CN218084773U - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a thermal printer, including the shell, be arranged in the formation of image subassembly and power in the shell, the power is arranged in to the control panel power supply in the formation of image subassembly, and thermal printer is still including setting up the heat insulating board between control panel and power, and the heat that the power produced in thermal printer working process is kept apart by the heat insulating board to, the influence that the control panel received is also reduced.

Description

Thermal printer

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a thermal printing technical field especially relates to a thermal printer.

Background

The thermal printer is an imaging device widely applied to industries such as supermarkets, express delivery and the like, and when the thermal printer works, the thermal printer controls a heating unit positioned in the thermal printer to heat a corresponding part of thermal paper according to a received imaging signal, so that the thermal paper is developed.

Generally, a thermal printer includes a control board disposed therein and a power supply for supplying power to the control board, where the existing control board and the power supply are disposed adjacent to each other, and during an operation of the thermal printer, heat generated by the power supply may affect performance of each component in the control board, or even damage the control board.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of this, the utility model provides a thermal printer is through adopting following technical scheme to reduce the influence of the heat that the power produced to the control panel, ensure the work that thermal printer can be stable:

the thermal printer comprises a shell, an imaging assembly and a power supply, wherein the imaging assembly and the power supply are positioned in the shell, the power supply is used for supplying power to a control board in the imaging assembly, the thermal printer further comprises a thermal insulation board arranged between the control board and the power supply, and the heat generated by the power supply in the working process of the thermal printer is isolated by the thermal insulation board, so that the influence on the control board is also reduced.

Preferably, the control board is located above the power supply when the thermal printer is placed on a desktop.

Preferably, the thermal printer further comprises a support member disposed below the power supply, the power supply being fixedly connected to at least one of the thermal shield and the support member; the support member is provided as a buffer member for preventing the power supply from being damaged by collision during transportation of the thermal printer.

In some embodiments, the thermal shield is provided with an opening that allows the control board and the power source to be in electrical communication.

In some embodiments, the power supply, the thermal shield, and the control board are disposed adjacent to each other in an up-down direction of the thermal printer.

The thermal printer further includes an imaging medium accommodating portion in the housing for accommodating an imaging medium that can be imaged by the imaging component, a cover for covering the imaging medium accommodating portion, and a cover opening component for opening the cover; the cap opening assembly includes a pressing member for receiving an external force and forcing the ejecting member to open the cap through the intermediate member, an intermediate member, and an ejecting member.

In some embodiments, the thermal printer further comprises an inner housing disposed within the outer housing, the imaging assembly being mounted on the inner housing; the inner case is formed with a power supply receiving portion for receiving a power supply, and the heat insulating plate is a part of the inner case.

Preferably, the heat insulation plate is provided with a plurality of heat dissipation holes, which are not opposite to the control plate.

The power supply is a rechargeable battery or a non-rechargeable battery.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal printer according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded view of a thermal printer according to the present invention.

Fig. 3A is a perspective view of the thermal printer according to the present invention, as viewed from the rear right side, with the case hidden.

Fig. 3B is a perspective view of the thermal printer according to the present invention, as viewed from the lower left side with the outer case hidden.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view seen from the right rear side after hiding the outer and inner casings.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal printer according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a partially exploded view of a thermal printer according to the present invention; fig. 3A is a perspective view of the thermal printer according to the present invention, as viewed from the rear right side with the case hidden; fig. 3B is a perspective view of the thermal printer according to the present invention, as viewed from the lower left side with the casing hidden; fig. 4 is a perspective view seen from the right rear side after hiding the outer and inner casings.

To make the following description clearer, the orientation of the thermal printer is first defined as follows: the extending direction of the sheet discharge/image forming medium outlet 2c is a left-right direction, the direction intersecting the left-right direction is a front-back direction, and the direction intersecting the left-right direction and the front-back direction is a top-bottom direction, preferably, the left-right direction, the front-back direction, and the top-bottom direction are perpendicular to each other, and specifically, the top-bottom direction is a height direction of the thermal printer when it is placed on a table.

