CN219505701U - Portable printer and press roller assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a portable printer and a press roller assembly, wherein the press roller assembly for the printer is detachably assembled on a movement of the printer, and comprises a main body frame and a press roller rotatably supported on the main body frame, wherein a locking mechanism for locking the press roller assembly on the movement is arranged on the main body frame; wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a movable member provided so as to be movable between a click-on position and a release position, and movable from the click-on position to the release position in response to a pressing operation by a user; and a biasing element that biases the movable element in a direction such that the movable element remains in the engaged position. The press roller assembly and the movement installation structure are stable, can resist the pressure from the hob cutting, and are convenient to assemble and disassemble and easy to operate.

Description

Portable printer and press roller assembly

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of printing, in particular to a portable printer and a compression roller assembly which are convenient to operate.

Background

In the prior art, a thermal printer is provided, in which a thermal head is pressed against thermal paper to perform printing. Since this type of printer can print characters and graphics without using toner, ink, or the like, it is widely used for printing various labels, receipts, tickets, or the like.

As typified by such a thermal printer, a number of printers with a cutter mechanism capable of cutting a sheet are known in the art. The cutter mechanism generally includes a fixed blade and a movable blade slidable with respect to the fixed blade. When cutting the sheet, the movable blade is slid to press the upper surface of the fixed blade, so that the sheet can be cut while being sandwiched by the two blades like scissors. However, since the movable blade slides with a certain space and stroke when cutting the paper, the external dimensions of the thermal printer having this type of cutter structure are generally large. For example, chinese utility model patent publication No. CN102126355B, entitled printer with cutter.

In order to solve the technical problems that the existing sliding type cutting device occupies a large space and is not suitable for a small printer, the inventor proposes a technical scheme adopting a hob cutting device in other patent applications, in particular to adopting a hob and a fixed cutter to cut off recording paper in a matching way. However, in the process of cutting the recording paper by the hob, a large acting force is generated on the fixed knife arranged on the platen roller, and the acting force easily causes the platen roller to be separated or loosened from the movement, so that the printing quality and the cutting of the recording paper are affected, and even a paper jam phenomenon is generated. Therefore, how to solve the combination stability of the platen roller and the movement becomes a new problem of the hob cutting technology.

Disclosure of Invention

The present utility model has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present utility model is to provide a portable printer and a platen roller assembly that can be stably coupled to a deck and that can be easily disassembled.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the utility model is as follows:

the utility model relates to a press roller assembly for a printer, which is detachably assembled on a movement of the printer, and comprises a main body frame and a press roller rotatably supported on the main body frame, wherein a locking mechanism for locking the press roller assembly on the movement is arranged on the main body frame; wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a movable member provided so as to be movable between a click-on position and a release position, and movable from the click-on position to the release position in response to a pressing operation by a user; and a biasing element that biases the movable element in a direction such that the movable element remains in the engaged position.

The technical scheme can be further perfected through the following technical measures:

as an embodiment, the biasing element is a cylindrical spring, one end of which abuts against the movable element and the other end abuts against the main body frame.

As a preferred embodiment, the movable element includes a pressing portion and a locking portion, which extend to the outside of the main body frame, respectively. Specifically, the platen roller has an engagement portion adapted to be rotatably supported on the deck, and the click portion is provided adjacent to the engagement portion. Specifically, the engaging portion is provided between the pressing portion and the locking portion.

As a preferred embodiment, the movable element is provided with racks, and the movable element is configured as a pair, the racks on the pair of movable elements are oppositely arranged and are in meshed transmission with a transition gear. In particular, the transition gear is rotatably positioned on the main body frame, and the transition gear is disposed between racks of the pair of movable elements.

As a preferred embodiment, the biasing element is a torsion spring arranged between the transition gear and the main body frame.

As a preferred embodiment, the main body frame has a stationary blade movably supported thereon, and the stationary blade is configured to be adapted to cooperate with a hob provided on the deck to cut recording paper.

The utility model also provides a portable printer which comprises a movement and a press roller assembly, wherein the press roller assembly is detachably connected to the movement, and the press roller assembly is the press roller assembly.

