JP2020203416A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit a user from touching a scale.SOLUTION: A printing device includes: a print head for printing on a printing medium; a carriage mounted with the print head; a scale used for detecting a position of the carriage; a detector mounted to the carriage and optically detecting the scale; and a fitting part to which a protective member for the scale can be fitted. The fitting part can fit the protective member downstream of the scale in a transportation direction of the printing medium.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus.

Conventionally, there is known a printing device that prints on a recording medium that is sent out by reciprocating a carriage provided with a print head. Some such printing devices include a scale and a detector, which are used to detect the scanning position of the carriage.
Further, such a printing apparatus is known to be provided with an opening for exposing a carriage to the outside in order to clear a clogging of a recording medium. In this printing apparatus, the opening is covered with an openable / closable cover, and when the recording medium is clogged, the opening is opened and the user clears the clogging. At this time, there is known a printing apparatus in which a protective member is provided between the scale and the recording medium so that the recording medium does not come into contact with the scale (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-241527

However, in the conventional configuration, since the scale is exposed from the open opening, when the clogging is removed, the user may touch the scale to cause dirt adhesion, scratches, deformation, or the like.

One aspect for solving the above problems is a print head for printing on a print medium, a carriage equipped with the print head, a scale used for detecting the position of the carriage, and an optical scale mounted on the carriage. The protective member can be attached to the downstream side of the scale in the transport direction of the print medium, comprising a detection unit for detecting the target and an attachment portion to which the protective member of the scale can be attached. , A printing device.

In the printing apparatus, the protective member may have a first surface and a second surface located upstream of the first surface when attached to the mounting portion.

In the printing apparatus, the protective member has mounting holes on the first surface and the second surface, and the mounting portion is provided with holes to be mounted corresponding to the mounting holes. There may be.

The printing apparatus may include a carriage shaft that movably supports the carriage in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the print medium, and the scale may be a linear scale provided along the carriage shaft.

The printing device may be configured to include a control unit that determines the position of the carriage based on the detection result of the detection unit.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the printing apparatus. The perspective view of the printing apparatus which removed the cover member. The perspective view of the printing apparatus which removed the cover member and the protective member. Front view of the printing apparatus from which the cover member and the protective member have been removed. A side view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of a printing apparatus loaded with roll paper. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. A perspective view of the protective member viewed from the front. A perspective view of the protective member viewed from the back surface.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below do not limit the contents of the present invention described in the claims. Moreover, not all of the configurations described below are essential constituent requirements of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the printing device 1 according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the printing device 1 from which the cover member 19 has been removed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the printing device 1 from which the cover member 19 and the protective member 60 have been removed, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the printing device 1 from which the cover member 19 and the protective member 60 have been removed.
In FIGS. 1 to 4 and each of the drawings described later, reference numeral FR indicates the front side of the printing device 1, reference numeral RR indicates the rear side of the printing device 1, and reference numeral LH indicates the left side of the printing device 1. The reference numeral RH indicates the right side of the printing device 1, and the reference numeral UP indicates the upper side of the printing device 1.
The printing device 1 is a printer that prints on a printing medium. In the present embodiment, continuous paper P such as label paper in which labels are attached to a long mount at regular intervals is used as the printing medium, and the continuous paper P is used. It is a label printer that prints.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing device 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped device case 10 constituting the housing of the printing device 1 and a housing portion cover 12.
At the center of the front surface of the device case 10, a slit-shaped paper ejection port 14 for ejecting the printed continuous paper P is provided.
An operation panel 16 provided with operation buttons, a display screen, and the like is provided on the front surface of the device case 10 at a position above the paper ejection port 14 and located on the left LH of the device case 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a front opening 18 is provided on the right RH of the operation panel 16 on the front surface of the device case 10.
The front opening 18 is adjacent to the operation panel 16, and the front opening 18 communicates the outside and the inside of the device case 10.
The front opening 18 is closed by a detachably provided flat plate-shaped cover member 19.
The cover member 19 is provided on the device case 10 so as to be openable and closable by a hinge or the like.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the printing apparatus 1 loaded with the roll paper R.
As shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus case 10 includes a printing unit 20 for printing on the continuous paper P, an accommodating unit 22 for accommodating the continuous paper P, and a conveying unit for conveying the continuous paper P from the accommodating unit 22 to the printing unit 20. 24 and.
In the device case 10, the printing unit 20 is provided in the front, and the accommodating unit 22 is provided in the rear of the printing unit 20. The transport unit 24 is provided between the printing unit 20 and the accommodating unit 22 in the front-rear direction of the device case 10.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.
As described above, the printing unit 20 is provided in front of the device case 10 and communicates with the outside of the device case 10 via the front opening 18.
The printing unit 20 includes a platen 40 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 6.
The platen 40 is provided on the device case 10 so that the upper surface is substantially horizontal in the installed state and the used state of the printing device 1. The platen 40 is arranged below the transport path 110 of the continuous paper P and supports the continuous paper P from below. The platen 40 is provided at least over the entire printing range of the printing unit 20.

