JP2019059581A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a printer capable of stabilizing a detection accuracy of a reflection sensor.SOLUTION: The printer includes a printing part for printing on a print medium, a partition member for partitioning the print medium and an ink ribbon which are supplied to the printing part, and a reflection sensor for detecting a position of the print medium in a conveying direction. The partition member has a conveyance guide part arranged opposite to the reflection sensor to form a conveying path of the print medium between the reflection sensor and itself.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a printer.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a printer provided with a reflection sensor that detects the position of a print medium in the transport direction.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-226313

  In the above-described printer, when slack or waviness occurs in the print medium being conveyed, the distance between the reflection sensor and the print medium may be increased, and the detection accuracy of the reflection sensor may be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of such technical problems, and it is an object of the present invention to stabilize the detection accuracy of a reflection sensor.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, a printing unit for printing on a printing medium, a partition member for partitioning the printing medium and the ink ribbon supplied to the printing unit, and the position of the printing medium in the transport direction There is provided a printer comprising: a reflection sensor for detecting, wherein the partition member has a conveyance guide portion which forms a conveyance path of the printing medium between the reflection sensor and the reflection sensor.

  According to this, since the conveyance guide portion of the partition member forms a conveyance path with the reflection sensor, the printing medium is guided by the conveyance guide portion, and the printing medium is conveyed within a certain distance from the reflection sensor. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the distance between the reflection sensor and the printing medium from being increased due to the slack or waviness of the printing medium, and the detection accuracy of the reflection sensor can be stabilized.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the partition member and the ribbon supply shaft. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the cover is opened. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state where the ribbon supply axis is in the ribbon replacement position.

  Hereinafter, a printer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

  The printer 100 is a thermal transfer type printer that performs printing by heating the ink ribbon R to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon R onto the print medium M. The print medium M is, for example, a label continuum in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached in succession at a predetermined interval on a band-like backing sheet.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer 100 includes a housing 10 and a cover 11 that covers the opening of the housing 10.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the print medium M is held by the medium supply shaft 12 in a rolled state. As the print medium M, a pasteless label or a fanfold type medium can be used.

  The cover 11 has an end on one end side pivotally supported by a support shaft 13 provided on the housing 10. The cover 11 can be switched between an open state (see FIG. 4) of opening the opening of the housing 10 and a closed state (see FIG. 2) of closing by pivoting the support shaft 13 as a fulcrum. .

  The housing 10 is provided with a lock mechanism (not shown) for keeping the cover 11 in the closed state. The lock mechanism is released by operating the lever 14 shown in FIG.

  Between the end on the other end side of the cover 11 and the housing 10, a discharge port 16 is formed where the print medium M printed by the print unit 15 shown in FIG.

  A cutter 17 facing the outlet 16 is attached to the cover 11. Thereby, the printed print medium M discharged from the discharge port 16 can be cut. Note that various other units can be attached to the cover 11 in place of the cutter 17.

  A transmission sensor 18 for detecting the presence or absence of the print medium M is provided between the discharge port 16 and the print unit 15.

  The transmission sensor 18 is an optical sensor having a light emitting unit 18a for emitting predetermined light, and a light receiving unit 18b for receiving light emitted from the light emitting unit 18a and outputting an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light. It is.

  When the print medium M exists between the light emitting unit 18a and the light receiving unit 18b, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 18a is blocked, and the intensity of the light received by the light receiving unit 18b is reduced.

  Thus, the transmission sensor 18 can detect the presence or absence of the print medium M. The positions of the light emitting unit 18a and the light receiving unit 18b may be interchanged.

  In addition, the cover 11 is provided with an operation unit 19 for operating the printer 100. The operation unit 19 includes various operation buttons, a display, a short distance wireless communication module, an LED, and the like. The display may be a touch panel.

  Inside the printer 100, as shown in FIG. 2, a printing unit 30 for printing on the printing medium M, a controller 40 for controlling the operation of the printer 100, and the like are accommodated.

  The printing unit 30 includes a main body 31 whose one end is pivotally supported by the support shaft 13 and a thermal head 32 attached to the main body 31.

  The thermal head 32 and the platen roller 20 provided on the housing 10 constitute a printing unit 15 that prints on the printing medium M.

  The printing unit 30 has a printing position (see FIG. 2) at which the printing medium M is held between the thermal head 32 and the platen roller 20, and a non-printing position at which the thermal head 32 is separated from the platen roller 20 (FIG. 5) and is freely swingable.

