JP2001213552A - Paper roll loading mechanism and paper roll printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper roll printer to be manipulated from the front face, in which the opening/closing operations of a paper roll loading part can be performed safely with no risk of nipping finger, etc. SOLUTION: A front opening 5 for loading a paper roll is formed in the front face 3 of a paper roll printer 1 and is closed by a paper roll cover 6. The motion of a lever to open and close the cover 6 is restricted by the body 71 of a sheet exhaust table 7 protruding horizontally ahead from its over-part. A protection plate 76 is rotatably installed on the rear surface 71a of the table body 71 and pressed always to the cover surface 6c by a torsion spring 77. Even if the gap G between the top surface 6c of the cover and the rear surface 71a of the table body is widened by the opening/closing operation of the cover 6, the gap G is always covered with the protection plate 76. This allows avoiding the danger of damaging a finger or fingers being nipped by the gap likely when the operator moves the cover while he leaves his finger (s) inserted in the gap G.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roll paper printer for printing on roll paper fed from a roll of recording paper loaded in a roll paper loading section by an ink jet printer or the like, and more particularly to a roll paper loading section. The present invention relates to a roll paper loading mechanism that can safely open and close the paper without pinching a finger or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a roll paper loading mechanism of a roll paper printer, a front opening (a front surface) of a roll paper printer is formed with a front opening of a roll paper loading section. There has been known a type in which a recording paper roll is replenished or replaced from the front (front side).

[0003]

In a roll paper printer provided with a roll paper loading mechanism of this type, a print head such as an ink jet head is arranged downward at a position above a roll paper loading section, and the roll is opposed to the print head. A configuration in which a platen portion for defining a paper printing position is arranged can be employed. In this case, when loading or replacing the roll paper, the platen that defines the printing position is moved together with the roll paper cover so that the opening of the roll paper loading section can be made sufficiently wide, It is desirable that the work of mounting the roll paper between the heads or the like can be easily performed.

Here, in order to move the platen, the platen is supported by a four-link parallel link mechanism.
What is necessary is just to employ | adopt the structure pulled out forward and downward, holding a horizontal state. In this case, the roll paper cover is connected to the swinging link, which is a component of the parallel link mechanism, and the operation lever for opening and closing the cover is pulled forward from the platen beyond the upper end of the roll paper cover. do it. If the operation lever is pulled out to the front, the platen portion is pulled out to the front and the roll paper cover is opened in conjunction with it by the action of the four-link parallel link mechanism.

However, in the roll paper loading mechanism having such a mechanism, when the operation lever is pulled forward and the roll paper cover is opened, the operation lever pulled forward and the upper end of the roll paper cover become With the rotation, there is a possibility that a wide gap may be formed such that a finger or the like is separated from each other.

When such a gap is formed, when the operation lever is operated to close the roll paper cover after the recording paper roll body is loaded, a finger or the like is caught in the gap.
There is a risk of injury. That is, if the roll paper cover is closed with the finger inserted in the gap, the gap gradually narrows, and the finger is pinched between the operation lever and the upper end of the roll paper cover, which is dangerous.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to propose a roll paper loading mechanism and a roll paper printer which can safely open and close the front opening of the roll paper loading section without pinching a finger or the like. It is in.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a roll paper loading section, a front opening of the roll paper loading section, and a front opening which can be opened and closed. A roll paper cover, an operation lever protruding forward beyond an upper end of the roll paper cover, a protection plate covering a gap formed between the operation lever and an upper end of the roll paper cover, A roll paper cover opening / closing means is provided for rotating the roll paper cover from its upright closed position to an open position in which the roll paper cover is tilted forward by pulling the operation lever forward.

Here, the operation lever and the roll paper cover are
Since the relative positional relationship changes in accordance with the moving position, the lower surface of the operation lever is rotated in such a manner that the protection plate can be rotated back and forth around its upper end so as to follow such a change in the relative position. It is desirable to attach to.

In this case, in order to form a state in which the gap between the operation lever and the roll paper cover is always covered, the protective plate is always pressed against the roll paper cover by a spring force. It is desirable.

