JP2013154580A - Printer and paper guide mechanism of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper guide mechanism capable of reliably regulating an axial position of paper while reducing a load of paper conveyance without providing a manual lock mechanism or a stopper of a paper guide.SOLUTION: A paper guide mechanism for guiding paper in a printer includes: a pair of guide members for regulating a position in a width direction of a paper filled in a casing of the printer from both sides; a pair of moving members in which a pair of spur gears are arranged, respectively, which are arranged to perform parallel movement along a direction different from a conveyance direction of the paper, and support the pair of guide members, respectively; a rounded gear which is rotatably arranged at a position at which the pair of spur gears face to, each other, and meshes with the pair of spur gears; at least one biasing means for biasing one of the pair of moving members to the other side; and a lock mechanism for regulating the movement of the pair of guide members when a cover mounted openably and closably with respect to the casing is closed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that conveys a printing medium (hereinafter also referred to as “paper”) and performs printing. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a paper guide mechanism that guides a paper transported in a printer.

  For example, in a label printer, a continuous label body in which labels of a predetermined length are temporarily attached at a predetermined interval on a long strip-like mount (separator) is used as a sheet. The paper is set in the paper holder while being wound in a roll shape. A platen roller is provided in the sheet conveyance path, and the sheet is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller. In addition, a thermal head provided facing the platen roller across the paper prints on the label.

  Generally, in a paper supply / discharge device such as a printer, a paper guide mechanism is provided in order to guide a paper to be conveyed. For example, Patent Document 1 includes a paper guide for a paper supply / discharge device that also includes a guide plate for paper supply / discharge, which rotates around the horizontal axis and covers the main body of the paper supply / discharge device and also functions as a lid. A mechanism is disclosed. This paper guide mechanism is provided with a moving means for moving the horizontal axis to the guide position in accordance with the turning operation of the guide plate from the closed position to the open position. The moving means includes a rolling element fixed to the horizontal axis and a guide portion that guides the rolling element to a guide position.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a printer paper holder to which a paper roll can be easily mounted. The paper roll is sandwiched between a pair of pressing plates and is rotatably supported. The pair of pressing plates are supported by a pair of moving members that are movably provided along the axial direction of the paper roll. When one of them is moved by the action of the pair of racks and a pinion, the other is moved with the same amount of movement. Also move. The pair of moving members are biased toward each other by a spring, and the paper roll is sandwiched by the biasing force of the spring. Further, when the stopper disposed between the pair of moving members moves in a direction in which the pair of moving members approach each other, the stopper contacts at least one of the moving members, and the distance between the pair of moving members is narrower than a certain value. Regulate not to fall.

  According to this paper holder, since the paper roll is clamped by the urging force of the spring, the axial direction of the paper roll can be provided without providing a manual lock mechanism for manually locking the pair of pressing plates for guiding the paper roll. Can be regulated. However, if the operator does not set the stopper position correctly, the urging force of the spring becomes a load for paper conveyance, which may cause a problem such as print shrinkage.

JP-A-5-309894 (Claim 1, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-3023 (Abstract, Claim 2, FIG. 2)

  Accordingly, in view of the above points, the present invention provides a paper guide that can reliably regulate the position of the paper in the axial direction while reducing the paper transport load without providing a manual lock mechanism or stopper for the paper guide. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism and a printer including such a paper guide mechanism.

  In order to solve the above problems, a paper guide mechanism according to one aspect of the present invention is a paper guide mechanism for guiding paper in a printer, and the positions of the paper loaded in the housing of the printer in the width direction are set on both sides. A pair of guide members that regulate from each other, a pair of spur gears, a pair of moving members that are arranged so as to be able to translate along a direction different from the paper transport direction, and respectively support the pair of guide members; A pair of spur gears rotatably disposed at opposing positions, a circular gear meshing with the pair of spur gears, and at least one urging means for urging one of the pair of moving members toward the other; And a lock member that restricts the movement of the pair of guide members when the cover attached to the housing so as to be opened and closed is closed.

  A printer according to one aspect of the present invention is a printer that conveys paper and performs printing, and includes a housing in which paper is loaded and a cover that is openable and closable with respect to the housing. The sheet guide mechanism according to the present invention, a platen roller that conveys the sheet by being driven and rotated by a motor provided in the housing, and the sheet is printed with the sheet sandwiched between the platen roller. And a print head.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, by providing a lock member that restricts the movement of the pair of guide members when a cover that can be opened and closed with respect to the housing is closed, the load of paper conveyance is reduced. The position in the axial direction of the sheet can be reliably regulated while reducing.