Due to the adoption of the technical scheme, the utility model has the following beneficial effects:

in the utility model, the locking mechanism arranged between the main body frame and the movement can resist the pressure applied to the fixed knife and the main body frame by the hob during cutting, so that the phenomenon of paper jam problem or poor printing quality caused by the movement of the press roller assembly during cutting is prevented, the combination of the press roller assembly and the movement is more stable, the press roller assembly can be conveniently detached from the movement, and the operation of a user is easy.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model, the following brief description of the drawings of the embodiments will make it apparent that the drawings in the following description relate only to some embodiments of the present utility model and are not limiting of the present utility model.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a printer in the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 (a) is an assembled view of the printer cartridge and the platen roller assembly in the first embodiment.

Fig. 2 (b) is a disassembled view of the printer cartridge and the platen roller assembly in the first embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a structural view of a pressure roller assembly in the first embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a pressure roller assembly in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the first embodiment with the bottom plate removed from the nip roll assembly.

Fig. 7 is a structural view of the lock mechanism in the first embodiment.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1. a housing; 2. a movement; 21. a hob; 3. a press roll assembly; 31. a main body frame; 32. a platen roller; 33. a fixed cutter; 34. side baffles; 35. a movable element; 351. a first slide bar; 351a, pressing part; 351b, a locking part; 352. a first spring; 353. a transition gear; 354. a second slide bar; 355. and a second spring.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present utility model more apparent, the present utility model will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The components of the embodiments of the present utility model generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the utility model without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the utility model.

It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further definition or explanation thereof is necessary in the following figures.

Unless defined otherwise, technical or scientific terms used in this patent document should be given the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this utility model belongs. The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims, do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. Likewise, the terms "a," "an," or "the" and similar terms do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, is intended to mean that elements or items that are present in front of "comprising" or "comprising" are included in the word "comprising" or "comprising", and equivalents thereof, without excluding other elements or items. "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", "far", "near", etc. are used merely to denote relative positional relationships, which may also change accordingly when the absolute position of the object being described is changed, merely to facilitate description of the utility model and simplify description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or elements being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the utility model.

In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present utility model will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Some embodiments of the present utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Features of the embodiments described below may be combined with each other without conflict.

Embodiment one:

the embodiment of the utility model solves the problem that the platen roller and the thermal printing head are easy to misplace and separate when the hob and the fixed knife of the printer are matched to cut recording paper in the prior art by providing the portable printer and the press roller assembly thereof, thereby effectively preventing the occurrence of paper jam phenomenon or the loosening phenomenon of the platen roller connection and improving the assembly stability between the press roller assembly and the machine core.

In order to solve the problem that the platen roller and the thermal printing head are easy to separate when paper is cut, the embodiment of the utility model has the following general idea:

the pressing force applied to the stationary blade 33 and the main body frame 31 from the hob 21 at the time of cutting is resisted by the locking mechanism provided between the main body frame 31 and the deck 2 to prevent the occurrence of a jam problem or poor printing quality due to the movement of the platen roller assembly 3 during cutting.

In order to better understand the above technical solutions, the following detailed description will refer to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the press roller assembly 3 is detachably assembled to the deck 2 of the printer, wherein the press roller assembly 3 is used for pressing a paper against a thermal print head of the deck 2 to transfer heat on the thermal print head to the press roller, and driving the paper to move in a space opposite to the thermal print head to output the paper. The movement 2 is mainly used for controlling the operation of the platen roller assembly 3 and the operation of the thermal print head. Further, the movement 2 has an assembly area including left and right end walls and guide side walls formed therebetween, in which the platen roller assembly 3 is placed in an assembled state, and the platen roller assembly 3 is engaged with the left and right end walls, and a front side surface (a side facing the movement 2) of the platen roller assembly 3 is disposed substantially in parallel with the guide side walls, wherein the guide side walls are mainly used to guide the platen roller assembly 3 into the assembly area to promote smoothness upon assembly.

In the present embodiment, the platen roller assembly 3 mainly includes a main body frame 31 and a platen roller 32 rotatably supported on the main body frame 31.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the main frame 31 is mainly used for bearing or supporting components in the platen roller assembly 3, and the platen roller 32 can be used for pressing paper against the thermal print head of the movement 2 and driving the paper to print out from the space of the platen roller 32 opposite to the thermal print head through rotation of the paper. Specifically, the left and right end walls of the main body frame 31 are formed with connection portions for connecting the platen roller 32. In this embodiment, the connection portion is a hook, and the platen roller 32 is engaged and connected in the hook. In other embodiments, the connection portion may be a pivot hole or a pivot slot formed in the frame, and the connection of the pivot hole or the pivot slot makes the mounting and dismounting of the platen roller 32 relatively difficult, so that the connection portion is preferably configured as a hook. In addition, the upper surface of the main body frame 31 is also formed with an upper groove for mounting the platen roller 32, and the lower surface thereof is provided with a lower groove for mounting a locking mechanism described below. The front side of the main body frame 31 is formed with a fitting slope that is fitted to the guide side wall of the fitting area on the deck 2.

