JP2013245081A - Sensor moving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sensor moving device capable of easily adjusting the position of a sensor even if a printed medium of a different width is used, and capable of adjusting the position of the sensor for an unspecified printed medium different in lateral position of a mark and a label.SOLUTION: A sensor moving device 100 includes: a first guide part 111 disposed to be movable in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of paper 1, and guiding it while restricting a lateral position on one end side of the paper 1; a sensor part 120 detecting the position of the paper 1 conveyed on a conveyance pat; and a sensor holding part 130 holding the sensor part 120 to slide in the width direction independently of movement of the first guide part 111 and moving in synchronization with movement of the first guide part 111 by engaging with the first guide part 111.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensor moving device that moves a sensor for detecting a printing medium in a label printer or the like.

  In a label printer or the like that prints on a continuous label (printed medium) in which a label is continuously attached to a long strip, the label is detected by detecting the mark provided on the continuous label or the label itself. A sensor for detecting the position (or the position of the label continuum) is provided. Since the width of the label continuous body that can be mounted on the label printer varies widely, the sensor is required to be able to detect the label regardless of the width of the label continuous body.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a sensor moving mechanism that can adjust the movement of a sensor in a direction perpendicular to the transfer path.
However, the label printer that can move the position of the sensor arbitrarily as in Patent Document 1 is compatible with various printing media, while the position of the sensor is adjusted to an appropriate position according to the printing media each time. The work to do was complicated.

Patent Document 2 discloses a device that causes a sensor (pitch detection unit in Patent Document 2) to follow the movement of a movable member that regulates one end side in the width direction of a continuous label body.
In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, the position of the sensor is automatically aligned by moving the movable member in accordance with the one end side in the width direction of the print medium.

JP 2005-178309 A Japanese Patent No. 2707101

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, the amount of movement of the sensor is determined with respect to the amount of movement of the movable member, and the relationship between the position of the movable member and the position of the sensor is in a specific positional relationship. Therefore, the position in the width direction of the mark or label needs to be a position that can be detected by the sensor, and there is a problem that the label continuum that can be used for printing is limited to a specific one.

  It is an object of the present invention to easily adjust the position of a sensor even when replacing a printing medium with a different width, and to an unspecified printing medium with a different position in the width direction of a mark or label. Another object is to provide a sensor moving device that can adjust the position of the sensor.

  The present invention solves the above problems by the following means.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first guide portion that is provided so as to be movable in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the printing medium and that regulates and guides a position in the width direction on one end side of the printing medium. A sensor unit for detecting the position of the printing medium conveyed along the conveyance path, and holding the sensor unit slidably in the width direction independently of the movement of the first guide unit, and And a sensor holding unit that engages with the first guide unit and moves in synchronization with the movement of the first guide unit.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sensor moving device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the sensor moving device is provided so as to be movable in a width direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the print medium, and in the width direction on the other end side of the print medium. A second guide portion that regulates and guides the position; and an interlocking mechanism that interlocks the movement of the first guide portion and the second guide portion so as to be in a direction away from each other and a direction closer to each other. This is a sensor moving device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sensor moving device according to the first or second aspect, the slide movement in the width direction of the sensor unit relative to the sensor holding unit is performed at least when the position of the sensor unit is adjusted. The sensor moving device is configured to be movable.

According to the present invention, the sensor unit can detect the position of the print medium according to the width of the print medium simply by moving the first guide part and the second guide part according to the width of the print medium. It can move automatically to possible positions. Therefore, even when the medium is replaced with a printing medium having a different width, the position of the sensor unit can be easily adjusted to an appropriate detection position.
Further, the sensor unit can move in the width direction independently of the movement of the first guide unit and the second guide unit. Therefore, the sensor moving device can freely adjust the position of the sensor unit according to the relationship between the width direction end of the printing medium and the detection position, and the position of the mark or label in the width direction is unspecified. The position of the sensor can be aligned with respect to the printing medium.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the outline of a sensor moving apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the outline of a guide part. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the state which combined the sensor part and the sensor holding part. It is a schematic perspective view which shows a sensor part. It is a schematic perspective view which shows a sensor holding part. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the state which combined the sensor part and the sensor holding part in 2nd Embodiment.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of a printer according to the present invention.
In the drawings shown below including FIG. 1, XYZ orthogonal coordinates are shown in a unified direction. Note that XYZ merely indicates a direction and does not indicate an absolute position such as an origin position.
In addition, each figure shown below including FIG. 1 is the figure shown typically, and the magnitude | size and shape of each part are exaggerated suitably for easy understanding.
In the following description, specific numerical values, shapes, materials, and the like are shown and described, but these can be changed as appropriate.

