 is shifted to the lower end portion of the stop-i ping section 91a of engaging groove 91, at which the hand lever 2 has been squeezed through an angle of about 1730'.
When the hand lever 2 is further squeezed slightly 35 through the squeezing angle of 18, the dellvery pawl 76 is .~ .
. .

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1~88372 pushed further down by the movement of the pin 64a, and the pivot pin 77 of the pawl 76 is then moved into the horizon-tal sliding section 91b of the engaging groove 91. At this moment, the delivery pawl 76 is pulled rearward (to the ; 5 right in Fig. 12) along with the engaging link 78 by the tension energy of the constant pressure spring 16a, and pawl 76 is pulled together with the pin 64a in pressure contact.
During this movement, the pin 64a is moved along a counterclockwise pathway by the tension of the constant pressure spring 16a. The projection 74 of the action lever 72 is disposed inside that pathway so that the projection 74 is pushed down by the moving pin 64a. ~hen the proiection 74 of the action lever 72 is pushed down, the action lever 72 is turned clockwise about the pivot pin 73. The platen 30a connected with the lever 72 is thus turned up about the pivotal shaft 65 against the type faces 6a of the descending printing head 5. Accordingly, the tape-like label strip 41 that is carried on the platen 30a is printed with a constant printing pressure.
Immediately after the printing stroke, the platen 30a is pushed down from the printing position, as shown in Fig. 12. As the pin 64a is rotated by the constant pressure spring 16a, it passes beyond the apex of the projection 74 toward its rear side (counterclockwise) and in so moving, the pin 64a depresses the projection 74 of the action lever 72.
The action lever 72 is freed by such passage of pin 64a so that the plate 30a is moved back from the print-ing position to the lower rest position by the rebound force of the release spring 32a. In this action, the engaging link 78 is pulled rearward toward the hand lever 2 by the tension energy of the constant pressure spring 16e, in which the outer pin 80a is guided by the guide groove 92 and the pivot pin 77 of the delivery pawl 76 is guided by the slid-ing section 91h o~ the engaging groove 91.

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. , 8~372 When the hand lever 2 is released, the mechanism is returned to its original state of Fig. ~ from its condition of Fig. 12 by the rebound force of the return spr;ng 7. During this returning movement, the first pushing pawls 69 are pulled up by the yokes 4. The delivery pawls 76 and the engaging links 78 are pushed to their original positions by the second pushing pawls 83. The second pushing pawls 83 are pushed forth (to the side of platen 30A) by the squeezing of hand lever 2, so that the inner pins 80a of the engaging links 78 are moved forward along the guide grooves 92. With this forward movement, the pivot pins 77 of the delivery pawls 76 are moved into the stopping sections 91a of the engaging grooves 91, thereby com-pleting the constant pressure printing operation.
Meanwhile, before each constant pressure printing stroke, the tape-like label strip 41 is supplied from the rolled label strip 40 to the surface of the p~aten 30a through label guide plates 306 and 307 and the delivery roller 60, as in the first embodiment. The advancing of the tape-like label strip 41 is performed during the releasing of the hand lever 2.
The pins 61 of the delivery roller 60 are pushed forward counterclockwise by the engagement with the delivery pawls 67 so that the delivery roller 60 is intermittently rotated when the hand lever 2 is released.
As disclosed above, the constant pressure mechanism of the present invention has the following advantages:
(1) Since the mechanism is provided with a con-stant pressure means to turn up the platen toward the type faces of the printing head with a constant pressure in syn-chronism with the downward movement of the printing head, a constant printing pressure can always be exerted, irrespec-tive of the strength of squeezing of the hand lever. This is quite advantageous when the mechanism is used in a por-table label printing and applying machine for a POS (point ; ' , ' . ~:
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` ~ 8837Z