In this embodiment, a locking mechanism for locking the platen roller assembly 3 to the deck 2 is further provided on the main body frame 31, and the locking mechanism can lock the position of the platen roller assembly 3 in response to a user's operation to engage the platen roller assembly 3 with the deck 2 or release the platen roller assembly 3 from the deck 2 to disengage the platen roller assembly 3 from the deck 2, and an operation method of the locking mechanism will be described in detail below.

Wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a movable member 35 provided so as to be movable between a click position and a release position, and movable from the click position to the release position in response to a pressing operation by a user.

Referring to fig. 4 to 6, wherein the parts within the dashed box of fig. 4 show the main parts of the locking mechanism described above, fig. 6 shows the locking mechanism mounted in the lower recess. Specifically, the movable member 35 includes a first slide bar 351 and a second slide bar 354 disposed in a lower groove of the main body frame 31, a first sliding portion slidably fitted with the first slide bar 351 and a second sliding portion slidably fitted with the second slide bar 354 are formed in the lower groove of the main body frame 31, and the first slide bar 351 and a portion of the second slide bar 354 are engaged with the movement 2 by movement of the first slide bar 351 in the first sliding portion and/or the second slide bar 354 in the second sliding portion, thereby locking the position of the platen roller assembly 3. The main function of the sliding rod is to move the part of the sliding rod for clamping, so that the part for clamping is combined with the movement 2 to achieve the technical purpose of locking the position of the compression roller assembly 3.

It should be noted that, the "clamping" in the "clamping position" is used herein to lock the press roller assembly 3 on the movement 2, that is, to combine the press roller assembly 3 with the movement 2, and for this purpose, a technical means of clamping the movable element 35 on the movement 2 is adopted herein, so that the "clamping position" is a position when the movable element 35 is clamped on the movement 2, and the "separating position" is a position when the movable element 35 is separated from the movement 2, at this time, separation of the press roller assembly 3 from the movement 2 is also realized, so that the press roller assembly 3 can be withdrawn from the assembly area on the movement 2 to be separated from the movement 2.

Wherein the movable element 35 further comprises a biasing element biasing the movable element 35 in a direction such that the movable element 35 remains in the clamped position.

In this embodiment, the biasing element is a left or right end wall facing the mounting area of cartridge 2, which is provided to maintain the mutual coupling of pressure roller assembly 3 and cartridge 2, i.e. to lock pressure roller assembly 3 onto cartridge 2, by applying a force to movable element 35 so that movable element 35 moves toward the left or right end wall, so that the above-mentioned portion that performs the snap-fit can be snapped onto the corresponding left or right end wall. To achieve this, means are employed to hold the mobile element 35 in the "snap-in position", in correspondence with the description above regarding the action and effect of the "snap-in position". The specific structure and principles of the biasing element are described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 4, when the user assembles the press roller assembly 3 to the movement 2, first, the movable member 35 is pressed or pinched, at this time, the movable member 35 and the press roller assembly 3 are in a state of being separated from the movement 2, and after the press roller assembly 3 is assembled in place, the movable member 35 is released, and the movable member 35 can be moved toward a direction approaching the end wall of the movement 2, that is, a direction in which a portion of the clamping of the movement 2 is performed. Taking the above-described structure as an example, the first slide bar 351 moves toward the right end wall of the above-described fitting area, and the first slide bar 354 moves toward the left end wall of the above-described fitting area. So that the movable element 35 is coupled to the movement 2 to lock the position of the pressure roller assembly 3. When the user removes the pressure roller assembly 3 from the movement 2, the movable element 35 is pressed again, and the movable element 35 is separated from the movement 2 again, so that the pressure roller assembly 3 can be separated from the movement 2. It should be noted that, here, the "engaging" or "disengaging" direction of the platen roller assembly 3 with respect to the deck 2 may be a direction intersecting with the moving direction of the movable member 35, as shown in fig. 2 (b), and the arrow S1 shows a direction in which the platen roller assembly 3 is disengaged from the deck 2 in the present embodiment, that is, a direction in which the platen roller assembly 3 is away from the above-described fitting area. As other embodiments, the press roller assembly 3 may be withdrawn from the bottom of the assembly area to disengage from the movement 2, and of course, it is also possible to withdraw from the assembly area at an angle to the direction of movement of the movable element 35 to disengage from the movement 2, while the direction of engagement is opposite to the direction of disengagement described above, without departing from the concept of the present solution.