Both ends of the carriage shaft 46 are supported on the left and right inner side surfaces of the device case 10, and the carriage shaft 46 is arranged above the platen 40.
A carriage 42 is attached to the carriage shaft 46. Specifically, the carriage 42 is supported by a carriage shaft 46 connected to the back surface so as to be reciprocally movable along the carriage shaft 46.
A head accommodating portion 56 for accommodating the print head 54 is provided below the carriage 42.
The print head 54 is provided on the lower surface of the head accommodating portion 56, and is arranged at a position facing the platen 40 with the continuous paper P interposed therebetween.

The carriage 42 can be reciprocally scanned by a drive mechanism powered by the carriage drive motor 49.
The carriage drive motor 49 is provided on one inner surface of the device case 10, and a drive pulley 47 is connected to the output shaft of the carriage drive motor 49.
A driven pulley (not shown) is provided on the other inner surface of the device case 10 at a position facing the drive pulley 47. A drive belt 48 is bridged between the drive pulley 47 and the driven pulley.
The drive belt 48 is fixed to the back surface of the carriage 42.
The drive pulley 47 moves the drive belt 48 as the carriage drive motor 49 rotates forward and reverse, and the carriage 42 reciprocates on the continuous paper P as the drive belt 48 moves.

Ink is supplied to the print head 54 from the ink cartridge 28. The ink cartridge 28 is arranged below the printing unit 20. The printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes four ink cartridges 28, and cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are stored in each. That is, the print head 54 of the present embodiment can eject four colors of ink onto the continuous paper P.
In the present embodiment, two ink cartridges 28 are arranged on both sides of the paper ejection port 14 in front view of the device case 10.

Ink is supplied to the print head 54 from the ink cartridge 28 via the ink tube unit 44. The ink tube unit 44 is a bundle of a plurality of ink tubes which are flow paths for supplying ink to the print head 54. The ink tube unit 44 is routed along the inside of the top plate of the device case 10 extending from the upper surface of the carriage 42 and located above the printing unit 20, and is connected to the ink cartridge 28.

The linear scale 50 is a scale indicating the position of the carriage 42 in the scanning direction, and the linear scale 50 is a linear member arranged along the carriage shaft 46 on the back surface of the carriage 42. The linear scale 50 is attached to the inner side surfaces whose both ends are located on the left and right sides of the device case 10.
The linear scale 50 is arranged above the drive belt 48. That is, it is arranged at a position away from the platen 40 and the transport path 110. As a result, even when the continuous paper P is jammed by the transport unit 24 or the printing unit 20, the continuous paper P is prevented from coming into contact with the linear scale 50. Further, it is also possible to prevent grease or the like applied to the carriage shaft 46 from adhering to the linear scale 50.
The linear scale 50 is provided with a plurality of slits at regular intervals along the scanning direction of the carriage 42. Not limited to the slit, a through hole, a mark drawn with ink or the like may be formed.

The optical detector 52 is a detection unit provided on the back surface of the carriage 42, and the optical detector 52 includes a light emitting unit 53 and a light receiving unit 55. In the optical detector 52, the light emitting unit 53 and the light receiving unit 55 are arranged so as to face each other via the linear scale 50.
The optical detector 52 optically detects the slit formed in the linear scale 50 by moving the light emitting unit 53 and the light receiving unit 55 as the carriage 42 moves, and transmits the information to the printing device 1. It is transmitted to the provided control unit 100.
As a result, the control unit 100 can detect the position, speed, and movement amount of the carriage 42 in the scanning direction.

The control unit 100 controls various operations of the printing device 1. In the present embodiment, the control unit 100 is mounted on a control board 90 provided in front of each ink cartridge 28, for example, as a semiconductor chip. To.