The roll paper cover opening / closing means may be provided with a pair of swing links swinging back and forth about a lower end. In this case, the operating lever is provided with these swing links. , And the roll paper cover may be connected to one of the swing links.

Next, the present invention relates to a roll paper printer provided with the roll paper loading mechanism having the above-described configuration, and according to the printer, the loading operation of the recording paper roll body can be performed safely. be able to.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of an ink jet type roll paper printer to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the roll paper printer of the present embodiment, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are side structural views showing a main part of a roll paper loading mechanism in the roll paper printer. The roll paper printer 1 of this embodiment is of a front-operation type, in which an operation unit, a discharge opening for roll paper cut after printing, and a front opening for loading or replacing roll paper are arranged on the front.

(Overall Structure) First, referring to FIG. 1, this front-operation type roll paper printer 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped main body case 2 as a whole, and each part is built in. The operation unit 4 is arranged on the right side. The lower half of the left side of the front surface 3 is a roll paper cover 6 that covers the front opening 5 for loading roll paper in an openable and closable manner. A mouth 5A is formed, from which the discharge table 7
Project almost horizontally forward. The paper discharge table 7 also functions as an operation lever for opening and closing the roll paper cover 6.

Referring to FIG. 2, the internal structure will be described. The roll paper cover 6 is rotatable to the front of the printer about its lower end 6a, and the position shown in the drawing is the front opening 5 for loading the roll of recording paper. The closed position is a closed position, and a position that is tilted forward as described later is an open position (see FIG. 4). Behind the roll paper cover 6, a roll paper loading unit 8 is provided.
Is formed, and the roll paper 10 fed from the recording paper roll body 9 mounted thereon is guided by the guide roller 1.
1, passes horizontally through the print position 12 formed immediately above the roll paper loading unit 8, passes through the position where the roll paper cutter 13 is disposed, and then passes through the discharge table 7.
Is discharged over

The printing position 12 corresponds to a platen roller pair 14
a, 14b and a platen member 16 disposed between the transport roller pairs 15a, 15b. The nozzle face 17a of the ink jet head 17 is arranged facing downward with a certain gap facing the flat surface of the platen member 16.

Next, a roll paper loading mechanism mounted on the roll paper printer 1 of this embodiment will be described. First, a pair of parallel support shafts 21 and 22 extending horizontally in the printer width direction are bridged over the platen member 16 at the same height position. Upper ends of a pair of links 23 and 24 extending vertically are connected to both ends of the support shafts 21 and 22 so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction (only one link is shown in the figure). .

The lower ends of the pair of links 23 and 24 are respectively connected to a pair of front and rear parallel support shafts 25 and 26 horizontally mounted in the printer width direction at the same height position on the bottom side portion of the main body case 2. On the other hand, they are connected rotatably in the front-rear direction.

Therefore, the platen member 16 and the support shaft 2
A four-node parallel link mechanism is configured by 1, 22, 25, 26 and a pair of links 23, 24. When the platen member 16 is pulled toward the user, the platen member 16 moves forward and backward while maintaining a horizontal state. It can be moved downward. The fixed blade 13b of the cutter 13 is attached to the platen member 16 at a position on the front end side of the printer. The support shafts 21 and 22 are rotatably mounted with one roller 15b of the pair of transport rollers and one roller 14b of the pair of platen rollers, respectively. Further, a guide roller 11 is rotatably attached to a rear end portion of the platen member 16 of the printer. These members move together with the platen member 16.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, the discharge table 7 includes a table body 71 and the table body 7.
1 and a hook 73 for locking the roll paper cover. The table support member 72 includes a horizontally extending table main body support portion 72a, a fixed blade cover plate portion 72b that is bent downward from here toward the printer rear side and extends from the front of the cutter fixed blade 13b to immediately below the fixed blade cover plate portion 72b. A connecting plate portion 72c extending continuously in a slightly upward direction toward the rear of the printer, and a hook 73 is attached to a rear end of the connecting plate portion 72c. At the middle position of the connecting plate portion 72c, a bracket 72d extends upward from both ends in the width direction of the printer, and the bracket 72d is positioned at both ends of the support shaft 22 supported by the platen member 16. , And supported in a vertically rotatable state.

