JP2011093257A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer that includes a blade used for cutting a recording medium and nonetheless appropriately conveys the recording medium without any troubles caused by this blade, and consequently contributes to an improvement in printing quality and a reduction in a malfunction rate. <P>SOLUTION: The printer includes: a conveying means 2 for conveying the recording medium Pa along a conveyance path Li; a cutting means 4 for cutting the recording medium Pa by moving a movable blade 42 relative to a fixed blade 41 while keeping the fixed blade 41 in contact with the recording medium PA present in the conveyance path; and a contact/separation mechanism 6 for separating the recording medium Pa and fixed blade 41 from each other during the conveyance and movement of the recording medium Pa. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer having a cutting function of cutting a printed recording medium with a blade, and more particularly to a printer that improves product quality by eliminating defects caused by the blade.

  As an example of the above-described printer, a thermal printer includes a paper feeding unit that holds a recording medium in a state where it can be supplied to a head unit that performs printing, and a transport unit that transports a storage medium held in the paper feeding unit to the head unit. The recording medium is supplied to the head unit through this conveying means, and the dye or pigment is transferred to the recording medium through the heating of the head unit, or the recording of thermal paper or the like whose color changes when heat is sensed. A printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium by heating the medium with a head unit.

  As a conventional thermal printer, for example, Patent Document 1 stores a roll wound with a band-shaped recording medium such as print paper, pulls out the recording medium from the roll, performs printing, and discharges the printed recording medium to the outside. Therefore, a printer that cuts a recording medium with a cutting means is disclosed. As disclosed in Patent Document 1, the cutting means includes a fixed blade and a movable blade that is movable with respect to the fixed blade, and the fixed blade is brought into contact with the cut portion of the recording medium. In this state, the recording medium is cut by moving the movable blade relative to the fixed blade.

JP 2008-030308 A

  However, the conventional printer having the cutting function has a configuration in which the fixed blade is disposed at a position in contact with the recording medium in the conveyance path and the recording medium is cut only by moving the movable blade without moving the fixed blade. Usually, since the fixed blade and the recording medium come into contact with each other when the recording medium is transported, the print quality of the damaged portion is damaged due to the recording medium being transported. In particular, when printing on both sides of the recording medium, the print quality is reduced just by scratching one of the two sides of the recording medium. Even if the surface is scratched, the effect of such a problem is greater than that of single-sided printing which is not easily affected by print quality.

  In addition, there is a case where fine paper dust is scraped from the recording medium by the fixed blade along with the conveyance, and the generated paper dust reaches the inside of the printer and has an adverse effect. These problems can occur not only when the recording medium is conveyed by the conveying means, but also when the recording medium moves without depending on the conveying means.

  The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a problem, and its purpose is to provide a blade for cutting the recording medium, and to appropriately record the recording medium without causing problems due to the blade. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer that conveys and consequently contributes to an improvement in print quality and a reduction in failure rate.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention takes the following measures.

  In other words, the printer according to the present invention includes a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium along the conveying path, a fixed blade and a movable blade that is movable with respect to the fixed blade, and the fixed blade contacts the recording medium in the conveying path. And a cutting means for cutting the recording medium by moving the movable blade relative to the fixed blade in a state where the recording medium is moved, and a contact / separation mechanism for separating the recording medium and the fixed blade when the recording medium is transported is provided. It is characterized by that.

  Examples of the movement of the recording medium include the conveyance of the recording medium by the conveying means, and the movement of the recording medium without depending on the conveying means.

  According to this configuration, the recording medium and the fixed blade are separated from each other during the conveyance movement of the recording medium by the contact / separation mechanism, so that the recording medium and the fixed blade are not contacted during the conveyance of the recording medium, for example. The occurrence of damage and paper dust can be prevented, and the recording medium can be transported appropriately without any defects caused by the fixed blade. Moreover, it is possible to improve the print quality by preventing damage to the recording medium that causes the print quality to be impaired, and to reduce the failure rate of the printer by preventing the occurrence of paper dust that adversely affects the printer. .

  In order to simplify the positioning of the fixed blade and the movable blade and easily ensure the cutting function, the conveyance path has a guide portion that guides the recording medium to a portion where the fixed blade faces, and the contact / separation mechanism It is preferable that the guide destination of the recording medium by the guide unit is switched from a contact position that contacts the fixed blade to a non-contact position that is separated from the fixed blade when the medium is transported.

  Since the present invention has the configuration described above, for example, when the recording medium is transported, the recording medium and the fixed blade are separated and brought into a non-contact state, and the recording medium may be damaged or paper dust may be generated by the fixed blade. Therefore, the recording medium can be appropriately conveyed while solving the problems caused by the fixed blade. In addition, it is possible to improve the print quality by preventing damage to the recording medium, which causes the print quality to be impaired, and further reduce the printer failure rate by preventing the generation of paper dust that adversely affects the printer. It becomes possible.