Next, the protective member 60 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the protective member 60 viewed from the front surface, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the protective member 60 viewed from the back surface.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the protective member 60 is a flat plate-shaped member formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and the protective member 60 includes a flat plate portion 62 and a protruding portion 64.
On the back surface of the flat plate portion 62, a second surface 61 having a length dimension similar to the length dimension of the front opening 18 in the left-right direction is provided in the longitudinal direction. A second surface mounting hole 66 and an elongated hole 68 are provided at one end of the second surface 61. The elongated hole 68 is a through hole provided above the second surface mounting hole 66 and extending in the left-right direction with a predetermined length dimension.
On the second surface 61, a protrusion 69 having a length similar to that of the elongated hole 68 is provided above the elongated hole 68 in the left-right direction.

The projecting portion 64 projects from the other end of the flat plate portion 62 to the front surface side of the flat plate portion 62 with a predetermined height dimension. Specifically, the protruding portion 64 protrudes from the upper side and the left side of the flat plate portion 62, and is formed in an L shape in front view.
In the projecting portion 64, a flat plate-shaped mating portion 70 extending upward is provided at the tip of the portion projecting from the upper side. On the back surface of the fitting portion 70, a first surface 71 smaller than the second surface 61 is provided. That is, the protective member 60 includes two planes.
The first surface 71 is provided with a recessed portion 72 formed by recessing the first surface 71 of the mating portion 70 toward the front surface. A first surface mounting hole 74 is provided at substantially the center of the recessed portion 72 in front view.
In the protruding portion 64, a claw portion 76 extending with a predetermined width dimension is provided on the left LH at the tip of the portion protruding from the left side.

The protective member 60 is supported by fixing the two planes of the protective member 60 to the mounting portion provided on the device case 10.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a protrusion 80, which is a mounting portion, is provided at a position adjacent to the operation panel 16 of the top plate of the device case 10 in the front opening 18. The protrusion member 80 projects toward the front surface side of the device case 10. A protrusion member screw hole 82 is provided at substantially the center of the protrusion member 80 in the front view.
In the front opening 18, an engaging portion 84, which is a mounting portion, is provided on the left side surface of the device case 10. The engaging portion 84 is a claw-shaped member that projects toward the right RH of the front opening 18.
In the printing section 20, a mounting piece 86, which is a mounting section, is erected on the inner side surface of the device case 10 located on the right RH. The mounting piece 86 is provided with a mounting piece screw hole 88. The mounting piece 86 is located upstream from the tip of the protrusion member 80 in the transport direction F.

The recessed portion 72 is fitted into the protrusion member 80. The claw portion 76 is engaged with the engaging portion 84.
A protrusion 69 is engaged with the upper side of the mounting piece 86. At this time, the mounting piece 86 can be visually recognized through the elongated hole 68, and the mounting piece 86 and the protrusion 69 can be easily engaged with each other.
As a result, the protective member 60 can be positioned and can be held in the device case 10 without using a fixing member such as a screw. Therefore, the screwing work of the protective member 60 becomes easy.
At this time, the first surface 71 is in contact with the front surface of the top plate of the device case 10, and the second surface 61 is in contact with the front surface of the mounting piece 86. That is, the first surface 71 is arranged on the upstream side of the second surface 61 in the transport direction F.

A screw member 89 is screwed into the protrusion member screw hole 82 via the first surface mounting hole 74, and into the mounting piece screw hole 88 via the second surface mounting hole 66, whereby the protective member 60 is fixed to the device case 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the fixed protective member 60 is arranged above the carriage 42 in the vertical direction of the printing unit 20, and the ink tube unit 44 and the linear scale in the front-rear direction of the printing unit 20. It is placed between 50 and 50. That is, the protective member 60 is arranged on the downstream side of the linear scale 50 in the transport direction F of the continuous paper P.
Therefore, the carriage 42, the platen 40, the driven roller 36, the carriage shaft 46, and the like can be visually recognized from the front opening 18, and the space above the platen 40 is sufficiently secured in the printing unit 20. Carriage.

In the present embodiment, the front opening 18 is provided downstream of the linear scale 50 in the transport direction F. That is, the protective member 60 is arranged between the linear scale 50 and the front opening 18, and as shown in FIG. 2, the linear scale 50 is opened in the entire longitudinal direction in the front view of the printing apparatus 1. Shield from unit 18.
The width dimension of the protective member 60 in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction may be any dimension as long as it does not come into contact with other members and the linear scale 50 can be shielded from the front opening 18.