  The printer 10 is a thermal transfer type color printer for printing on a printing medium (paper) such as a label temporarily attached to a mount or a strip-like sheet of a tag, and using a plurality of ink ribbons of different colors. Then, printing is performed by transferring the ink of the ink ribbon onto the paper. In the following, a case where printing is performed on a sheet using ink ribbons of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a sheet 1 is rotatably supported on a sheet supply shaft 11 provided in a housing 14 of a printer 10 as a roll sheet 2 wound in a roll shape. The sheet 1 drawn out from the sheet supply shaft 11 passes through a guide unit 110 and a sensor unit 120 (to be described later), and is then nipped and conveyed by the drive roller 12 and the pressure roller 13.

  Also, four types of ink ribbon cassettes 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20B are mounted on the casing 14 from the upstream side in the transport direction (right side in the figure) to the downstream side in the transport direction (left side in the figure). Yes. For example, the ink ribbon cassette 20Y is loaded with a yellow (Y) ink ribbon. The ink ribbon cassette 20M is loaded with a magenta (M) ink ribbon. The ink ribbon cassette 20C is loaded with a cyan (C) ink ribbon. The ink ribbon cassette 20B is loaded with a black (B) ink ribbon.

  In the housing 14 of the printer 10, four platen rollers 15Y, 15M, 15C, and 15B, and four thermal heads 16Y and 16B are arranged along the paper transport direction corresponding to the four types of ink ribbon cassettes 20Y to 20B. 16M, 16C, 16B and four peeling plates 17Y, 17M, 17C, 17B are arranged. The thermal heads 16Y to 16B are inserted into the ink ribbon cassettes 20Y to 20B, respectively. Further, the thermal heads 16Y to 16B are disposed to face the platen rollers 15Y to 15B, respectively. The peeling plates 17Y to 17B are disposed on the downstream side of the thermal heads 16Y to 16B, respectively. The four platen rollers 15Y to 15B, the four thermal heads 16Y to 16B, and the four release plates 17Y to 17B are combined to form four printing units. In each printing part, it prints using the ink ribbon cassettes 20Y-20B set to each.

  In each of the four types of ink ribbon cassettes 20Y to 20B, the ink ribbon 23 is bridged between the ink ribbon supply shaft 21 and the ink ribbon take-up shaft 22. The ink ribbon winding shaft 22 is driven to rotate by a motor provided in the housing.

  The unused ink ribbon 23 supported while being wound around the ink ribbon supply shaft 21 of the yellow ink ribbon cassette 20Y is supplied together with the paper 1 between the platen roller 15Y and the thermal head 16Y. After the transfer, the ink ribbon 23 is peeled off from the paper 1 by the peeling plate 17Y, and then taken up by the ink ribbon take-up shaft 22.

  The platen roller 15Y is driven and rotated by a motor provided in the casing, thereby conveying the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 23 at the same speed in the same direction. The thermal head 16Y has a plurality of fine heating elements that generate heat when energy is applied in the width direction. Printing is performed using the yellow ink ribbon loaded in the ink ribbon cassette 20Y by applying energy to the heating element to generate heat and heating the ink on the ink ribbon 23 and transferring it to the paper 1. In order to apply energy (electric power) to the heating element, a voltage may be applied from the voltage source to the heating element, or a current may be passed from the current source to the heating element.

  The platen rollers 15M to 15B are configured similarly to the platen roller 15Y, and the thermal heads 16M to 16B are configured similarly to the thermal head 16Y. Further, the release plates 17M to 17B are configured similarly to the release plate 17Y. The sheet 1 that has passed through the position of the platen roller 15Y sequentially passes through the positions of the platen rollers 15M to 15B, and the thermal heads 16M to 16B receive the magenta, cyan, and black ink ribbons loaded in the ink ribbon cassettes 20M to 20B, respectively. The printing used is performed sequentially. The printed paper 1 is discharged from the paper discharge port.

  The printer 10 includes an input unit 30, a control unit 40, a display unit 45, a power supply unit 70, and a sensor moving device 100.

  The input unit 30 includes a plurality of operation keys and is used for operating the printer 10 and inputting color print data to the printer 10.

  The control unit 40 includes a motor (not shown) that drives the platen rollers 15Y to 15B, the ink ribbon take-up shaft 22, and the like, thermal heads 16Y to 16B, and the like based on the positional information of the sheet 1 obtained from the sensor unit 120 described later. Control the behavior.

  The display unit 45 includes an LCD (liquid crystal display) panel or a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) for displaying an error message or the like, and performs various displays based on signals supplied from the control unit 40.

