JP2012183675A - Portable thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust a skew prevention mechanism without inserting a finger into a housing.SOLUTION: In the portable thermal printer for conveying a paper sheet between a thermal printer head and a platen roller disposed inside the housing, a skew prevention means is provided in the housing for preventing skew of the conveyed paper sheet by abutting on both end faces of the paper sheet in the width direction. Settings on the paper sheet width of the skew prevention means can be adjusted from the outside of the housing.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a portable thermal printer that can be carried.

  Conventionally, a thermal printer head composed of a heating element array along the width direction has been provided, and a sheet of thermal paper is passed between the thermal printer head and a platen roller that rotates while contacting the thermal printer head. A thermal printer is used in which the thermal printer head performs printing while applying the pressure.

  Recently, a portable printer that can be carried is developed for this type of thermal printer. For example, when carrying out discounts called special sales or time service in selling products, portable thermal printers can be brought into the field to perform necessary printing operations on the spot, and are extremely mobile.

JP 2009-173353 A

  In some cases, the printer includes a skew prevention mechanism that guides conveyance while preventing the skew of the paper. In this printer, it is necessary to insert the fingers into the housing in order to store the paper in the housing and adjust the skew feeding prevention mechanism in accordance with the paper width. However, the housing is miniaturized as much as possible, and the paper and components are It is almost fully filled and it is difficult to insert fingers.

  Under such circumstances, it has been desired to make it possible to adjust the skew prevention mechanism without inserting fingers into the housing.

  In this embodiment, in a portable thermal printer that performs printing by transporting paper between a thermal printer head and a platen roller disposed inside the housing, the paper is transported inside the housing in contact with both end faces in the width direction of the paper. In addition, there is provided a skew prevention means for preventing the skew feeding of the paper, and the paper width setting of the skew feeding prevention means can be adjusted from the outside of the housing.

1 is an external perspective view of a portable thermal printer according to the present embodiment. The schematic block diagram of the portable thermal printer of the state which open | released the cover based on the embodiment. The schematic block diagram of the portable thermal printer which opened the cover based on the embodiment, and accommodated the roll paper inside. The schematic perspective view of the skew feeding prevention mechanism based on the embodiment. The schematic perspective view of the back side of the skew prevention mechanism based on the embodiment. The perspective view of the bottom face part of the portable thermal printer based on the embodiment. The disassembled perspective view of the principal part of the skew feeding prevention mechanism based on the embodiment. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of the skew feeding prevention mechanism based on the embodiment. The rear view of the principal part of the skew feeding prevention mechanism based on the embodiment.

Hereinafter, the portable thermal printer S of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a portable thermal printer S. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the portable thermal printer S with the cover 4 opened. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a portable thermal printer S in which the cover 4 is opened and the roll paper P is accommodated therein.
2 and 3 show the printer in the left-right width direction divided into a plurality of parts. In other words, if the divided lines are connected, they substantially coincide with the dimensions in the left-right width direction of the actual printer.

  The portable thermal printer S is a type that can print on paper with a width of 2 inches or less, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a width dimension of approximately 88 mm, a depth dimension of approximately 119 mm, and a height dimension of approximately 65 mm. Make. The weight including the battery is approximately 450 g, and it is ultra-compact and lightweight, so it can be carried to any site and printing operations can be performed on the spot.

  All the components of the printer S are accommodated in the housing 1 and a roll-shaped paper (hereinafter referred to as “roll paper”) P which is a thermal paper is accommodated. The housing 1 has an opening 2 on the upper surface so that the roll paper P can be introduced into the housing 1. The opening 2 can be freely opened and closed by a cover 4 attached to the housing 1 via a rotation support shaft 3.

  The rotating support shaft 3 is attached along the back side of the housing 1 that forms one side of the opening 2. In a state where the cover 4 is closed, an elongated gap 5 is formed between the front end outer side of the cover 4 and the side of the housing 1 which is one side of the opening 2 along the width direction excluding both side ends of the housing 1. It is formed.

From this gap 5, the roll paper P is pulled out, and the printed paper P is discharged. Therefore, the gap 5 functions as a “sheet discharge port 5”. The front side of the housing 1 and the outer side of the cover 4 constituting the paper discharge port 5 are preferably formed in a sharp shape so that the paper P discharged from the paper discharge port 5 can be easily cut.
On the right side surface of the housing 1, a connection connector portion 6 and a battery storage portion 7 are arranged.

