JP2011240645A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of performing optimum printing on a plurality of kinds of printing media having different widths.SOLUTION: The printer includes a thermal head 13 having heating resistors arranged in a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction of a printing medium, a platen roller 14 which is provided so as to face the thermal head 13 and to convey the printing medium, and a pressure contact member which applies a predetermined pressure to the thermal head 13 toward the platen roller 14. The pressure contact member is formed in a spiral shape and a pressure position can be moved by rotation of the pressure contact member in a direction parallel to the heating resistors.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints predetermined information on printing paper by, for example, a heat generating action of a thermal head.

A printer that prints information such as images and characters prints while applying a predetermined pressure to the print medium by an urging member that holds the print medium between the thermal head and the platen roller and presses the thermal head toward the platen roller. By applying this, it is possible to print with good quality without blurring. By the way, a printer is capable of printing on print media having different widths, and a structure is known in which a width guide for preventing the meandering of the print medium on the upstream side in the transport direction of the print unit is movable.
However, in particular, in a printer having a so-called side-by-side structure in which one side of the thermal head is used as a reference for conveying the print medium, the pressure distribution from the thermal head (biasing member) applied to the print medium when the width of the print medium changes. There is a problem that the density of printing differs between the area where the pressure is strongly applied and the area where the pressure is weakly applied, and the optimum printing quality cannot be obtained.
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a printer that provides a member that presses a thermal head over the entire width direction of a print medium and applies an optimum head pressure to the print medium. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-58726

However, such a printer requires a plurality of pressure contact members corresponding to the entire width direction of the print medium, which increases the cost. Moreover, since adjustment is required for each pressure contact member, there is a problem that the operation becomes complicated.
The present invention has been considered in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can perform optimum printing on a plurality of types of print media having different widths.

A printer according to the present invention includes a thermal head including a heating element arranged in a direction orthogonal to a printing medium conveyance direction, a platen roller arranged to face the thermal head and conveying the printing medium, and the thermal head as a platen roller. A pressure contact member that applies a predetermined pressure toward the surface, wherein the pressure contact member is spiral, and the pressure contact position can be moved in a direction parallel to the heating element by rotation of the pressure contact member.
The press contact member can move the press contact position to an arbitrary position steplessly.
Further, a locking member for fixing the thermal head to the platen roller is further provided, and the pressure contact member is movable in a closed state in which the thermal head is abutted and fixed to the platen roller by the locking member. And
Further, the press contact member is movable during a print conveying operation.
A support unit body; a rotation support unit rotatably supported with respect to the support unit body; a head support plate supported by the rotation support unit and rotatable together with the rotation support unit; A thermal head supported by the head support plate and provided with a heating element; a platen roller disposed opposite to the thermal head for conveying a print medium; and spanning the head support plate and the thermal head; A biasing member that applies a predetermined pressure toward the roller, and a direction that is provided in the rotation support portion and presses the head support plate and the thermal head toward the platen roller, and is parallel to the heating element by rotation. A helical pressure contact member that can move the pressure contact position, and a lock member that locks the thermal head in a closed state in which the thermal head is in contact with and fixed to the platen roller. The features.

By providing a spiral pressure contact member in the printer of the present invention, the pressure contact position can be moved steplessly by a rotation operation, and the pressure distribution applied to the print medium can be optimized even when a print medium having a different width is used. By adjusting to the state, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain an optimum print quality without print fading.
In addition, by locking the thermal head in the closed state in which the thermal head is in contact with and fixed to the platen roller and making it movable during the print transport operation, the optimum press contact position can be finely adjusted while viewing the print result. .

1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic side view of a printing apparatus. It is a schematic perspective view of the thermal head support mechanism in the printing unit. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the structure of the head support mechanism and thermal head of a closed state, and demonstrating the position where the head pressure is applied to a thermal head.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the printing apparatus.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 and a lid 3 that can be opened and closed (rotated) with a support portion 19 of the apparatus main body 2 as a fulcrum. An input unit 4 composed of a plurality of input keys and a display unit 5 for displaying information input by the input unit 4 are provided on the front surface of the apparatus body 2.

