JP2010188689A - Portable printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a portable printer from being broken by easing shocks applied to a printer body even if the printer body collides against a workbench or the like accompanied by the movement of an operator, in the portable printer used while being attached to a waist belt or the like of the operator. <P>SOLUTION: The printer is a portable printer which performs printing to printing medium, and includes: a printing means which conveys the printing medium and prints; a housing which stores the printing means; and a belt clip which is attached to the housing so as to be rotatable in a direction to separate from and approach a rear surface of the housing and also to be rotatable at least within a plane nearly parallel to the rear surface of the housing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a portable printer that is used while being attached to an operator's waist belt or the like, and more particularly, to a belt clip mounting structure in a portable printer.

  In recent years, portable printers are used for printing on a print medium such as a label while an operator moves. For example, the portable printer receives data transmitted from a portable terminal such as a handy terminal by infrared communication or the like, and performs printing on a print medium based on the received data.

  The portable printer may be used while being attached to an operator's waist belt or the like using a belt clip. In that case, if the operator moves during work and the printer body collides with the work table, etc., the impact is directly applied to the printer body and the portable printer is damaged, or the belt clip is pulled from the waist belt by the impact. There is a risk that the portable printer will fall off and be damaged by the impact struck by the floor.

  As a related technique, Patent Document 1 discloses a small-sized label printer that can be carried by an operator. As shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1, a mounting surface 29 that is in close contact with the waist of the user is formed on the back surface of the main body 4 of the label printer. A slip stopper 30 for reducing slippage with respect to the clothes of the user and a belt hook 31 which is an attachment portion that is hooked on the belt of the user so as to face the slip stopper 30 are formed.

  However, in Patent Document 1, since the belt hook 31 is fixed to the main body portion 4, the main body portion 4 moves together with the operator, and the main body portion 4 moves to the work table or the like as the operator moves. If it hits, the impact is directly applied to the main body 4 and the label printer may be damaged.

JP 2004-216611 A (2nd, 6th page, FIG. 1)

  Therefore, in view of the above points, the present invention provides an impact applied to a printer main body even if the printer main body collides with a work table or the like as the operator moves in a portable printer that is used by being attached to an operator's waist belt or the like. The purpose is to prevent the damage of the portable printer.

  In order to solve the above problems, a printer according to one aspect of the present invention is a portable printer that performs printing on a printing medium, and includes a printing unit that conveys the printing medium and performs printing, and a housing that houses the printing unit. It is attached to the housing so that it can rotate in a direction away from and close to the body and the back of the housing, and at least in a plane substantially parallel to the back of the housing. Belt clip.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, since the portable printer includes a belt clip that is rotatably attached to the housing, even if the printer main body collides with a work table or the like as the operator moves, the printer main body is protected from impact. By rotating in the escape direction, the impact applied to the printer body can be alleviated and the portable printer can be prevented from being damaged.

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a partial cross section side view which shows the printer of the state before and after a cover is opened. It is a perspective view which shows the belt clip of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state by which the belt clip, the fixing member, and the holding piece were disassembled. It is a perspective view which shows the state by which the belt clip, the fixing member, and the holding piece were assembled. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a movement state of a printer main body with respect to a belt clip.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component and description is abbreviate | omitted.
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printer is a portable printer that is used by being attached to an operator's waist belt or the like, and is a label temporarily attached to a mount or a printing medium such as a belt-like sheet for tag production (hereinafter also referred to as “paper”). ) Is printed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the housing of the printer includes a main body side housing 10a and a cover 10b. The cover 10b is rotatably attached to the main body side housing 10a by a rotation shaft 10c. Yes. In the printer casing, the surface on the cover 10b side is the front surface, the surface opposite to the front surface is the back surface, the side surface shown in FIG. 1 is the left side surface, and the surface opposite to the left side surface is the right side surface.

  A sheet 11 wound in a roll shape is rotatably held in a sheet storage portion formed inside the printer casing. The paper 11 is configured, for example, by temporarily attaching a label to a mount so that the label can be peeled off. As the label, for example, thermal paper that develops a specific color (such as black or red) when a certain temperature region is reached is used. Further, the paper 11 may be a roll of a continuous strip-shaped continuous body provided with a release agent on the surface of the base material.