Inside the housing 1 is formed a paper storage portion 8 in which the roll paper P can be detachably stored. The roll paper P is stored in the paper storage unit 8 with the roll shaft along the width direction of the housing 1, and is drawn out by a platen roller 10 (to be described later) serving as a transport unit and transported toward the paper discharge port 5.
When the roll paper P is pulled out by the platen roller 10, the skew feeding prevention mechanism (skew feeding prevention means) K prevents the skew feeding, which is a displacement movement in the width direction of the paper. The skew prevention mechanism K will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  Inside the housing 1 is provided a thermal printer head 13 that forms printing means. The thermal printer head 13 includes a heating element array provided in a direction that matches the paper width dimension. The thermal printer head 13 performs printing on the paper P when the heating element array generates heat in accordance with control of a control unit (not shown).

  A head bracket (not shown) that urges the thermal printer head 13 to the upper side on the back side is provided adjacent to the front side of the thermal printer head 13. A head cover 14 is provided adjacent to the back side of the thermal printer head 13. The head cover 14 is attached to the housing 1 as necessary, and presses and urges the head cover 14 to prevent vibration of the thermal printer head 13.

  A drive motor is disposed on one side of the thermal printer head 13 inside the housing 1, and a drive gear 15 is attached thereto. The platen roller 10 is rotatably supported along the outer edge of the cover 4, and a driven gear 16 is connected to one end of the platen roller 10. The driven gear 16 is configured to mesh with the drive gear 15 by closing the cover 4.

  A sheet pressing roller 17 is disposed in parallel with the platen roller 10. By closing the cover 4, the platen roller 10 is positioned on the cover 4 so that the platen roller 10 is in contact with the heating element array of the thermal printer head 13, and the paper holding roller 17 is in contact with the head cover 14.

  In the portable thermal printer S configured as described above, the roll paper P is stored in the paper storage unit 8, the front end of the roll paper P is pulled out, and then the cover 4 is closed. The drawn paper P is sandwiched between the thermal printer head 13 and the plalain roller 10 and is also sandwiched between the head cover 14 and the paper holding roller 17.

  The thermal printer head 13, the platen roller 10, the head cover 14, and the paper holding roller 17 form a guide path for guiding the roll paper P to the paper discharge port 5 with the cover 4 being closed. Further, when the cover 4 is closed, the driven gear 16 is engaged, and a drive signal is output from the control unit to the drive motor, so that the drive gear 15 is rotationally driven.

The rotational driving force of the drive gear 15 is transmitted to the platen roller 10 through the driven gear 16, and the roll paper P is fed out by the platen roller 10 and is prevented from being skewed by the skew prevention mechanism K, along the guide path. Guided.
In other words, the roll paper P travels between the thermal printer head 13 and the platen roller 10 toward the paper discharge port 5. Under the control of the control unit, the heating element array of the thermal printer head 13 generates heat, and a predetermined content is printed on the roll paper P.

Next, the skew prevention mechanism K will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of only the skew feeding prevention mechanism K taken out from the housing 1. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the skew prevention mechanism K as viewed from the back side, which is the bottom surface portion of the housing 1.

  As described above, the skew prevention mechanism K has a function of preventing skew, which is a displacement movement in the paper width direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction, during the conveyance of the roll paper P. Yes. The skew prevention mechanism K is disposed in the paper storage unit 8, but a part of the skew prevention mechanism K protrudes from the inside of the housing 1 to the outside.

  The skew prevention mechanism K is slidably attached to the rail member 20, and has two guide fences 21A and 21B facing each other as a basic configuration. Each of the guide fences 21A and 21B sandwiches both end surfaces of the roll paper P stored in the paper storage unit 8, thereby regulating the skew of the transported paper P.

Specifically, the skew prevention mechanism K includes the rail member 20 and guide fences 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B, a rack and pinion gear mechanism 22, and a slide adjustment member 23.
The rail member 20 is a thin plate body that is provided over the entire length in the width direction of the housing 1 so as to connect the left and right side walls of the housing 1 and has a substantially arcuate cross section. Rail grooves 25 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the rail member 20 at two symmetrical positions on the left and right sides of the rail member 20.

  In other words, each rail groove 25 has one end portion provided at a position close to the left and right side portions of the rail member 20, and the other end portion at a predetermined interval from a substantially middle portion in the left-right width direction of the rail member 20. Provided in position. Therefore, the rail member 20 remains as it is between the other ends of the rail grooves 25.