Further, as an internal mechanism of the apparatus main body 1, a roll paper 60 in which a continuous paper 63 in which a plurality of labels 62 are temporarily attached to a long mount 61 at regular intervals is wound in a roll shape is accommodated in the main body wall surface 18. The supply unit 6, the sensor 7 for detecting the position of the label 61 in the continuous paper 63 drawn from the roll paper 60, the printing unit 8 that prints and conveys the label 61, and the continuous paper 63 that has been printed are discharged. A discharge port 15 is provided.
The main body wall surface 18 is transported as a reference surface that abuts one end of the continuous paper 63 in the width direction, and predetermined information is applied to the surface of the label 61 based on data transmitted from a host computer (not shown).

  The supply unit 6 includes a supply shaft 9 that rotatably holds the roll paper 60 at a position that does not come into contact with the bottom surface of the apparatus main body 2, and is movable in the longitudinal direction of the supply shaft 9. A roll guide 10 for regulating a side end face (away from 18) is provided.

The sensor 7 includes a light emitting unit 11 that emits light toward the continuous paper 61 and a light receiving unit 12 that receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit 11. The light emitted from the light emitting unit 11 is a portion of the mount 61. The position of the label 62 due to the difference between the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 12 through and the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 12 through the part where the light emitted from the light emitting unit 11 overlaps the label 62 and the mount 61, that is, the difference in transmittance. Can be detected.
Note that a position detection mark (not shown) printed at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the continuous paper 61 may be provided, and a light reflection type sensor for detecting the position detection mark may be used.

The printing unit 8 includes a plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the continuous paper 63 (a direction parallel to the width direction of the label), a thermal head 13 that performs printing by the heating action of the heating elements, and a thermal head. The platen roller 14 is disposed opposite to the head 13 and transports the continuous paper 63 toward the downstream side in the transport direction on the discharge port 15 side by being connected to a motor (not shown) and driven to rotate. The thermal head 13 is rotatably provided in a closed state in which the thermal head 13 is in contact with and fixed to the platen roller 14 and an open state in which the thermal head 13 is separated from the platen roller 14, and the back surface of the mount 61 (the surface on which the label 62 is temporarily attached). It is fixed at the contact position by a lock member 25 that engages with a pin 17 protruding from the side surface of the conveyance guide 16 that guides the opposite surface).
The printing unit 8 may be provided with a unit for holding an ink ribbon, and a thermal transfer method may be employed in which the ink on the ink ribbon is transferred to the continuous paper 61 for printing.

  With the above configuration, the continuous paper 63 is transported from the roll paper 60 loaded in the supply unit 6 toward the printing unit 8 by the rotational drive of the platen roller 14 and is transmitted from a computer or the like connected to the printer 1. Based on the above, the thermal head 13 is controlled to print predetermined information on the continuous paper 63 and discharged from the discharge port 15.

Next, the structure of the printing unit will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a thermal head support mechanism in the printing unit.
The head support mechanism 20 forms a transport path with a predetermined distance from the transport guide 16, a support section body 21 fixed to the main body wall surface 18, and a pivot support provided on the support section body 21 so as to be pivotable. And a head support plate 23 supported by the rotation support unit 22 and rotatable together with the rotation support unit 22. The rotation support portion 22 and the head support plate 23 are rotatably supported by the support portion main body 21 by the support shaft 24 through holes 35 and 36 located in the vicinity of the upstream end portion in the transport direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support portion main body 21 is fixed to the main body side wall 18 at a position where there is an interval that allows the continuous paper 63 to be inserted between the conveyance guides 16. A closed surface in which the thermal head 13 is abutted and fixed to the platen roller 14 by a support shaft 31 provided on the support body 21 on the surface (open end side) opposite to the side wall 18 side of the support body 21. A lock member 25 that locks (fixes) the state is provided. The lock member 25 maintains the closed state by engaging the tip of the side away from the support shaft 31 with the pin 17 provided on the conveyance guide 16. Two push-down members 32 are provided on the support shaft 31 with an interval therebetween, and when the lock member 25 is closed, the rotation support portion 22 is pushed against the force of a tension spring 26 of the rotation support portion 22 described later. It can be lowered.
In addition, a moving hole 37 is provided on the open end side of the support portion main body 21 so that a rotation shaft 28 of a press contact member 29 described later can be moved.

