JP2003231328A - Supporting device of operating panel for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a supporting device of an operating panel for printer in which the inclination angle of the operating panel for printer and the positioning thereof in the height direction can be regulated as required. <P>SOLUTION: The supporting device of an operating panel for printer comprises a printer body 4, a supporting arm 18 rotatable with respect to the printer body 4 through a first holding mechanism 20 provided at one end thereof and holdable at an arbitrary rotational position, and an operating panel 16 being supported rotatably through a second holding mechanism 22 provided at the other end of the supporting arm 18 and held rotatably in an arbitrary inclining state. <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 support device for a printer operation panel, and more particularly to a printer which can hold the operation panel of the printer at any inclination angle and height position as required. The present invention relates to a support device for an operation panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various printers, an operation panel for operating the printer is provided at a predetermined portion of the printer body. However, when the operation panel is provided on the side surface of the printer body, the printer is installed. Depending on the location or height, there is a problem that the relative posture with respect to the operator may change, and it may be difficult to operate various switches on the operation panel.

In addition, recently, in order to display the operation contents of various switches on the operation panel, an LCD (liquid crysta
Many of them are equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD). Not only the operability but also the operation contents displayed on the LCD are difficult to see unless the posture of the operation panel is adjusted to an appropriate angle. There has been a demand for a device that can tilt the operation panel at an arbitrary angle in order to improve the visibility of the LCD. For example, the operation panel tilting device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-20044 (hereinafter referred to as “preceding example”). Called) was proposed.

However, in the prior example, although the tilt angle of the operation panel can be adjusted as necessary, the adjustment in the height direction is not taken into consideration.
In particular, since there is a difficulty in improving the visibility of the LCD, it has been desired to develop a support device for a printer operation panel that can reliably position and adjust both the tilt angle and the height.

[0005]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and adjusts the inclination angle and the positioning in the height direction of the printer operation panel as necessary. An object of the present invention is to provide a support device for a printer operation panel that enables the above.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a supporting device for a printer operation panel according to the present invention comprises a printer main body and a first holding mechanism provided at one end of the printer main body. And a support arm that is rotatable via the second holding mechanism provided at the other end of the support arm , And an operation panel capable of being rotated and held in an arbitrary inclined state. Further, the printer main body and the first holding mechanism according to claim 2 are connected to each other via a first support shaft fixed to one of these and a first mounting portion fixed to the other,
A one-way clutch that allows rotation of the support arm only in a direction approaching the printer body and a spring clutch that allows rotation only in a direction away from the printer body are coaxially provided between the mounting portion and the support shaft. This spring clutch allows rotation only when a force exceeding the torque due to the weight of the support arm is applied, and the support arm and the second holding mechanism are fixed to either one of them. A second support shaft that is fixed to the other, and a one-way clutch that allows rotation only in the upright direction of the operation panel between the mounting part and the support shaft. , Equipped coaxially with a spring clutch that allows rotation only in the fall direction,
This spring clutch can be allowed to rotate only when a force exceeding the torque due to the weight of the operation panel is applied. Furthermore, the support arm according to the third aspect can be housed in a housing portion provided inside the printer body when the support arm is pivotally positioned on the printer body side. Further, the first and second holding mechanisms according to claim 4 are felt,
It can be formed of a friction member having a high friction coefficient such as rubber.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 are schematic perspective views showing the appearance of a printer equipped with a support device for an operation panel according to the present invention.
The printer body 4 and the operation panel support device 6 are included.

The printer body 4 includes a casing portion 8 in which various portions such as a printing portion and a paper storing portion (not shown) are stored.
A cover portion 10 is provided, and a sheet outlet 12 is formed on the front surface (left side in FIG. 2) of the casing portion 8 and a storage portion 14 that can store a part of an operation panel support device 6 described later is formed. Has been done. Further, the upper surface of the printer body 4 has a shape that is obliquely cut out. That is, the upper portion of the front surface of the casing portion 8 and the front surface of the cover portion 10 that covers the casing portion 8 become the inclined surface portion 24 that continuously inclines toward the back side from the lower casing portion 8 toward the upper cover portion 10. There is.

The operation panel support device 6 is the printer body 4
The operation panel 16 provided on the front side of the vehicle (on the side of the outlet 12) and provided with various switch groups 16a and LCD 16b.
And a support arm 1 for rotatably supporting the operation panel 16.
8 and first and second holding mechanisms 20 and 22 that allow the support arm 18 to rotate with respect to the printer body 4 and hold the operation panel 16 at an arbitrary rotation position.