  The power supply unit 70 supplies power to a motor (not shown) that drives the platen rollers 15Y to 15B and the ink ribbon winding shaft 22, the thermal heads 16Y to 16B, the control unit 40, the display unit 45, and the like.

  The sensor moving device 100 is provided in the conveyance path of the paper 1 between the paper supply shaft 11 and the driving roller 12 and the pressure roller 13. The sensor moving device 100 regulates the position in the width direction of the paper 1 drawn from the paper supply shaft 11 and detects the position in the transport direction of the paper 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of the sensor moving device.
The sensor moving device 100 includes a guide part 110, a sensor part 120, and a sensor holding part 130.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of the guide portion.
The guide part 110 includes a first guide part 111, a second guide part 112, and a gear 113.

  The first guide portion 111 is provided so as to be movable in the width direction (Z-axis direction) of the paper 1 that is orthogonal to the conveyance direction (X-axis direction) of the paper 1. The position in the width direction is regulated and guided on the Z plus side (the back side in the figure). Further, the first guide portion 111 has a rack portion 111 a that extends along the width direction of the sheet 1 below the conveyance path. Further, the first guide part 111 has an engaging part 111b provided so as to protrude from the rack part 111a along the transport direction. A groove shape that engages with an engaging convex portion 130a of the sensor holding portion 130 described later is provided at the tip of the engaging portion 111b.

The second guide portion 112 is provided so as to be movable in the width direction of the paper 1 perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper 1, and is on the other end side of the paper 1 (in this embodiment, Z minus which is the front side in the figure). Side) to regulate and guide the position in the width direction. Further, the second guide portion 112 has a rack portion 112 a extending along the width direction of the sheet 1 below the conveyance path.
In the present embodiment, the movement of the first guide part 111 and the second guide part 112 is performed manually.

  The gear 113 is a gear that meshes with the rack portion 111a and the rack portion 112a. The gear 113, the rack portion 111a, and the rack portion 112a constitute an interlocking mechanism that interlocks the movement of the first guide portion 111 and the second guide portion 112 so as to move away from each other and toward each other. ing. By providing this interlocking mechanism, the sensor moving device 100 can easily guide the paper in the so-called center reference printer 10 in which the center position in the width direction in which the paper is conveyed does not change even if the paper width changes. .

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the sensor unit and the sensor holding unit are combined.
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the sensor unit.
The sensor unit 120 is a sensor that detects the position of the paper 1 being transported along the transport path. The sensor unit 120 is a light transmission type sensor, and is provided at a position facing the light emitting side unit 121 and a light emitting side unit 121 that emits light toward the paper 1. 1 includes a light receiving side portion 122 that receives light through 1. The sheet 1 passes through a gap provided between the light emitting side part 121 and the light receiving side part 122. In addition, an identification mark (see FIG. 2) may be provided at predetermined intervals in the conveyance direction of the paper 1, and the sensor unit 120 may be a light reflection type sensor that detects the identification mark. When the sensor unit 120 detects that a label (not shown) temporarily attached to the paper 1 is transported to a predetermined position from a change in the amount of transmitted light or a change in the amount of reflected light, the sensor unit 120 outputs a label position detection signal. The data is sent to the control unit 40.

  The sensor unit 120 has a rail 121a below the light emitting side 121 (Y minus side). The rail 121a extends along the width direction (Z-axis direction) of the sheet 1, and engages with a groove 130b of a sensor holding unit 130 described later so as to be slidable. Therefore, the sensor unit 120 is slidable in the width direction (Z-axis direction) of the paper 1 with respect to the sensor holding unit 130. This sliding movement is independent of the movement of the first guide part 111 and the second guide part 112. In the present embodiment, the movement of the sensor unit 120 relative to the sensor holding unit 130 is performed manually. Further, a lock screw or the like may be provided for preventing the sensor unit 120 from being inadvertently moved with respect to the sensor holding unit 130.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the sensor holding portion.
The sensor holding unit 130 is provided so as to be slidable in the width direction of the paper 1. The sensor holding part 130 is provided with an engaging convex part 130a protruding downward. The engaging convex portion 130 a is engaged with the groove shape of the engaging portion 111 b provided on the first guide portion 111. Therefore, the sensor holding unit 130 moves in synchronization with the movement of the first guide unit 111. Further, the sensor holding unit 130 has a groove 130b, and as described above, the sensor unit 120 is moved in the width direction of the paper 1 independently of the movement of the first guide unit 111 and the second guide unit 112. Hold it so that it can slide. Therefore, when the first guide part 111 and the second guide part 112 move in the width direction of the paper 1, the sensor holding part 130 and the sensor part 120 move in synchronization with the movement.

