JP2011051113A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus which can secure a high safety by making it impossible for a user to touch a printing head and a carriage. <P>SOLUTION: In the printer 1 including both the carriage 42 which moves back and forth in a width direction to a recording paper S and the printing head 2 which is carried on the carriage 42 and prints the recording paper S, a carriage cover 44 for covering a movement region of the carriage 42 is provided inside the front cover 7 of the printer 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus including a print head mounted on a carriage that reciprocates.

  As a printer that performs printing on recording paper, a printer that includes a print head mounted on a carriage that reciprocates and performs printing while reciprocating the print head is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-302539 A

The printer having the above structure is entirely covered with an outer cover, and the user is prevented from touching the carriage in a normal use state. In general, when the cover is opened, a cover sensor is activated to stop the operation of the carriage.
However, if there is a problem with the cover sensor, the carriage may continue to operate despite the cover being opened. In a state where the carriage is operating, it is preferable that the user cannot touch the carriage from the viewpoint of safety. Further, the print head mounted on the carriage is precisely configured, and there is a possibility that the print head and the carriage cannot be touched because there is a possibility that the print head and the carriage may break down when touched by the user. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus in which a user cannot touch a print head and a carriage and can ensure high safety.

A printing apparatus of the present invention that can solve the above-described problems is a printing apparatus that includes a carriage that reciprocates in the width direction with respect to a medium, and a print head that is mounted on the carriage and prints on the medium. And
A carriage cover is provided on the inner side of the cover of the printing apparatus so as to cover the moving area of the carriage.

  According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the carriage cover prevents the user from touching the print head and the carriage. In addition, even if the cover is opened, the carriage movement area is covered by the carriage cover, so even if the carriage is moved with the cover open, the user can be prevented from touching the moving carriage. High safety can be ensured.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a ribbon cassette having an ink ribbon is detachable at a predetermined position, and the carriage cover is provided with a guide surface for guiding the ribbon cassette to a predetermined position.
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the print head uses an ink ribbon such as a thermal transfer method or a dot impact method, and when the ribbon cassette having the ink ribbon is mounted, the ribbon cassette is positioned at a predetermined position by the guide surface of the carriage cover. Therefore, the ribbon cassette can be easily and smoothly mounted at a predetermined position.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the carriage cover can be rotated about an axis along the moving direction of the carriage, and the ribbon cassette is mounted on the carriage cover and can be rotated together with the carriage cover. It is preferable that
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, by rotating the carriage cover, the ribbon cassette can be rotated together with the carriage cover, and the arrangement of the ink ribbon can be changed. As a result, by attaching a ribbon cassette having an ink ribbon containing a plurality of colors of ink and rotating the ribbon cassette together with the carriage cover, the location containing the color ink to be printed is selected as the print processing position by the print head. Can be arranged. In addition, the same color ink ribbon can be used for a long time by changing the printing place.

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the ink ribbon contains a plurality of different colors in the vertical direction in the width direction, and the carriage cover rotates together with the ribbon cassette around the axis. Accordingly, it is preferable that the color of the ink of the ink ribbon at the position of the print head is switched.
According to the printing apparatus having this configuration, the color of the ink can be easily switched by rotating the ribbon cassette together with the carriage cover, and printing by the print head can be performed in any desired color above and below the ink ribbon. It can be printed with ink.

1 is a perspective view of a printer which is a printing apparatus according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the printer of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the printer mechanism of the printer of FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the ribbon cassette of the printer of FIG. 1 is mounted. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the printer of FIG. 1 with a ribbon cassette removed. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the movement of the carriage cover and ribbon cassette of the printer of FIG.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is a perspective view of a printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the printer, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the printer mechanism, and FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the printer mechanism with the ribbon cassette removed, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the printer mechanism showing the movement of the carriage cover and the ribbon cassette.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a printer 1 that is an example of a printing apparatus according to the present invention uses, for example, a dot impact type print head 2 with respect to a roll-shaped recording sheet S that is one of recording media. Printing is performed.

In the printer 1, the printer mechanism 3 is covered with a case body 4 made of resin, and the recording paper S can be stored in a roll paper storage unit 5 provided in the printer mechanism 3.
The upper part of the case body 4 is covered with an upper cover 6 and a front cover (cover) 7, and the upper cover 6 is attached to a cover frame 22 constituting the printer mechanism 3, and the horizontal axis line on the rear side of the printer 1 is set. The center is rotatable. Then, by rotating the upper cover 6, the roll paper storage unit 5 is opened and closed.
A paper discharge port 8 is provided between the upper cover 6 and the front cover 7, and the printed recording paper S is discharged from the paper discharge port 8.