1 is an overall configuration diagram schematically showing a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing cutting means of the printer. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration around a cutting unit when a recording medium is cut. Sectional drawing corresponding to FIG. 3 at the time of conveyance of a recording medium.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal printer according to the present embodiment includes a paper feed unit 1 that holds a recording medium Pa such as a rolled roll paper so that the recording medium Pa can be supplied, a head unit 3 that performs printing on the recording medium Pa, The cutting means 4 for cutting the recording medium Pa to discharge the printed recording medium Pa to the outside, and the recording medium Pa held in the paper feeding unit 1 with respect to the head unit 3 and the cutting means 4 are transported by the transport path Li. And a control unit 5 that performs conveyance control, printing control, and cut control of the recording medium Pa.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feeding unit 1 rotatably holds a recording medium Pa wound in a roll shape, and the recording medium Pa is centered on a roll axis C <b> 1 by a power unit such as a motor (not shown). The recording medium Pa is fed out and rewound by rotating forward and backward.

  The transport unit 2 includes a transport roller 21 illustrated in FIG. 1, a belt and a guide (not shown), and the like, and transports the recording medium Pa along a predetermined transport path Li.

  The head unit 3 performs printing on the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 through the transport unit 2. Specifically, it has a thermal head in which a heating resistor (not shown) is arranged and an ink ribbon coated with ink (not shown), and the ink on the ink ribbon is transferred to the recording medium Pa by the heat generated by energizing the heating resistor. Then, characters, images, etc. are printed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cutting means 4 cuts the recording medium Pa along the width direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the discharging direction in order to discharge the recording medium Pa to the outside. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a long fixed blade 41 longer than the width direction of the recording medium Pa, a circular movable blade 42 movable with respect to the fixed blade 41, and a fixed It has a support portion 43 (see FIG. 3) that supports the blade 41 and the movable blade 42, and is movable in a state where the fixed blade 41 is in contact with the cut portion of the recording medium Pa in the transport path Li. The recording medium Pa is cut by moving the blade 42 along the width direction with respect to the fixed blade 41 while rotating the blade 42. At the time of cutting the recording medium Pa, the fixed blade 41 is disposed at a position in contact with the recording medium Pa on the transport path Li, and the movable blade 42 is moved in the width direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 2 without moving the fixed blade 41. The positional relationship between the fixed blade 41 and the movable blade 42 is defined in advance so as to cut the recording medium Pa. Of course, the shapes of the fixed blade 41 and the movable blade 42 are not limited to the shapes of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a substantially plate-shaped guide portion 22 that constitutes a part of the conveying means 2 is provided upstream of the cutting means 4, and the guide portion 22 is recorded on the upper surface 22 a of the guide portion 22. While holding the medium Pa, the recording medium Pa is guided to a portion ct of the conveyance path Li where the fixed blade 41 faces. Note that upstream means the paper feed unit 1 side in the transport path Li, and downstream in the transport path Li means the cutting means 4 side.

  In the present embodiment, the following configuration is further added to the above configuration.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in order to prevent the recording medium Pa from being damaged due to the contact between the recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41 when the recording medium Pa is conveyed. The contact / separation mechanism 6 is provided to separate the recording medium Pa from the fixed blade 41 by a distance Ds when the recording medium Pa is conveyed (moved). The contact / separation mechanism 6 switches the guide destination of the recording medium Pa by the guide unit 22 from the contact position po1 contacting the fixed blade 41 to the non-contact position po2 separating from the fixed blade 41 when the recording medium Pa is conveyed. This switching is performed by a command from the control unit 5.

  Specifically, the contact / separation mechanism 6 includes a balance lever portion 61 that supports the guide portion 22 so as to be rotatable about the horizontal axis C2, and a balance in a direction in which the end portion on the fixed blade 41 side of the guide portion 22 faces upward. An urging means 62 using a tension spring for urging the guide portion 22 via the lever portion 61, and an eccentric cam 63 that contacts the balance lever portion 61 while resisting the urging force of the urging means 62, The attitude of the guide unit 22 is switched by driving the power unit Dr such as a motor and rotating the eccentric cam 63 based on the drive command from the control unit 5.

  In addition, a pressing mechanism 7 is provided that prevents the recording medium Pa from being tilted by the force from the movable blade 42 when the recording medium Pa is cut, and the recording medium Pa from being tilted with respect to the width direction. It has been. The pressing mechanism 7 mainly includes a pressing roller 71 that sandwiches the recording medium Pa together with the conveying roller 21 provided in the balance lever unit 61, and uses the power of the power unit Dr that rotates the eccentric cam 63 to the conveying roller 21. It is configured to be able to contact and separate.