  Further, inside the printer casing, as a printing means for transporting the paper 11 and performing printing, a thermal head 12, a platen roller 13, and a gear provided at the back of the casing are used as a platen. A stepping motor 14 for rotating the roller 13 and a label sensor 15 are provided.

  The thermal head 12 has a set of fine heating elements that generate heat when an electric current is passed, and is disposed to face the platen roller 13 with the paper 11 interposed therebetween. Printing is performed by applying a voltage to these heating elements to cause the heating elements to generate heat by causing a current to flow, and coloring a thermal coloring layer provided on the surface of the label.

  Further, the printer is provided with an input unit 20, a control unit 30, a display unit 40, and a power supply unit 50. The input unit 20 includes operation buttons, and is operated by an operator in order to input commands or print contents to the printer. The control unit 30 includes a CPU and software, and controls the operation of each unit. The display unit 40 includes an LCD panel, and performs display based on the image signal supplied from the control unit 30. The power supply unit 50 includes a battery that supplies power for driving printing means such as at least the thermal head 12 and the stepping motor 14.

  When printing on the label, the platen roller 13 is pressed against the thermal head 12 with the paper 11 being inserted between the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 13, and the stepping motor 14 rotates the platen roller 13. Thus, the paper 11 is transported from the upstream side in the transport direction (left side in the figure) to the downstream side in the transport direction (right side in the figure). Here, the conveyance of the paper 11 is controlled based on the detection result of the label sensor 15.

  By supplying a print signal to the thermal head 12 while transporting the paper 11 in this way, the heating element of the thermal head 12 generates heat and printing is performed on the paper 11. The printed paper 11 is discharged to the outside from a paper discharge port formed between the main body side housing 10a and the cover 10b.

  Further, in order to attach the printer to the operator's waist belt or the like, a belt clip 60 is rotatably attached to the back surface of the housing 10a. The belt clip 60 is attached to a fixing member 61 fixed to the back surface of the housing 10a using a holding piece 62, and rotates in a plane (XZ plane in the drawing) substantially parallel to the back surface of the housing 10a. In addition, the holding piece 62 can be bent and can be rotated in a direction away from the rear surface of the housing 10a and in a direction close to it (in the YZ plane in the drawing). A locking piece 60a is provided at the tip of the belt clip 60 (downward in the drawing) in order to prevent the belt clip 60 from falling off the operator's waist belt or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the printer in a state before and after the cover is opened. In FIG. 2, a solid line indicates a state where the cover 10 b is closed, and a two-dot chain line indicates a state where the cover 10 b is opened. As shown in FIG. 2, the cover 10b is opened from the main body side housing 10a by rotating around the rotation shaft 10c. At that time, the platen roller 13 attached to the cover 10b also rotates together with the cover 10b. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the holding piece 62 is bent and the belt clip 60 is opened, and the printer is mounted on the operator's waist belt or the like with the belt clip 60 opened.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a belt clip of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the belt clip, the fixing member, and the holding piece are disassembled, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the belt clip, the fixing member, and the holding piece are assembled. In the belt clip 60, a surface facing the back surface of the housing 10a (see FIG. 1) is defined as a first surface, and a surface opposite to the first surface is defined as a second surface. In FIG. 3, the first surface of the belt clip 60 is shown, and in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second surface of the belt clip 60 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first surface of the belt clip 60 is provided with the locking piece 60 a described above and a projecting fulcrum shaft 60 b serving as the rotation center of the belt clip 60. Here, it is desirable that the fulcrum shaft 60b of the belt clip includes a part of a spherical surface. As a result, the belt clip 60 can be smoothly rotated in any direction along a part of the spherical surface of the fulcrum shaft 60b around the fulcrum shaft 60b.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an arc-shaped groove 60 d is formed on the second surface of the belt clip 60. Furthermore, an opening 60c is formed in a region opposite to the region where the groove 60d is formed and the fulcrum shaft 60b (see FIG. 3). Here, the opening 60c of the belt clip is such that the holding piece 62 can rotate within an angular range of about ± 30 ° with respect to the belt clip 60 so that the impact when the printer body hits the work table or the like can be sufficiently mitigated. It is desirable to have a size and shape.