1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a printer equipped with a paper guide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the structure in the housing | casing of the printer shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the guide lock mechanism used in the printer shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the guide lock mechanism shown in FIG.

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 the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a printer equipped with a paper guide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following, a label printer in which a label continuous body in which labels of a predetermined length are temporarily attached on a long strip-like mount (separator) at regular intervals is used as a sheet will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a label printer 1 is attached to a housing 2 in which a roll of paper wound in a roll shape is loaded, and to be openable and closable in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The front cover 3 and the top cover 4 are included. In the housing 2, a paper guide mechanism 10, a platen roller 21, at least one label sensor 22, and a control unit (not shown) are provided. Further, an operation unit 23, a display unit 24, and a mount discharge port 25 are provided on the front surface of the housing 2.

  A peeling roller 31 for peeling the label from the mount is rotatably attached to the front cover 3. A recess 32 is formed in at least a portion of the front cover 3 to facilitate removal of the label. The top cover 4 is provided with a thermal head 41 and a transparent window 42 for confirming the state of the paper.

  The paper guide mechanism 10 guides paper in the label printer 1. The platen roller 21 is driven and rotated by a motor provided in the housing 2 to pull out and transport the paper from the roll paper loaded in the housing 2. The thermal head 41 performs printing on a sheet with the sheet sandwiched between the platen roller 21. The label sensor 22 detects the position of the label on the conveyed paper.

  The operation unit 23 includes a plurality of operation keys, and is used for operating the printer 1 and inputting print data to the printer 1. The display unit 24 includes a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) and the like for displaying error messages and the like, and performs various displays based on signals supplied from the control unit. The control unit controls the conveyance of the sheet by the platen roller 21 and the printing of the sheet by the thermal head 41 based on the detection signal output from the label sensor 22.

  The printed paper comes into contact with the peeling roller 31. The mount is greatly bent by being folded downward in the figure. When the sheet is transported in this state, the label is peeled off from the mount when the sheet passes through the curved portion, and the transport of the sheet is temporarily stopped with a part of the label temporarily attached to the mount.

  As shown in FIG. 1, since a recess 32 is formed to facilitate removal of the label, inserting a finger into the recess 32 facilitates even a label with a short length in the transport direction. Can be removed. The mount after the label is peeled is discharged from the mount discharge port 25. In addition, you may provide the peeling sensor which detects whether the label was removed from the mount. In that case, when the peeled label is removed by the operator and the peel sensor no longer detects the label, the next label is printed and conveyed.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure inside the housing of the printer shown in FIG. The housing 2 is formed with a paper storage recess 2a for storing the roll paper 5r around which the paper 5 is wound in a roll shape, and the paper guide mechanism 10 is installed in the paper storage recess 2a. . A platen roller holder 27 is attached to the housing 2. Two platen roller bearings 28 are held by the platen roller holding portion 27, and the platen roller 21 is rotatably held by these platen roller bearings 28.

  2, the paper guide mechanism 10 includes a pair of guide members 11a and 11b, a pair of moving members 13a and 13b each having a pair of racks (spur gears) 15a and 15b, a pinion gear (circular gear) 16, and A spring 17 as urging means and a rotating rod 18 constituting a guide lock mechanism are included.

  The position of the pair of guide members 11a and 11b is variable according to the width of the paper 5, and restricts the position in the width direction (axial direction of the roll paper 5r) perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper 5 from both sides. The pair of guide members 11a and 11b may be provided with bosses 12a and 12b on opposite surfaces, respectively. In that case, by inserting the bosses 12a and 12b into the cylindrical core of the roll paper 5r from both sides, the pair of guide members 11a and 11b hold the roll paper 5r from both sides and hold it rotatably. be able to.

  A pair of moving members 13a and 13b that support the guide members 11a and 11b, respectively, are provided below the pair of guide members 11a and 11b. Each moving member 13a or 13b may be manufactured integrally with the corresponding guide member 11a or 11b, or may be manufactured separately and coupled to the guide member 11a or 11b.

  Further, at least one paper upper surface guide 11c is integrally provided on at least one of the pair of moving members 13a and 13b. The paper upper surface guide 11c prevents the paper 5 from fluttering by pressing down the end in the width direction of the paper 5 drawn from the roll paper 5r, and the label sensor 22 (positioned at the opposite position across the paper 5). (See FIG. 1).

  The pair of moving members 13 a and 13 b are arranged to be able to move in parallel along a direction different from the conveyance direction of the paper 5 (for example, the width direction of the paper 5). For example, the pair of moving members 13a and 13b are slidably fitted in a pair of guide grooves 14a and 14b formed on the bottom surface of the paper storage recess 2a, respectively. Thereby, a pair of guide members 11a and 11b can move in the direction which approaches and separates mutually, maintaining a parallel state.