  An open lever 11 is provided on one side of the upper portion of the printer 1. When the open lever 11 is slid, a lock mechanism (not shown) that locks the cover frame 22 to which the upper cover 6 is attached. ) Is released, and the upper cover 6 can be opened to expose the roll paper storage unit 5. In addition, an indicator unit 12 having a display lamp such as an LED for displaying an operation status or the like is provided on the front side of the printer 1.

  The printer mechanism 3 includes a main body frame 21, and a cover frame 22 is rotatably connected to the main body frame 21. An auto cutter 23 for cutting the recording paper S is provided on the upper part of the main body frame 21.

  Inside the cover frame 22 is opened a resin roll paper holder 24 that forms the lower side of the roll paper container 5. A platen 20 is provided at the tip of the cover frame 22 at a position facing the print head 2 with the upper cover closed.

  Further, the cover frame 22 is provided with a paper feed roller 25 on the upper part of the platen 20, and this paper feed roller 26 is rotationally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown). The paper feed roller 25 is disposed at a position facing the paper pressing roller 26 provided on the main body frame 21 with the upper cover 6 closed. When the paper feed roller 26 rotates, the recording paper S is The paper is nipped between the pressing roller 25 and the paper feed roller 26 and fed, and is discharged from the paper discharge port 8.

The auto cutter 23 includes a fixed blade 33 provided on the main body frame 21 side and a movable blade 34 provided on the front end side of the cover frame 22, and the fixed blade 33 and the movable blade 34 are the blades. The stripe direction is arranged along the width direction of the printer 1. The movable blade 34 is moved by the drive mechanism 35 between a standby position with a predetermined gap between the movable blade 34 and the fixed blade 33 and a cutting end position overlapping the fixed blade 33.
The recording sheet S that has passed the print processing position where printing is performed by the print head 2 is cut by the movable blade 32 and the fixed blade 33 by moving the movable blade 34 from the standby position to the cutting end position.

  A carriage guide shaft 41 is spanned in the width direction on the inner side of the front cover 7 at the front portion of the main body frame 21, and a carriage 42 on which the print head 2 is mounted is supported on the carriage guide shaft 41. Yes. The carriage 42 is reciprocated in the width direction with respect to the recording paper S along the carriage guide shaft 41 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The printer 1 is provided with a cover sensor (not shown) that detects opening and closing of the front cover 7. When the front cover 7 is opened, the movement of the carriage 42 is stopped based on a detection signal from the cover sensor. It has come to be.
A carriage cover 44 is provided inside the front cover 7. The carriage cover 44 has a cover portion 45 that covers the moving area of the carriage 42 and a cassette mounting portion 46 to which the ribbon cassette 51 can be attached and detached.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cover portion 45 of the carriage cover 44 includes a top plate portion 45 a disposed above the movement region of the carriage 42, and the print head 2 and the platen 20 from the top plate portion 45 a. It has a ribbon guide plate portion (guide surface) 45b inclined toward the printing processing position and a cassette guide plate portion (guide surface) 45c inclined from the top plate portion 45a toward the cassette mounting portion 46.

  The cassette mounting portion 46 of the carriage cover 44 has a bottom plate portion 46 a and side wall portions 46 b and 46 c that are bent from the bottom plate portion 46 a and extend upward. The side wall portion 46 b on the cover portion 45 side is the cover portion 45. The cassette guide plate portion 45c is integrally connected. The cassette mounting portion 46 of the carriage cover 44 has an accommodation space 46d that is formed of a bottom plate portion 46a and side wall portions 46b and 46c and is a concave space in cross section.

  The ribbon cassette 51 attached to the carriage cover 44 includes a cassette main body 52 in which a roll-shaped ink ribbon is accommodated, and arm portions 53 respectively extending from both ends of the cassette main body 52 toward one side. The ink ribbon 54 in the cassette main body 52 is drawn out and bridged at the tip of the arm portion 53. The ink ribbon 54 contains ink of different colors in the width direction of the ink ribbon 54 that is the vertical direction of the printer 1. For example, the upper side is a black ink band 54 a containing black ink, and the lower side. The side is a red ink band 54b containing red ink.

  The ribbon cassette 51 is accommodated in the cassette body 52 by being fitted into an accommodation space 46 d formed in the cassette mounting portion 46 of the carriage cover 44. When the cassette body 52 is accommodated in the accommodation space 46 d in this way, the respective arm portions 53 (see FIG. 3) are arranged on both ends of the carriage cover 44, and the ink ribbon 54 spanned between these arm portions 53. The black ink band 54a is disposed between the print head 2 and the platen 20 along the movement direction of the carriage 42 (see FIG. 4).

