JP2002080149A - Paper holder for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a paper holder of a printer capable of holding paper rolls having different core diameters. A pair of paper guides (32a, 32b) that sandwich and hold a paper roll from both sides are provided with bosses (34a, 34b) fitted into the core of the paper roll. The bosses 34a and 34b are formed in a donut shape, and the projections 35 formed on the paper guides 32a and 32b are formed.
a, 35b, the paper guides 32a,
32b is detachably attached. This boss 34a,
A plurality of sheets 34b of various diameters are prepared and exchanged according to the diameter of the core of the paper roll to be held.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper holder for a printer, and more particularly, to a paper holder suitable for a portable printer carried by an operator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of paper holder, there is a type in which a paper roll is sandwiched and held from both sides by a pair of paper guides urged in a direction approaching each other. The paper holder uses a rack and a pinion to urge a pair of paper guides provided to be able to expand and contract in a direction approaching each other by a spring, thereby holding and holding the paper holder set therebetween from both sides. At this time, the boss provided on the paper guide is fitted and held in the core portion of the paper roll. In the paper holder of this type, since the paper guide is always pressed toward the center of the paper roll by the spring, there is no need to lock the paper guide, and the paper roll can be easily and quickly mounted and removed. There is an advantage that can be.

[0003]

As described above, the boss is inserted into the core of the paper roll when the paper roll is mounted as described above. However, the diameter of the core (core tube) of the paper roll is various. Some paper rolls have no tubes.

However, the conventional paper holder has a drawback that the boss is fixed to the paper guide, so that only the paper roll having a core tube suitable for the size of the boss can be held.

On the other hand, when a paper roll without a core tube is held, there is a disadvantage that the paper roll is crushed by the paper guide at the end of the paper roll.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a paper holder for a printer capable of holding various paper rolls having different core diameters.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a pair of paper guides which are provided coaxially and slidably to be able to expand and contract, and which are urged toward each other by urging members. In a paper holder of a printer that holds a paper roll by sandwiching the paper roll from both sides, a boss fitted into a core of the paper roll is detachably attached to the pair of paper guides, and the boss is a core of the paper roll to be held. Provided is a paper holder for a printer, which can be replaced according to the diameter of the unit.

According to the present invention, the boss to be attached to the paper guide can be replaced according to the diameter of the core of the paper roll to be held. Thus, various paper rolls having different core diameters can be held.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that the boss is formed in a donut shape and is removably attached by fitting into a projection formed on the paper guide. 2. A paper holder for a printer according to claim 1.

According to the present invention, the boss can be easily replaced simply by fitting the boss into the projection formed on the paper guide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a regulating member which regulates the movement of the pair of paper guides so that the interval between the pair of paper guides is not narrower than the width of a held paper roll. A paper holder for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the paper holder is provided.

According to the present invention, the paper guide is regulated by the regulating member so as not to be narrower than the width of the paper roll. The paper guide does not crush the paper roll.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the paper holder of the printer according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Here, an example in which the present invention is applied to a portable printer will be described. A portable printer is a printer that is carried and used by a user, and has a built-in battery so that desired information can be printed at an arbitrary place.

First, the configuration of the portable printer will be outlined. FIG. 1 is an external view of the portable printer 10. As shown in FIG.
An openable / closable front cover 14 is provided. When the front cover 14 pushes the opening / closing lever 16 upward, a lock mechanism (not shown) is released.
It rotates about the support shaft 20 and opens forward. When the front cover 14 is opened, a paper holder (reference numeral 30 in FIG. 2) is exposed inside the front cover 14, and a paper roll can be loaded into the paper holder.

A data receiving section 18 and an operation section 22 are provided on an upper surface of the main body case 12. The data receiving unit 18 is provided with a data receiving device (not shown).
The data receiving device receives print data transmitted from a handy terminal or the like. The print data received by the data receiving device is output to a print unit, and the print unit prints predetermined information on a label based on the print data. The operation unit 22 includes a feed button 24, a print button 2
6 and the like are provided. The portable printer 10 performs printing by pressing the print button 26 of the operation unit 22. By pressing the feed button 24, the sheet roll is fed in an idle manner.

A label outlet 28 is provided at the front of the main body case 12. The printing unit is provided inside the label outlet 28, and the label printed by the printing unit is discharged from the label outlet 28. The printing unit is
For example, it is composed of a thermal head and a platen roller.

A power switch 13, a battery storage cover 15, a connector 17 and the like are provided on a side surface of the main body case 12. A battery (not shown) loaded in the portable printer 10 is loaded in the main body case 12 by opening the battery storage cover 15. Also,
The print data is transmitted by the data receiving unit 18 in addition to the wireless communication.
A communication cable is connected to the connector 17 for transmission and reception.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are a perspective view and an exploded perspective view, respectively, showing the structure of the paper holder according to the present invention.

The paper holder 30 is provided inside the front cover 14 and includes a pair of paper guides 32a and 32b formed in a disk shape. The pair of paper guides 32a and 32b have bosses 3 on their opposing surfaces.
4a and 34b are provided, and the bosses 34a and 34b are provided.
b is inserted into the cylindrical core tube of the paper roll from both sides to hold the paper roll.

