JP2003200624A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermal printer which can reduce a plane area when loaded onto various information devices. <P>SOLUTION: A platen roller separation means is provided, which is constituted of an operation element (5d) formed by extending one end part of a rotary shaft support part (5a) of a lock arm (5) in a direction to separate from a platen roller (2), and a pressing means (a slide type releasing lever L1 and a rotary type releasing lever L2) for pressing the operation element down against an exciting force of an exciting means when the means is engaged with the operation element. The platen roller separation means releases an engagement state of a rotary shaft of the platen roller and the rotary shaft support part of the lock arm member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small thermal printer mounted on various portable information equipments,
In particular, the present invention relates to a thermal printer in which a platen roller can be attached and detached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional line dot type thermal printer is a thermal recording device comprising a line thermal head, a platen roller, a driving means for the line thermal head, which is installed in a frame so as to face each other, and a conveyance path formed in the frame. It is composed of a paper transport mechanism.

By the way, there is provided a thermal printer in which a platen roller can be detached from a frame so that an operation of interposing a roll paper used as a recording sheet between the line thermal head and the platen roller can be easily performed. is there.

An example of the construction of a conventional thermal printer having a platen roller separating mechanism will now be described with reference to FIGS.

A thermal printer P2 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a platen roller 102 rotatably supported by a frame 101, and a head support 103 having a thermal head H facing the platen roller 102.
And two coil springs 104 that apply a biasing force that presses the head support 103 against the platen roller 102.
And both ends 1 of the rotary shaft 102A of the platen roller 102
02A1 and 102A2 rotatably supporting a lock arm member 105, a motor M as a drive source, and a motor M
The rotational driving force of the platen roller 102 at one end 102A2
The gear transmission mechanism G is configured to transmit to the driven gear 102B fixed to.

The lock arm member 105 is substantially U-shaped as a whole, and both end portions 10 of the rotary shaft of the platen roller 102 are formed.
A pair of hook-shaped rotating shaft support portions (latch portions) 105a that engage with 2A1 and 102A2 and draw the surface of the platen roller 102 so as to press the surface of the platen roller 102 toward the thermal head H side.
And the latch portion 1 via both sides of the head support 103.
A pair of arm portions 105b for guiding 05a to the rear of the head support body 103, and an elastic member support portion 105c provided at both ends of the arm support portion 105b and arranged in the width direction behind the head support body 103 to support the coil spring 104. Is equipped with. The lock arm member 105 is the frame 101.
Is rotatably supported on both side surfaces of the.

Further, the lock arm member 105 itself is provided at the upper end of the elastic member support portion 105c of the lock arm member 105 so as to release the engagement between the latch portion 105a and both shaft ends 102a and 102b of the platen roller 102. A release lever portion L3 is provided as an engagement releasing means for swinging to the platen roller side.

The thermal printer P2 having such a configuration is an information terminal (for example, as shown in FIG. 7).
It is mounted on a portable information terminal (E3), etc., which allows a courier or the like to make a card payment at the customer's place.

The information terminal E3 has a case body C3, for example, an input section 200 including a plurality of key buttons, a liquid crystal display section 201, a card reading section 202 for reading data from a magnetic recording section of a magnetic card, and a roll-shaped recording. The recording paper storage unit 203 for storing the paper R and the platen roller 102 are pivotally supported,
A cover member 2 that can be opened and closed together with the platen roller 102
It has 04 etc.

The installation space S between the card reading section 202 and the recording sheet storage section 203 on the upper surface of the case body C3.
2, the release lever portion L3 of the thermal printer P2 is exposed to the outside through the opening 205.

Then, in the information terminal E3, when the thermal printer P2 is replenished with the recording paper R or when the roll paper R is jammed, the release lever portion L3 is
Both ends 102A1 and 102A of the rotary shaft of the platen roller 102 are operated by operating as indicated by an arrow A in FIGS. 5B and 6B.
The A2 and the latch portion 105a of the lock arm member 105 are released from the engaged state, and as shown in FIG. 7, the platen roller 102 can be removed together with the cover member 204 in an open state.

As a result, there is an advantage that the replenishment work of the recording paper R and the removal work of the jammed paper can be carried out quickly and easily.

[0013]

However, due to the demand for further miniaturization of the portable information terminals as described above, further miniaturization and space saving of the thermal printers mounted therein are required. There is.

For example, also in the thermal printer P2 having the above-described structure, by disposing the motor M on the lower side of the frame 101, the area on the plane is reduced and the plane area of the case body C3 of the information terminal E3 is reduced. Although this contributes to downsizing, it is effective to further reduce the installation space S2 of the release lever portion L3 of the platen roller 102 for further downsizing.

