JP2009179013A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can reduce the conveying load by the self-weight of rolled paper and can stabilize print quality (reading accuracy of bar code grade). <P>SOLUTION: The printer unwinds a printing medium 1 rotatably supported by a feed shaft 13 as the rolled paper 3 by conveying it with a platen roller 11, and prints the printing medium 1 unwound from the feed shaft 13. A damper part 6 is provided, in a conveying path for the printing medium from the feed shaft 13 to the platen roller 11, to be movable in the direction generally perpendicular to the conveyed printing medium 1, and abuts the conveyed printing medium 1 with a predetermined energizing force in the direction generally perpendicular to the printing medium. The damper part 6 is moved resisting to the energizing force, when the tension of the conveyed printing medium 1 is increased. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing by sandwiching and transporting a printing medium such as a label continuum in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached to a belt-like mount between a platen roller and a thermal head. The present invention relates to a printer that pulls out a printing medium supported rotatably on a shaft by being nipped and conveyed by a platen roller and a thermal head.

  In a printer that prints on a medium to be printed such as a continuous label body in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached to a belt-like mount, as a roll paper in which the medium to be printed is wound around a cylindrical body such as a paper tube Often configured to be rotatably supported by the supply shaft, the medium to be printed that is rotatably supported by the supply shaft as a roll paper is drawn and supplied by being sandwiched and transported between the platen roller and the thermal head. Printing is performed on a printing medium drawn from the shaft (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the conventional technology, when the roll paper roll diameter is large and heavy, a conveyance load is generated due to the roll paper's own weight at the start of conveyance of the print medium. Therefore, the conveyance amount is reduced and print quality such as print shrinkage is reduced. A decrease occurs. In particular, when printing a barcode that is orthogonal to the conveyance direction, there is a problem in that printing shrinkage occurs in a part of the barcode due to a conveyance load, and the barcode reading grade is deteriorated.

JP-A-10-29359

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can reduce the transport load due to the weight of the roll paper and can stabilize the print quality. In the point.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configurations.
The gist of the invention described in claim 1 is that a printing medium that is rotatably supported by a supply shaft as a roll paper is pulled out by being conveyed by a platen roller, and printing is performed on the printing medium that is pulled out from the supply shaft. A printer, which is disposed and transported in a transport path of the print medium from the supply shaft to the platen roller so as to be movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the print medium to be transported. The present invention resides in a printer comprising damper means that comes into contact with a predetermined urging force from a direction substantially perpendicular to the printing medium.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first guide means which is detachably attached to a side surface portion of a printer main body and guides one end portion of the print medium to be conveyed. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein one end portion of the damper means is supported by the means so as to be movable in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the printing medium to be conveyed.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the damper means includes a second guide means for guiding the other end portion of the printed medium to be conveyed, which moves in the width direction of the printed medium to be conveyed. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the printer is attached to be possible.
The gist of the invention of claim 2 is as follows:

  The printer of the present invention is a printer that pulls out a print medium that is rotatably supported by a supply shaft as roll paper by being conveyed by a platen roller, and prints on the print medium drawn from the supply shaft. It is arranged on the transport path of the print medium from the shaft to the platen roller so as to be movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transported print medium, and in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transported print medium Since the damper means is moved against the urging force when the tension of the printing medium to be conveyed is increased by providing the damper means that contacts with a predetermined urging force from the sheet, the roll paper is conveyed by its own weight. The load can be reduced by the urging force of the damper means, and the print quality can be stabilized.

  Furthermore, the printer of the present invention has first guide means that is detachably attached to the side surface portion of the printer main body and guides one end portion of the print medium to be conveyed, and the damper means is provided by the first guide means. By configuring the one end portion so as to be movable in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the printing medium to be conveyed, it is possible to easily attach and remove the damper means by attaching and detaching the first guide means. There is an effect that it is possible to easily clean paper dust or the like generated by abutting against the print medium.

