JP2010064323A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve usability in work such as the replacement of a roll paper, in a clamshell type thermal printer. <P>SOLUTION: A cutter blade is arranged in a position where a paper can be cut, when a holder part is closed, in using the printer. It is constituted so that when the holder part is separated from a housing 3 and a printer unit is opened, in the work such as the replacement of a printing paper, the cutter blade is turned toward the inside of the housing and a thermal head is covered by the cutter blade. Thus, the usability in paper replacement work, etc. is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus provided with a cutter blade for cutting printing paper.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a thermal printer as an example of a printing apparatus, and an electronic device equipped with this printer unit so as to be portable is, for example, a handy terminal. The handy terminal is used outdoors. For example, the handy terminal is used for printing the amount of electricity used, the electricity bill, etc., and posting it on a home post.
In recent years, as a printer unit as described above, a clam shell structure in which a platen roller is mounted on a roll paper cover is widely used.
Further, the printer unit is provided with a print head having a heating element, a holder portion for holding printing paper such as roll paper, and a cutter blade capable of cutting the printing paper on the spot after printing.

  In such a clamshell printer, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below as a configuration for protecting the cutter blade so that the user does not touch the cutter blade when replacing the roll paper. According to Patent Document 1, a cassette and a cassette holding unit coupled to the cassette can be pulled out from the main body, and the print head can be flipped up with the cassette pulling-out operation. Making it easy.

According to the configuration of Patent Document 1, the cutter is positioned at the paper cutting position and the retracted position by the cutter holding mechanism as the cassette holding unit is pulled out and stored. The cutter holding mechanism positions the cutter at the paper cutting position when the cassette holding portion is at the storage position, and positions the cutter at the retracted position when the cassette holding portion is at the maximum drawing position. Then, the cutter is covered with the cutter cover, and the user's hand is protected from the cutter.
JP 2002-128328 A

By the way, in many printers equipped with such a print head, the print head is often provided close to a paper holder portion or the like due to downsizing. Therefore, when the user performs work such as paper replacement, for example, when the print head is a thermal print head, it generates heat at a high temperature, so it may be necessary to work while paying attention to the print head. There was still a problem that was not good enough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that improves the usability with a simple configuration without paying attention to a cutter blade or a print head when a roll paper is replaced. To do.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing, a printing unit having a printing head housed in the housing, a platen that presses printing paper against the printing head, and printing. A printing apparatus comprising: a cutter blade that cuts paper; and a holder portion that accommodates printing paper and is detachably attached to the housing,
The cutter blade may be in a position where the print head is not exposed when the holder portion is away from the housing.

The printing apparatus further includes a moving unit that moves the cutter blade in accordance with the separation / contact operation of the holder unit with respect to the case, and the moving unit is configured to move the holder unit when the holder unit is joined to the case. Moves the cutter blade to a severable position where printing paper can be cut, and retracts the cutter blade from the severable position and moves the print head when the holder part is separated from the housing. It can be configured to move to a position where it is not exposed.

Further, the moving means includes a guide portion that guides the cutter blade to the cuttable position and the retracted position, a biasing member that biases the movement of the cutter blade along the guide portion, and the cutter blade. A cutter blade holding member that holds and moves the cutter blade in contact with the urging member.
The print head can be constituted by a thermal print head.

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to perform a sheet replacement operation and the like, without the user being concerned about a heating element or a cutter blade, and to improve usability.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a handy terminal with a printer having a clamshell structure is illustrated as an example of a printing apparatus.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the handy terminal 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the appearance when the upper holder 8 of the handy terminal 1 is opened. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the printer unit 9 in the present embodiment.

1 and 2, the handy terminal 1 in the present embodiment includes a housing 3 and a clamshell type thermal printer 2. The thermal printer 2 includes a holder unit 25 that can be slidably attached to and detached from the housing 3 in the Y-axis direction in FIG. 2 via a coupling portion 31 and a printer unit 9 (printing unit) fixed to the housing 3. And have. In the present embodiment, the printer unit 9 is opened to the user when the holder portion 25 is pulled away from the housing 3. The upper case 17 of the housing 3 is provided with an input key 4 and a liquid crystal display device 5.