In particular, in the information terminal E3 having the above-mentioned structure, the plane area for providing the card reading section 202 is large, so that the release lever section L3 arranged on the upper surface is omitted to reduce the plane area. Is effective.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thermal printer capable of further reducing the planar area when mounted on various information devices. .

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermal printer according to the present invention comprises a frame (1) having a pair of side wall portions arranged facing each other at a predetermined interval in the paper width direction, A head support (3) which holds the line thermal head (H) and is rotatably supported by the pair of side wall portions, and a platen roller (2) whose peripheral surface abuts against the line thermal head. A lock arm member (5) for rotatably supporting both end portions (2C, 2D) of the rotary shaft (2A) of the platen roller, and a pair of hook-shaped rotary shafts of the lock arm member that can be engaged and disengaged. An urging means (coil spring 4) for applying an urging force for pressing the peripheral surface of the platen roller to the line thermal head side to the support section (latch section 5a), and a rotational drive force to one end of the platen roller. Constant has been driven gear (gear portion 2B)
And a gear transmission mechanism (G) for transmitting the gear to the platen roller, the operating piece (5d) being formed by extending one end of the rotation shaft support portion of the lock arm in a direction separating from the platen roller. ) And a pressing means (sliding type release lever L) that engages with the operation piece and presses the operation piece against the urging force of the urging means.
1, a rotation type release lever L2), and platen roller releasing means for releasing the engagement state between the rotary shaft of the platen roller and the rotary shaft supporting portion of the lock arm member.

As a result, it is not necessary to dispose the operation lever (release lever member) for separating the platen roller upward as in the conventional case. Therefore, when it is incorporated in various information equipment, the plane (top surface) of the information equipment can be The operation lever and its operation space can be omitted, and the planar area can be reduced to contribute to downsizing. In the present invention, the pressing means can be arranged on a side wall portion of the information device that does not hinder the size reduction.

Further, the pressing means is slidably attached along a slide groove formed in one side wall portion of the housing for accommodating the thermal printer, and engages with the operation piece in the housing. It is possible to have a slide member with possible engagements. As a result, the pressing means can be arranged without hindering downsizing of the information device,
The plane area can be reduced.

The pressing means includes a rotating shaft arranged in parallel with the platen roller at a position near the operation piece, and a rotating shaft at the shaft end of the rotating shaft. Accordingly, an engaging member that engages with the operation piece and presses it down, and a lever member that is fixed to the rotation shaft and can rotate the rotation shaft may be provided. As a result, the degree of freedom in the arrangement position of the pressing means is increased, which can contribute to miniaturization of various information devices and improve operability.

The upper end of the lever member is
The thermal printer can be configured to be exposed to the outside through a slide groove formed on the upper surface of the housing that houses the thermal printer and to be operable from the outside of the housing. This allows the platen roller to be easily detached from the outside of the housing (cover).

Further, the urging means is composed of an elastic member interposed between the beam portion of the lock arm member extending in the width direction of the frame and the back surface portion of the line thermal head. You can As a result, it is possible to provide a thermal printer that can easily and inexpensively reduce the planar area by utilizing the structure of an existing thermal printer.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a thermal printer P1 according to the present invention.
2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a thermal printer P1.
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the schematic configuration of FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the thermal printer P1 includes a frame 1 made of an injection-molded product of a plastic such as polycarbonate having a pair of side wall portions arranged opposite to each other at a predetermined interval in the paper width direction. A head support 3 for holding a thermal head H having a large number of heating elements, a lock arm member 5 for rotatably and detachably supporting the platen roller 2 by the pair of side wall portions of the frame 1, and as a drive source. Motor M and a gear transmission mechanism G for transmitting the rotational driving force of the motor M to a driven gear 2B fixed to one end 2C of the platen roller 2.

The lock arm member 5 has a substantially U-shape as a whole, and both end portions 2C, 2 of the rotary shaft 2A of the platen roller 2 are formed.
A pair of hook-shaped rotating shaft support portions (latch portions) 5a that engage with D and draw the surface of the platen roller 2 into pressure contact with the thermal head H side, and a latch portion via both sides of the head support body 3. A pair of arm portions 5b for guiding the coil 5a to the rear of the head support 3, and a pair of arm portions 5b provided at both ends in the width direction behind the head support 3 are provided for the coil spring 4.
And an elastic member support portion 5c for supporting the. In addition,
The lock arm member 5 is rotatably supported on both side surfaces of the frame 1.