  In the above configuration, when the recording medium Pa is cut, as shown in FIG. 3, the contact / separation mechanism 6 rotates the eccentric cam 63 to switch the posture of the guide portion 22 to the cutting posture s. Then, the recording medium Pa is guided to the contact position po1 where the recording medium Pa comes into contact with the fixed blade 41 by the guide portion 22 whose posture is the cutting posture s. Further, the transport roller 21 provided in the balance lever portion 61 is raised, the pressing roller 71 is lowered, and the recording medium Pa is pressed by the pressing roller 71 and the transport roller 21 to be suitable for cutting the recording medium Pa. It becomes.

  On the other hand, when transporting the recording medium Pa, as shown in FIG. 4, the contact / separation mechanism 6 rotates the eccentric cam 63 to raise the end of the guide portion 22 on the fixed blade 41 side, and the fixed portion of the guide portion 22 is fixed. The posture of the guide portion 22 is switched to the conveying posture t by bringing the standing wall 22b, which is formed on both side ends on the blade 41 side, to stand upward and the top plate 43a constituting the support portion 43 abut. Then, the recording medium Pa is guided to the non-contact position po2 separated from the fixed blade 41 by the distance Ds by the guide portion 22 whose posture is the conveying posture t, and the recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41 are brought into a non-contact state. . In addition, the conveying roller 21 provided on the balance lever unit 61 is lowered, the pressing roller 71 is raised, and the holding of the recording medium Pa by the pressing roller 71 and the conveying roller 21 is released, so that the state suitable for conveyance is obtained.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the fixed unit 41 includes the transport unit 2 that transports the recording medium Pa along the transport path Li, the fixed blade 41, and the movable blade 42 that is movable with respect to the fixed blade 41. And cutting means 4 for cutting the recording medium Pa by moving the movable blade 42 with respect to the fixed blade 41 in a state where the recording medium Pa is in contact with the recording medium Pa on the conveying path Li. Since the contact / separation mechanism 6 that separates the recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41 by the distance Ds when moving is provided, for example, the recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41 do not come into contact with each other during conveyance of the recording medium Pa, and the recording medium Pa damage and generation of paper dust can be prevented, and the recording medium Pa can be appropriately transported without causing problems due to the fixed blade 41. In addition, it is possible to improve the print quality by preventing damage to the recording medium Pa, which causes the print quality to be impaired, and to reduce the failure rate of the printer by preventing the occurrence of paper dust that adversely affects the printer. It becomes possible.

  If the contact / separation mechanism is configured to move the fixed blade 41 to separate the recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41, it is difficult to position the fixed blade 41 and the movable blade 42, and an appropriate cutting function is provided. However, in the present embodiment, the guide unit 22 that guides the recording medium Pa to a portion of the transport path Li where the fixed blade 41 faces is provided, and the contact / separation mechanism 6 transports the recording medium Pa. Since the guide destination of the recording medium Pa by the guide unit 22 is sometimes switched from the contact position po1 that contacts the fixed blade 41 to the non-contact position po2 that is separated from the fixed blade 41, the fixed blade compared to the contact and separation mechanism that moves the fixed blade 41 In addition, the positioning of the movable blade can be simplified and the cutting function can be easily secured.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described based on drawing, it should be thought that a specific structure is not limited to these embodiment. The scope of the present invention is shown not only by the above description of the embodiments but also by the scope of claims for patent, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the guide portion 22 is supported so as to be capable of posture change, and the guide destination of the recording medium Pa by the guide portion 22 is switched to either the contact position po1 or the non-contact position po2 by changing the posture. However, the guide unit 22 may be configured to be displaceable, and the guide destination of the recording medium Pa may be switched by displacing the position. Further, in the present embodiment, the contact / separation mechanism 6 displaces the guide portion 22 in posture, but if the positioning of the fixed blade 41 and the movable blade 42 can be easily realized, the contact / separation mechanism 6 is fixed. The recording medium Pa and the fixed blade 41 may be separated by moving the blade 41.

  The specific configuration of each part is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Conveyance means, 22 ... Guide part, 4 ... Cutting means, 41 ... Fixed blade, 42 ... Movable blade, 6 ... Contact / separation mechanism, Li ... Conveyance path, Pa ... Recording medium, po1 ... Contact position, po2 ... Non-contact position

Claims (2)

Conveying means for conveying the recording medium along the conveying path;
A cutting means having a fixed blade and a movable blade movable with respect to the fixed blade, and cutting the recording medium by moving the movable blade relative to the fixed blade in a state where the fixed blade is in contact with the recording medium in the conveyance path And comprising
A printer comprising a contact / separation mechanism for separating a recording medium from a fixed blade during conveyance of the recording medium. A guide portion for guiding the recording medium to a portion of the conveyance path facing the fixed blade;
2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the contact / separation mechanism switches a recording medium guide destination by the guide unit from a contact position contacting the fixed blade to a non-contact position separating from the fixed blade when the recording medium is transported and moved.

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