The paper discharge table 7 of this configuration has a coil spring 7 with one end attached to the roll paper cover 6 at a position on the front side of the printer with respect to the spindle 22, which is the center of rotation.
4 is always pulled downward. The hook 73 formed at the front end of the sheet discharge table 7 is hooked from below by the spring force of the coil spring 74 with respect to the surface of the hook engaging plate 2a formed on the main body case 2 on the rear side of the printer. I have. Paper discharge table 7 against spring force
When the table body 71 is pushed upward as shown by the imaginary line in the figure, the hook 73 can be removed from the hook engaging plate 2a.

Next, the roll paper cover 6 has a connecting bracket 61 extending rearward from a rear surface of the printer, and a slide pin 62 is provided at the rear end of the bracket 61 in the printer width direction. Mounted horizontally.
The slide pin 62 is slidably fitted in a vertically elongated pin guide groove 23 a extending in the vertical direction at a middle position in the vertical direction of the front link 23.

As described above, in this embodiment, the platen member 16
Is connected to the paper discharge table 7 so as to be rotatable up and down around a support shaft 22. Also, the roll paper cover 6
Is also connected to the link 21 that rotates back and forth together with the platen member 16 via the slide pin 62, and the roll paper cover opening / closing means is constituted by a four-node parallel link mechanism.

Further, in the sheet discharge table 7 of the present embodiment, an engagement projection 72e is formed on the bracket 72d, and an engagement projection 23b is formed on the front link 23. When the link 23 is tilted forward by a predetermined amount, the engaging projection 72e of the sheet discharge table 7 hits the engaged projection 23b of the link 23. Thereafter, when the link 23 is further pushed down, the engaged projection 23b Engaging projection 72e
The positions of these projections are defined so that the projections are pushed upward relatively. When the engagement protrusion 72e is pushed up, the front portion of the paper discharge table 7 on which the protrusion 72e is formed rotates around the support shaft 22 upward.

Further, the table main body 71 of the discharge table 7 of the present embodiment is a portion functioning as an operation lever for opening and closing the roll paper cover.
An upper end of a protection plate 76 is attached to a position near the upper end surface 6b of the roll paper cover 6 on the back surface 71a so as to be rotatable back and forth about a support shaft 75 extending in the printer width direction. The protective plate 76 is constantly pressed against the front surface 6c of the roll paper cover 6 located on the rear side of the printer by a torsion spring 77.

Next, the structure of the roll paper loading section 8 of this embodiment will be described. The roll paper loading section 8 has a shape that allows the recording paper roll body 9 to be dropped from the upper side.
And a rear portion 82.

The front portion 81 includes a trapezoidal left and right side wall portion 83, a front wall portion 84, and a bottom wall portion 85.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a vertical portion 84a whose upper end portion is in contact with the surface of the roll paper cover 6;
From the lower end of “a”, an inclined portion 84 b inclined backward toward the bottom wall portion 85 is continuous.

Similarly, the rear portion 82 includes left and right trapezoidal side wall portions 86, a rear wall portion 87, and a bottom wall portion 88. The rear wall portion 87 has a vertical portion 87a at its upper end portion. From the lower end of the vertical portion 87a, an inclined portion 87b inclined forward toward the bottom wall portion 88 is continuous.

Here, the rear portion 82 is set to have a size larger than that of the front portion 81 so that more than half of the circular cross section of the recording paper roll 9 can be accommodated. A support shaft 89 is attached to the front end of the bottom wall portion 88 of the rear portion 82 in the width direction. The rear end of the bottom wall portion 85 of the front portion 81 is supported by the support shaft 89 so as to be rotatable forward, but the other portions are free from the main body case and the like. Therefore, the front portion 81 always leans against the surface of the roll paper cover 6 due to its own weight.