The thermal printer 100 comprises a housing 1, an imaging component 3 positioned in the housing 1, and a door cover component 2 combined with the housing 1, wherein the housing 1 is formed into a geometric body facing a non-lower opening, the imaging component 3 is positioned in a cavity 10 formed by the geometric body, and the door cover component 2 covers the opening; the following description will be given taking an example in which the housing 1 is opened upward.

The door cover assembly 2 includes a first cover 2a and a second cover 2b arranged in the front-rear direction, and a paper discharge port 2c is formed between the first cover 2a and the second cover 2b and extends in the left-right direction, wherein the first cover 2a is provided to be fixedly connected to the housing 1, and the second cover 2b is provided to be rotatable about the rotation axis L with respect to the housing 1, that is, the second cover 2b is rotatable with respect to the first cover 2 a.

Preferably, the thermal printer 100 further comprises an inner case 5 fixedly installed in the cavity 10, and the imaging assembly 3 can be installed on the outer case 1 directly or on the inner case 5, obviously, when the imaging assembly 3 is installed on the inner case 5, the modular production of the thermal printer 100 is facilitated, thereby improving the assembly efficiency of the thermal printer.

[ IMAGING ASSEMBLY ]

The imaging assembly 3 includes a control board 35 and a power source 32 for supplying power to the control board 35, and in general, the power source 32 may be a rechargeable battery, a non-rechargeable battery, or a power conversion member for converting external power into power usable by the thermal printer, and the control board 35 is located above the power source 32 in the up-down direction, so that the user can conveniently overhaul other components of the imaging assembly 3.

As shown in fig. 3B, the thermal printer further includes a power supply accommodating portion 52 formed in the inner casing 5 and a heat insulating plate 53 located between the control board 35 and the power supply 32, the power supply 32 is accommodated by the power supply accommodating portion 52, and the heat insulating plate 53 may be a separate component or a part of the inner casing 5, and may serve to insulate heat emitted from the power supply 32; along the up-down direction, the control board 35 and the power supply 32 are separated by the thermal insulation board 53, but the three are arranged closely, so that not only can the influence of the heat emitted by the power supply 32 in the working process on the control board 35 be effectively reduced, but also the size of the thermal printer 100 in the up-down direction can be effectively controlled, and the miniaturization of the thermal printer 100 is facilitated.

Further, the thermal printer 100 further includes an opening 54 provided in the inner casing 5 or the thermal insulation board 53, through which opening 54 the control board 35 and the power supply 32 are electrically communicated, for example, a communicating portion 34 of the control board is provided opposite to the opening 54, the power supply 32 is connected to the communicating portion 34, or a wire for communicating the control board 35 and the power supply 32 passes through the opening 54.

Further, the thermal printer 100 further includes a support member 33 disposed below the power supply 32, and preferably, the support member 33 is a buffer member such as a sponge, a foam, a spring, etc. for preventing the power supply 32 from being damaged by collision during transportation of the thermal printer; the power source 32 may be fixedly attached to the heat shield 53 or the support member 33 by at least one of bonding, clamping, etc. Preferably, the power supply accommodating portion 52 may also be provided with a plurality of heat dissipating holes (not shown), but the heat dissipating holes are not opposite to the control board 35, and the influence of the heat discharged from the heat dissipating holes on the control board 35 is reduced.

In addition, the image forming unit 3 further includes a power switch 31, a paper pressing member 37, and a paper cutting member 36, the power switch 31 is exposed outward from the housing 1, the paper cutting member 36 is disposed at the paper outlet 2c and exposed outward through the paper outlet 2c, the paper pressing member 37 is formed as a rubber roller made of an elastic body such as rubber for pressing the thermal paper/image forming medium toward a heating unit (not shown) while conveying the thermal paper/image forming medium toward the paper outlet 2c, and the heating unit/image forming unit 3 forms/develops images on the image forming medium, preferably, the paper pressing member 37 is rotatably mounted on the second cover 2b, and when the second cover 2b rotates about the rotation axis L relative to the housing 1/first cover 2a, the paper pressing member 37 will be separated from the heating unit, facilitating the user to arrange the thermal paper/image forming medium.