of sales) system employing optical character readers, be-cause highly precise printing can be attained.
(2~ Since the mechanism is provided with a means - to separate the platen slightly from the printing position just after the printing action between the printing head and the platen, the type faces are not held in contact with the printed label for a long time and excess absorption or blur-ring of ink on the label surface can be prevented.
Angle Adjusting Device for Type Faces As described above, the fulcrums or pivots of the movements of the opposed printing head and platen are se-parated and printing is performed by turning the printing ~ head and the platen. The starting time of platen motion and ; the rate of interaction between the printing head and the platen are liable to vary over time in use. The position of contact between the printing head and the platen, i.e. the - printing position, is gradually changed. As a result, the type faces of the printing head are no longer parallel to the surface of the platen when they come into contact, so that the depths and darkness at different sides of the figures that are printed on a label becomes different from each other.
To correct this, the angle of the type faces is adjusted by turning the printing head with the angle adjust-ing device A so that the type faces of the printing head can be parallel to the surface of the platen when they strike the label so as to attain precise printing with imprints of uniform darkness.
; A first embodiment of angle adjusting~device is shown in Figs. 14 to 20, a second embodiment is shown, in -~ Figs. 21 to 23, and a third embodiment is shown in Figs. 24 to 26.
The first embodiment will be described as a basic device.
The printing head 5 is attached near the free ends of a palr of yoke ~rms 4 that are interlocked with the , . .

hand lever 2. As shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the printing head 5 ~ comprised of its main parts, including a casing 101, a pair of frames 102 that are fixed to the casing 101 by spindles lOla, a front cover 103, a rear cover 104, an angle adjusting section 105 that is disposed in the space between the frames 102 and the front cover 103, side walls 106 which are attached to the pair of yoke arms 4 of the label print-ing machine, and a plurality of stamp belts 6 that are ar-rayed side by side in the space formed by the casing 101 and the frames 103 and the stamp belts being provided with type faces carrying numerals, symbols, marks or other characters.
The front cover 103 is attached to both of the side walls 106 with a shaft 103a. The rear cover 104 is also fi~ed to the side walls 106 with a shaft 104a.
The angle adjusting section 105 comprises an ad-justing member 108, a supporting member 115, a fixing piece 117, a snap 121, and an adjusting screw 122.
The fixing pins 109 formed on both side walls of the adjusting member 108 are inserted into the fixing holes 110 that are defined in the inner walls of the pair of frames 102, thereby fitting the adjusting member 108 to both frames 102. In the front wall of the adjusting member 108, a depression 111 is formed. A cross-sectionally arcuate de-pression 112 having a fixing hole 113 is formed within the above depression 111. A rod-shaped supporting member 115 is disposed in the arcuate depression 112. Member 15 has a screw hole 116 that extends perpendicular to the axis of the supporting member 115. The rounded fixing piece 117 having a through hole 118 is fitted to the supporting member 115.
The fixing piece 117 is attached by a screw 120 inserted in-to a fixing hole 119 that is formed in a downwardly extend-ing supporting portion of the fixing piece 117. The screw 120 extends into the screw hole 14 in the depression 111 of the above adjusting member 108.

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An adjusting screw 122 is disposed in the circular depression 125 of the front cover 103. The front cover 103 and the fixing piece 117 are fastened to the supporting member 115 that is attached to the adjusting member 108, by the screw threads 124 of the adjusting screw 122. At the same time, the front cover 103 is securely engaged by the inside wall of the screw head of adjusting screw 122 and by a snap fit of the cover 103 that is fitted to a circular groove 123.
Between both side frames 102, a pivot shaft 126 is attached for the angle adjustment of a group of stamp belts 6, so that both of the frames 102 can be freely rocked. A
plurality of stamp belts 6 are arranged in the casing 101 and are wrapped around a corresponding plurality of se-lecting wheels 127 which are arranged side-by-side and around a corresponding plurality of positioning members 128 which are also arranged side-by-side. The wheels 127 and members 128 are pivotally secured between the frames 102.
The members 128 are provided with resilient supporting de-vices 129. Each selecting wheel 127 is provided with inter-nal gear teeth 133, to which an engaging piece 132 is en-gaged. The engaging piece 132 is attached to the selecting shaft 131 and the shaft has a rotary knob 130 at one side end. Thus, a chosen stamp belt selecting wheel 137 can be rotated.
As shown in Fig. 17, a stamp belt setting means 134 is resiliently pressed against the selecting shaft 131 for setting the position of the selecting wheel 127. When the selecting wheel 127 for a desired stamp belt is rotated by means of the knob 130, the respective stamp belt 6 is moved around. The endless stamp belt 6 has a plurality of type faces 6a on the e~terior sides of one half of the belt, and the other half of the belt has its exterior sides provi-ded with indication figures 6b. These indication figures 6b can be observed through a window 135 that is formed in the upper part of the casing 101.