Further, the arm portion 5 of the lock arm member 5
One of b (in the present embodiment, the end 2 of the platen roller 2)
An operation piece 5d formed by extending the tip of the (D side) in the direction of separating from the platen roller 2 is provided.

The operation piece 5d is pushed down by a slide release lever L1 or a rotary release lever L2 as a pressing means which will be described later, so that the latch portion 5a and the shaft ends 2C and 2D of the platen roller 2 are separated from each other. The lock arm member 5 itself is swung to the platen roller side so as to release the engagement.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B, the operation piece 5d of the lock arm member 5 is pushed down to open the platen roller 2 together with the cover member of the information equipment, for example. The recording paper can be refilled and the jammed paper can be removed quickly and easily.

Moreover, according to the thermal printer P1 of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to dispose the operation lever (release lever member) for separating the platen roller 2 on the upper surface side of the information device as in the conventional case, so that various information can be obtained. When incorporated in a device, the operation lever and its operation space can be omitted on the plane (upper surface) of the information device, and the plane area can be reduced to contribute to downsizing. In addition,
The slide-type release lever L1 or the like as the pressing means can be arranged on the side wall or the like of the information device that does not hinder the downsizing.

An example in which the thermal printer P1 according to the present embodiment is installed in an information device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In FIG. 3, a thermal printer P is attached to a portable information terminal (for example, an information terminal where a courier or the like can make a card payment at the customer) E1 as a kind of information equipment.
An example in which 1 is installed is shown.

The information terminal E1 has, on the case body C1, an input section 200 including, for example, a plurality of key buttons, a liquid crystal display section 201, a card reading section 202 for reading data from a magnetic recording section of a magnetic card, and a roll-shaped recording. A recording paper storage unit 203 that stores the paper R, a cover member 204 that pivotally supports the platen roller 2, and that can be opened and closed together with the platen roller 2 are provided.

A slide type release lever L1 for removing the platen roller 2 of the thermal printer P1 is provided on the side surface (the right side surface in this embodiment) of the case body C1. The slide type release lever L1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the protrusion L1a that engages with the operation piece 5d of the lock arm member 5 of the thermal printer P1 from above.
And a non-slip portion L1b that catches a fingertip when sliding, and is slidably supported from the inside by a slide groove 300 opened on the side surface of the case body C1.
The side b is exposed outside the case body C1.

Then, by pushing down the slide type release lever L1 having such a structure, the convex portion L1
a is engaged with the operation piece 5d of the lock arm member 5 of the thermal printer P1 and pushed down, and FIG.
As shown in (b), the latch portion 5a and the platen roller 2
The engagement with both shaft ends 2C and 2D is released, and the platen roller 2 can be removed together with the cover member 204 in an open state as shown in FIG.

As a result, the slide release lever L1 as the pressing means can be arranged without impeding the miniaturization of the information equipment, and the plane area can be reduced. That is, the information terminal E3 shown in FIG.
When the information terminal E1 shown in (a) is compared, the information terminal E
3, the card reading unit 202 and the recording paper storage unit 203 on the upper surface side
It was necessary to provide an installation space S2 having a relatively large area between the and, but to provide the release lever portion L3.
In the information terminal E1 according to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to provide the release lever on the upper surface side, the space S1 between the card reading unit 202 and the recording paper storage unit 203 on the upper surface side of the information terminal E3 can be reduced. As a result, the plane area of the information terminal E1 can be made smaller than that of the conventional information terminal E3, which can contribute to further miniaturization.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, an example in which the thermal printer P1 is mounted on the information device E2 having the rotary release lever L2 will be described.

The information device E2 includes a case body C2, a storage portion 30 for the thermal printer P1 and the recording paper R, and a cover portion 40 which pivotally supports the platen roller 2 of the thermal printer P1 and can be opened and closed together with the platen roller 2. The rotary release lever L2, which is provided at least, is rotatably supported in parallel with the platen roller 2 and the like on the side of the lock arm member 5 of the thermal printer P1 on which the operation piece 5d is provided.
0, an engagement piece 10a fixed to one end of the rotary shaft 10 and engageable with the operation piece 5d of the lock arm member 5 from above,
The rotary shaft 10 includes a lever member 20 which is fixed to the center of the rotary shaft 10 and is rotatable toward the platen roller 2 side. The lever member 20 is exposed to the outside through an operation port 40a opened on the outer wall of the cover portion 40. Then, by manually rotating the lever member 20 upward from the outside of the cover portion 40, the engagement piece 10a fixedly mounted on the rotary shaft 10 moves the operation piece 5d of the lock arm member 5 of the thermal printer P1. Is pushed down, the latch 5a and both shaft ends 2 of the platen roller 2
The engagement with C and 2D is released, and the platen roller 2 can be removed together with the cover member 40 in an open state.