  The holder unit 25 includes a lower holder 6 in which a roll paper storage unit 10 that stores the roll paper 21 (printing paper) is formed, and an upper holder 8 that is connected at one end to the lower holder 6 with a shaft 7. . The upper holder 8 can be opened and closed with respect to the roll paper accommodating portion 10 of the lower holder 6, and a platen roller 11 (platen) is attached to the tip of the open / close end of the upper holder 8. Further, a cutter blade pressing portion 23 projects from the upper holder 8 on the tip side of the platen roller 11 as a member for pressing a cutter blade 18 described later.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the printer unit 9 has a frame 12 that serves as a foundation of a group of parts constituting the unit. The frame 12 has a motor 13 for driving and rotating the platen roller 11 and a driving force of the motor 13. A thermal head 15 (printing head) including a gear box 14 for transmitting to the platen roller 11 and a heating element 26 is attached. The thermal head 15 is hot after printing.

The frame 12 is formed with platen roller receiving portions 36 (36a, 36b) that are U-shaped grooves cut in the insertion direction of the platen roller 11, and shaft portions 34 ( 34a and 34b) are inserted, so that the platen roller 11 can be fitted to the frame 12.

1 and 2, the printer unit 9 is fixed in the housing 3 and is covered by a printer cover 16 that can be attached to and detached from the upper case 17 of the housing 3.

FIG. 8 shows a peripheral structure of the printer cover 16 of the handy terminal 1 according to the present embodiment. The printer cover 16 covers the printer unit 9 and forms part of the side surface of the housing 3. The printer cover 16 is a guide for guiding the cutter blade 18 to a designated position to be described later on a groove forming part 35 formed with a certain gap 32 between the printer cover 16 and the side part. A guide groove 19 in the embodiment is formed.

The handy terminal 1 further includes a cutter blade 18. The cutter blade 18 is a plate-like member having a cutting edge that cuts the paper printing unit 22, and pin portions 37 (37 a, 37 b) (cutter blade holding members) for holding the cutter blade 18 are provided at the left and right ends of the cutter blade 18. .
The cutter blade 18 is attached to the printer cover 16 by inserting a pin portion 37 into the guide groove 19 of the printer cover 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frame 12 further includes springs 20 (20 a and 20 b) that are urging members for applying a urging force to the cutter blade 18. The spring 20 is located in the gap 32 when the frame 12 is fixed to the housing 3 (FIG. 8), and contacts the pin portion 37 of the cutter blade 18 to urge the cutter blade 18 to move to a predetermined position. . For this reason, the pin portion 37 needs to have at least a length that abuts against the spring 20, and in this embodiment, extends to the vicinity of the inside of the side surface portion of the printer cover 16.

Next, regarding the thermal printer 2, the sliding operation of the holder portion 25, the opening / closing operation of the upper holder 8, and the movement of the cutter blade 18 at this time will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a state around the thermal printer 2 when the holder portion 25 is separated from the housing 3 and the upper holder 8 is opened. FIG. 5 shows a state when the holder portion 25 is separated from the housing 3 and the upper holder 8 is closed with respect to the lower holder 6, and this shows a state before the holder portion 25 is attached to the printer unit 9. . FIG. 6 shows a state when the holder portion 25 is mounted on the housing 3 and the printer unit 9. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing details of the pin portion 37 and the guide groove 19 of the cutter blade 18.

First, the procedure for using the printer will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the user slides the holder portion 25 in the Y-axis direction (rightward in FIG. 4) to release it from the housing 3 and opens the upper holder 8 to accommodate the roll paper 21. Set in the section 10 and pull out the paper printing section 22.

Next, the user rotates and closes the upper holder 8 as shown in FIG. The paper printing unit 22 is drawn out from a paper discharge port 33 formed between the upper case 8 and the printer cover 16. Next, the user slides the holder portion 25 in the −Y-axis direction (left direction in FIG. 5) and attaches it to the housing 3 as shown in FIG.

By this operation, the platen roller 11 is fitted into the platen roller receiving portion 36 of the frame 12, and the shaft portion 34 of the platen roller 11 is locked to the spring-like lock member 24 provided in the platen roller receiving portion 36. As a result, the holder portion 25 is fixedly held to the frame 12 and the housing 3.