Here, the bosses 34a and 34b are
As shown in FIG. 5, the paper guide 3 is formed by fitting into cylindrical protrusions 35a and 35b formed at the centers of the paper guides 32a and 32b.
2a and 32b are detachably attached. A plurality of bosses 34a and 34b having various diameters are prepared according to the diameter of the core tube of the paper roll to be held. 34a, 34b are appropriately selected, and protrusions 35a,
Used by attaching to 35b.

When a paper roll without a core tube is mounted, the bosses 34a and 34b are used without being mounted on the projections 35a and 35b. In this case, the projections 35a and 35b are fitted into the hollow core of the paper roll from both sides to hold the paper roll.

The bosses 34a and 34b are formed of an elastically deformable material such as plastic or the like.
When the projections 35a and 35b are fitted into the projections 35a and 35b, the projections 35a and 35b are appropriately tightened to prevent the projections 35a and 35b from coming off the projections 35a and 35b.

A pair of paper guides 32a, 32b are provided with columns 38a, 38b standing upright on sliders 36a, 36b.
And are supported so as to be rotatable about the projections 35a and 35b, respectively. Each of the pair of sliders 36a and 36b is slidably supported in the width direction inside the front cover 14, and the supporting structure is configured as follows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plate-like rib 40 is formed inside the front cover 14 so as to protrude along the width direction. As shown in FIG. 5, a guide groove 42 is formed between the lower surface of the rib 40 and the bottom surface of the front cover 14.
The tip pieces 44a, 44b of the sliders 36a, 36b are engaged with the sliders 36a, 36b.

On the other hand, at the rear ends of the sliders 36a and 36b, shaft grooves 46a and 46b having a U-shaped cross section are formed along the axial direction of the projections 35a and 35b. A guide shaft 48 is fitted into the shaft grooves 46a and 46b. The guide shaft 48 is disposed along the width direction of the front cover 14. One end of the guide shaft 48 is fitted into a shaft hole 50 a formed in one side surface 14 a of the front cover 14, and the other end of the guide shaft 48 is The shaft hole 5 formed in the other side surface 14b of the cover 14
0b, and is disposed in the front cover 14.

As described above, the sliders 36a, 36b
The tip pieces 44a and 44b are engaged with guide grooves 42 formed on the inner surface of the front cover 14,
The guide shaft 48 is fitted into the shaft grooves 46a, 46b formed at the rear ends thereof, so that the guide shaft 48 is movably provided in the front cover 14 along the axial direction of the bosses 34a, 34b.

A pinion 52 is provided between the pair of sliders 36a and 36b movably provided as described above. The pinion 52 is rotatably supported by being fitted into a boss 54 formed to protrude from the bottom surface of the front cover 14. A pressing member 56 is attached to the boss 54 from above the pinion 52 with a screw 58, and the pinion 52 is prevented from coming off by the pressing member 56. A U-shaped pressing groove 56a is formed in the boss 54, and the guide shaft 48 is fitted and supported in the pressing groove 56a.

The pinion 52 has a pair of racks 60a,
0b is engaged. These racks 60a and 60b
Each is connected to the slider 36a, 36b. A pair of sliders 36a, 36b
By the action of the pin 0b and the pinion 52, when one moves, the other moves to the opposite side with the same amount of movement. That is, for example, when one slider 36a is moved in a direction away from the other slider 36b, the other slider 36b is also moved by the same amount in the direction away from one slider 36a, and conversely, one slider 36a is moved in the other direction. When the slider 36b is moved in the direction approaching the slider 36b, the other slider 36b also moves by the same amount in the direction approaching the one slider 36a. As a result, the pair of paper guides 32a, 32b always keeps the left and right paper guides 32a, 3b.
2b can be evenly moved to expand or contract the interval.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a spring 62 is inserted into the guide shaft 48. One end of the spring 62 is engaged with the end surface of one slider 36a, and the other end is engaged with one side surface 14b of the front cover 14. As a result, the sliders 36a and 36b are always urged in a direction approaching each other.

With the above configuration, the pair of paper guides 32
a and 32b are supported so as to be able to expand and contract while being urged in a direction approaching each other. Therefore, this paper guide 32
When the paper rolls are held by a and 32b, the distance between the paper guides 32a and 32b can be increased by increasing the distance between the paper guides 32a and 32b and setting the paper roll between them to reduce the distance between the paper guides 32a and 32b.
The bosses 34a and 34b are fitted into the core tube of the paper roll, and the paper roll is automatically held by the paper guides 32a and 32b. At this time, the paper roll is always held with its center positioned at the center of the paper holder 30.