  In the printer of the present invention, the second guide means for guiding the other end portion of the print medium to be conveyed is attached to the damper means so as to be movable in the width direction of the print medium to be conveyed. Even when the first guide means is attached to the side surface of the printer main body when the paper is replaced, the print medium pulled out from the roll paper can be passed from the second guide means side, There is an effect that it can be applied to a so-called cantilever printer in which the supply shaft is supported only on the side surface of the printer body.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the damper unit shown in FIG. 1 is assembled to a bottom plate and a side plate. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the damper unit shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the damper unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an assembly of the damper unit shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the bottom plate and side plate which are manufactured.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the printer 10 according to the present embodiment is a thermal unit in which a platen roller 11 and a surface on which a plurality of heating elements are formed in the width direction are disposed as opposed to the platen roller 11 as a printing unit. The print medium 1 such as a label continuous body having a head 12 and a plurality of labels temporarily attached to a belt-like mount and the ink ribbon 2 are stacked and conveyed between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12. Then, the heat generating body of the thermal head 12 is selectively heated to transfer the ink from the ink ribbon 2 to the print medium 1 so as to perform printing. Note that the print medium 1 may be a continuous tag body in which paper (tag) having no adhesive is continuously formed.

  The printing medium 1 is rolled around a cylindrical body such as a paper tube, that is, is rotatably supported on a supply shaft 13 as a roll paper 3, and is nipped and conveyed by a platen roller 11 and a thermal head 12. Thus, the print medium 1 drawn out from the supply shaft 13 is supplied between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12. The ink ribbon 2 is stretched between a ribbon take-up shaft 14 and a ribbon supply shaft 15 that are rotationally driven in conjunction with the platen roller 11, and is wound around the ribbon supply shaft 15 in a roll shape. The supported unused ink ribbon 2 is supplied together with the printing medium 1 between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12, and the transferred ink ribbon 2 is taken up by the ribbon take-up shaft 14. ing. Reference numeral 16 shown in FIG. 1 is a guide roller for guiding the unused ink ribbon 2 between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12, and reference numeral 17 shown in FIG. 1 indicates the ink ribbon 2 after transfer. A guide roller that guides the ribbon take-up shaft 14.

  The supply shaft 13, the ribbon take-up shaft 14 and the ribbon supply shaft 15 are cantilevered by the side surface portion 18, and the roll paper 3 is attached to the supply shaft 13 from the release end side of the supply shaft 13. In addition, the ink ribbon 2 is bridged to the ribbon take-up shaft 14 and the ribbon supply shaft 15 from the open ends of the ribbon take-up shaft 14 and the ribbon supply shaft 15. The thermal head 12 is attached to a head unit 20 that is pivotally supported by a rotation shaft 19 supported by a side surface portion 18, and is attached to a platen roller 11 provided on a bottom surface portion 21. It is possible to connect and disconnect.

  A damper unit 4 is disposed in the conveyance path of the print medium 1 from the supply shaft 13 to the printing unit (the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12). Referring to FIG. 2, the damper unit 4 is fixed to the side surface portion 18, and includes a first guide plate 5 that guides one end portion on the side surface portion 18 side of the print medium 1 to be conveyed, and the first guide plate. 5 and a damper portion 6 that comes into contact with the surface of the printing medium 1 to be conveyed from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface, and the other end of the printing medium 1 that is attached to and conveyed by the damper 6 is guided. And the damper portion 6 is movable in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow A, that is, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the print medium 1 to be conveyed. The second guide plate 7 can be moved in the left-right direction indicated by the arrow B, that is, in the width direction of the printing medium 1 to be conveyed, in accordance with the width of one sheet. 2 is a roll paper guide plate that guides the roll paper 3 mounted on the supply shaft 13.