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Figs. 18 and 19 show angle adjustment for type faces. The state before angle adjustment is shown in Fig.
19. Here the type faces 6a of stamp belt 6 in the printing head 5 are contacting the surface of platen 30 at an incli-nation angle of o~ . Printing with the printing machine inthis state causes the inking at the upper sides of printed figures 46 on a label 41' (Fig. 20) to be thin.
The orientation of the type faces 6a is adjusted by using an angle adjusting section 105 that is provided in the printing head 5. By turning the adjusting screw 122 clockwise with a tool, the screw threads 124 in the screw hole 116 of the supporting member 115 that is fi~ed to the adjusting menber 108, are moved forward or deeper. The sup-porting member 115 and the adjusting member 108 are pulled toward the front cover 103. With this action, the gap g be-tween the front cover 103 and the adjusting member 108 (Fig.
19) is narrowed to the gap g' (Fig. 18), and both of the frames 102 carrying the stamp belts 6 are turned slightly counterclockwise about the pivot shaft 126. Accordingly, ; 20 the above inclination angle ~ can be eliminated, and the type faces 6a and the surface of the platen 30 are again made parallel to each other.
In Fig. 20, a tape-like label strip 41, which has an adhesive layer 43 on its rear side is the surface imprin-ted by the printing type faces 6a. Between the labels 41 are formed the cutting lines 42. The labels are on a tape-like back1ng strip that carries the label strip 41. The backing strip has perforations 45 by which the label strip assembly is shifted.
The second embodiment of the angle adjustment de-vice is shown in Figs. 21 to 23. The printing head 5a in this embodiment is almost the same as in the foregoing em-bodiment, except for the stamp belts 6'. Each stamp belt 6' is provided with type faces 6'a for printing both bar codes and numerical figures 46' which are used for printing prices , . :
.
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or the like and indication figures 6'b corresponding to the type faces 6'a. Since the angle adjusting section 105 as the main component part has the same structure and is opera-ted in the same manner, the detailed description of this em-bodiment is omitted.
The third embodiment of an angle adjusting device is shown in Fig. 24. It relates top a three-line printing head 5b that carries three sets of stamp belt groups 6 be-tween both sides frames 102. The head 5b has a pivot shaft 126. The printing head 5b is provided with the same angle adjusting device 105 as that of the first embodiment. The structure and operation of the angle adjusting device 105 of this embodiment is the same as those of the first embodi-ment. Thus, the description of the device 105 of this em-bodiment is also omitted.
In Fig. 25, a label that has been printed with thethree-line printing head 5b is shown. Figures 46a for opti-cal character readers are printed in three lines. The fig-ures 46a have been printed with a printing head 5a which is incomplete in its angle adjustment, so that the upper parts of the figures on the upper line are printed well. In Fig.
26, incomplete printing of bar codes 46b is shown, in which the lower ends of bar codes and the checking figures are printed unsatisfactorily. Labels in the states of printing of Figs. 25 and 26 cannot be used because optical reading and even visual reading are impossible or nearly so. The angle adjusting device of the present invention has an ex-cellent effect in multi-line or large figure printing on la-bels such as three-line printing and bar code printing for the application of optical reading facilities.
Inking Device The inking device B comprises a multi-link mechan-ism having inking rollers that apply ink to the type faces of a printing head in interlocked movement with the squeez-ing of a hand lever.

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This inking device has the following characteris-tic features:
(1) The force necessary for squeezing the hand le-ver is reduced while the pressure of inking rollers on the type faces is always proper and constant for constantly ap-plying a uniform quantity of ink. Accordingly, high preci-sion printing at constant darkness can be attained for a - large number of labels in long time use.

(2) ~ith the squeezing of the hand lever, the ink-ing rollers that are carried by multi-link mechanism are held inside of the label printing machine. This is to be contrasted with the conventional labeling machines having protruded inking rollers, whereby an unobstructed view of the label applying work is aided.