By the way, as described above, the paper guide 32
When the paper rolls a and 32b are urged by the spring 62, there is a problem that the paper roll is crushed by the paper guides 32a and 32b at the end of the paper roll when the paper roll without the core tube is held. Therefore, O-rings 64a and 64b are fitted to the guide shaft 48, and the O-rings 64a and 64b
a, 36b, and regulate the movement of the paper guides 32a, 32b.
b does not become smaller than the width of the paper roll.
The O-rings 64a and 64b can be moved along the guide shaft 48, and the user appropriately adjusts the installation position according to the width of the held paper roll.

The operation of the paper holder 30 of the present embodiment configured as described above is as follows.

First, the inner diameter of the core tube of the paper roll to be mounted is checked, and a plurality of bosses 34a and 34b that match the diameter of the core tube are selected from a plurality of bosses. Then, the selected bosses 34a, 34b are connected to the paper guides 32a, 32b.
To the projections 35a and 35b. If the paper roll to be mounted does not have a core tube, the boss 34
a, 34b are not attached.

Next, the width of the paper roll to be mounted is checked.
The installation positions of the O-rings 64a and 64b are adjusted so that the paper guides 32a and 32b do not become narrower than the width of the paper roll. In this case, the O-rings 64a, 64
b is a pair of paper guides 3 moved in a direction approaching each other.
It is preferable that 2a and 32b are set so as to stop at a position just in contact with the end face of the paper roll. In the case of a paper roll having a core tube, this operation is not always necessary.

After the above setting operation is completed, the paper roll is mounted. First, the space between the pair of paper guides 32a and 32b is pushed and expanded against the urging force of the spring 62. Next, a paper roll is set between the pair of expanded paper guides 32a and 32b. Next, the paper guide 32
a, 32b while reducing the distance between the paper guides 32a, 3b.
The bosses 34a and 34b attached to 2b are fitted into the core tube from both sides of the paper roll. In the case of a paper roll without a core tube, the protrusion 35 of each paper guide 32a, 32b is used.
a and 35b are fitted into the cavity of the core of the paper roll.

A paper guide 32a in which bosses 34a, 34b (or projections 35a, 35b) are fitted into a core tube (core portion),
32b move in the direction approaching each other by the action of the spring 62, but when they move to the position of the end face of the paper roll,
The sliders 36a, 36b come into contact with the O-rings 64a, 64b, and their movement is restricted.

Thus, the work of mounting the paper roll is completed. On the other hand, when removing the core tube that has run out of paper, the paper guides 32a and 32b may be pushed and expanded.

As described above, according to the portable printer 10 of the present embodiment, the paper roll can be easily attached and detached. Since the bosses 34a and 34b that fit into the core tube of the paper roll can be exchanged according to the size of the core tube, various paper rolls having different core tube sizes can be held.

By removing the bosses 34a and 34b, a paper roll without a core tube can be held. In this case, the movement of the paper guides 32a and 32b is restricted by the O-rings 64a and 64b, so that the paper roll can be used without being crushed to the end.

In this embodiment, the ring-shaped bosses 34a, 34b are connected to the paper guides 32a, 32b.
The projections 35a and 35b formed on the
4a and 34b are detachably attached. In addition, the boss is formed in a disk shape, a projection is formed on the back surface, and the projection is fitted into a hole formed in the paper guide. May be detachably attached to the paper guide.

In this embodiment, the movement of the paper guides 32a, 32b is restricted by attaching the O-rings 64a, 64b to the guide shaft 48. However, the movement of the paper guides 32a, 32b is restricted. The means for performing this is not limited to this, and other means may be used.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the boss attached to the paper guide can be changed corresponding to the diameter of the core of the paper roll to be held, various paper rolls having different core diameters can be held.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a portable printer.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a paper holder.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a paper holder.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mounting structure of a boss.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a slider support structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Portable printer, 12 Body case, 13
Power switch, 14 Front cover, 15 Battery cover, 16 Open / close lever, 17 Connector, 18
... Data receiving unit, 20 ... Spindle, 22 ... Operation unit, 24 ... Feed button, 26 ... Print button, 28 ... Label take-out, 30 ... Paper holder, 32a, 32b ... Paper guide, 34a, 34b ... Boss, 35a , 35b ... projection, 3
6a, 36b: slider, 38a, 38b: column, 4
0: rib, 42: guide groove, 44a, 44b: tip piece,
46a, 46b: shaft groove, 48: guide shaft,
50a, 50b: shaft hole, 52: pinion, 54 ...
Boss, 56 ... pressing member, 58 ... screw, 60a, 60b
... Rack, 62 ... Spring, 64a, 64b ... O-ring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper holder for a printer, which is provided so as to be able to expand and contract by sliding on the same axis and which sandwiches and holds a paper roll from both sides by a pair of paper guides urged in a direction approaching each other by an urging member. A boss that fits into the core of the paper roll is detachably attached to the pair of paper guides, and the boss can be replaced according to the diameter of the core of the paper roll to be held. Printer paper holder. 2. The paper holder according to claim 1, wherein the boss is formed in a donut shape and is removably attached to a projection formed on the paper guide. 3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a regulating member that regulates the movement of the pair of paper guides so that an interval between the pair of paper guides is not narrower than a width of a held paper roll. 3. The paper holder of the printer according to 2.