  The first guide plate 5 is formed by sheet metal processing. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first guide plate 5 guides one end portion on the side surface portion 18 side of the printed medium 1 to be conveyed, and the upper and lower portions of the damper portion 6. A guide surface 52 in which a guide hole 51 for guiding the movement in the direction is formed, a positioning piece 53 for contacting the side surface 18 at the time of attachment and positioning the guide surface 52 substantially parallel to the side surface 18, and at the time of attachment A fixing surface 54 that abuts the side surface portion 18, a convex piece 55 that is formed below the guide surface 52, and for positioning the mounting position of the damper unit 4, and a spring locking piece to which one end of the spring 8 is locked 56. Referring to FIG. 5, a positioning hole 23 into which the convex piece 55 is fitted is formed in the bottom surface portion 21. The convex piece 55 is fitted into the positioning hole 23 in the bottom surface portion 21, and the positioning piece 53 is arranged on the side surface. By abutting against the portion 18, the first guide plate 5 can be positioned at a predetermined position with the guide surface 52 substantially parallel to the side surface portion 18. In addition, the side surface portion 18 is formed with a screw hole 24, and the fixing surface 54 is formed with an opening 57 facing the screw hole 24 of the side surface portion 18 at the time of attachment. The first guide plate 5 can be fixed to the side surface portion 18 by screwing the hand tightening screw 9 into the hole 24 and tightening it.

  The damper portion 6 is a columnar body that is created by resin molding and has a length equal to or greater than the maximum width of the printing medium 1 used in the printer 10, and is a surface of the printing medium 1 being conveyed. A guide plate mounting surface that is substantially perpendicular to the contact surface 61 and a guide hole 62 that is substantially perpendicular to the contact surface 61 and guides the movement of the second guide plate 7. 63, and is supported by the first guide plate 5 so as to be orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the print medium 1 and so that the contact surface 61 is parallel to the print medium 1 to be conveyed. ing. Further, at one end of the guide plate mounting surface 63, two cylindrical guided portions 64 arranged in a substantially vertical direction, that is, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the contact surface 61, and the two guided portions 64. And a cylindrical locking portion 65 that is longer than the guided portion 64 is formed so as to protrude in the longitudinal direction, and the two guided portions 64 and the locking portion 65 are connected to each other. The first guide plate 5 is inserted into the guide hole 51 formed in the guide surface 52 of the first guide plate 5 and fixed to the front end portions of the two guided portions 64 with screws 26a. The damper portion 6 is attached to the first guide plate 5 so as to be movable in the vertical direction along the guide hole 51 in a state where the guide surface 52 is sandwiched between the damper portion 6 and the attachment plate 25. The locking portion 65 penetrates the mounting plate 25, and the other end of the spring 8 is locked to the tip portion (or the screw 26b screwed to the tip), that is, the spring engagement of the first guide plate 5. The spring 8 is bridged between the stop piece 56 and the locking portion 65. As a result, the damper portion 6 is movable in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow A in a state where the damper portion 6 is urged by the spring 8 to push downward, that is, in a state in which the printing medium 1 is pushed in a substantially vertical direction from the surface side. Yes. In addition, the code | symbol 27 shown in FIG. 3 is a ring for reducing the friction force which is each fitted to the to-be-guided part 64, and reduces the guide surface 52 of the 1st guide plate 5, the attachment plate 25, and.

  The second guide plate 7 is created by sheet metal processing, and a guide surface 71 that guides the other end of the conveyed print medium 1 and a slidable contact surface 72 that is attached in contact with the guide plate attachment surface 63. And have. A cylindrical guided portion 28 that penetrates the guide hole 62 of the guide plate mounting surface 63 is attached to the surface of the sliding contact surface 72 that faces the guide plate mounting surface 63 by a screw 26c substantially perpendicular to the sliding contact surface 72. The retaining ring 29 that is loosely fitted to the guided portion 28 that has passed through the guide hole 62 is attached so as to be pressed against the guide plate attachment surface 63 by a spring 30 interposed between the screw 26d. Yes. As a result, the second guide plate 7 can be moved in the left-right direction indicated by the arrow B in accordance with the paper width of the printing medium 1, and is moved by the biasing force of the spring 30. It will be fixed to the place where it was made to.