(3) Since the inking rollers are moved into the machine body by the squeezing of the hand lever, useless spaces in the machine body are reduced so that the label printing machine can be made compact and handy.
The inking device will be described with reference to Figs. 27 to 31, and particularly Fig. 27 and 28. The multi-link mechanism 200 is operatively joined to the print-ing head 5 that is attached to the tip end portions of the pair of yoke arms 4 that extend forward from the hand lever 2. Mechanism 200 is provided with three pairs of fi~ed pi-vots, that is, a pair of fixed pivots 204 consisting of pi-votal shafts secured to the machine frames 36 and two pairs of fixed pivots 205 and 206 that are pivotally secured rear-wardly and forwardly, respectively, on the yoke arms 4.
Further, the mechanism 200 has a plurality of other movable fulcrums, described below.
Since the structure and operation on one side of the multi-link mechanism 200 are symmetrical to those on the other side, only the links on the side shown in the drawings will be described.
To the fixed fulcrum 205 that is attached to a yoke arm 4 on one side, a generally S-shaped operative link ~:: . . . . . . . . .
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8837~

207 and a connecting link 215 are pivotally secured. The operative link 207 is provided with a contact pin 208 on the outside, a stop lug 209 also on the outside, an engaging lug 210 on the inside, and a spring pin 211 also on the in-side. The operative link 207 is urged counterclockwise (inthe direction to push down) about the fixed fulcrum 205 by a spring 212 that is carried by a supporting pin 213 on the yoke arm 4. One end of the spring 212 is fitted to the spring pin 211 of the operative link 207 and the other end of spring 212 is fitted to a spring pin 214 formed on the side wall of the yoke arm 4.
At the other fixed pivot 206, there is pivotally secured to the yoke arm 4, a guide link 227 having a gen-erally F-shape and a rocking link 221 having a generally L-shape.
The guide link 227 has a slot 228 along its end cross arm and a movable pivot 229 at its middle cross arm so as to pivot an I-shaped operative link 230. The frame 201 of a pair of large and small inking rollers 202 and 203 is guided in the slot 228. The operative link 230 is joined to the operative link 207 at a pivot 231, and the link 230 can be engaged with the engaging lug 210 of the link 207.
In the rest position, the operative link 230 is pressed to the engaging lug 210 by the force of the spring 212 of the operative link 207. In other words, the movable pivot 231 between both the operative llnks 207 and 230, the fixed pi-vot 205 of the operative link 207, and the movable pivot 229 of the guide link 227 are positioned on a line.
A slot 223 is formed at one end por-tion of the rocking link 221 for moving the frame 201 of inking rollers.
The other end portion of the rocking link 21 has a push-up portion 222 that is brought into contact with the contact pin 208 of the operative link 207. Near the push-up portion 222, there is a movable pivot 220 that is connected to an action link 216 through a connecting link 219.

1~8837Z

The action link 216 is pivotally secured to a ma-chine frame 36 at pivot 204. One end of the link 216 is connected to the connecting link 215 at the pivot 217, while the other end of the link 216 is connected to the connecting link 219 at the pivot 218. Accordingly, the rocking link 221 is rocked by the other end of the action link 216 through the connecting link 219.
A roller that is carried by a supporting shaft 234 formed on a supporting member 236 is slidably fitted into the slot 223 of the rocking link 221 and the slot 228 of the guide link 227. This supporting member 236 supports the inking roller frame 201. On the outside of the supporting shaft 234, a supporting piece 232 having a stop pin 233 is attached. Thus, the guide link 227 and the rocking link 221 are held between the supporting piece 232 and the supporting member 236.
A spring 225 is supported by the supporing shaft 234. One end of the spring 225 is fitted into the spring hole 237 of the supporting member 236 and the other end of the spring 225 is fitted to a spring pin 224 that is formed on the rocking link 221, whereby spring 225 urges the sup-porting member 236 clockwise aboput the supporting shaft 234. The turning of the supporting piece 232 is stopped by contact between its stop pin 233 and the rocking link 221.
The supporting member 236 is attached to the front portion of each of the two symmetric multi-link mechanisms.
On the inside of the supporting member 236, a fitting sec-tion 238 having front and rear engaging grooves 239 is formed. The inking roller frame 201 can be detachably se-cured to both supporting members 236 by fitting the engaging pieces 235 of the frame 201 into the engaging grooves 239 of both fitting sections 238.
The operation of the inking device is now des-cribed with reference to Figs. 27 and 29 to 32.
From the rest position of Figs. 27 and 29, when the hand lever 2 is slightly squeezed (about 3~), the inter-. . , : . , ,, 8837~