Mainly, as shown in FIG.
The operation panel 16 is supported on the upper end side of the printer via the second holding mechanism 22, while the support arm 18 is supported on the printer by the second holding mechanism 20 provided on the lower end side of the support arm 18. It is supported by the casing portion 8 of the main body 4.

The support arm 18 is rotatable with respect to the printer body 4 via the first holding mechanism 20 and can be held at an arbitrary rotating position.
Further, the operation panel 1 supported on the upper end side of the support arm 18
6 is rotatably supported via the second holding mechanism 22 and can be held at an arbitrary inclination angle.

Further, the support arm 18 of the operation panel support device 6
Is stored in the storage portion 14 when rotated to the printer body 4 side via the first holding mechanism 20, and is rotatable on the upper end side of the support arm 18 via the second holding mechanism 22. The operation panel 16 provided on the printer 2 is positioned along the inclined surface portion 24 so as not to project, and does not interfere when the printer 2 is not used. Further, when the support arm 18 is rotated in a direction away from the printer body 4, the operation panel 16 also separates from the inclined surface portion 24, and the entire operation panel support device 6 separates from the printer body 4, so that the cover 10 is opened and closed. Also, it does not interfere with operations such as exchanging paper sheets (not shown) for the casing portion 8.

Next, the details of the second holding mechanism 22 will be described.
A description will be given based on FIGS. 4 to 6. The holding mechanism 22 is a cylindrical case body 30 fixed and installed on the support arm 18.
The case body 30 has a side wall 30a at one end, an opening 30b at the other end, and a flange (mounting portion) 30c extending outward on the side wall 30a side.
A plurality of radially extending grooves 30d are formed on the side wall 30a.

Inside the case body 30, a sleeve 34 having a coil spring 32 fitted on the peripheral surface thereof, and a one-way clutch 36 mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 34.
Is stored. Then, the one-way clutch 36 is locked to the sleeve 34 by fitting the groove 36a formed on the outer circumference of the one-way clutch 36 into the protrusion 34a provided on the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 34, and the coil spring 32 The coil spring 32 is positioned in the case body 30 by inserting the one end 32a into the groove 30d of the case body 30. They are the case body 30
A unit is achieved by fitting a disc-shaped lid 38 into the opening 30b.

The case body 30 and the coil spring 32 prohibit the rotation of the sleeve 34 in the direction in which the winding of the coil spring 32 is tightened (diameter reduction), and the rotational force exceeding the predetermined value (limit value) is applied in the opposite direction. The coil spring 32 expands in diameter to prevent the rotation, thereby forming a spring clutch.

The spring clutch has a lock-free direction opposite to that of the one-way clutch 36.

The second holding mechanism 22 constructed as described above
The flange 30c of the case body 30 is fixed to the support arm 18 of the operation panel support device 6 with screws or the like. On the other hand, a support shaft 40 is projectingly provided on the operation panel 16. Then, the hole 38a formed in the lid 38 of the holding mechanism 22 is fitted and inserted by the support shaft 40, and the inner peripheral surface of the one-way clutch 36 is fitted to the support shaft 40. With the above configuration, the operation panel 16 is rotatably supported by the support arm 18, and can be rotated and held at an arbitrary inclination angle.

The first holding mechanism 20 mainly includes a support shaft 50 protruding from the printer body 4 toward the support arm 18, a friction member (not shown) having a high friction coefficient such as rubber, or the like.
The friction member is made of an elastic member such as a spring (not shown) that applies an appropriate pressing force, and the support arm 18 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 50. The friction member and the elastic member (not shown) are interposed between the printer body 4 and the support arm 18 so that the support arm 18 can be held at an arbitrary rotational position with respect to the printer body 4.

In such a series of operations, the operation panel support device 6 operates as follows.

First, in order to make the operation panel 16 a desired height,
When a force greater than a predetermined (limit value) in the counterclockwise direction (leftward direction in FIG. 2) is applied to the support arm 18, the support arm 1
Reference numeral 8 rotates about a rotation shaft 50 as a fulcrum in a direction away from the printer body 4. Then, when the hand is released at an arbitrary position, the friction member and the elastic member (not shown) of the first holding mechanism 20 act on the support arm 18 to stop, and the entire operation panel support device 6 is held at the arbitrary rotation position. .