  Guide rails 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are slidably attached to the rail grooves 25 on the upper surface of the rail member 20 along the longitudinal direction of the rail grooves 25. Since each rail groove 25 is provided to the vicinity of both side ends of the rail member 20, each guide fence 21 </ b> A, 21 </ b> B can also be positioned in the vicinity of the left and right side walls of the housing 1 that are both side ends of the rail member 20.

  Further, the end portions of the rail grooves 25 are provided in the center portion of the rail member 20 in the longitudinal direction at a position spaced apart from each other. Accordingly, the guide fences 21A and 21B can also move to positions close to each other. That is, the guide fences 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B can sandwich the roll paper P having various width dimensions applied to the printer S.

  Each of the guide fences 21A and 21B is formed mainly of substantially disc-shaped flat plate portions 121a and 121b. As will be described later, a notch c is partially provided so as not to interfere with the thermal printer head 13 and the head cover 14 when sliding.

  The flat surfaces 121a and 121b of the guide fences 21A and 21B, and one surface facing each other is an abutting surface that abuts against the end surface of the roll paper or the side of the drawn roll paper. The parallel grooves are processed. At the lower end of each of the flat plate portions 121a and 121b, a protrusion d that is movably fitted in the rail groove 25 is integrally provided.

  A rack gear 27 is integrally connected to the lower surface of the protrusion d of each guide fence 21A, 21B. The rack gear 27 extends along the lower surface of the rail member 20. When the guide fences 21A and 21B slide, the rack gear 27 also slides along the rail member 20.

  As shown in each figure, when the guide fences 21A and 21B are at the left and right side end positions of the rail groove 25, the front end portions of the rack gear 27 are at positions that intersect each other with a predetermined interval. In this state, the end portions of the two rack gears 27 mesh with a pinion gear 28 that is rotatably attached to the lower surface of the central portion of the rail member 20.

  If any one of the guide fences 21A and 21B is slid and biased toward the center of the rail member 20 from the position shown in each figure, the rack gear 27 integrated with the guide fence also slides. Then, the other rack gear 27 and the guide fence slide toward the center via the pinion gear 28, and the guide fences 21A and 21B approach each other.

  If one guide fence is slid and biased toward the side end of the rail member 20 from the position where the guide fences 21A and 21B approach each other, the rack gear 27 integrated therewith also slides, and the other via the pinion gear 28 The rack gear 27 and the guide fence slide toward the side end portion of the rail member 20, and the guide fences 21A and 21B are separated from each other.

  In this way, the rack gear 27 and the pinion gear 28 constitute the rack and pinion gear mechanism 22 that slides the pair of guide fences 21A and 21B to the left and right symmetrical positions.

  On the back surface of each rack gear 27, an adjustment knob 30 is integrally provided with a flat protrusion, and the tip is formed in a continuous concavo-convex shape. The position at which the adjustment knob 30 is provided is the side end portion of the rack gear 27 at the same position as the guide fences 21A and 21B, and the positions of the guide fences 21A and 21B are symmetrical to the position of the adjustment knob 30 via the rack gear 27. .

  In addition, a fixing screw 31 is attached to a portion of the rack gear 27 on one side (right side) in the vicinity of the adjustment knob 30 protruding here as described later. The adjustment knob 30 and the fixing screw 31 constitute the slide adjustment member 23.

Next, the attachment structure of the fixing screw 31 to the rack gear 27 and the attachment structure of the slide adjusting member 23 to the housing 1 will be described in detail.
FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of the bottom surface of the printer S. FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a mounting structure of the slide adjusting member 23 with respect to the housing 1. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a mounting structure of the fixing screw 31 to the housing 1 and the rack gear 27. 9 is a partial top view of FIG.
Each figure shows the printer S shown in FIG. 1 upside down (upside down). Here, illustration of the guide fences 21A and 21B is omitted.

  Both the adjustment knobs 30 constituting the slide adjustment member 23 provided integrally with the left and right rack gears 27 described above are inserted into the adjustment knob guide elongated hole 33 provided in the bottom face part 1a of the housing 1 and are bottom faced. It protrudes outside the part 1a. Each of the long hole portions 33 is also provided with a length corresponding to the movement range of the adjustment knob 30.