As a result, the degree of freedom of the arrangement position of the release lever L2 as the pressing means is increased as compared with the conventional case, which can contribute to downsizing of various information devices and improve the operability.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the thermal printer P1 is mounted on a portable information device has been described, but the invention is not limited to this, and it can be mounted on various information devices such as a facsimile and a notebook personal computer. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to miniaturization of these various information devices.

[0042]

As described above, the thermal printer according to the present invention holds a line thermal head and a frame having a pair of side wall portions which are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval in the paper width direction, Head support rotatably supported by the side wall of the platen, a platen roller whose peripheral surface is in contact with the line thermal head, and a lock rotatably supporting both ends of the rotary shaft of the platen roller. An arm member and a biasing unit for applying a biasing force for pressing the peripheral surface of the platen roller to the line thermal head side to the pair of detachable hook-shaped rotating shaft support portions of the lock arm member; A thermal printer comprising at least a gear transmission mechanism for transmitting a driving force to a driven gear fixed to one end of the platen roller, The operating piece formed by extending one end of the rotary shaft supporting portion in a direction in which it separates from the platen roller, and the operating piece is engaged with the operating piece to apply the urging force of the urging means. The platen roller detaching means for releasing the engagement state between the rotating shaft of the platen roller and the rotating shaft supporting portion of the lock arm member is provided. Since it is not necessary to dispose the operation lever for detaching the platen roller on the upper side, the operation lever and its operation space can be omitted on the flat surface (upper surface) of the information equipment when incorporated in various information equipment. This has the effect of reducing the area and contributing to miniaturization.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a thermal printer P1 to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a thermal printer P1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view (a) showing an example in which a thermal printer P1 is mounted on an information terminal, and a schematic configuration diagram (b) of a main part thereof.

FIG. 4 is a partially transparent perspective view showing an example in which a thermal printer P1 is mounted on an information device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional thermal printer P2.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional thermal printer P2.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example in which a conventional thermal printer P2 is mounted on an information device.

[Explanation of symbols]

P1 thermal printer 1 frame 2 Platen roller 2A shaft 2B gear part 2C, 2D end H thermal head 3 head support 4 coil spring 5 Lock arm member 5a Latch part 5b arm 5c Elastic member support 5d operation piece M motor E1 Portable information terminal L1 slide type release lever E2 Information equipment L2 rotation type release lever R recording paper

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A head support body, which holds a line thermal head and is rotatably supported by the pair of side wall portions, the frame having a pair of side wall portions arranged to face each other at a predetermined interval in the paper width direction. A platen roller whose peripheral surface is in contact with the line thermal head; a lock arm member that rotatably supports both ends of the rotary shaft of the platen roller; and a lock arm member that is detachable. An urging means for applying an urging force for pressing the peripheral surface of the platen roller to the line thermal head side to the pair of hook-shaped rotating shaft supporting parts, and a driven gear fixed to one end of the platen roller for rotational driving force. A gear transmission for transmitting to the platen roller, wherein at least one end of the rotation shaft support portion of the lock arm is connected to the platen roller. The platen includes: an operating piece formed to extend in the direction of separating; and a pressing means that engages with the operating piece and presses the operating piece against the urging force of the urging means. A thermal printer comprising platen roller releasing means for releasing engagement between a rotary shaft of a roller and a rotary shaft supporting portion of the lock arm member. 2. The pressing means is slidably attached along a slide groove formed on one side wall of a housing that houses the thermal printer, and engages with the operation piece in the housing. The thermal printer according to claim 1, further comprising a slide member having a possible engaging portion. 3. The pressing means includes a rotation shaft arranged in parallel with the platen roller at a position near the operation piece, and at a shaft end of the rotation shaft, rotation of the rotation shaft. And an engaging member that engages with the operation piece and presses it down, and a lever member that is fixed to the rotation shaft and is capable of rotating the rotation shaft. The thermal printer according to claim 1. 4. The lever member is configured such that an upper end thereof is exposed to the outside through a slide groove formed in an upper surface of a housing that houses the thermal printer, and is operable from the outside of the housing. The thermal printer according to claim 3, wherein the thermal printer is provided. 5. The biasing means is composed of an elastic member interposed between a beam portion of the lock arm member extending in the width direction of the frame and a back surface portion of the line thermal head. The thermal printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: