JP2502150Y2 - Cassette type label printer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] In this invention, a label roll formed by winding a mount on which a label is attached into a roll is stored in a cassette, and the cassette is mounted to print. The present invention relates to a cassette type label printer.

[Prior Art] In recent years, with the development of supermarkets and the like that sell a large number of products of various types, a label printer that issues a large number of types of labels most suitable for each product has become widespread. As this type of label printer, there is provided one in which a label roll formed by winding a mount on which a label is attached in a roll shape is attached to the label printer, and the labels are sequentially transferred and printed. Among them, a cassette-type label printer in which the label roll is housed in a cassette and the cassette is mounted for printing is widely used because it saves time and effort when selecting a printing paper type or changing the label roll. Has reached the end.

For example, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-145327 filed previously by the present applicant. This printer issues labels printed by a printing unit consisting of a thermal head and a platen roller one by one in a state where they are peeled from the mount, and is equipped with a cassette for peeling labels that winds up the unnecessary mount. It is used when a label is attached to a product in parallel with the printing operation. Also, the printer of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-153316, which was previously filed by the applicant of the present invention, is for a continuous label in which a plurality of labels continuously printed with the same print content are successively wound together with the mount, and the same print data is used. It is used when a large number of labels are printed at one time.

Each of these printers will be described below with reference to FIGS. 9 to 10.

The printer shown in FIG. 9 is designed such that a cassette 1 used for a peeling label can be mounted, and a box-shaped cassette main body 2 of the cassette 1 has a label-attached base paper roll-shaped. Label roll 3 wound around
The mount 3a, which is rotatably attached to the label roll 3, is pulled out from the label roll 3. 6 and is further wound around the unnecessary mount paper winding roll 9 via the dispenser 7 and the guide roller 8.

When the cassette 1 is mounted on the label printer body (hereinafter abbreviated as a printer body) 10, the platen roller 6 and the unnecessary mount paper take-up roll 9 are attached to the printer body 10.
Platen drive motor 11 and unnecessary mount take-up motor 12
The backing sheet 3a is connected to each other and is transferred, and the label attached to the backing sheet 3a is printed by the thermal head 14 provided in the printing unit 13 of the printer body 10 and the platen roller 6 Then, as the mount 3a is turned over at a steep angle by the dispenser 7, it is peeled from the mount 3a and issued. Also,
The remaining mount 3a is successively wound around the unnecessary mount winding roll 8.

Further, FIG. 10 shows a printer used for continuous printing, in which the cassette 1 is installed in a cassette lid 16 provided inside a cassette 15 mounted in the printer.
A label roll is rotatably attached in the same manner as (see FIG. 9), and the backing sheet pulled out from the label roll is fed to the cassette 15 by the feeding roller 18 of the feeding unit 17.
It is supposed to be guided outside. Further, the printer body 19 is provided with a printing unit 20 including a thermal head and a platen roller, and a take-up roll 21 that winds up the mount of the label printed by the printing unit 20.

Therefore, if the backing sheet is wound around the take-up roll 21 from the cassette 15 mounted on the printer body 19 via the printing unit 20 including the thermal head and the platen roller of the printer body 19, the delivery roller 18 is set on the printer body 19. Since it is connected to the transfer means 22 provided, the mount is unwound from the label roll, the label is continuously printed by the printing unit 20, and the mount with this label is wound on the winding roll 21. Is to be done.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, the cassettes 1 and 15 described above are easy to replace label rolls within one range of printing with a peelable label or printing with a continuous label, and selection of a type of printing paper accordingly. Also, the emphasis was placed on the purpose of freely selecting the print content suitable for the selected printing paper, and the case of changing from a continuous label to a peelable label or vice versa was not considered.

For this reason, the printer described in JP-A-60-145327 is configured as a dedicated printer for peeling labels even though it is a cassette type printer, and when continuous labels are required, it is disclosed in JP-A-61-145327. The printer described in No. 153316 had to be provided, and it was hard to say that the effective effect of the cassette was still fully utilized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a cassette type label printer in which the continuous label cassette and the peelable label cassette can be mounted by exchanging them, and the cassette can be replaced in one printer. The purpose is to be able to change the label to be issued to a continuous label or a release label.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in the first item is a platen roller around which a mount is wound, a storing means for storing a label roll, and a printing device which is pulled out from the storing means. Power supplied from the power supply means to the take-up means for taking up the mount on which the label printed by the section is affixed outside the cassette type label printer when the cassette is installed, and the platen roller and the take-up means. A continuous label cassette for sequentially winding a plurality of labels printed continuously with the same print content, together with a power transmission means for transmitting, and a storage means for storing a label roll,
The label is printed one by one with the power supplied from the power supply means and pulled out from the storage means and printed by the printing unit, and the label is peeled off from the backing sheet. The feature is that it can be installed.

In addition, the invention described in the second aspect is characterized in that, in the invention described in the first aspect, the platen roller is provided in connection with the power transmission means.

Further, the invention according to the third aspect is the invention according to the first or second aspect, wherein a cutter for cutting a mount having a label attached thereto and an operation of the cutter are related to the cassette type label of the continuous label cassette. It is characterized in that a cutter lock mechanism is provided for fixing and releasing in conjunction with attachment / detachment to / from the printer.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the continuous label cassette and the peeling label cassette are appropriately exchanged and mounted, and by selectively using the both, continuous printing and peeling printing can be performed by one printer. It is possible.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the cassette 23 is
A cassette type label printer main body (hereinafter abbreviated as a printer main body) 24 is mounted and used. Prior to explaining the structure, the structure of the printer main body 24 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 8. A brief description will be given by using.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the printer main body 24
A mounting portion 24a to which the cassette 23 is mounted is provided on the right side surface of the, and a cassette take-out lever 25 is provided substantially at the center of the right side surface. The cassette take-out lever 25 is for taking out the cassette 23 from the mounting portion 24a, and is rotatable around the rotary shaft 25a. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a mount plate (not shown) is erected on the boundary between the mounting portion 24a inside the printer body 24, and a transfer means 26 is provided on this mount. The transfer means 26 is for transferring the mount with the label attached thereto and rotating the platen roller of the printing portion for printing described later, and the motor gear 28 is coaxial with the motor 27.
Is provided, and an intermediate gear 29 is meshed with this motor gear 28. The intermediate gear 29 is a belt transmission mechanism.
This belt transmission mechanism 30 is engaged with 30, but the unnecessary mount paper take-up roll 9 (9th
(See the figure). Further, a protrusion 31 is formed on a portion of the base plate on the side of the motor 27. The protrusion 31 is formed on the side surface 24b of the mounting portion 24a (Fig. 8 (b)).
(Refer to FIG. 3), and is formed so as to project toward the cassette 23 side.
Although not shown, a thermal head of a printing unit is provided diagonally above and right of the intermediate gear 29, like the printer body 10 (see FIG. 9).

 Next, the configuration of the cassette 23 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the cassette 23 is
A supply side cassette 32 that is mounted so as to be embedded in the mounting portion 24a of the printer body 24, and this supply side cassette 32
And a winding-side cassette 33 which is fixed integrally with the printer main body 24 and is provided outside the printer main body 24 so as to project therefrom.

The supply-side cassette 32 has the same configuration as that of the above-described release label cassette 1 from which the dispenser 7 and the unnecessary mount paper take-up roll 9 (see FIG. 9) are removed, and a box-shaped cassette body 34 is illustrated. Not inside,
A label roll formed by winding a backing sheet with a label attached before printing in a roll shape and a guide roller or a guide plate for guiding the backing sheet pulled out from this label roller are provided, and the backing sheet pulled out from the label roll is The printing unit is guided through a platen roller, which will be described later, to the connection position with the winding-side cassette 33, that is, toward the upper left portion of the cassette body 34 in FIG. Further, the lid 34a of the cassette body 34 is provided so as to be openable and closable for replacing the label roll.

On the other hand, the take-up side cassette 33 is provided for taking up the mount with the printed label attached, and as shown in FIG. 1, below the platen roller 46 of the cassette body 34, which will be described later. The substrate 37 is positioned by the positioning pin 35 and fixed by the screw 36 so as to project to the front of the cassette 23, and is divided into the engaging portion 38, the winding portion 39, and the cutting portion 40. .

The engagement portion 38 is provided in the printer main body 24 from the direction of the arrow Y1 in the drawing.
For locking the cassette 23 to be inserted into a predetermined position, and an engaging plate 42 rotatably attached to the surface of the substrate 37 about a rotation shaft 41 is also fixed to the surface of the substrate 37. The lever mounting plate 43 is connected to a spring 44 and is biased in a clockwise direction, whereby the arm 42a of the engaging plate 42 and the protrusion 31 are engaged with each other, and the cassette 23 is locked. A slanting surface 42b is formed at the tip of the arm 42a of the engaging plate 42, and the engaging plate 42 is rotated counterclockwise to mount the cassette 23 from the Y1 direction in the drawing. 23 The mounting operation and the engaging operation are linked. A lever 45 is fixed to the lower end of the engaging plate 42 so that the engaging plate 42 can be operated from outside the cassette 23.

On the other hand, the winding section 39 is provided to wind the mount transferred from the supply-side cassette 32, and is a cylindrical platen roller 46 attached to the cassette body 34, and on the back surface of the substrate 37. It is composed of a winding roll 47 attached and a power transmission mechanism 48.

The platen roller 46 constitutes a printing section together with a thermal head (not shown) provided in the printer body 24, and is provided at a position facing the thermal head.
As shown in the drawing, the support shafts 46a and 46b at both ends are attached to the cassette body 34 and the frame 49 fixed to the cassette body 34, respectively, and are rotatable around the axis. Further, the winding roll 47, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, has an end surface of a drum 47a formed in a short cylindrical shape,
It is provided with a connecting plate 47b and is coaxially supported by a set shaft 50 rotatably provided on the substrate 37 by a bearing. Further, the retaining plate 51 slidably attached to the connecting plate 47b fixes the set shaft 50 to the set shaft 50.
It is pivotally attached to 50 and is detachably attached. This is because the mount paper wound around the winding roll 47 can be easily attached to and detached from the set shaft 50. A bearing (not shown) that supports the set shaft 50 incorporates a slip mechanism and a one-way clutch. The slip mechanism reduces the rotation speed of the winding roll 47 according to the increase of the winding diameter of the mount wound on the winding roll 47, so that the feed amount by the platen roller 46 and the winding amount of the winding roll 47 are matched. It is what makes me. The one-way clutch is for keeping the tension between the printing section and the take-up roll 47 constant, and prevents the take-up roll 47 from reversing when the cassette 23 is removed from the printer body 24. It also acts to prevent the mount from loosening.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the power transmission mechanism 48
Includes a drive gear 52 (see FIG. 2) attached to the tip of a support shaft 46a that pivotally mounts the platen roller 46 and the set shaft 50 on four pulleys, that is, the support shaft 46a.
A drive pulley 53 fixed to the base plate 37, an idle pulley 54 and a tension pulley 55 rotatably supported on the substrate 37, and a driven pulley 56 fixed to the set shaft 50, and a belt 57 wound around the drive pulley 53. When the cassette 23 is mounted, the drive gear 52 meshes with the intermediate gear 29 of the transfer means 26 of the printer body 24 so that the driving force of the motor 27 is transmitted to the platen roller 46 and the winding roll 47. It has become. The tension pulley 55 is provided to give a tension to the belt 57, and a floating plate 58 rotatably attached to the substrate 37 about a rotation shaft 58a is also fixed to the substrate 37. Support plate 59,
It is connected to the spring 60 and is urged in the clockwise direction.
The tension pulley 55 rotates clockwise to apply tension to the belt 57.

Further, the cutting unit 40 is provided for cutting the mount paper transferred from the supply-side cassette 32,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cutter slide mechanism 61 disposed adjacent to the platen roller 46 and the substrate 37.
And a cutter lock mechanism 62 disposed on the surface of the.