  A fixing screw 31 attached to one of the rack gears 27 is inserted into a fixing screw guide slot 34 provided on the bottom surface portion 1a of the housing 1, and the head portion 31a protrudes outside the bottom surface portion 1a. The elongated hole 34 is also provided with a length corresponding to the moving range of the fixing screw 31.

  The bottom surface portion 1a of the housing 1 is formed at the same height at a predetermined distance from each end surface in the front-rear direction, but is a bottom surface recessed portion 1ab formed by recessing only the middle portion. The long hole portions 33 and 34 described above are precisely provided in the bottom recess portion 1ab. The amount of protrusion of the adjusting knob 30 and the fixing screw 31 protruding from the long hole portions 33 and 34 is smaller than the depth of the bottom recessed portion 1ab.

That is, when the printer S is placed upside down as shown in FIG. 1 from the state of FIG. 6 and placed in the normal state, the tip of the adjustment knob 30 and the head 31a of the fixing screw 31 do not contact the placement surface. The posture of the printer S is stable.
The screw portion 31 b of the fixing screw 31 is screwed to a plate nut 36 attached to the rack gear 27 through the long hole portion 34 of the housing 1 and the through hole 35 provided in the rack gear 27. The attachment structure of the plate nut 36 in the rack gear 27 is as follows.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a rectangular concave portion 37 is provided at a predetermined depth from the surface opposite to the adjustment knob 30 protruding side of the rack gear 27 (also a surface on which the guide fence is provided). Fixed claws 38 are attached to opposite sides of the recess 37.

The plate nut 36 is formed with an area and a plate thickness that can be inserted into the recess 37, and both sides are fixedly held by the fixing claws 38. In this state, the screw hole 36 a of the plate nut 36 communicates with the long hole portion 34 of the housing 1 through the through hole 35 of the rack gear 27.
Therefore, the screw portion 31 b of the fixing screw 31 is inserted into the through hole 35 of the rack gear 27 from the long hole portion 34 of the housing 1 and screwed into the screw hole 36 a of the plate nut 36. The tip of the screw portion 31 b protrudes from the plate nut 36 into the recess 37 of the rack gear 27.

Further, when the fixing screw 31 is tightened, the housing 1 and the rack gear 27 are firmly clamped and fixed between the fixing screw head 31a and the plate nut 36. The position of the rack gear 27 with respect to the housing 1 is fixed, and the rack gear 27 and the side fences 21A and 21B do not move even if any adjustment knob 30 is slid.
If the fixing screw 31 is loosened, the fastening of the rack gear 27 to the housing 1 is released, and the biasing operation to the adjustment knob 30 becomes free.

The skew prevention mechanism K configured as described above is operated as described below when the roll paper P is actually stored in the housing 1.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, the printer 4 is placed in a normal state and the cover 4 is opened. The paper storage unit 8 is confirmed as shown in FIG. 2, and the roll paper P is stored in the paper storage unit 8 as shown in FIG. 3, the leading end is pulled out, and placed on the thermal printer head 13. Then, the cover 4 is closed, and it is confirmed that the leading edge of the roll paper P protrudes from the paper discharge port 5.

Even if the roll paper P is stored in the paper storage unit 8, the roll paper P may not be stored in the paper storage unit 8. That is, the distance between the guide fences 21A and 21B constituting the skew prevention mechanism K is smaller than the width of the roll paper P.
At this time, a finger is placed on the bottom surface portion 1a (more precisely, the bottom surface recessed portion 1ab) of the housing 1 to search for one of the adjustment knobs 30. Alternatively, the housing 1 is turned upside down, and one of the adjustment knobs 30 is viewed, and a finger is applied thereto.

  Then, the adjustment knob 30 is urged to move toward the side of the housing 1, but when the adjustment knob 30 is not displaced, the fixing screw 31 is in a fastening state. When the adjustment knob 30 applied with a finger is slid and biased toward the side surface of the housing 1, the other adjustment knob 30 is also slid toward the other side surface of the housing 1 via the rack and pinion gear mechanism 22.

If the cover 4 is opened and the inside of the housing 1 is viewed, it can be confirmed that the side festivals 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B slide in a direction away from each other integrally with the slide of the adjustment knob 30. When the adjustment knob 30 is slid to the side surface of the housing 1, the distance between the side festivals 21A and 21B is sufficiently widened.
Therefore, as long as the roll paper P is applied to the printer S, any width paper roll P can be stored in the space.