The rotation support part 22 is provided with a tension spring 26 having one end fixed on the upper surface of the rotation support part 22 at a position near the tip on the downstream side in the transport direction away from the support shaft 24, and the other end of the tension spring 26 is located inside the support part body 21. It is fixed. In the released state in which the engagement between the lock member 25 and the pin 17 is released, the rotation support portion 22 approaches the support portion main body 21 with the support shaft 24 as a fulcrum by the urging force of the tension spring 26 (the thermal head 13 is moved to the platen). It rotates in a direction away from the roller 14.
In addition, a head pressure adjusting member 27 is provided at a position in the vicinity of the tip that is separated from the support shaft 24 of the rotation support portion 22 to the downstream side in the transport direction. The head pressure adjusting member 27 is rotatably supported by the rotation support portion 22, and is provided so as to be wound around the rotation shaft 28 provided in parallel with the heating element of the thermal head 13 and the rotation shaft 28 in the longitudinal direction. The spiral pressure contact member 29 is provided, and an operation unit 30 is provided at the end of the rotation shaft 28 and rotates the rotation shaft 28.
The upper surface of the head support plate 23 is pushed down toward the platen roller 14 on the lower side (thermal head 13 side) by the press contact member 29, and the press contact position by the press contact member 29 is rotated in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction by the operation of the operation unit 30 ( The pressure contact position can be changed to an arbitrary position in a stepless manner (in a direction parallel to the heating element of the thermal head 13).
The operation unit 30 is provided at a position exposed to the outside on the open end side of the support unit main body 21 through the movement hole 37 of the support unit main body 21, and the rotating shaft is rotated even in the closed state where the lock member 25 is engaged with the pin 17. 28 rotation operations are possible.

  The head support plate 23 is fixed (not shown) via a plurality of head pressure springs 33 (passed between thermal heads) as biasing members that apply a predetermined pressure (head pressure) to the platen roller 14. The thermal head 13 is supported by the means, and is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the support body 21 with the support shaft 24 as a fulcrum together with the rotation support portion 22 in a state of being fixed to the head support plate 23.