  The printing unit 30 further includes a ribbon supply shaft 33 for holding the ink ribbon R supplied to the printing unit 15 in a roll, a ribbon winding shaft 34 for winding the used ink ribbon R, and the ink ribbon R and printing. A partition member 35 for partitioning the medium M, a guide shaft 36 defining a transport path of the ink ribbon R from the ribbon supply shaft 33 to the printing unit 15, and an ink ribbon R from the printing unit 15 to the ribbon winding shaft 34 And a guide shaft 37 which defines a transport path of The ribbon supply shaft 33 is detachably attached to the partition member 35.

  The print medium M is supplied from the medium supply shaft 12 to the print unit 15 and is nipped between the thermal head 32 and the platen roller 20 together with the ink ribbon R.

  When the heating elements of the thermal head 32 are energized with the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R held between the thermal head 32 and the platen roller 20, that is, when the printing unit 30 is in the printing position, The ink of the ink ribbon R is transferred to the printing medium M by the heat of the heating element, and printing on the printing medium M is performed.

  When the platen roller 20 is rotated forward by a platen drive motor (not shown), the print medium M and the ink ribbon R are transported to the downstream side in the transport direction, and the print medium M is discharged from the discharge port 16 to the outside of the printer 100. Exhausted.

  The ribbon supply shaft 33 and the ribbon take-up shaft 34 are also rotationally driven by drive motors (not shown), respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the partition member 35 supports the base portion 35a, the shaft portion 35b provided on one end side of the base portion 35a, and the ribbon supply shaft 33 in parallel with the shaft portion 35b and rotatably supported. It has the parts 35c and 35d, and the engaging part 35e formed in the center part of the axial part 35b.

  The partition member 35 is swingably supported by the main body 31 by the shaft 35 b.

  The engaging portion 35e is configured to engage with the engaged portion 11a provided on the cover 11 as shown in FIG. When the partition member 35 is in the position (closing position) where the engaging portion 35 e engages with the engaged portion 11 a, the ribbon supply shaft 33 is accommodated in the main body portion 31. As a result, the ribbon supply shaft 33 is at the ribbon supply position for supplying the ink ribbon R to the printing unit 15.

  Thus, the partition member 35 is maintained at the closed position where the ribbon supply shaft 33 is at the ribbon supply position by the engagement of the engaging portion 35e and the engaged portion 11a. In addition, the printing unit 30 and the cover 11 are coupled.

  When printing is performed by the printer 100, the cover 11 is closed, and the engaging portion 35e of the partition member 35 and the engaged portion 11a of the cover 11 are engaged.

  Therefore, when the cover 11 is changed from the closed state to the open state, the printing unit 30 is swung integrally with the cover 11, and as shown in FIG. 4, the opening of the case 10 is opened.

  Thereby, the setting of the print medium M to the printer 100 and the maintenance of each part in the housing 10 can be performed.

  Furthermore, when the engagement between the engaging portion 35e and the engaged portion 11a is released from the state shown in FIG. 4 to swing the partition member 35 toward the housing 10 side, the partition member 35 is shown in FIG. It will be in the open position.

  As the partition member 35 is in the open position, the roll-shaped ink ribbon R held by the ribbon supply shaft 33 and the ribbon supply shaft 33 moves relative to the ribbon winding shaft 34, and the printing medium M Exposed to the outlet 16 side.

  As a result, the ribbon supply shaft 33 is at the ribbon replacement position where it can be detached from the printer 100, and the ink ribbon R can be replaced.

  The engagement between the engaging portion 35e and the engaged portion 11a can be achieved by elastically deforming the engaging portion 35e and the engaged portion 11a when the partition member 35 is swung toward the housing 10 with a torque equal to or greater than a predetermined torque. Is released.

  The printing unit 30 itself also swings to the predetermined position toward the housing 10 by releasing the engagement between the engaging portion 35e and the engaged portion 11a. The predetermined position is a position where a rocking restriction portion (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the support shaft 13 in the housing 10 abuts on the main body portion 31.