(Opening / closing operation of the roll paper cover) First, when the roll paper cover 6 is in its closed position, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a) and (b), the hook 73 of the discharge table 7 is moved by the spring force of the coil spring 74 so that
Is hooked on the hook engaging plate 2a formed in the first position.
In other words, the roll paper cover 6 is in a locked state, and in this example, the coil spring 74, the hook 73, and the hook engaging plate 2a constitute a lock mechanism of the roll paper cover 6.

In order to release the locked state and open the roll paper cover 6, as shown in FIG. 2B, the table body 71 of the paper discharge table 7 may be pushed upward with a finger or the like. When the front end portion of the discharge table 7 is pushed up against the spring force of the coil spring 74, the discharge table 7
Is rotated about the support shaft 22, the hook 73 is lowered, disengaged from the engagement plate 2a, and the lock is released.
As described above, in this example, the mechanism for unlocking is simplified, which is advantageous for the roll paper exchange mechanism and, consequently, the size and compactness of the roll paper printer.

After the lock is released, if the user pulls the front end portion of the discharge table 7 toward the front of the printer, the platen member 16 protrudes forward with the horizontal posture by the action of the four-link parallel link mechanism. Since the roll paper cover 6 is connected to the front link 23 which falls forward of the printer by this operation, the roll paper cover 6 falls forward around the lower end 6a in conjunction with the link 23. Thus, the roll paper cover 6 can be opened by pulling the paper discharge table 7 toward the front of the printer.

When the roll paper cover 6 falls forward, the front portion 81 of the roll paper loading unit 8 leaning on the back surface falls forward about the support shaft 89 and rotates together with the roll paper cover 6. .

When the roll paper cover 6 is opened to a certain extent, the engaging projection 72e formed on the discharge table 7 contacts the engaged projection 23b formed on the front link 23. FIG. 3 shows this state. When the roll paper cover 6 is further opened after this state is formed, the discharge table 7 protrudes forward while being pushed upward by the engaged projections 23b. As a result, the paper discharge table 7 is gradually rotated about the support shaft 22 so that the front end thereof faces upward.

Here, the table body 7 of the discharge table 7
1 and the movement locus of the upper end surface 6b of the roll paper cover 6 are different from each other, and as the opening angle of the roll paper cover 6 increases, the back surface 71a of the table body 71 and the upper end surface of the roll paper cover 6 The gap G of 6b widens. Further, as described above, since the paper discharge table 7 also rotates around the support shaft 22, the gap G is further increased.

However, in this embodiment, the discharge table 7
A protective plate 76 is attached to the rear surface 71a of the roll paper cover 6, and the protective plate 76 is constantly pressed against the front surface 6c of the roll paper cover 6 by a spring force. Therefore, even if the interval G is widened, this portion is always covered and protected by the protective plate 76.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the roll paper cover 6 is completely opened. In this state, the front opening 5 is fully opened and the table main body 71 of the sheet discharge table 7 is opened.
Is inclined upward. In addition, the front portion 81 of the roll paper loading unit 8 is in a state of falling forward. In this state, the recording paper roll 9 is loaded or replaced.

In this embodiment, even in this fully opened state, the gap G between the discharge table back surface 71a and the upper end surface 6c of the roll paper cover 6 is covered by the protective plate 76. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the danger that a finger or the like will fit in the gap G and cause an injury when the recording paper roll body 9 is loaded.

Further, when the table body 71 of the discharge table 7 is operated to close the roll paper cover 6, no finger or the like is inserted into the gap G. Therefore, by closing the roll paper cover 6, the gap G is narrowed, and the danger of a finger or the like being pinched there can be avoided.

In this embodiment, the guide roller 11, the platen roller 14b, and the transport roller 1
5b and the cutter fixing blade 13b are attached, and are separated from the corresponding members attached to the main body case 2, so that the work of drawing the roll paper between these members can be performed extremely easily. it can.