With the configuration described above, the sensor unit 120 can detect the position of the paper 1 in accordance with the width of the paper 1 simply by moving the first guide portion 111 and the second guide portion 112 according to the width of the paper 1. It can move automatically to possible positions. Therefore, the position of the sensor unit 120 can be easily adjusted to an appropriate detection position even when the paper is replaced with a paper having a different width.
The sensor unit 120 can move in the width direction independently of the movement of the first guide unit 111 and the second guide unit 112. Therefore, the sensor moving device 100 can freely adjust the position of the sensor unit 120 in accordance with the relationship between the end of the sheet 1 in the width direction and the detection position, and the position of the mark or label in the width direction is different. The position of the sensor can be adjusted even for a specific sheet, and versatility is high.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the sensor unit and the sensor holding unit are combined in the second embodiment.
The second embodiment is the same as the printer 10 of the first embodiment, except that the configuration for moving the sensor unit 120 relative to the sensor holding unit 130 is different. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the portions that perform the same functions as those in the first embodiment described above, and repeated descriptions are omitted as appropriate.

The sensor holding unit 130 of the second embodiment is further provided with a feed screw 130c and a knob 130d.
The feed screw 130 c is formed with a spiral feed screw and is screwed with a nut portion (not shown) provided on the light emitting side portion 121. Further, the feed screw 130c is supported by the sensor holding unit 130 so that the feed screw 130c does not move in the width direction of the paper 1 with respect to the sensor holding unit 130 even if it rotates around its axis.
The knob 130d is provided at one end of the feed screw 130c and is a portion that is operated when the feed screw 130c is manually rotated.

  In the present embodiment, the user can move the sensor unit 120 with respect to the sensor holding unit 130 by pinching and rotating the knob 130d by hand. The sensor moving device of the present embodiment can easily perform a finer position adjustment of the sensor unit 120 by using a feed screw mechanism than in the case of the first embodiment.

(Deformation)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications and changes are possible, and these are also within the scope of the present invention.

  In each embodiment, the sensor moving device 100 has been described with an example provided in a printer that prints a label. For example, the sensor moving device may be provided in a verification device that verifies whether printing has been performed properly, or may be a device that includes a sensor that detects the position of a printing medium. Any device may be provided.

  Moreover, in each embodiment, the sensor moving apparatus 100 was provided with the 1st guide part 111 and the 2nd guide part 112, and demonstrated and demonstrated the example provided with the interlocking mechanism which interlock | cooperates these. For example, only a portion corresponding to the first guide portion 111 may be provided, or a configuration without an interlocking mechanism may be used.

  Each embodiment and modification may be used in appropriate combination, but detailed description is omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments described above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper 2 Roll paper 10 Printer 11 Paper supply shaft 12 Driving roller 13 Pressure roller 14 Case 15Y, 15M, 15C, 15B Platen roller 16Y, 16M, 16C, 16B Thermal head 17Y, 17M, 17C, 17B Release plate 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20B Ink ribbon cassette 21 Ink ribbon supply shaft 22 Ink ribbon take-up shaft 23 Ink ribbon 30 Input unit 40 Control unit 45 Display unit 70 Power supply unit 100 Sensor moving device 110 Guide unit 111 First guide unit 111a Rack unit 111b Engaging portion 112 Second guide portion 112a Rack portion 113 Gear 120 Sensor portion 121 Light emitting side portion 121a Rail 122 Light receiving side portion 130 Sensor holding portion 130a Engaging convex portion 130b Groove 130c Feed screw 130d Knob

Claims (3)

A first guide portion that is provided so as to be movable in a width direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the printing medium, and that regulates and guides a position in the width direction on one end side of the printing medium;
A sensor unit for detecting a position of the printing medium conveyed along the conveyance path;
The sensor unit is slidably held in the width direction independently of the movement of the first guide unit, and is engaged with the first guide unit to move the first guide unit. A sensor holding unit that moves synchronously;
A sensor moving device comprising: The sensor moving device according to claim 1,
A second guide portion provided so as to be movable in a width direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the print medium, and for regulating and guiding a position in the width direction on the other end side of the print medium;
An interlocking mechanism for interlocking the movement of the first guide part and the second guide part so as to be in a direction away from each other and a direction approaching each other;
A sensor moving device comprising: In the sensor moving device according to claim 1 or 2,
The slide movement in the width direction of the sensor unit relative to the sensor holding unit is configured to be movable at least when the position of the sensor unit is adjusted,
A sensor moving device characterized by the above.

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