  When positioning the printing unit 30 by the rocking restriction portion, the rocking restriction portion is elastically deformed when the printing unit 30 is rocked toward the housing 10 with a torque equal to or more than a predetermined torque, and the main body portion 31 is Get over and get rid of it.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a transport guide portion 35 f is provided on the other end side of the base portion 35 a in the partition member 35. As shown in FIG. 2, when the printing unit 30 is in the printing position, the transport guide unit 35 f faces the reflection sensor 21 to form a transport path of the printing medium M between the printing unit 30 and the reflection sensor 21.

  The reflection sensor 21 includes a light emitting unit that emits predetermined light, and a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from the printing medium M of the light emitted from the light emitting unit and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light. . Is an optical sensor.

  The reflection sensor 21 detects an eye mark printed in advance at a predetermined interval on the surface of the printing medium M opposite to the surface on which printing is performed.

  Thus, the reflection sensor 21 can detect the position of the print medium M in the transport direction.

  Here, when slack or waviness occurs in the print medium M being conveyed, the distance between the reflection sensor 21 and the print medium M may be increased, and the detection accuracy of the reflection sensor 21 may be reduced.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when the printing unit 30 is in the printing position, that is, in the state shown in FIG. 2, the transport guide portion 35f of the partition member 35 forms a transport path between itself and the reflection sensor 21. Therefore, the print medium M is guided by the transport guide portion 35f, and the print medium M is transported within a predetermined distance from the reflection sensor 21. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the distance between the reflection sensor 21 and the printing medium M from being increased due to the slack or waviness of the printing medium M, and the detection accuracy of the reflection sensor 21 can be stabilized.

  Further, since the conveyance path of the print medium M is formed by the conveyance guide portion 35f provided in the partition member 35, it is necessary to separately provide a member for conveying the print medium M within a certain distance from the reflection sensor 21. There is no need to insert the print medium M into the member.

  Further, since the partition member 35 is provided in the printing unit 30, when the printing unit 30 is in the non-printing position, the entire transport path of the printing medium M can be exposed. Therefore, even if the printing medium M is conveyed within a certain distance from the reflection sensor 21 by providing the conveyance guide portion 35f in the partition member 35, the work of setting the printing medium M in the printer 100 can be easily performed. Can.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the printer 100 includes a transmission sensor 22 that detects the position of the print medium M in the transport direction.

  The transmission sensor 22 receives a light emitting unit 22a as a light emitting unit that emits a predetermined light, and a light receiving unit that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit 22a and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light. And an optical sensor having a unit 22b.

  For example, in the case where the print medium M is a label continuum in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached to a band-like backing at a predetermined interval, only a part of the backing is present between two adjacent labels. Do.

  The transmission amount of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 22a is different between the portion where the label is present and the portion where only the mount is present, so the intensity of the light received by the light receiving unit 22b changes. Thus, the reflection sensor 21 can detect the position of the print medium M in the transport direction.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light emitting unit 22a is provided on the side opposite to the conveyance path of the printing medium M in the conveyance guide portion 35f, that is, on the upper surface side of the conveyance guide portion 35f. In addition, in the transport guide portion 35f, a through hole 35g through which light emitted from the light emitting unit 22a passes is formed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the light receiving unit 22 b is provided on the side of the housing 10 across the conveyance path.

  As described above, the work of setting the print medium M in the printer 100 is performed in a state where the printing unit 30 is in the non-printing position and the opening of the housing 10 is opened.

  That is, in the present embodiment, since the print medium M can be set in the printer 100 with the light emission unit 22a and the light reception unit 22b being largely open, the work of setting the print medium M in the printer 100 can be easily performed. Can. The positions of the light emitting unit 22a and the light receiving unit 22b may be interchanged.

  The printer 100 operates either the reflection sensor 21 or the transmission sensor 22 according to the mode of the print medium M to be used to detect the position of the print medium M in the transport direction.

  For example, when using the print medium M in which the eye mark is not provided, the printer 100 detects the position of the print medium M by the transmission sensor 22.

  The controller 40 includes a microprocessor, a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, an input / output interface, a bus connecting these, and the like. Print data from an external computer, signals from the transmission sensors 18 and 22, signals from the reflection sensor 21 and the like are input to the controller 40 via the input / output interface.

  The controller 40 causes the microprocessor to execute a print control program stored in the storage device, and controls the energization of the heating elements of the thermal head 32, the energization of each drive motor, and the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the printer 100 includes the printing unit 15 for printing on the printing medium M, and a partition member for partitioning between the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R supplied to the printing unit 15. 35 and the reflection sensor 21 for detecting the position of the printing medium M in the conveyance direction, and the partition member 35 forms a conveyance path of the printing medium M between the reflection sensor 21 and the reflection sensor 21. It has the conveyance guide part 35f.