Next, the movement of the cutter blade that moves in conjunction with the operation of mounting the holder portion 25 will be described.
The cutter blade pressing portion 23 formed on the upper holder 8 is configured to enter the gap 32 of the printer cover 16 when the holder portion 25 is attached to the frame 12 with the upper holder 8 closed as shown in FIGS. It has become. For this reason, the cutter blade pressing portion 23 contacts and presses the pin portion 37 of the cutter blade 18 in conjunction with the sliding of the holder portion 25 toward the frame 12.

Thus, the pin portion 37 is pushed by the cutter blade pressing portion 23 and moves along the guide groove 19 while applying a biasing force to the spring 20. Therefore, the cutter blade 18 moves along the track of the guide groove 19.

As described above, when the platen roller 11 is locked and the attachment of the holder portion 25 to the frame 12 is completed, the cutter blade pressing portion 23 of the upper holder 8 positions and holds the pin portion 37, and the cutter blade 18 is moved to the paper. The printing unit 22 is fixed at a position where it can be cut. The holder unit 25 is fixed to the housing 3 so that the thermal printer 2 can perform printing.

The configuration around the cutter blade 18 at this time is as shown in FIG. The flat surface portion 29 of the pin portion 37 is aligned with the terminal end 27 of the guide groove 19, and the cutter blade 18 is disposed at a position where the paper printing portion 22 can be cut with the cutting edge directed toward the paper printing portion 22.

At this time, the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 11 are pressed against each other with the paper printing unit 22 interposed therebetween, and printing is performed on the paper printing unit 22 by the thermal head 15 when the printer is used. With such a configuration, after printing, the printed paper printing unit 22 drawn from the paper discharge port 33 can be cut by the cutter blade 18.

  Next, when replacing the roll paper 21 or the like, the user pulls the holder portion 25 from the state shown in FIG. By this operation, the shaft portion 34 of the platen roller 11 is released from the lock member 24 of the platen roller receiving portion 36 of the frame 12 and returns to the state shown in FIG. 5, and the printer unit 9 is opened to the user. When the holder portion 25 has fully retracted relative to the housing 3, the user can perform an operation of rotating and opening the upper holder 8 and replenishing the roll paper 21 as shown in FIG. 4.

The movement of the cutter blade that moves in conjunction with the operation of pulling away the holder portion 25 at this time will be described. When the printer unit 9 is released to the user, the configuration around the cutter blade 18 is as shown in FIG.
When the holder portion 25 is pulled away from the frame 12 and the cutter blade pressing portion 23 is separated from the pin portion 37 of the cutter blade 18, a repulsive force acts on the spring 20, and the cutter blade 18 is moved along the guide groove 19 together with the pin portion 37. To return to the starting end position shown in FIG. Then, the flat portion 30 of the pin portion 37 and the start end 28 of the guide groove 19 are combined, and the cutter blade 18 is positioned to the retracted position.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cutter blade 18 in the retracted position is disposed at a position where the blade edge is directed downward or toward the inside of the housing and covers the thermal head 15 and is hidden from the user. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the hand from touching the cutting edge of the cutter blade 18 and to protect the user from the heating element 26.

In addition, about the holder part 25, although this was set as the structure which can be attached or detached with respect to the housing | casing 3 of the handy terminal 1 in a present Example, it is not restricted to such a structure. For example, by changing the fitting shape of the platen roller 11, the holder portion 25 may be simply detached from the housing 3 and only the upper holder 8 can be opened and closed.

Even in such a configuration, when the upper holder 8 is opened (or the holder portion 25 is removed from the housing 3) and the printer unit 9 is released to the user, the cutter blade 18 causes the thermal head 15 to move. It is the same as that of the above-mentioned Example that it will be in the state located in the retracted position to cover.

In such a configuration of the holder portion 25, when the upper holder 8 is closed, the cutter blade 18 can be moved to the paper cutting position shown in FIG.
The cutter blade pressing portion 23 can be provided with a width corresponding to the cutter blade guide groove 19 and the lower side of the cutter blade pressing portion 23 can be formed as an inclined side. Accordingly, as the upper holder 8 is closed, the pin portion 37 is guided by the inclination of the cutter blade pressing portion 23 and the guide groove 19 and moves to the terminal end 27. As in the above-described embodiment, the cutter blade 18 is Held in the cutting position.