In the present embodiment, the movable element 35 includes a pressing portion 351a and a locking portion 351b, and the pressing portion 351a and the locking portion 351b extend to the outside of the main body frame 31, respectively.

Referring to fig. 3, in which a pressing portion 351a is pressed by a user, a locking portion 351b is used to lock the cartridge 2 to lock the position of the platen roller assembly 3. The portion of the pressing portion 351a extending outside the main body frame 31 may be connected to an operation button provided on the housing 1, for convenience of user operation. And the portion of the locking portion 351b extending outside the main body frame 31 can be pressed against the end wall of the fitting area on the movement 2. Preferably, the left and right end walls of the assembly area are each provided with a locking hole or slot for mating with the locking portion 351b.

For the purpose of better disclosing the inventive concepts of the present utility model, a detailed description is provided with respect to the following construction. The movement 2 is provided with a hob 21 which can rotate around a set axis to cut paper 24, a fixed cutter 33 is movably supported on a main body frame 31, the printed paper is output between the hob 21 and the fixed cutter 33, at the moment, the hob 21 is rotated towards the fixed cutter 33 and cuts the paper between the fixed cutter 21 and the fixed cutter 33, and when the hob 21 and the fixed cutter 33 form a cutting state, a clamping stagnation phenomenon possibly occurs between the fixed cutter 33 and the hob 21 due to paper quality problems or foreign matters on the hob and the like. In order to eliminate the jamming phenomenon, the stationary blade 33 is configured to be movable, and when the hob 21 and the stationary blade 33 form the jamming phenomenon, the stationary blade 33 is moved within a certain range, thereby eliminating the jamming phenomenon. Specifically, the stationary blade 33 may have a long and slender rod shape, the middle part of the stationary blade 33 is pivotally connected to the main body frame 31, the lower end part of the stationary blade 33 is connected to the main body frame 31 through an elastic member, the main body frame 31 is coupled with a side baffle 34, the side baffle 34 is used for shielding the internal structure, and a cutting space for cutting paper is formed between the upper end part of the stationary blade 33 and the hob 21.

In order to reliably cut the paper passing through the cutting space, the hob 21 needs to apply a certain pressure to the stationary blade 33 in the prior art. However, the above-mentioned pressure may be transmitted to the platen roller 32 through the main body frame 31, causing the platen roller 32 to move to be separated from the thermal head of the deck 2 by dislocation or loosening of the connection between the joint portion where the platen roller 32 is supported on the deck 2 and the deck 2. The above-described locking mechanism is provided to enable the main body frame 31 to resist the pressure applied from the hob 21, thereby preventing the platen roller 32 from being separated from the thermal head or the platen roller 32 from being loosely coupled to the deck 2, so that the platen roller assembly 3 and the deck 2 are more firmly coupled.

It should be noted that, the main improvement direction of the present embodiment is how to increase the stability of the combination between the platen roller assembly 3 and the movement 2, and the scenario where the problem is applicable to a process of cutting paper by matching the hob and the fixed knife in the present embodiment, and is also applicable to a process such as matching the slide knife and the fixed knife, and other scenarios where the platen roller 32 and the thermal print head may easily be dislocated and separated, which will not be described herein.

Specifically, as an exemplary aspect, the biasing member is a cylindrical spring, one end of which abuts against the movable member 35, and the other end abuts against the main body frame 31, and the movable member 35 is pressed by the elastic force of the cylindrical spring, so that the portion of the movable member 35 where the locking is performed is combined with the movement 2, thereby achieving the locking purpose.

More specifically, the biasing element may include a first spring 352 and a second spring 355, wherein the first spring 352 is configured to bias the first slide bar 351 and the second spring 355 is configured to bias the second slide bar 354, and the main body frame 31 has a first mounting portion for mounting the first spring 352 and a second mounting portion for mounting the second spring 355 thereon. The first spring 352 and the second spring 355 apply force in the direction of clamping the clamping part 351b on the movable element 35 on the corresponding end wall of the movement 2, so that the press roller assembly 3 can be firmly clamped in the assembly area of the movement 2.