locked yoke arm 4 is turned counterclockwise (downward) about the pivotal shaft 3 into the state shown in Fig. 30.
The multi-link mechanism 200 attached to the yoke arm 4 is moved so that the push-up portion 222 of the rock-ing link 221 is brought into contact with the contact 208 of the operative link 207. Since the fixed pivots 205 and 206 on the yoke arm 4 are moved down, the movable pivot 217 of the action link 216 which pivoted at 204 to the machine frame 36, is moved to the right, and the other movable pivot 218 of the link 216 is moved almost upward. At the same time, the rocking link 221 is turned counterclockwise about the fixed pivot 206. The rocking link 221, which carries the supporting shaft 234 of the supporting member 236 and the inking roller frame 201 at the upper end of the slot 223 and under the force of the spring 225, causes the shaft 234 to slide to the right in the slot 228 of the guide link 227.
In this movement, the first inking roller 202 is resiliently pressed to and rolled over the type faces 6a of the printing head 5, thereby causing the first inking, as shown in Fig.
30.
Simultaneously with this first inking operation, the rocking link 221 is turned counterclockwise about the fixed pivot 206, so that the push-up portion 222 at the right hand end of the rocking link 221 is brought into con-tact with the contact pin 208 on the operative link 207 that is engaged with the other operative link 230. Then the link mechanism moves to the state shown in Fig. 31.
As the impact against the contact pin 208 by the push-up portion 222 exceeds the force of the spring 212, the operative link 207 is further turned clockwise, so that the engagement between the engaging lug 210 of the operative link 207 and the other operative link 230 is released, and both of the links 207 and 230 assume an open or pushed up state with respect to each other. In other words, the operative link 207 turns clockwise about the fixed pivot `` 1~8837Z

205, while the other operative link 230 turns counterclock-wise about the movable pivot 229. Through this movement, the second inking roller 203 inks the type faces 6a.
When this inking action is completed, the support-ing shaft 234 of the inking rollers reaches the right hand end of the slot 228 of guide link 227.
When the hand lever 2 is further squeezed, as shown in Fig. 32, the guide link 227 and the rocking link 221 are turned counterclockwise together. At the same time, the inking rollers are received in the middle portion of the machine frame 36. The inking roller frame 201 carrying two inking rollers is guided to the rear side of the printing head 5 and it is held vertically within the machine body.
In this movement, the stop lug 209 of the operative link 207 comes into contact with the moving connecting link 215. The movement of each link can, therefore, be stopped. After the above described label printing action between the printing head 5 and the platen 30, the multi-link mechanism 200 is returned to the original rest position shown in Fig. 29 by releasing the hand lever 2.
Passing or Feeding Device for Label Strip In the label passing or feeding device C, the la-bel strip 41 which is supplied from a rolled label strip 40 supported on the body of label printing and applying ma-chine, is transferred to the platen 30 through a label guide 333 and by the action of a delivery roller 60.
This label passing device C is shown in Figs. 13 and 33 to 36. Referring to Figs. 34 and 35, the label pas-sing device C comprises a label holding section 300, an operating section 310 and a locking mechanism 321.
In the label holding section 300, a pair of label holding links 302 on both sides are supported by a pivot shaft 301 which is secured to the machine frames 36 and is inserted through the slots 303 formed in the end portions of the links 302. Located between the label holding links 302 : ' . , .' ., . ; : ': ' : , .
: " '~,: ' ',' ,' ~' ' '. .' ~8E33~;~

