JP2008006683A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an opening/closing member of a printer body to be opened by a one-touch operation without a specific operation. <P>SOLUTION: This printer comprises the printer body 1 having rotatable opening/closing member 29, first and second springs 13, 22 that resiliently press first and second print heads 10, 20 against first and second platen rollers 11, 21 by being compressed by virtue of the closing action of the opening/closing member 29, a lock means 28 for locking the opening/closing member 29 to a closing position, an operation button 31 for releasing the lock means 28 from the locking state, a toggle spring 24 for opening the opening/closing member 29 by the spring force based on the releasing of the lock means 28 from the locking state by the operation button 31, and a rotating lever 23 for lowering the opening speed of the opening/closing member 29 to be opened by the toggle spring 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that simultaneously prints on both sides of a sheet.

  In this type of printing apparatus, a first printing unit is disposed on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction in the paper conveyance path, and a second printing unit is disposed on the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction. There is one that prints on both sides of a sheet simultaneously by the second printing unit.

The first printing unit includes a first thermal head as a print head, and a first platen roller that is disposed opposite to the first thermal head via a paper conveyance path and conveys the paper. The The second printing unit includes a second thermal head as a print head, and a second platen roller that is disposed to face the second thermal head via a paper conveyance path and conveys the paper. The The first and second thermal heads, and further, the first and second platen rollers are respectively arranged on the opposite sides of the paper transport path so that printing can be performed simultaneously on both sides of the paper (for example, Patent Document 1). reference.).
US Pat. No. 6,784,906

  By the way, the paper is loaded into the apparatus main body in a roll shape and pulled out, so that it is used between the first and second printing sections. When the sheet runs out due to this use, it is necessary to replace the sheet. In this case, the opening / closing member on the upper surface side of the apparatus main body is opened to replace the sheet.

  However, conventionally, since the opening and closing members are all opened by the operator's hands, it takes time.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus in which the opening and closing member can be opened with one touch without requiring a special operation. .

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a first aspect of the present invention is a printer main body having a pivotable opening / closing member, and a printer body which is disposed opposite to the printer main body via a paper transport path and prints on one side of the paper. The first print head and the first platen, the second print head and the second platen for printing on the other side of the paper, and the first and second compressed by the closing operation of the opening / closing member. First and second spring members that elastically press the print head against the first and second platens, locking means for locking the opening / closing member in the closed position, and unlocking means for unlocking the locking means And an opening spring material for releasing the opening and closing member by a spring force based on the unlocking means being unlocked by the unlocking means, and the opening and closing portion opened by the opening spring material Characterized by comprising a speed reduction means that decelerates the speed of opening.

  According to the present invention, the opening / closing member can be opened with one touch, and the paper replacement operation is facilitated.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body, and a reel unit 3 for supplying paper 2 is provided in the apparatus main body 1. Both sides of the sheet 2 are thermal printing surfaces, and are drawn out along the sheet transport path 4.

  First and second printing units 6 and 7 are disposed in the sheet conveyance path 4. The first printing unit 6 is located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper 2, and the second printing unit 7 is located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper 2.

  The first printing unit 6 includes a first thermal head 10 as a first printing head, and a first platen roller 11 is disposed opposite to the first thermal head 10 via a paper conveyance path 4. It is ranked. The lower portion of the first thermal head 10 is rotatably supported on the main body frame side via a support shaft 10a, and the upper portion thereof is elastically pressed by a first spring 13 as a first spring material, and generates heat. The surface is pressed against the first platen roller 11. The first platen roller 11 is rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown) so as to convey the paper 2.

  The second printing unit 7 has a second thermal head 20 as a second printing head, and a second platen roller 21 is disposed opposite to the second thermal head 20 via the paper transport path 4. Has been. The second platen roller 21 is rotatably mounted on the main body frame side, and is rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown) to convey the paper 2.