Next, the operation of the damper unit 4 in the present embodiment will be described in detail.
In the present embodiment, the print medium 1 is pulled out from the roll paper 3 attached to the supply shaft 13 by nipping and conveying the print medium 1 between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12. When the conveyance of the printing medium 1 is started, a conveyance load is generated due to the weight of the roll paper 3, but when the conveyance load is generated, the tension of the printing medium 1 is increased, and the damper portion is in contact with the surface of the printing medium 1. 6 is moved upward against the downward urging force of the spring 8, and the conveyance load due to the weight of the roll paper 3 is reduced.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the printing medium 1 that is rotatably supported by the supply shaft 13 as the roll paper 3 is pulled out and conveyed from the supply shaft 13 by being conveyed by the platen roller 11. A printer 10 that performs printing on a printing medium 1, and is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyed printing medium 1 along a printing medium conveyance path from a supply shaft 13 to a platen roller 11. By providing the damper portion 6 that is arranged in the above and is in contact with the printing medium 1 to be conveyed with a predetermined urging force from a substantially perpendicular direction, the tension of the printing medium 1 to be conveyed becomes strong. Since the damper unit 6 is moved against the urging force, the conveyance load due to the weight of the roll paper 3 can be reduced by the urging force of the damper unit 6, and the printing quality can be stabilized. An effect.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the first guide plate 5 is detachably attached to the side surface portion 18 and guides one end portion of the conveyed printing medium 1. By configuring the one end portion of the damper portion 6 so as to be movable in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the printing medium 1 to be conveyed, the attachment and detachment of the damper portion 6 is performed by attaching and detaching the first guide plate 5. Thus, it is possible to easily clean paper dust and the like generated by contacting the print medium 1.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the second guide plate 7 that guides the other end of the conveyed printing medium 1 can be moved to the damper section 6 in the width direction of the conveyed printing medium 1. By being attached, even when the first guide plate 5 is attached to the side surface portion 18 when the roll paper 3 is replaced, the print medium 1 pulled out from the roll paper 3 is moved to the second guide plate 7 side. The thermal head 12 and the supply shaft 13 can be applied to the so-called cantilever-supported printer 10 in which the thermal head 12 and the supply shaft 13 are supported only on the side surface portion 18.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to a number, position, shape, and the like that are suitable for implementing the present invention. In each figure, the same numerals are given to the same component.

1 is a schematic side view illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state with which the damper unit shown in FIG. 1 was assembled | attached to the baseplate and the side plate. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the damper unit shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the damper unit shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the baseplate and side plate in which the damper unit shown in FIG. 1 is assembled | attached.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medium to be printed 2 Ink ribbon 4 Damper unit 5 1st guide plate (1st guide means)
6 Damper part (damper means)
7 Second guide plate (second guide means)
8 Spring 9 Hand screw 10 Printer 11 Platen roller 12 Thermal head 13 Supply shaft 14 Ribbon take-up shaft 15 Ribbon supply shaft 16, 17 Guide roller 18 Side surface portion 19 Rotating shaft 20 Head unit 21 Bottom surface portion 22 Roll paper guide plate 23 Positioning hole 24 Screw hole 25 Mounting plate 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d Screw 27 Ring 28 Guided portion 29 Retaining ring 30 Spring 51 Guide hole 52 Guide surface 53 Positioning piece 54 Fixing surface 55 Convex piece 56 Spring locking piece 57 Opening 61 Contact surface 62 Guide hole 63 Guide plate mounting surface 64 Guided portion 65 Locking portion 71 Guide surface 72 Sliding contact surface

Claims (3)

A printer that pulls out a print medium that is rotatably supported on a supply shaft as roll paper by being conveyed by a platen roller, and performs printing on the print medium drawn from the supply shaft,
In the transport path of the print medium from the supply shaft to the platen roller, the print medium is disposed in a state movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the print medium to be transported, and is transported to the print medium to be transported A printer comprising a damper means that comes into contact with a predetermined urging force from a substantially vertical direction. A first guide unit that is detachably attached to a side surface portion of the printer main body and guides one end portion of the print medium to be conveyed;
2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein one end portion of the damper means is supported by the first guide means so as to be movable in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the conveyed printing medium.   The damper means is attached with second guide means for guiding the other end portion of the print medium to be conveyed so as to be movable in the width direction of the print medium to be conveyed. The printer according to claim 2.

Images