As shown in fig. 4, the thermal printer 100 further includes a shaft sleeve 6 for supporting the paper pressing member 37 and a pressing member 7 for pressing against the shaft sleeve 6, the shaft sleeve 6 is fixedly mounted on the second cover 2b, the pressing member 7 is provided as a torsion spring, and has a pressed portion 71 and a pressing portion 72 which are adjacently disposed, the shaft sleeve 6 presses the pressed portion 71 to elastically deform the pressing member 7 as the second cover 2b is closed, the pressing member 7 is reset after the shaft sleeve 6 passes through an intersection of the pressed portion 71 and the pressing portion 72, the pressing portion 72 presses the shaft sleeve 6, and the second cover 2b is locked.

In some embodiments, the sleeve 6 no longer supports the paper pressing member 37, but still does not affect the locking of the second cover 2b by the pressing member 7 pressing against the sleeve 6.

[ Cap opening Assembly ]

The thermal printer 100 further includes an image forming medium accommodating portion 55, and similarly, the image forming medium accommodating portion 55 may be formed either directly in the cavity 10 or in the inner case 5, and the image forming medium accommodating portion 55 is formed as a part of the inner case 5.

The paper roll is an image forming medium commonly used in thermal printers, and for this purpose, the image forming medium housing 55 is configured as a housing chamber having an arc shape, and a first cover 2a is opposed to at least a portion of the control plate 35 and a second cover 2b is opposed to the housing chamber in a vertical direction, so that the housing chamber is closed when the second cover 2b is closed, and the housing chamber is exposed to the outside when the second cover 2b is opened, and a user can take out or place the paper roll in the housing chamber.

As described above, the second cover 2b is rotatably combined with the casing 1, and in order to allow the user to easily open the second cover 2b, the thermal printer 100 further includes the cover opening assembly 4 provided at the left and right sides or the front and rear sides of the casing 1, and the user can smoothly open the second cover 2b by operating the cover opening assembly 4. As shown in the figures, the door opening assembly 4 includes a pressing member 41, an intermediate member 42, and an ejector member 43, the pressing member 41 is configured to receive an external force and force the intermediate member 42 to rotate, and the intermediate member 42 rotates while causing the ejector member 43 to eject the second door 2b; the pressing member 41 may be rotationally or slidably moved, so long as it can transmit an external force to the intermediate member 42.

Specifically, the pressing member 41 includes a force receiving portion 412 and a toggle portion 413, when the pressing member 41 is set to rotate, a user applies a rotational force to the force receiving portion 412, the toggle portion 413 toggles the intermediate member 42 so that the intermediate member 42 rotates along a predetermined path, when the pressing member 41 is set to slide, the pressing member 41 can slide on both the outer shell 1 and the inner shell 5, and during the sliding of the pressing member 41, the toggle portion 413 toggles the intermediate member 42 so that the intermediate member 42 rotates along the predetermined path, and the sliding direction can be any one of the up-down direction, the front-back direction, and the left-right direction.

Similar to the pressing member 41, the ejecting member 43 may be disposed on the outer casing 1 or the inner casing 5, and the movement may be either rotation or sliding. Hereinafter, the following description will be given taking as an example that the pressing piece 41 and the ejecting piece 43 are both provided in the inner housing 5 so as to be slidable in the up-down direction.

The pressing member 41 comprises a main body 411 and a force-bearing part 412 which are connected with each other, a toggle part 413 can be positioned on any one of the main body 411 and the force-bearing part 412, preferably, the main body 411 and the force-bearing part 412 are integrally formed, and the toggle part 413 is positioned at the lower end of the main body 411, at this time, the design style of the force-bearing part 412 can be changed according to the use environment, so that the design of the force-bearing part 412 is more in line with the use habit of a user.

The intermediate member 42 is provided to force the knock-out member 43 to move upward while rotating about the axis, and preferably, the intermediate member 42 is integrally formed to include an intermediate body 421 and a rotating portion 423 and an urging portion 422 provided to the intermediate body 421; the axis of rotation of the intermediate member 42/the rotating portion 423 with respect to the housing 1 should not be limited, but may be changed according to design requirements, for example, the axis of the intermediate member 42 is disposed in parallel with one of the left-right direction, the front-rear direction, and the up-down direction, or intersects with any one of the foregoing three directions, as long as the intermediate member 42 can transmit force to the ejector member 43 so that the ejector member 43 moves upward.