  The second thermal head 20 is rotatably attached to the lower-side central portion of the upper frame 23 via a support shaft 20a. The second thermal head 20 is elastically pressed downward by a second spring 22 as a second spring material, and a heat generating surface thereof is brought into pressure contact with the second platen roller 21.

  One end of the upper frame 23 is rotatably supported by the main body frame via a support shaft 23a, and the first platen roller 11 is rotatably attached to the rotating end of the upper frame 23. Yes.

  Specifically, the first platen roller 11 and the second thermal head 20 are attached to the upper frame 23, and the first thermal head 10 and the second platen roller 21 are attached to the main body frame side.

  Further, a toggle spring 24 is provided as an opening spring material on one end side of the upper frame 23, and the upper frame 23 is rotated upward by the spring force of the toggle spring 24 so as to be opened.

  A locking pin 26 as a locking member protrudes from the side surface of the upper frame 23, and a hook lever 27 as a hook member is detachably engaged with the locking pin 26. The locking pin 26 and the hook lever 27 constitute a locking means. The lower portion of the hook lever 27 is rotatably attached via a support shaft 27a, and a cam portion 27c that is in contact with the first thermal head 10 is integrally formed on a part of the hook lever 27. .

  On the other hand, an upper surface cover 30 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be freely opened and closed, and the upper surface cover 30 and the above-described upper frame 23 constitute an opening / closing member 29. The upper surface cover 30 is provided coaxially with the upper frame 23 and is opened and closed integrally with the upper frame 23.

  The upper cover 30 is provided with an operation button 31 as a lock release means, and a tapered surface 31 a is formed at the lower end of the operation button 31. A tapered surface 27 b that faces the tapered surface 31 a of the operation button 31 is formed at the upper end portion of the hook lever 27.

  When the operation button 31 is pushed down with the upper surface cover 30 closed, the tapered surface 31a is pressed against the tapered surface 27b of the hook lever 27, and the hook lever 27 is rotated in the clockwise direction so that The engagement is released, and the first thermal head 10 is pushed by the cam portion 27 c to be separated from the first platen roller 11.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pivot lever 34 constituting a speed reduction means is coaxially provided on the support shaft 23a of the upper frame 23 described above. A spring 35 serving as a load applying member that biases the rotation lever 34 in the counterclockwise rotation direction is connected to the lower side of the rotation lever 34.

  A protrusion 33 made of rubber (NBR) protrudes from the side surface of the upper frame 23, and the protrusion 33 comes into contact with the rotating lever 34 when the upper frame 23 is opened.

  Next, the printing operation of the printing apparatus configured as described above will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first and second platen rollers 11 and 21 are illustrated by a driving mechanism (not shown) from a state where the sheet 2 is stretched between the first printing unit 6 and the second printing unit 7. It is driven to rotate by the arrow. As a result, the sheet 2 is fed in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and information is printed on one side of the sheet 2 by the first thermal head 10, and information is respectively printed on the other side of the sheet 2 by the second thermal head 20. It will be printed at the same time.

  By the way, when the paper 2 is used up by this printing, it is necessary to replenish the paper 2 anew.

  Next, the replenishment operation of the paper 2 will be described.

  In this case, first, the operation button 31 is depressed. As a result, the upper tapered surface 27b of the hook lever 27 is pushed by the lower tapered surface 31a of the operation button 31, and the hook lever 27 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 27a. As a result of this rotation, the hook lever 27 is detached from the locking pin 26, and the first thermal head 10 is pushed by the cam portion 27c to resist the urging force of the first spring 13, and the timepiece is centered on the support shaft 10a. Rotate in the direction away from the first platen roller 11. By releasing the lock, the upper frame 23 is rotated a little upward about the support shaft 23 a by the repulsive force of the second spring 22, and is further rotated upward by the spring force of the toggle spring 24, so that the upper surface cover 30 is rotated. At the same time, it is released to the standing state.