  When the ribbon cassette 51 is mounted on the carriage cover 44, the cassette body 52 is guided to the accommodation space 46 d of the cassette mounting portion 46 by the cassette guide plate portion 45 c of the cover portion 45 inclined toward the cassette mounting portion 46. . Further, the ink ribbon 54 is guided to the print processing position by the ribbon guide plate portion 45 b inclined toward the print processing position of the print head 2 and the platen 20.

  Further, the carriage cover 44 is supported on the front side of the printer 1 so as to be rotatable about a support shaft (axis line) 47 along the moving direction of the carriage 42 with respect to the main body frame 21 as shown in FIG. In addition, the carriage cover 44 is rotated about the support shaft 47 by a drive mechanism (not shown). When the carriage cover 44 is rotated together with the ribbon cassette 51, the ink ribbon 54 is moved up and down with the rotation. As a result, either the black ink band 54 a or the red ink band 54 b of the ink ribbon 54 is selectively disposed between the print head 2 and the platen 20, and when the print head 2 prints on the recording paper S. The ink color is switched. 6 shows a state in which the red ink band 54b is disposed between the print head 2 and the platen 20 by the rotation of the carriage cover 44.

  According to the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the carriage cover 44 that covers the movement area of the carriage 42 is provided inside the front cover 7, so that even if the front cover 7 is opened, the movement area of the carriage 44 remains in the carriage cover. The state covered by 44 can be maintained. Thereby, for example, even if the cover sensor has a problem and the carriage 42 continues to operate with the upper cover 7 opened, the user can be prevented from touching the moving carriage 42 and high safety can be achieved. Can be secured.

  The carriage cover 44 is provided with a cassette guide plate portion 45c for guiding the cassette body 52 of the ribbon cassette 51 to the cassette mounting portion 46 and a ribbon guide plate portion 45b for guiding 54 of the ribbon cassette 51 to the print processing position. Therefore, when the ribbon cassette 51 is attached, it can be easily and smoothly mounted at a predetermined position.

  Further, the carriage cover 44 is rotatable about a support shaft 47 along the moving direction of the carriage 42, and the ribbon cassette 51 is mounted on the carriage cover 55 and can be rotated together with the carriage cover 44. By rotating the cover 44, the ribbon cassette 51 can be rotated together with the carriage cover 44, and the arrangement of the ink ribbons 54 can be changed.

For example, by mounting the ribbon cassette 51 having the ink ribbon 54 containing the black ink band 54a and the red ink band 54b and rotating the ribbon cassette 51 together with the carriage cover 44, the black ink band 54a or the red ink band 54b is changed. Any one of them can be selectively placed at a print processing position by the print head 2 and can be printed on the recording paper S with ink of a desired color of black or red.
By including other colors of the black ink band 54a or the red ink band 54b and defining the rotational position of the ribbon cassette 51 according to them, printing of a plurality of colors can be performed. Further, in the case of a single color such as only black ink, long-term use is possible by changing the positions of the ink ribbon 54 and the print head 2.

The carriage cover 44 may be formed integrally with the ribbon cassette 51, and the ribbon cassette 51 integrated with the carriage cover 44 may be detachable from the printer 1. According to such a structure, by setting the ribbon cassette 51 in the printer 1, the carriage cover 44 formed on the ribbon cassette 51 covers the moving area of the carriage 42, and safety can be ensured.
In the above-described example, the print head 2 is described as the dot impact type, but the same configuration is possible by using the print head 2 as the thermal transfer type and the ink ribbon 54 for thermal transfer.

  1: Printer (printing device), 2: Print head, 7: Front cover (cover), 42: Carriage, 44: Carriage cover, 45b: Ribbon guide plate (guide surface), 45c: Cassette guide plate (guide surface) 47: Support shaft (axis), 51: Ribbon cassette, 54: Ink ribbon, S: Recording paper (medium)

Claims (5)

A printing apparatus including a carriage that reciprocates in the width direction with respect to a medium, and a print head that is mounted on the carriage and prints on the medium,
A printing apparatus, wherein a carriage cover that covers a movement area of the carriage is provided inside the cover of the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A printing apparatus, wherein a ribbon cassette having an ink ribbon is detachable at a predetermined position, and a guide surface for guiding the ribbon cassette to a predetermined position is provided on the carriage cover. The printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The printing apparatus is characterized in that the carriage cover is rotatable about an axis line along the moving direction of the carriage, and the ribbon cassette is mounted on the carriage cover and can be rotated together with the carriage cover. . The printing apparatus according to claim 3,
The ink ribbon contains a plurality of different colors in the vertical direction in the width direction, and the carriage cover rotates together with the ribbon cassette around the axis so that the position of the print head can be adjusted. A printing apparatus, wherein the color of the ink on the ink ribbon is switched. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print head is a thermal transfer method or a dot impact method.

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