Next, in order to adjust the angle of the operation panel 16,
When a force greater than a predetermined (limit value) in the counterclockwise direction (leftward direction in FIG. 2) is applied to the operation panel 16, the second holding mechanism 2
The second coil spring 32 also rotates in the same direction. Also,
Since the coil spring 32 is pressure-bonded to the sleeve 34, the sleeve 34 is also rotated in the same direction, and the one-way clutch 36 that is integrally connected to the sleeve 34.
Is also rotated. Then, the rollers 36b of the one-way clutch 36 are pressed against the peripheral surface of the support shaft 40 of the operation panel 16, and the support arm 19 of the operation panel support device 6 is prevented from rotating in the direction away from the printer body 4.

In this state, if a force is applied in a direction to further loosen (raise) the operation panel 16, that is, the operation panel 1
When a force greater than a predetermined value (limit value) is applied to 6, the coil spring 32 is expanded as shown in FIG. 6, and as a result, the crimping force of the coil spring 32 against the sleeve 34 is weakened, and the coil spring 32 is Slide on 34. Therefore, the operation panel 16 rotates while changing the inclination angle in a direction in which the inclination is loosened as long as a predetermined force or more is applied, and when the operation panel 16 is positioned at the desired height, the operation panel 16 is released. The coil spring 32 cannot be expanded by the torque due to its own weight, and therefore the operation panel 16 remains at that position.

As described above, the first holding mechanism 20 provided between the printer body 4 and the support arm 18 allows the support arm 18 to be freely rotated and held with respect to the printer body 4 at an arbitrary rotation position. In addition, since the second holding mechanism 22 provided between the support arm 18 and the operation panel 16 can rotate and hold the operation panel 16 in an arbitrary tilted state, the printer operation panel 16 can be arbitrarily set as necessary. It is possible to maintain the tilt angle and the height position.

In the present embodiment, the example in which the second holding mechanism 22 is attached to the support arm 18 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be attached to the operation panel 16 side. is there.

Further, the friction member and the elastic member (not shown) are used as the first holding mechanism 20, and the coil spring 32 and the one-way clutch 36 are used as the second holding mechanism 22. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and the coil spring 32 and the one-way clutch 36 can be used as the first holding mechanism.

[0026]

The printer control panel support device according to the present invention has a structure in which the support arm is arbitrarily rotated with respect to the printer body 4 by the first holding mechanism provided between the printer body and the support arm. The printer operation panel can be freely rotated and held at a fixed position, and the second holding mechanism provided between the support arm and the operation panel can rotate and hold the operation panel in an arbitrary inclined state. Can be held at any tilt angle and height position as required.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printer equipped with a support device for a printer control panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the operation panel is separated from the printer body.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing each component of the holding mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the operation of the holding mechanism and showing a state in which the operation panel support device is rotated toward the printer body.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the holding mechanism and showing a state in which the operation panel support device is rotated from the printer body to an arbitrary position.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 printer 4 Printer body 6 Control panel support device 8 Casing part 10 Cover part 12 outlet 14 Storage 16 Control panel 16a switch group 16b LCD 18 Support arm 20 First holding mechanism 22 Second holding mechanism 30 case body 30a side wall 30b opening 30c flange 30d groove 32 coil spring 34 Sleeve 34a ridge 36 one-way clutch 36a groove 38 Lid 40 support shaft

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer main body, and a support arm that is rotatable with respect to the printer main body through a first holding mechanism provided at one end thereof and that can be held at an arbitrary rotational position. An operation panel, which is rotatably supported via a second holding mechanism provided at the other end of the support arm, and is rotatable and held in an arbitrary tilted state, Support device for printer control panel. 2. The printer body and the first holding mechanism are connected via a first support shaft fixed to either one of them and a first mounting portion fixed to the other,
A one-way clutch that allows rotation of the support arm only in a direction approaching the printer body and a spring clutch that allows rotation only in a direction away from the printer body are coaxially provided between the mounting portion and the support shaft. This spring clutch allows rotation only when a force exceeding the torque due to the weight of the supporting arm is applied, and the supporting arm and the second holding mechanism are fixed to either one of them. A second support shaft that is fixed to the other, and a one-way clutch that allows rotation only in the upright direction of the operation panel between the mounting part and the support shaft. , Equipped coaxially with a spring clutch that allows rotation only in the fall direction, and this spring clutch applies a force that exceeds the torque due to the weight of the operation panel. The support device for a printer operation panel according to claim 1, wherein rotation is allowed only when the operation panel is rotated. 3. The printer operation according to claim 1, wherein the support arm is housed in a housing portion provided in the printer body when the support arm is pivotally positioned on the printer body side. Board support device. 4. The operation panel for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the first and second holding mechanisms are formed of a friction member having a high friction coefficient such as felt or rubber. Support device.