As described above, the accommodating section 22 accommodates the continuous paper P. In the present embodiment, the roll paper R in which the continuous paper P is wound on a roll is housed inside the accommodating portion 22. The continuous paper P is not limited to the roll paper R, and various types of continuous paper P may be used. For example, fanfold paper folded along perforations provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the paper may be used. Further, for example, cut paper cut to a predetermined width may be used.
An accommodating opening 26 for accommodating the roll paper R in the accommodating portion 22 is provided on the upper surface of the accommodating portion 22.
The accommodation opening 26 is closed by the accommodation cover 12. The accommodating portion cover 12 is provided in the device case 10 so as to be openable and closable.

One end of the drawn continuous paper P is loaded into the transport unit 24.
The transport unit 24 includes a paper guide member 30, a paper retainer 32, a transport roller 34, a plurality of paper feed driven rollers 36, and a transport motor (not shown).
The paper guide member 30 is a stand that supports the continuous paper P from below, and the paper retainer 32 is a member that is located above the continuous paper P facing the paper guide member 30 and suppresses the floating of the continuous paper P. .. As described above, one end of the continuous paper P is loaded between the paper guide member 30 and the paper retainer 32.

The transport roller 34 is rotatably provided so that the longitudinal direction is arranged along the scanning direction of the carriage 42. A plurality of the plurality of paper feed driven rollers 36 are rotatably arranged along the longitudinal direction of the transport roller 34. The peripheral surface of each paper feed driven roller 36 is urged and pressure-welded to the peripheral surface of the transport roller 34.
The transport roller 34 and each paper feed driven roller 36 are arranged to face each other on the paper guide member 30 side and the paper retainer 32 side.

The transfer motor is a drive device that rotationally drives the transfer roller 34. By driving the transfer motor, the transfer roller 34 is rotationally driven, and each paper feed driven roller 36 is driven and rotationally driven. As a result, the continuous paper P loaded between the paper guide member 30 and the paper retainer 32 is sandwiched between the transport roller 34 and each paper feed driven roller 36, and is printed as the transport roller 34 is rotationally driven. It is conveyed to the unit 20.
The transport direction F of the continuous paper P is orthogonal to the scanning direction of the carriage 42.

The printing device 1 conveys the continuous paper P by the power of the transfer motor, and moves the carriage 42 by the carriage drive motor 49 to move the print head 54 with respect to the printing surface of the continuous paper P. By ejecting ink from the print head 54 in accordance with this movement, printing is performed on the continuous paper P.

In the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a transfer defect such as a paper jam may occur while the continuous paper P is being conveyed along the transfer path 110. In this case, the user can eliminate the transport defect of the printing device 1 by removing the cover member 19 to expose the printing unit 20 from the front opening 18 and manually taking out the continuous paper P having a paper jam or the like. Is.

At this time, by providing the protective member 60 in the printing unit 20, as described above, the linear scale 50 is shielded from the front opening 18 so as not to be visually viewed and contacted by the user.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the user's hand from coming into contact with the linear scale 50 during the work for clearing the paper jam. Therefore, deformation, scratches, adhesion of dirt, etc. to the linear scale 50 are suppressed, and the control unit 100 can accurately control the carriage 42.
Further, since the protective member 60 is arranged on the rear side of the platen 40 and the carriage 42 as described above, the protective member 60 does not block the front opening 18. Therefore, in the printing unit 20, a sufficient space is secured for the user to perform the work of clearing the paper jam.

Further, as described above, the protective member 60 is fixed to the device case 10 by being screwed in two places. That is, the protective member 60 can be easily removed by removing the two screw members 89. Further, even when the screw member 89 is removed, the protective member 60 is attached to the device case 10 without falling off due to the engagement between the mounting piece 86 and the protrusion 69 and the engagement between the recess 72 and the protrusion 80. Be retained.
As a result, when the maintenance worker performs maintenance work such as the linear scale 50 arranged behind the protective member 60 and the drive belt 48, the protective member 60 is attached and detached, and the member behind the protective member 60 is accessed. Is easy. Therefore, it is possible to improve the serviceability of maintenance work such as parts replacement by maintenance workers.

In the present embodiment, the protective member 60 is fixed to the device case 10 by screwing two places, but the present invention is not limited to this, as long as the protective member 60 can be held and attached. The protective member 60 may be fixed by screwing only one place.