  Further, the conveyance guide portion 35 f guides the upper surface of the print medium M.

  According to this, since the conveyance guide portion 35f of the partition member 35 forms a conveyance path with the reflection sensor 21, the print medium M is guided by the conveyance guide portion 35f, and printing is performed within a predetermined distance from the reflection sensor 21. Medium M is transported. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the distance between the reflection sensor 21 and the printing medium M from being increased due to the slack or waviness of the printing medium M, and the detection accuracy of the reflection sensor 21 can be stabilized.

  The printer 100 also has a thermal head 32 that constitutes the printing unit 15, and the printing position at which the thermal head 32 sandwiches the printing medium M with the platen roller 20, and the thermal head 32 separates from the platen roller 20. The printing unit 30 is provided swingably between the non-printing position, and the partition member 35 is provided on the printing unit 30.

  Further, when the printing unit 30 is in the printing position, the conveyance guide unit 35 f faces the reflection sensor 21 to form a conveyance path.

  According to this, when the printing unit 30 is in the non-printing position, the entire transport path of the printing medium M can be exposed. Therefore, even if the printing medium M is conveyed within a certain distance from the reflection sensor 21 by providing the conveyance guide portion 35f in the partition member 35, the work of setting the printing medium M in the printer 100 can be easily performed. Can.

  The printer 100 also has a light emitting unit 22a as a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit 22b as a light receiving unit, and is provided with a transmission sensor 22 for detecting the position of the printing medium M in the transport direction. One of the two is provided on the partition member 35, and the other is provided on the side of the housing 10 of the printer 100 across the transport path.

  According to this, since the print medium M can be set to the printer 100 in a state where the space between the light emitting unit 22a and the light receiving unit 22b is largely opened, the work of setting the print medium M to the printer 100 can be easily performed. .

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the said embodiment is only what showed one of the application examples of this invention, and the meaning which limits the technical scope of this invention to the specific structure of the said embodiment is not.

  For example, although the printer 100 includes the cover 11 in the above embodiment, the printing unit 30 may function as a cover without the cover 11. In this case, the engaged portion that engages with the engaging portion 35 e of the partition member 35 is provided on the main body portion 31 or the like of the printing unit 30.

Reference Signs List 100 printer 10 housing 11 cover 11 a engaged portion 12 medium supply shaft 13 support shaft 14 lever 15 printing portion 16 discharge port 17 cutter 18 transmission sensor 18 a light emitting unit 18 b light receiving unit 19 operation unit 20 platen roller 21 reflection sensor 22 transmission sensor 22a light emitting unit (light emitting unit)
22b Light receiving unit (light receiving unit)
Reference Signs List 30 print unit 31 main body 32 thermal head 33 ribbon supply shaft 34 ribbon take-up shaft 35 partition member 35a base 35b shaft 35c support 35d support 35e engagement 35f transport guide 35g through hole 36 guide shaft 37 guide shaft 40 controller 50 printing unit 55 partition member M print medium R ink ribbon

Claims (5)

A printing unit for printing on a printing medium;
A partition member that partitions between the printing medium supplied to the printing unit and the ink ribbon;
A reflection sensor for detecting the position of the print medium in the transport direction;
Equipped with
The partition member has a conveyance guide portion that faces the reflection sensor and forms a conveyance path of the print medium between the reflection sensor and the conveyance sensor.
Printer. The printer according to claim 1, wherein
The transport guide unit guides the upper surface of the print medium.
Printer. The printer according to claim 1 or 2,
Between the printing position where it has the thermal head which constitutes the printing section, the thermal head sandwiches the printing medium with the platen roller, and the non-printing position where the thermal head separates from the platen roller It has a printing unit that can be pivoted,
The partition member is provided in the printing unit.
Printer. The printer according to claim 3, wherein
The conveyance guide unit faces the reflection sensor to form the conveyance path when the printing unit is in the printing position.
Printer. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
A transmission sensor that has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit and detects the position of the print medium in the transport direction;
One of the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit is provided on the partition member, and the other is provided on the housing side of the printer with the transport path interposed therebetween.
Printer.

Images