The ejector 43 has a force receiving portion 431 for receiving an acting force and an ejector 432 for ejecting the second cover 2b, and preferably, the force receiving portion 431 and the ejector 432 are respectively located at both ends of the ejector 43 in the up-down direction, which simplifies the structure of the ejector 43 and reduces interference that may occur between the ejector 43 and other parts during the movement.

When a user applies a downward force to the force receiving portion 412, the pressing member 41 slides downward, the toggle portion 413 toggles the intermediate member 42, the intermediate member 42/rotating portion 423 rotates around the axis, the pushing portion 422 pushes the force receiving portion 431, further, the ejector 43 slides upward, the ejector 432 applies an upward ejection force to the second cover 2b, the ejection force causes the second cover 2b to drive the shaft sleeve 6 to force the pressing member 7 to elastically deform again, when the shaft sleeve 6 passes upward over the intersection of the pressing portion 72 and the pressed portion 71, the second cover 2b is ejected to unlock, and finally, an opening operation of the second cover 2b is achieved.

In some embodiments, the ejector 43 is disposed not to exceed the upper surface 51 of the inner case 5 when the second lid 2b is in the closed state, and when the ejector 43 is urged by the intermediate member 42, the ejector 43 moves upward beyond the upper surface 51 and ejects the second lid 2b. The upper surface 51 is an uppermost surface of a portion of the inner case 5 facing the ejector 43 in the left-right direction, and it can be seen that the second cover 2b of the thermal printer 100 having such a design can be closed more smoothly.

In some embodiments, at least one of the pressing member 41 and the intermediate member 42 is provided with a relief portion 414, so that possible interference between the pressing member 41 and the intermediate member 42 can be eliminated during the rotation of the intermediate member 42 by the rotation of the pressing member 41, thereby ensuring smooth operation of the door opening assembly 4. The escape portion 414 may be a cut-away portion of the pressing member 41 or the intermediate member 42, a groove formed in the pressing member 41 or the intermediate member 42, or the like.

In some embodiments, the door opening assembly 4 further includes a reset member 44 combined with the intermediate member 42, the reset member 44 accumulates a reset force during the opening of the second door 2b, and when the external force applied to the force receiving portion 411 is removed, the reset member 44 releases the reset force and the pressing member 41, the intermediate member 42, and the ejector member 43 are reset.

Based on the above inventive concept, the door-opening assembly 4 may be further configured such that the second cover 2b is pushed up by the ejector 43 when the pressing member 41 is pushed upward, and at this time, a switching member (not shown) is installed between the pressing member 41 and the intermediate member 42, and the intermediate member 42 is toggled by the switching member, and at this time, the original pressing member 41 and the switching member will be regarded as new pressing members.

Further, the movement of the intermediate member 42 may be configured to slide, in which the intermediate member 42 slides along a predetermined path after the pressing member 41 toggles the intermediate member 42, and in the sliding process, the intermediate member 42 forces the ejecting member 43 to eject the second cover 2b, so that the intermediate member 42 can be toggled by the pressing member 41 to move. In some embodiments, the intermediate member 42 may also be a portion of the pressing member 41 and a portion of the ejector member 43, for example, the pressing member 41 and the ejector member 43 are engaged by a slope, and during the sliding of the pressing member 41, the force is transmitted to the ejector member 43 through the slope engaged with each other, so that the ejector member 43 ejects the second cap 2b, and at this time, the portion of the pressing member 41 where the slope is provided and the portion of the ejector member 43 where the corresponding slope is provided may be referred to as the intermediate member 42.

Further, in the direction in which the rotation axis L points to the paper output port 2c, the contact position of the ejector 43 and the second cover 2b is closer to the paper output port 2c, or the position where the second cover 2b is ejected by the ejector 43 is closer to the paper output port 2c, and at this time, the acting force required for ejecting the second cover 2b is smaller, and accordingly, the user experience is better.