  The pair of moving members 13a and 13b are provided with a pair of racks 15a and 15b each having teeth formed on a flat bar along the bottom surface of the sheet storage recess 2a. Each rack 15a or 15b may be manufactured integrally with the corresponding moving member 13a or 13b, or may be manufactured separately and coupled to the moving member 13a or 13b.

  The pinion gear 16 is rotatably disposed at a position where the pair of racks 15a and 15b face each other between the pair of moving members 13a and 13b, and meshes with the racks 15a and 15b. The racks 15a and 15b and the pinion gear 16 constitute a rack and pinion, and the linear motion of one of the racks 15a or 15b is converted into the rotational motion of the pinion gear 16, and further the pinion The rotational movement of the gear 16 is converted into the linear movement of the other rack 15b or 15a. Accordingly, when one guide member 11a or 11b is moved by a desired distance in a desired direction, the other guide member 11b or 11a is also moved by the same distance in the opposite direction.

  One end of the spring 17 is fixed to one of the pair of moving members 13a and 13b (the moving member 13a in FIG. 2), and the other end of the spring 17 is fixed to the bottom surface of the paper storage recess 2a. Accordingly, the spring 17 biases one of the pair of moving members 13a and 13b toward the other. As a result, the roll paper 5r loaded in the paper storage recess 2a is urged from both sides by the pair of guide members 11a and 11b. As the biasing means, rubber, magnets, or the like can be used in addition to the spring.

  However, the urging force by the urging means becomes a load for paper conveyance, which may cause a problem such as print shrinkage. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a guide lock mechanism is provided that restricts the movement of the pair of guide members 11a and 11b when the upper surface cover that is attached to the casing 2 so as to be opened and closed is closed. Thereby, the load of paper conveyance is reduced. The guide lock mechanism includes a rotating rod 18 as a lock member.

  Referring to FIG. 1 again, the housing 2 is provided with a cover opening / closing lever 26 for opening and closing the upper surface cover 4. Further, the upper cover 4 is provided with a pressing portion 43 at a position corresponding to the rotating rod 18. When the top cover 4 is closed, the pressing portion 43 comes into contact with the rotating rod 18 and pushes the rotating rod 18 downward in the figure.

  The rotating rod 18 can also be used as a part of a cover opening / closing sensor for detecting opening / closing of the upper surface cover 4. The control unit controls the conveyance of the sheet by the platen roller 21 and the printing of the sheet by the thermal head 41 based on the detection signal output from the cover opening / closing sensor. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the printing operation from being performed without the top cover 4 being completely closed.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide lock mechanism including the rotating rod 18 locks the pair of guide members 11a and 11b or the pair of moving members 13a and 13b in a state where the upper surface cover 4 is closed. However, a case where the guide lock mechanism locks the pinion gear 16 will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a guide lock mechanism used in the printer illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the top cover 4 is opened, and FIG. 3B shows a state in which the top cover 4 is closed.

  The rotating rod 18 is attached to the housing 2 so as to be rotatable about the rotating shaft 18a. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the upper surface cover 4 is opened, the rotating rod 18 is urged by the spring 19 so that one end 18b of the rotating rod protrudes from the upper surface of the housing 2. . When the upper surface cover 4 is closed, the rotating rod 18 engages with the pressing portion 43 of the upper surface cover 4, and as shown in FIG. 3B, the pressing portion 43 is in a state where the upper surface cover 4 is closed. Pushes the rotating rod 18 downward in the figure.

  On the lower main surface of the pinion gear 16 in the figure, there is provided a crown gear 16a in which saw-tooth teeth are formed with a predetermined width along the circumference. Correspondingly, the other end of the rotating rod 18 is provided with a crown gear 18c in which saw-tooth teeth are formed with a predetermined width along the circumference.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the top cover 4 is opened, the crown gear 16a provided on the pinion gear 16 and the crown gear 18c provided on the rotating rod 18 are separated from each other.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the top cover 4 is closed, the crown gear 16a provided on the pinion gear 16 and the crown gear 18c provided on the rotating rod 18 mesh with each other. The crown gear 18c is locked.

  Thereby, in FIG. 2, since the pair of moving members 13a and 13b are also indirectly locked, the movement of the pair of guide members 11a and 11b is restricted. Furthermore, according to the guide lock mechanism shown in FIG. 3, when the upper surface cover 4 is closed, the positions of the pair of guide members 11a and 11b are adjusted.

  FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the guide lock mechanism shown in FIG. 4A shows a state in which the top cover 4 is opened, and FIG. 4B shows a state in which the top cover 4 is closed. FIG. 4C shows the rotation of the pinion gear 16 when the top cover 4 is closed.