Next, a finger is applied to any one of the adjustment knobs 30 and slidably biased toward the central portion of the housing 1, which is the opposite direction to the conventional one. Along with this, the other adjustment knob 30 also slides toward the center of the housing via the rack and pinion gear mechanism 22.
If this operation is performed with the cover 4 opened, it can be confirmed that both the side festivals 21A and 21B slide in a direction approaching each other and finally come into contact with the end face of the roll paper P.

Further, the above operation may be performed with the cover 4 closed. That is, since the position where the slide of the adjustment knob 30 stops immediately, both the side festivals 21A and 21B come into contact with the end face of the roll paper P, and the position is again observed by re-observing the side festival side festivals 21A and 21B. Needless to confirm.
In any case, when the slide of the adjustment knob 30 stops, the fixing screw 31 is tightened, and then the printing operation is performed.

  In this way, even if there are a plurality of types of width dimensions of the roll paper P, each roll paper P can be reliably stored in the paper storage portion 8, and the operation of the skew prevention mechanism K can be ensured. There is no need to insert the fingers into the housing 1 after the roll paper P is stored in the housing 1, and all operations are performed outside the housing 1 and the operability is excellent.

  The housing 1 can promote miniaturization as much as possible, and has a size advantageous for carrying. Since the slide adjusting member 23 protrudes into the bottom recessed portion 1ab of the housing 1, the appearance as the printer S is not impaired. Although the fixing screw 31 is attached to one rack gear 27, the fixing screw 31 may be attached to the other rack gear 27, or may be attached to both rack gears 27 for reliable fixation.

  The above-described embodiment is presented as an example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiment. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing, 13 ... Thermal printer head (printing means), 10 ... Platen roller (conveyance means), P ... Roll paper, K ... Skew prevention mechanism (skew prevention means), 23 ... Slide adjustment member, 21A, 21B ... guide fence, 20 ... rail member, 27 ... rack gear, 28 ... pinion gear, 22 ... rack and pinion gear mechanism, 30 ... adjustment knob, 31 ... fixing screw, 33,34 ... long hole, 36 ... plate nut, 37 ... recess 1a ... bottom of the housing (housing), 1ab ... concave bottom of the housing (housing).

Claims (6)

In a portable thermal printer that transports paper between a thermal printer head and a platen roller located inside the housing and performs printing,
In the housing, provided with skew feeding preventing means for preventing skew feeding of the conveyed paper by contacting both end faces in the width direction of the paper,
A portable thermal printer characterized in that the sheet width setting of the skew feeding prevention means can be adjusted from the outside of the housing. A housing for storing paper wound in a roll;
Transport means for transporting the paper in the housing along a guide path;
Printing means disposed on the guide path and performing printing on the conveyed paper;
A skew prevention means for setting a sheet width orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction and having an adjustable slide adjustment member so as to be in contact with both end surfaces of the sheet, and preventing the sheet being conveyed from skewing. And
The portable thermal printer, wherein the slide adjusting member of the skew feeding preventing means protrudes outside the housing and is adjustable from the outside of the housing. The skew prevention means includes
A pair of guide fences slidably provided in a paper width direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the stored paper, and abutting against both end faces of the stored paper;
A rail member provided with a rail groove into which each guide fence is movably fitted; and
A rack gear that is provided along the rail member and to which each guide fence is connected; a rack and pinion gear mechanism that is provided on the rail member and includes a pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear;
In the rack and pinion gear mechanism, the slide adjustment member provided integrally with each rack gear, protruding outside the housing and adjustable from the outside of the housing;
The portable thermal printer according to claim 2, further comprising: The slide adjusting member is
A pair of adjustment knobs provided integrally with each rack gear and projecting to the outside of the housing;
At least one fixing screw provided on at least one of the rack gears to fix or displace the position of the rack gear with respect to the housing;
4. The portable thermal printer according to claim 2, wherein the housing includes a pair of adjusting knobs and a long hole portion through which at least one fixing screw is slidable. 5. At least one of the rack gears is provided with a recess into which the plate nut is fitted,
The portable thermal printer according to claim 4, wherein the fixing screw is screwed into a screw hole of the plate nut through a long hole provided in the housing and a through hole provided in the rack gear. The portable thermal printer according to claim 2, wherein the slide adjusting member is a bottom surface portion of the housing and protrudes into a bottom surface recessed portion formed in the bottom surface portion.

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