In the present embodiment, the engagement force is applied by the cylindrical spring, but as a modification, the engagement effect may be achieved by a torsion spring provided in the transition gear 353 or by directly replacing the cylindrical spring with an elastic arm. The present embodiment is not limited herein.

In order to further reduce the occupied space of the platen roller assembly 3, so that the entire printing module is more compact and miniaturized, the platen roller 32 has an engaging portion adapted to be rotatably supported on the deck 2, and the engaging portion 351b is provided adjacent to the engaging portion. Preferably, the engaging portion is provided between the pressing portion 351a and the locking portion 351b.

Referring to fig. 7, in the present embodiment, racks are provided on the movable member 35, and the movable member 35 is configured in a pair, the racks on the pair of movable members 35 are disposed opposite to each other and each in meshing transmission with a transition gear 353, the transition gear 353 is rotatably positioned on the main body frame 31, and the transition gear 353 is disposed between the racks of the pair of movable members.

The transition gear 353 is mainly used for transmitting the operation force of the user to the movable element 35 to the rack, and enabling the pair of movable elements 35 to relatively move, for example, when the user releases the movable element 35, the engagement of the transition gear 353 and the rack enables the two movable elements 35 to respectively move towards the left end wall and the right end wall of the assembly area on the movement 2, and under the action of the biasing element, the locking part 351b on the movable element 35 is forced to be locked with the end wall of the movement 2.

In addition, since the print module can be made compact and miniaturized, the printer in this embodiment has a high portability, and the specific structure thereof may include the movement 2 and the platen roller assembly 3, the platen roller assembly 3 being detachably coupled to the movement 2, the platen roller assembly 3 being the platen roller assembly described above. Preferably, the printer comprises a housing 1, and a printing module comprising a movement 2 and a platen assembly 3 is built into the housing 1 described above.

In summary, in the above-described embodiment, the occurrence of the jam problem or the poor printing quality due to the misalignment and separation of the platen roller assembly 3 from the thermal head during the cutting process can be prevented by the locking mechanism provided between the main body frame 31 and the deck 2 against the pressing force from the hob applied to the stationary blade and the main body frame 31, and the platen roller assembly 3 can also be easily detached from the deck 2, facilitating the operation by the user.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present utility model, and the present utility model is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions easily contemplated by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present utility model should be included in the present utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of the utility model is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A platen roller assembly for a printer detachably assembled to a cartridge of the printer, comprising a main body frame and a platen roller rotatably supported on the main body frame, characterized in that:

the main body frame is provided with a locking mechanism for locking the compression roller assembly on the movement;

wherein the locking mechanism comprises:

a movable member provided so as to be movable between a click-on position and a release position, and movable from the click-on position to the release position in response to a pressing operation by a user; and

and a biasing member that biases the movable member in a direction such that the movable member is held in the engaged position.

2. A platen roller assembly according to claim 1, wherein the biasing member is a cylindrical spring having one end abutting against the movable member and the other end abutting against the main body frame.

3. The pressure roller assembly of claim 1, wherein the movable member includes a pressing portion and a locking portion, the pressing portion and the locking portion extending to an outside of the main body frame, respectively.

4. A platen roller assembly according to claim 3, wherein the platen roller has an engagement portion adapted to be rotatably supported on the cartridge, the catch portion being disposed adjacent to the engagement portion.

5. The pressure roller assembly of claim 4, wherein the engagement portion is disposed between the pressing portion and the detent portion.

6. The pressure roller assembly of claim 1, wherein racks are provided on the movable members and the movable members are configured in a pair, the racks on the pair of movable members being disposed opposite each other and each in meshed driving engagement with a transition gear.

7. The pressure roller assembly of claim 6, wherein the transition gear is rotatably positioned on the body frame and the transition gear is disposed between the racks of the pair of movable elements.

8. The pressure roller assembly of claim 7, wherein the biasing element is a torsion spring disposed between the transition gear and the body frame.

9. The platen roller assembly of claim 1, wherein the main body frame has a stationary knife movably supported thereon, the stationary knife being configured and adapted to cooperate with a hob cutter provided on the deck to cut recording paper.

10. A portable printer comprising a cartridge and a platen assembly detachably engaged to the cartridge, wherein the platen assembly is the platen assembly of any one of claims 1-9.