  The fixing member 61 has a concave portion 61a that rotatably holds the fulcrum shaft 60b of the belt clip on the surface opposite to the back surface of the housing 10a. An insertion hole 61b into which one end is inserted is formed.

  The holding piece 62 is made of an elastic material, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, one end is inserted into the insertion hole 61b of the fixing member, so that the belt clip 60 is always attached in a direction to be closed by elasticity. It fixes to the fixing member 61 so that it may urge. Further, the holding piece 62 has a front end portion 62a extending to the second surface of the belt clip 60 through the belt clip opening 60c, and the convex portion 62b engaged with the groove 60d of the belt clip has a front end portion 62a. Is formed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a moving state of the printer main body with respect to the belt clip. 6A shows a state where the housing 10a is located in the center with respect to the belt clip 60, and FIG. 6B shows that the housing 10a rotates counterclockwise with respect to the belt clip 60. FIG. 6C shows a state in which the housing 10 a is rotated clockwise with respect to the belt clip 60.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, in the portable printer attached to the operator's waist belt or the like, the housing 10 a is positioned at the center with respect to the belt clip 60. In the state shown in FIG. 6A, when the right side surface (the left side in the figure) of the housing 10a receives an impact, as shown in FIG. 6B, the casing 10a is held in the concave portion 61a (FIG. 4). The housing 10a rotates counterclockwise with respect to the belt clip 60 with the fulcrum shaft 60b of the belt clip as a fulcrum.

  That is, the convex portion 62b of the holding piece 62, one end of which is fixed to the housing 10a via the fixing member 61 (FIG. 4), moves away from the impact along the groove 60d of the belt clip (to the right in the drawing). By moving around the fulcrum shaft 60b, the casing 10a is rotated counterclockwise (rightward in the figure) with respect to the belt clip 60 as a result.

  On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the left side surface (right side in the figure) of the housing 10a receives an impact, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), the concave portion 61a (FIG. 4) of the fixing member. The housing 10a rotates clockwise (leftward in the figure) with respect to the belt clip 60, with the fulcrum shaft 60b of the belt clip held at the fulcrum.

  As described above, since the printer main body can rotate with respect to the belt clip 60, even if the printer main body collides with a work table or the like as the operator moves, the printer main body rotates in a direction away from the impact, thereby The applied impact can be mitigated to prevent the printer from being damaged.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10a Main body side body 10b Cover 10c Rotating shaft 11 Paper 12 Thermal head 13 Platen roller 14 Stepping motor 15 Label sensor 20 Input unit 30 Control unit 40 Display unit 50 Power supply unit 60 Belt clip 60a Locking piece 60b Support shaft 60c Opening 60d Groove 61 Fixing member 61a Concave portion 61b Insertion hole 62 Holding piece 62a Tip portion 62b Convex portion

Claims (3)

A portable printer for printing on a print medium,
A printing means for carrying the printing by conveying the printing medium;
A housing for storing the printing means;
Attached to the casing so as to be rotatable in a direction away from and close to the rear surface of the casing, and at least rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the rear surface of the casing. A belt clip,
A portable printer comprising: In the belt clip, a projecting fulcrum shaft serving as a rotation center of the belt clip is provided on the first surface facing the housing, and an arc-shaped fulcrum is formed on the second surface opposite to the first surface. A groove is formed, and an opening is formed in a region opposite to the region where the groove is formed and the fulcrum shaft,
A fixing member fixed to the housing, the fixing member having a recess formed on a surface opposite to the housing to hold the fulcrum shaft of the belt clip rotatably;
A holding piece fixed to the fixing member, the holding piece having a tip extending to a second surface of the belt clip through an opening of the belt clip, and a convex portion engaging with a groove of the belt clip is the tip The holding piece formed in the part;
The portable printer according to claim 1, further comprising:   The portable printer according to claim 2, wherein the belt clip includes a part of a spherical surface so that the belt clip can rotate in any direction around the fulcrum axis.

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