According to the above-described embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

The printing device 1 of the present embodiment is mounted on the print head 54 for printing on the continuous paper P, the carriage 42 on which the print head 54 is mounted, the linear scale 50 which is a scale used for detecting the position of the carriage 42, and the carriage 42. The optical detector 52 is provided. Further, the printing device 1 includes a protrusion 80 to which the protective member 60 of the linear scale 50 can be attached, and an attachment piece 86. The protrusion member 80 and the mounting piece 86 can mount the protective member 60 downstream of the linear scale 50 in the transport direction F.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the user's hand from coming into contact with the linear scale 50 during the work for clearing the paper jam. Therefore, deformation, scratches, adhesion of dirt, etc. to the linear scale 50 are suppressed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the protective member 60 has a first surface 71 and a second surface 61 located upstream of the first surface 71 in the transport direction F when attached to the device case 10. Then, the protrusion member 80 is fitted into the recessed portion 72 of the first surface 71, and the protrusion 69 of the second surface 61 is engaged with the upper side of the mounting piece 86. As a result, the protective member 60 can be positioned and can be held in the device case 10 without using a fixing member such as a screw.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the protective member 60 has a second surface mounting hole 66 on the second surface 61 and a first surface mounting hole 74 on the first surface 71. The protrusion member 80 is provided with a protrusion member screw hole 82 corresponding to the first surface mounting hole 74, and the mounting piece 86 is provided with a mounting piece screw hole 88 corresponding to the second surface mounting hole 66. Thereby, the protective member 60 can be fixed at two places by using the screw member 89.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the carriage shaft 46 is provided to movably support the carriage 42 in a direction intersecting the transport direction F of the continuous paper P, and the linear scale 50 is provided along the carriage shaft 46. As a result, as the carriage 42 moves, the optical detector 52 optically detects the slit formed in the linear scale 50, and the position information of the carriage 42 can be obtained.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the control unit 100 for determining the position of the carriage 42 based on the detection result of the optical detector 52 is provided. As a result, the control unit 100 can control the printing device 1 based on the detected position, speed, and movement amount of the carriage 42 in the main scanning direction.

The above-described embodiment exemplifies one aspect of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified and applied without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the protective member 60 is fixed by screwing with the screw member 89, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the protective member 60 may be fixed by a so-called snap fit that is fitted by the elastic force of the member.
Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the linear scale 50 is used for detecting the position of the carriage 42, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other scales such as markers may be used.

Further, for example, a cutter unit for cutting the continuous paper P may be provided on the front surface of the device case 10. The cutter unit may be one that cuts a part of the continuous paper P in the width direction, or may cut the continuous paper P completely.

Further, for example, on the front surface of the device case 10, a winding unit for winding the continuous paper P discharged from the paper ejection port 14 below the paper ejection port 14 and a release paper for winding the release paper while removing the label from the release paper. A peeler may be attached.

1 ... printing device, 10 ... device case, 14 ... paper ejection port, 18 ... front opening, 20 ... printing section, 22 ... accommodating section, 24 ... transport section, 28 ... ink cartridge, 40 ... platen, 42 ... carriage, 46 ... Carriage shaft, 50 ... Linear scale, 52 ... Optical detector (detector), 54 ... Print head, 60 ... Protective member, 61 ... Second surface, 62 ... Flat plate, 64 ... Projection, 66 ... Second Surface mounting hole (mounting hole), 70 ... Alignment part, 71 ... 1st surface, 72 ... Recessed part, 74 ... 1st surface mounting hole (mounting hole), 80 ... Projection member (mounting part), 82 ... Projection member Screw holes (attached holes), 86 ... mounting pieces (mounting portion), 88 ... mounting piece screw holes (attached holes), 100 ... control unit, F ... transport direction, P ... continuous paper (printing medium).

Claims (5)

A print head that prints on print media,
A carriage equipped with the print head and
The scale used to detect the position of the carriage and
A detection unit mounted on the carriage and optically detecting the scale,
A mounting portion to which the protective member of the scale can be mounted is provided.
The mounting portion is a printing device capable of mounting the protective member downstream of the scale in the transport direction of the printing medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member has a first surface and a second surface located upstream of the first surface when attached to the mounting portion. The protective member has mounting holes on the first surface and the second surface.
The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mounting portion is provided with a mounting hole corresponding to the mounting hole. A carriage shaft that movably supports the carriage in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the print medium is provided.
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the scale is a linear scale provided along the carriage axis. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a control unit for determining the position of the carriage based on the detection result of the detection unit.

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