Furthermore, the cover opening assemblies 4 are arranged on the left side and the right side of the shell 1, so that a user can apply acting force to the second cover 2b on the left side and the right side at the same time, the second cover 2b can be opened more easily, and meanwhile, the design can also enable the user to open the second cover 2b by using any one of the cover opening assemblies 4 on the left side and the right side according to the use habit of the user or under the condition that one hand of the user is occupied.

As shown in the drawing, a transmission lever 45 extending in the left-right direction is provided in the thermal printer 100, and for the sake of distinction, the door opening assembly located on the left side of the housing 1 is referred to as a left side assembly 4a, and the door opening assembly located on the right side of the housing 1 is referred to as a right side assembly 4b.

The left side unit 4a and the right side unit 4b may have the same structure, in which case the transmission rod 45 may be omitted, the left side unit 4a and the right side unit 4b are provided independently of each other, and the user operates the left side unit 4a and the right side unit 4b at the same time to open the second cover 2b; alternatively, the transmission lever 45 may be retained, and when the user operates the left side assembly 4a and the right side assembly 4b at the same time, the transmission lever 45 is advantageous to ensure that the second cover 2b is opened at the left and right sides at the same time if the left and right hands apply different forces, and if the user operates with only one hand, the force may be transmitted to the other side through the transmission lever 45 so that the second cover 2b can be opened at the left and right sides.

The structures of the left side assembly 4a and the right side assembly 4b may not be completely the same, for example, a pressing piece 41 is provided in one of the left side assembly 4a and the right side assembly 4b, and the other is not provided with the pressing piece 41, but both sides are provided with an intermediate piece 42 and an ejector piece 43, so that a user may apply an acting force to the pressing piece 41, and then the acting force is transmitted to the other side through a transmission rod 45, so that the second cover 2b can be opened at both the left and right sides, at this time, the transmission rod 45 may be regarded as a pressing piece of an open cover assembly at the side where the pressing piece 41 is not provided, and a housing at the side where the pressing piece 41 is not provided will not necessarily be provided with an exposure port allowing the pressing piece 41 to be exposed, and the housing will be more complete at the side, which is advantageous for improving the aesthetic appearance of the thermal printer 100.

As described above, the second cover 2b of the thermal printer 100 can be opened by the cover opening assembly 4, and the user does not need to apply an acting force directly to the second cover 2b by a finger, and the arrangement of the cover opening assembly 4 not only improves the user experience, but also effectively prevents the second cover 2b from being damaged by other components that may be caused when the second cover is directly opened by the user's hand.

Claims (10)

1. A thermal printer comprising a housing, an imaging assembly located in the housing, and a power supply for supplying power to a control board in the imaging assembly,

the thermal printer also includes a thermal shield disposed between the control panel and the power supply.

2. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the control board is positioned above the power supply when the thermal printer is placed on a desktop.

3. The thermal printer of claim 2, further comprising a support disposed below the power source, the power source being fixedly coupled to at least one of the thermal shield and the support.

4. A thermal printer according to claim 3, characterised in that the support member is provided as a buffer.

5. The thermal printer of claim 1, wherein the thermal shield is provided with an opening that allows the control board and the power source to be in electrical communication.

6. The thermal printer according to claim 1, wherein the power source, the thermal insulation board and the control board are disposed adjacent to each other in an up-down direction of the thermal printer.

7. The thermal printer according to claim 1, further comprising an imaging medium accommodating portion in the housing for accommodating an imaging medium that can be imaged by the imaging assembly, a lid for covering the imaging medium accommodating portion, and a lid opening assembly for opening the lid;

the cap opening assembly includes a pressing member for receiving an external force and forcing the ejecting member to open the cap through the intermediate member, an intermediate member, and an ejecting member.

8. The thermal printer according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising an inner housing disposed within the outer housing, the imaging assembly being mounted to the inner housing;

the inner case is formed with a power supply receiving portion for receiving a power supply, and the heat insulating plate is a part of the inner case.

9. The thermal printer according to claim 8, wherein the thermal shield is provided with a plurality of heat dissipation holes, which are not opposed to the control board.

10. The thermal printer of claim 8, wherein the power source is a rechargeable or non-rechargeable battery.

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