are the opposed and spaced apart label front and rear (right and left sides as viewed in Fig. 35) guide plates 306 and 307. An upper opening 308 and a lower opening 309 are formed by the above label guide plates 306 and 307. The up-per end portions of the label guide plates 306 and 307 near the upper opening 308 are bent outward so as to facilitate the insertion of the tape-like label strip 41. The lower ends of the label guide plates 306 and 307 are provided with a roller shaft 317 having label guide rollers 318 thereon.
Further, a label retaining member 319 is pivotally secured to the roller shaft 317 at one side edge of the mem-ber 319. The other side edge of member 319 is attached to a pivot shaft 320 that is secured to the machine frames 36.
The label retaining member 319 has a fixed pivot shaft 320 on one side edge, the label holding links 302 having a fixed pivot shaft 301, and a pair Or label guide plates 306 and 307 are movably joined about the foldable center of the roller shaft 317.
Each of the label holding links 302 is integrally provided with an arm plate 304 having a slot 305, to which slot 305 the operating section 310 is attached.
The operating section 310 comprises a pair of ac-tion links 311, a connecting rod 312 attached between the action links 311, an action rod 313 and a spring 316 fitted on the action rod 313. The extended portions on one side of the spring 316 are fitted to a spring pin 314 that is fixed between the action links 311. The other extended portion on the other side of the spring 316 is fitted to another spring pin 315 that is attached to the machine frames 36. There-fore, the action links 311 are always urged clockwise about the action shaft 313. Further, the label holding section 300 can be pulled apart from the delivery roller 60.
Each locking mechanism 321 comprises a locking member 324 secured to the machine frames 36 and a locking lever 322 opposed to the locking member 324. The end por-' 1~i8837Z
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tions of the action rod 313 in the operating section 310 are inserted into the locking lever 322 and the thrust ends of the rod 313 have set screws 331 on them. Notch 323 is formed in one side end of the locking lever 322 near the locking member 324.
The locking member 324 is provided with a support-ing rod 327 which is slidably inserted into sliding hole 325 formed in the member 324 and the supporting rod 327 carries slide piece 326. The supporting rod 327 has a fitting pro-jection 328 at its one side end so as to fit the projection 328 to the notch 323 of the locking lever 322. The other end of the supporting rod 327 is provided with a thinned portion 329 which carries a spring 330 to urge the fitting projection 328 toward the notch 323.
The procedure of feeding or passing the tape-like - label strip 41 is now described. In order to pass the label strip 41, the slide piece 326 of the locking mechanism 321 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 36 so as to disengage the fitting projection 328 from the notch 323 of the locking lever 322. Then the action links 311 are turned clockwise about the action rod 313 by the force of the spring 316 in the operating section 310. As a result, with the working of action links 311 and the connecting rod 312, the label hold-ing section 300 is raised about the pivots of pivotal shafts 301 and 320.
;-` The label strip 41 is passed from the roll 40 around the guide roller 322 attached to the machine frames 36 and between label guide members 333, and into the upper opening 308 formed between the front and rear label guide plates 306 and 307 of the label holding section 300. The label strip 41 passes through the space between both the la-bel guide plates 306 and 307 and is then led out of the lo-i wer opening 309. The label strip 41 is inserted into the ; passageway leading toward the platen 30 through the space ~`~ 35 under the upraised guide roller 318 and the label retaining ; member 319.

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, After this label strip loading, the opened locking lever 322 is pushed down and counterclockwise. The fitting projection 328 of the supporting rod 327 is caught by the notch 323 of the locking lever as shown in Fig. 35. In this operation, the action rod 313 in the operating section 310 is also turned against the force of spring 316 since the rod 313 is interlocked by an appropriate profile to pivot with the locking lever 322. With this action, the connecting rod 312 secured to the action links 311 is moved toward the la-bel holding section 330 so that the label strip connecting rod 312 secured to the action links 311 is moved toward the label holding section 300. This brings the label strip 41 into engagement with the delivery roller 60. More particu-larly, the connecting rod 312 is moved toward the upper ends of the slots 305 and depresses the arm plates 304 of the la-bel holding links 302, and the label guide plates 306 and 307 interlocked with the links 302 are turned counterclock-wise about the pivot shaft 301. Together with this move-ment, the label strip retaining member 319 is interlocked with the roller shaft 317 is turned clockwise about the pi-vot shaft 320. Thus, the arcuate inner surface of the label retaining member 319 is fitted to the outer surface of the delivery roller 60. After the label strip 41 is emplaced in the label passing device C, when the hand lever 2 is squeezed and released, the label strip 41 is moved forward.
Inertial Rotation Preventing Device for Delivery Roller This device D is used for preventing the delivery roller from inertial rotation during its intermittent turn-ing, so as top attain reliable delivery of a certain length of the label strip in interlocked movement with the squeez-ing and releasing of the hand grip and hand lever. The inertial rotation preventing device will be described with reference to Figs. 37 and 38.
Fig. 37 shows the state in which the hand lever 2 is released. The delivery roller 60 that is rotatably at-tached to the pivotal shaft 26 is provided with a plurality .