  When the top cover 4 is opened, the operator separates the pair of guide members 11a and 11b shown in FIG. 2 to load the roll paper 5r into the paper storage recess 2a, and then releases the guide members 11a and 11b. The guide members 11a and 11b are pressed against the roll paper 5r by the urging force of the spring 17. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4A, the tooth phase of the crown gear 16a provided on the pinion gear 16 and the tooth phase of the crown gear 18c provided on the rotating rod 18 are shifted from each other. . In FIG. 4A, this deviation angle is indicated by Δθ1.

  When the operator closes the upper surface cover 4, the crown gear 18c rotates the crown gear 16a in a direction to separate the pair of guide members 11a and 11b shown in FIG. In FIG. 4C, this rotation angle is indicated by Δθ2. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the top cover 4 is completely closed, the crown gear 18c locks the crown gear 16a.

  Accordingly, each of the pair of guide members 11a and 11b shown in FIG. 2 is positioned after moving outward by a distance ΔD corresponding to the rotation angle Δθ2 of the crown gear 16a, so that the biasing force of the spring 17 is applied to the sheet. In other words, there is no load on the sheet. As a result, problems such as print shrinkage are eliminated.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the tooth rising angle (the larger of the two angles) with respect to the rotating surface of the crown gear 16a is α, and the tooth rising angle (two angles) with respect to the rotating surface of the crown gear 18c. The larger of these is β. Here, when 90 ° <α and β <180 °, the rotation angle Δθ2 of the crown gear 16a is set to a positive value regardless of the value of the deviation angle Δθ1 between the crown gear 16a and the crown gear 18c. can do. In particular, in order to make the movement distance ΔD of the guide members 11a and 11b equal to or greater than a certain value, it is desirable that 100 ° ≦ α, β. Further, in order to make the shape of the crown gears 16a and 18c strong, it is desirable that α, β ≦ 150 °.

  On the other hand, when α = β = 90 °, the value of the rotation angle Δθ2 of the crown gear 16a is substantially equal to the value of the deviation angle Δθ1 between the crown gear 16a and the crown gear 18c. In the printer, a plurality of types of paper are used, but the width is determined by the standard. Therefore, if the pitch and the arrangement angle of the crown gears 16a and 18c are set in accordance with the width of the paper usable in the printer. The moving distance ΔD of the guide members 11a and 11b can be within an appropriate range.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Label printer, 2 ... Housing, 2a ... Paper storing recessed part, 3 ... Front cover, 4 ... Top cover, 5 ... Paper, 5r ... Roll paper, 10 ... Paper guide mechanism, 11a, 11b ... Guide member, 11c ... Paper upper surface guide, 12a, 12b ... boss, 13a, 13b ... moving member, 14a, 14b ... guide groove, 15a, 15b ... rack, 16 ... pinion gear, 16a, 18c ... crown gear, 17, 19 ... spring, 18 ... Rotating rod, 21 ... Platen roller, 22 ... Label sensor, 23 ... Operation part, 24 ... Display part, 25 ... Mount outlet, 26 ... Cover opening / closing lever, 27 ... Platen roller holding part, 28 ... Platen roller bearing, 31 ... Peeling roller, 32 ... recess, 41 ... thermal head, 42 ... window, 43 ... pressing part

Claims (4)

A paper guide mechanism for guiding paper in a printer,
A pair of guide members for regulating the position in the width direction of the paper loaded in the housing of the printer from both sides;
A pair of spur gears, each of which is arranged to be able to move in parallel along a direction different from the conveyance direction of the paper, and a pair of moving members that respectively support the pair of guide members;
A circular gear that is rotatably arranged at a position where the pair of spur gears face each other, and meshes with the pair of spur gears;
At least one biasing means for biasing one of the pair of moving members toward the other;
A lock member for restricting movement of the pair of guide members when a cover attached to the casing so as to be opened and closed is closed;
A paper guide mechanism comprising:   The lock member locks the circular gear after rotating the circular gear to engage the cover and widen a distance between the pair of guide members when the cover is closed. The paper guide mechanism described.   A first crown gear having saw-tooth teeth is provided on one main surface of the circular gear, and a saw-tooth tooth that meshes with the first crown gear is formed on the lock member. The paper guide mechanism according to claim 2, further comprising a second crown gear. A printer that conveys paper and performs printing,
A housing in which paper is loaded;
A cover attached to the housing so as to be openable and closable;
The paper guide mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A platen roller that conveys paper by being driven and rotated by a motor provided in the housing;
A print head for printing on a sheet with the sheet sandwiched between the platen roller;
A printer comprising:

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