  By the way, when the upper frame 23 is opened, the protrusion 33 of the upper frame 23 abuts on the upper side of the rotating lever 34 as shown in FIG. As a result, the pivot lever 34 pivots clockwise about the support shaft 34a. At this time, the urging force of the spring 35 acts on the pivot lever 34 as a pivot load, and the upper frame 23 is opened. Thus, the momentum is reduced to an appropriate speed and released together with the upper surface cover 30. After opening in this way, a new sheet is replenished in the apparatus main body 1 to complete the replacement of the sheet.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the upper frame 23 and the upper surface cover 30 can be opened simply by depressing the operation button 31 and releasing the engagement with the locking pin 26 and the hook lever 27. Therefore, the operator only needs to depress the operation button 31 and the opening operation of the upper frame 23 and the upper surface cover 30 becomes easy.

  Further, when the upper frame 23 is opened, the protrusion 33 of the upper frame 23 is brought into contact with the rotation lever 34 to rotate the rotation lever 34 against the urging force of the spring 35. Sometimes the opening speed of the upper frame 23 is decelerated by the urging force of the spring 35, so that it can be opened safely.

  Further, when the upper frame 23 is opened, the cam portion 27 c of the hook lever 27 rotates the first thermal head 10 against the urging force of the first spring 13 to separate it from the first platen roller 11. The contact pressure between the first thermal head 10 and the first platen roller 11 does not become an opening load, and smooth opening is possible.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, you may delete some components from all the components shown by embodiment mentioned above. Furthermore, you may combine the component covering different embodiment suitably.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a speed reduction mechanism for reducing the opening speed of the opening / closing cover of the printing apparatus of FIG. 1. The figure which shows the operation state of the deceleration mechanism of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Paper, 4 ... Paper conveyance path, 10 ... 1st thermal head (1st printing head), 11 ... 1st platen roller, 13 ... 1st spring (1st spring material), 20 ... 1st 2 thermal head (second print head), 21... Second platen roller, 22... Second spring (second spring material), 23... Upper frame, 24 .. toggle spring (spring material for opening), 26 ...... Lock pin (lock member), 27 ... Hook lever (hook member), 28 ... Lock means, 29 ... Opening / closing member, 30 ... Top cover, 31 ... Operation button (lock release means), 34 ... Rotating lever ( Deceleration means).

Claims (5)

An apparatus body having a rotatable opening and closing member;
A first print head and a first platen which are disposed opposite to each other through a paper conveyance path in the apparatus main body and print on one side of the paper, and further, a second print head and a second print which print on the other side of the paper. Platen
First and second spring members that are compressed based on the closing operation of the opening and closing member and elastically press the first and second print heads against the first and second platens;
Locking means for locking the open / close member in a closed position;
Unlocking means for unlocking the locking means;
An opening spring material for releasing the opening and closing member by a spring force based on the unlocking means being unlocked by the unlocking means;
A printing apparatus comprising: a speed reducing unit that decelerates an opening speed of the opening and closing member opened by the opening spring material.   The locking means includes a locking member provided on the opening / closing member and a rotatable hook member that is detachably engaged with the locking member, and is based on the unlocking operation of the unlocking means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hook member is rotated to release the engagement between the hook member and the locking member. The first platen is attached to a rotating end side of the opening / closing member, and the second print head is attached to a middle portion of the opening / closing member,
The first print head and the second platen are attached to the apparatus body side,
The first print head is pressed against the first platen in a direction orthogonal to the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing member by the first spring material,
The hook member has a cam portion, and rotates when the lock is released, so that the cam portion separates the first print head from the first print head against the spring force of the first spring material. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing apparatus is moved in a moving direction.   The speed reducer includes a protrusion provided on the opening / closing member, a rotation lever that rotates when the protrusion is in contact with the opening / closing member, and a load in a rotation direction is applied to the rotation lever. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a load applying member that performs printing.   The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rotation lever is provided coaxially with the opening / closing member.

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