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of indexing pins 401, 401a, 401b, 401c~o at regular angular intervals on the same radial positions of the side face. On the peripheral surface of the delivery roller 60 are dis-posed a plurality of delivery plates or pins 402 in corres-pondence to the above indexing pins 401 and the plates 402 engage the cut lines 45 in the backing strip of the label strip (of Fig. 20).
The hand lever 2 is provided with a lug 403 on the front side surface thereof and the lug 403 is provided with a pivot shaft 405 carrying a delivery pawl 406, and an en-gaging pin 404 to be engaged with one of the above indexing pins 401. The pivot shaft 405 supports a spring 408 having one end fitted to the lug 403 and having the other end fit-ted to the delivery pawl 406. The spring 408 always urges the delivery pawl 406 counterclockwise so that, when the hand lever 2 is released, the pawl portion 407 is brought into engagement with one of the indexing pins 401. Further the engaging pin 404 is positioned on the circular locus 409 of indexing pins 401, 401a, 401b, 401c..., so that the en-gaging pin 404 is also brought into contact with one of the indexing pins 401, 401a, 401b, 401c... .
Fig. 38 shows the state when the hand lever 2 is squeezed. The delivery pawl 406 is retracted to the right and the engagement between the pawl portion 407 of the deli-very pawl 406 and the indexing pin 401 is released. The pawl 406 comes into engagement with the next indexing pin 401a.
In the next step, when squeezing of the hand lever 2 is released, the device returns to the state shown in Fig.
37. The delivery pawl 406 now in engagement with the next indexing pin 401a is moved forward to the left. Thus, the delivery roller 60 is intermittently rotated counterclock-wise about pivotal shaft 26 and the label strip 41 that is caught by the delivery plate 402 is advanced for a certain length, usually the length of one label piece.

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` 1~1988372 At the final stage of this intermittent rotation of the delivery roller 60, the engaging pin 404 formed on the lug 403 comes into engagement with the indexing pin 401c so that the movement of the pin 401c in the counterclockwise direction is stopped. Accordingly, the delivery roller 60 is prevented from excess inertial rotation, and a label piece 41' of the label strip 41 is positioned correctly on the platen.
Peeling Regulating Device for Label Strip The tape-like label strip 41 of Fig. 39 comprises a tape-like backing strip 42 and a tape-like series of la-bels that have adhesive applied on their rear side and that are temporarily stuck on the backing strip 42. In the tape-like label strip, pre-cut lines are formed at regular inter-vals so as to divide the label strip into a plurality of la-bel pieces 41'. The peeling regulating device E is used for controlling the peeling of label pieces 41' from the backing strip 42.
The peeling characteristics of the tape-like label strips 41 delicately vary with the degree of stickiness of adhesives such as permanent adhesives, temporary adhesives, and adhesives for frozen foods, the water contents of label strips, the quality of paper for backing strips, the degree of silicone finishing of the backing strip, and so forth.
The regulating device E controls the conditions of peeling in compliance with the variation of such factors.
The state of device E shown in Fig. 39 is before regulation, in which the regulating bèd 500 is provided with a plurality of slanted ridges 501 like knife edges on the raised front portion thereof and with a regulating slot 502 in the middle portion thereof. The ridges 501 are brought into linear contact with the rear side of the backing strip 42. A set screw 506 having a washer 507 is secured to a mo-vable bottom cover 504 and a movable inner bottom cover 505.
The portion of regulating bed 500 having the slot 502 is in-terposed between the bottom cover 504 and the inner bottom : - .. . . . . . .: . . .