Further, since the front portion 81 of the roll paper loading unit 8 is also opened, when the recording paper roll body 9 is loaded into the roll paper loading unit 8, the front wall portion 84 of the roll paper loading unit 8 is moved in the conventional manner. There is no need to drop over the recording paper roll 9 into the roll paper loading unit 8 from above, and the recording paper roll 9 can be loaded almost horizontally from the front of the printer. As described above, in this example, when the recording paper roll body is loaded, the substantial opening of the roll paper loading section 8 can be widened, so that the loading operation can be easily performed with good operability. In other words, even if the front opening 5 is not widened, the substantial opening of the roll paper loading unit 8 with the roll paper cover 6 opened can be widened, thereby impairing the operability of the loading operation of the recording paper roll. Without this, the front opening 5 can be reduced, which is extremely advantageous for making the printer smaller and more compact.

Further, in this example, when the roll paper cover 6 is opened, the cutter fixed blade cover plate portion 72b of the discharge table 7 is moved upward, and the finger is moved from the front with respect to the roll paper loading section 9. The cutter fixed blade 13b is covered with the cutter fixed blade cover plate portion 72b so that the fixed cutter blade 13b does not touch the fixed cutter blade 13b. Therefore, the roll paper exchange operation and the like can be performed safely.

Further, in the operation of closing the roll paper cover 6 after the recording paper roll body 9 is loaded, the discharge table 7 on the front end side is inclined obliquely upward, so that there is sufficient space below the leading end. There is a large gap. Therefore, the operation of lifting the sheet discharge table 7 by inserting a finger or the like into the gap, that is, the operation of closing the roll paper cover 6 can be performed with good operability. When the roll paper cover 6 is completely closed, the hook 73 is hooked on the hook engaging plate 2a on the main body case side, and the roll paper cover 6 is locked at the closed position.

[0045]

As described above, the roll paper printer of the present invention and the roll paper loading mechanism mounted thereon have the roll paper cover and the protection plate for covering and covering the gap between the operation levers. ing.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent a finger or the like from being caught in the gap that increases or decreases as the roll paper cover opens and closes. Therefore, a roll paper printer and a roll paper loading mechanism that can safely open and close the roll paper cover can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the front of a roll paper printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a main part of an internal structure of the roll paper printer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a roll paper cover in the roll paper printer of FIG. 1 is partially opened;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a roll paper cover in the roll paper printer of FIG. 1 is completely opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 roll paper printer 2 main body case 3 printer front 4 operation unit 5 front opening of roll paper loading unit 6 roll paper cover 6 b upper end surface of roll paper cover 6 c surface of roll paper cover 7 discharge table 71 table body (operation lever) 71 a Back surface of the table body 75 Support shaft 76 Protective plate 77 Torsion spring G Clearance between the table body and the upper end surface of the roll paper cover 8 Roll paper loading unit 21, 22 Four-bar shaft 23, 24 that defines the swinging node of the parallel link mechanism Oscillating link of joint parallel link mechanism 25, 26 Support shaft that defines fixed joint of 4-joint parallel link mechanism

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A roll paper loading section, a front opening of the roll paper loading section, a roll paper cover closing the front opening so as to be openable and closable, and forwardly beyond an upper end of the roll paper cover. An operating lever protruding; a protection plate covering a gap formed between the operating lever and the upper end of the roll paper cover; and a pulling of the operating lever to lower the roll paper cover to the lower end thereof. And a roll paper cover opening / closing means for rotating the roll paper cover from an upright closed position to an open position in which it is tilted forward about the section. 2. The roll paper loading mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the protection plate is attached to a lower surface of the operation lever so as to be rotatable forward and backward about an upper end thereof. 3. The roll paper loading mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the protection plate is constantly pressed against the roll paper cover by a spring force. 4. The roll paper cover opening / closing means according to claim 1, wherein the roll paper cover opening / closing means has a pair of swing links swinging back and forth around a lower end, and the operation lever is provided with a pair of swing links. A roll paper loading mechanism supported by an upper end of a swing link, wherein the roll paper cover is connected to one of the swing links. 5. A roll paper printer comprising the roll paper loading mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4.