Next, the head pressure balance adjustment by the pressure adjusting member 27 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the structure of the head support mechanism and the thermal head in the closed state, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining the position where the head pressure is applied.
4A shows the case where the head pressure is applied to the continuous paper 63a having a small width, and FIG. 4B shows the case where the continuous paper 63b having a width wider than that of the continuous paper 63a shown in FIG. FIG. 4C shows a case where the head pressure is applied to the continuous paper 63c which is wider than the continuous paper 63b shown in FIG. 4B.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4A, in the case where the continuous paper 63a having a relatively small width is used (printing is performed), the continuous paper 63a is positioned in the width direction using the main body side wall 18 side as a reference surface of the continuous paper 63a. Then, the lock member 25 is stretched over the pin 17 to be in a closed state in which the continuous paper 63a is sandwiched between the thermal head 13 and the platen roller 14. At this time, the operation portion 30 of the pressure adjusting member 27 is operated to rotate the pressure contact member 29 together with the rotation shaft 28, and the contact position between the pressure contact member 29 and the head support plate 23 is near the center in the width direction of the continuous paper 63a. By setting the A position, it is possible to apply an optimum head pressure (even in the width direction of the continuous paper 63a) to the continuous paper 63a.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the continuous paper 63b having a width wider than that of the continuous paper 63a is used, the operation unit 30 of the pressure adjusting member 27 is changed from the state shown in FIG. Is rotated counterclockwise to rotate the pressure contact member 29 together with the rotation shaft 28, and the contact position of the pressure contact member 29 and the head support plate 23 is moved away from the main body side wall 18 as a reference plane from the A position to the B position. Move to. Since the B position is farther from the reference plane than the A position and is near the center in the width direction of the continuous paper 63b, a uniform head pressure is applied from the vicinity of the center toward both side edges of the continuous paper 63b, and there is no print fading. It is possible to print with good quality.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the continuous paper 63c having a width wider than that of the continuous paper 63b is used, the operation unit 30 of the pressure adjusting member 27 is changed from the state shown in FIG. The pressure contact member 29 is rotated together with the rotary shaft 28 by rotating in the counterclockwise direction, and the contact position between the pressure contact member 29 and the head support plate 23 is changed from the B position to the C position in a direction away from the main body side wall as a reference plane. Move. Since the C position is farther from the reference surface than the B position and is near the center in the width direction of the continuous paper 63c, a uniform head pressure is applied from the vicinity of the center toward both side edges of the continuous paper 63c, and there is no print fading. It is possible to print with good quality.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pressure contact member has a spiral shape provided so as to be wound in the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft 28, so that the thermal head 13 is brought into contact with the platen roller 14 by the lock member 25. The pressure contact position can be moved by rotating the rotary shaft 28 in the fixed closed state. Further, since the press contact position can be moved during printing and transport operations, the optimum press contact position can be finely adjusted while observing the print result.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 2 Apparatus main body 3 Cover body 4 Input part 5 Display part 6 Supply part 7 Sensor 8 Printing part 9 Supply shaft 10 Roll guide 11 Light emission part 12 Light reception part 13 Thermal head 14 Platen roller 15 Outlet 16 Conveyance guide 17 Pin 18 Main body side wall 19 Support section 20 Head support mechanism 21 Support section main body 22 Rotation support section 23 Head support plate 24 Support shaft 25 Lock member 26 Tension spring 27 Pressure adjustment member 28 Rotation shaft 29 Pressure contact member 30 Operation section 31 Support shaft 32 Push Lowering member 33 Head pressure spring 35 Hole 36 Hole 37 Moving hole 60 Roll paper 61 Mount 62 Label 63 Continuous paper

Claims (5)

A thermal head including a heating element arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print medium;
A platen roller disposed opposite to the thermal head and transporting the print medium;
A pressure contact member that applies a predetermined pressure toward the thermal head toward the platen roller;
With
The printer is characterized in that the pressure contact member is spiral, and the pressure contact position can be moved in a direction parallel to the heating element by rotation of the pressure contact member.   The printer according to claim 1, wherein the press contact member can move the press contact position to an arbitrary position without any step. A lock member for fixing the thermal head to the platen roller;
3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the pressure contact member is movable in a closed state in which the thermal head is in contact with and fixed to the platen roller by the lock member.   The printer according to claim 3, wherein the press contact member is movable during a print transport operation. A support body,
A rotation support unit supported rotatably with respect to the support unit body;
A head support plate supported by the rotation support portion and rotatable together with the rotation support portion;
A thermal head supported by the head support plate and provided with a heating element;
A platen roller disposed opposite to the thermal head and conveying a print medium;
An urging member that is stretched over the head support plate and the thermal head and applies a head pressure toward the thermal head toward the platen roller;
A spiral pressure contact member that is provided on the rotation support portion, presses the head support plate and the thermal head toward the platen roller, and can move a pressure contact position in a direction parallel to the heating element by rotation;
A locking member that locks the thermal head in a closed state in which the thermal head is in contact with and fixed to the platen roller;
A printer comprising:

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