Alternatively, a groove having the same shape as the guide groove 19 may be formed on the side surface of the housing 3 and the pin portion 37 may be configured to extend to a degree protruding from the groove formed on the side surface of the housing 3. it can. As a result, when using the printer, the pin portion 37 protruding from the side surface of the housing 3 is manually pulled to the position of the terminal end 27 and the upper holder 8 is closed, so that the cutter blade 18 is moved to the paper cutting position in the same manner as described above. Can be retained.

In addition, although the shape of each edge part of the guide groove 19 and the pin part 37 united with this is formed in the planar form in a present Example, you may form in not only this but circular, for example. In addition, the cutter blade pressing portion 23, the spring 20, and the like are not limited by the shape and installation location. On the other hand, the pin portion 37 having the planar shape as in the present embodiment has an advantage that the cutter blade 18 is more stable than when a force is applied to the cutter blade 18 such as when cutting paper.

With the above configuration, when using the printer with the holder portion 25 mounted on the housing 3, the paper 22 is placed in a cuttable position so that the cutter blade 18 does not touch the user, and the roll paper 21 is replaced. When the printer unit 9 is opened during work or the like, the cutter blade 18 can be automatically placed at the retracted position as the holder portion 25 is opened and closed. The user can easily convert between the printer use state and the print sheet replaceable state by a simple operation of simply pushing and pulling (opening and closing) the holder portion 25 with respect to the housing 3. At this time, the user can work without taking care of the troublesome work without paying attention to the thermal head 15 having the cutter blade 18 and the heating element 26, thereby improving safety and usability. it can.

In this embodiment, the thermal print head is used as the print head. However, an ink jet print head, a wire dot type, or the like may be used. Further, the present invention can be implemented not only by a handy terminal equipped with a printer but also by a portable printer as a printing device. Even in such a case, the cutter blade is retracted and the print head is covered, so that it is possible to prevent problems such as a hand touching the print head and dirt being attached.
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the matters shown in the embodiments, and the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention, and the scope in which modifications and applications can be made based on known techniques. Is included. Therefore, the printing device is not limited to a portable terminal device, but can be applied to a stationary device.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the handy terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an external appearance when the holder part of the handy terminal of FIG. 1 opens. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the printer unit which concerns on this embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the holder part which concerns on this embodiment, and a printer unit, and shows a structure when an upper holder opens. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the holder part which concerns on this embodiment, and a printer unit, and shows a structure when an upper holder is closed. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the holder part which concerns on this embodiment, and a printer unit, and shows a structure when a holder part is locked. It is explanatory drawing which shows the position of the pin part and guide groove of the cutter blade which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the printer cover concerning this embodiment, and a cutter blade periphery.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Handy terminal 2 Thermal printer 3 Case 6 Lower holder 8 Upper holder 9 Printer unit 11 Platen roller 12 Frame 15 Thermal head 16 Printer cover 17 Upper case 18 Cutter blade 19 Guide groove 20 Spring 23 Cutter blade pressing part 25 Holder part 31 Coupling Part 32 gap 35 groove forming part 37 pin part

Claims (4)

A housing, a printing unit having a print head housed in the housing, a platen that presses the printing paper against the printing head, a cutter blade that cuts the printing paper, and the housing that houses the printing paper. And a holder unit provided so as to be detachable,
The printing apparatus, wherein the cutter blade is in a position where the print head is not exposed when the holder portion is separated from the housing.
The printing apparatus further includes a moving means for moving the cutter blade in accordance with the separating operation of the holder portion with respect to the housing,
The moving means moves the cutter blade to a severable position where the printing paper can be cut when the holder part is joined to the housing,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade is retracted from the cuttable position when the holder portion is separated from the housing.
The moving means is
A guide for guiding the cutter blade to the cuttable position and the retracted position;
A biasing member that biases the movement of the cutter blade along the guide;
The printing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a cutter blade holding member that holds the cutter blade and moves the cutter blade in contact with the biasing member.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print head is a thermal print head.

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