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. ' : ' : ' ' ~,:. ' . ' ' ~ : -cover 505. The set screw 506 is passed through the regu-lating slot 502 and the regulating bed along the longitu-dinal axis of the machine body (to the right and left in Fig. 39). The platen 30 is placed in opposed relation to the ridges 501 leaving a space S between them. There is a label holding leaf spring 29 above the platen. The guide roller 512 behind the space S guides the backing strip 42.
At the front end of the bottom cover 504, a guide block 503 for a cut label piece 41' is attached. The bottom cover 504 is pivotally secured to a shaft 508 which is at-tached to the machine frames (not shown). To the shaft 508 is secured label applicators 509 that are rocked against the force of a spring 510 also carried by tne shaft 508. One end of this spring 510 is fitted to a supporting pin 511 on the machine frame and the other end of the spring 510 is fitted to the label applicators 509. Thus, the applicators 509 are urged counterclockwise or downward. When a label piece 41' is attached to the surface of an article, the la-bel piece 41' is pressed by the applicators 509.
In the regulation of peeling, when the viscosity of adhesive of the label strip 41 is too large, the space S
between the platen 30 and the ridges 501 of the regulating bed 500 is narrowed. To accomplish this, the regulating bed 500 is moved forward longitudinally through the regulating slot 502 and it is refixed to the bottom cover 504 by the set screw 506, thereby reducing the space S into the space S' as shown in Fig. 40. The diameter L in the bent portion 43 of backing strip 42 is reduced into the diameter L' so that the peeling of the label piece 41' from the backing strip 42 can be made easier.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with a number of preferred embodiments there-of, many variations and modifications will now become appa-rent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, there-fore, that the present invention be limited not by the spe-cific disclosure herein, but only by the appended~claims.

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Claims (10)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A constant printing pressure mechanism for a label printing machine:
said label printing machine comprising an operating lever movable between an operating condition and a released condition; a printing head attached to said operating lever and movable therewith toward a platen;
a platen disposed in opposition to said printing head so that a label on said platen may be imprinted by said printing head;
said constant printing pressure mechanism comprising:
platen raising means for raising said platen against said printing head, said platen raising means comprising an action lever movable with respect to said platen; said action lever including engageable means;
action lever engaging means normally in engagement with said engageable means for restraining motion of said action lever under the influence of a constant pressure spring;
a constant pressure spring connected with said action lever and adapted to be charged as said operating lever is being moved to its said operating condition, thereby to bias said action lever to move in one direction, which said movement of said action lever is restrained by said action lever engaging means;
release means connected with said operating lever for releasing the engagement between said action lever engaging means and said engageable means upon motion of said operating lever of a predetermined distance towards said operating condition, thereby releasing the charged said spring to discharge and to move said action lever in said one direction, and said predetermined distance is such that said printing head is in condition to be engaged by a label on said platen when said platen is raised;
first impact means connected with said action lever to move therewith; second impact means connected with said platen; said first and said second impact means being so placed that after predetermined motion of said action lever in said one direction thereof under the influence of the discharging said spring, said first and said second impact means meet, and said platen and said impact means being so placed and so connected that upon such meeting of said first and said second impact means, said platen moves to said print head.

2. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 1, further comprising platen return means for returning said platen off said printing head immediately after said platen engages a label against said printing head.

3. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 2, wherein said platen return means comprises a release spring normally urging said platen away from said printing head and adapted to move said platen away from said printing head.

4. The constant pring pressure mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said action lever engaging means comprises a hook and means for biasing said hook into continuous engage-ment with said engageable means;
said spring being connected to said operating lever to be charged by motion of said operating lever toward its said operating condition;

said release means being positioned on said oper-ating lever to abut said hook and disengage said hook from said engageable means.

5. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said first and said second impact means respectively comprise first and second impact rollers on said action lever and said platen; said first and said second impact rollers being normally separated and being positioned to come together after a predetermined distance of motion of said action lever under the influence of said constant pressure spring.

6. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said platen is pivotally attached to said label printing machine, whereby said platen pivots toward said printing head and pivots away therefrom.

7. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 6, wherein said operating lever is pivotally attached to said label printing machine at a different pivot location than said platen.

8. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said platen is pivotally attached to said label printing machine, whereby said platen pivots toward said printing head and pivots away therefrom.

9. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 8, wherein said operating lever is pivotally attached to said label printing machine at a different pivot location than said platen.

10. The constant printing pressure mechanism of Claim 9, wherein said printing head is attached to said operation lever to be pivoted therewith toward said platen and said platen being pivotable toward said printing head.