The cutter slide mechanism 61 has a cutter 63 having a cutting edge 63a formed in a mountain shape as shown in FIG. 7, and a mounting plate 64 for integrally fixing the cutter 63, as shown in FIG. A support plate 65 whose one end 65a is fixed to the substrate 37
And one end 66a thereof is slidably provided between the guide plate 66 fixed to the other end of the support plate 65. As shown in FIG. 3, a long guide hole 66b is formed in the guide plate 66 with its longitudinal direction oriented vertically. As shown in FIG. 4, the cutter 63 is provided with a guide hole 66b. It is slidably provided on the guide plate 66 by being integrally fixed by a cutter operating lever 68 and a screw 69 via a slide spacer 67 slidably fitted in the hole 66b. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the mount guide surfaces 65b, 6b are provided on the support plate 65 and the guide plate 66.
6c is formed, and cutter guide plates 70, 71 having mount paper guide surfaces 70a, 71a arranged orthogonal to these mount guide surfaces 65b, 66c are fixed. The mount 72 wound around the platen roller 46 is guided on the upper surfaces of the mount guide surfaces 65b and 66c, whereby the mount 72 is cut by the operation of the cutter 63.
The cutter 63, which is slid upward to cut the mount 72, is guided by the cutter guide surfaces 70a and 71a.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the cutter operating lever
68 is connected to the lower end portion 66d of the guide plate 66 by a spring 73 and is constantly urged downward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Face 6
It is held at a position slightly lower than 5b and 66c.
Further, a cutout 65c is formed in the lower portion of the side end 65a of the support plate 65.
Is formed so that the protrusion 64a provided on the mounting plate 64 is exposed. As shown in FIG. 7, the protrusion 64a is formed on the lower portion of the side surface of the mounting plate 64 on the side of the board 37, and is locked by the cutter lock mechanism 62 arranged above the mounting plate 64 to fix the operation of the cutter 63. It is designed to let you.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the cutter lock mechanism 62 includes two parallel leaf springs 75 and 76 having the same length and fixed to the base plate 37 by the pressing plate 74.
An operating plate 77 installed at the tips of these leaf springs 75 and 76 in parallel with the substrate 37, and the one leaf spring 75.
Of the driven plate 78 attached to the intermediate portion 75a provided orthogonally to the substrate 37.
Of the driven plate 78 is extended to a position where it overlaps with the projection 31 (see FIG. 1) of the base plate of the printer body 24, and the tip of the driven plate 78, as shown in FIGS. The protrusion 64a is extended below the notch 65c of the support plate 65.
Is designed to be locked. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, when the cassette 23 is attached to the printer main body 24 in the direction of the arrow Y1, the operating plate 77 is pushed by the projection 31 and the operation is performed as shown in FIG.
The leaf spring 75 is moved in parallel to the operating position shown by the dotted line, and the intermediate portion 75a of the leaf spring 75 is tilted in accordance with this movement, and the driven plate 78 is substantially rotated counterclockwise to project the tip 64a. Thus, the cutter 63 is released from the fixed position.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the winding-side cassette 33 is provided so as to project in front of the supply-side cassette 32.
Is covered with two covers, a winding section cover 79 and a cutter cover 80. As shown in FIG. 8A, the cassette attaching / detaching lever 45, the winding roll 47 and the cutter operating lever 68 are projected outside. It is designed to be used.

When performing label printing using the cassette 23 having the above configuration, first, the mount paper wound around the label roll in the supply-side cassette 32 is pulled out, wrapped around the platen roller 46, and then the cutting unit 40. It is wound around the take-up roll 47 via (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the cassette mounting portion of the printer body 24.
Insert the cassette 23 into 24a. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the engagement plate 42 of the engagement portion 38 engages with the protrusion 31 of the base plate to lock the cassette 23, and the drive gear 52 of the power transmission mechanism 48 is It meshes with the intermediate gear 29 of the transfer means 26. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the operating plate 77 of the cutter lock mechanism 62 of the cutting portion 40 has a protrusion.
The driven plate 78 is moved by being pushed by 31, and the driven plate 78 is substantially rotated counterclockwise to release the fixing of the cutter 63.

When the cassette 23 is installed as described above, the first
As shown in the figure, by operating the continuous issuing key of the printer body 24, the motor 27 of the transfer means 26 is activated and the arrow
It rotates in the Y2 direction, and this rotation is the motor gear 28 and the intermediate gear 29.
Is transmitted to the drive gear 52 through the platen roller 46 and the winding roll 47, and rotates in the arrow Y3 direction. Then, the thermal head of the printing unit (not shown) is pressed against the platen roller 46 from above the platen roller 46 to appropriately print the label, and the platen roller 46 is transported by the rotation of the platen roller 46 to print the label. The mount with the label attached is successively wound on the winding roll 47.

When a predetermined number of labels are printed and wound on the winding roll 47, the issuance of the labels is stopped with the motor 27 stopped. And when taking out this rolled label,
As shown in FIG. 7, the cutter 63 of the cutting unit 40 is moved upward by the cutter operating lever 68 (see FIG. 3) to cut the mount 72 passing through the cutting unit 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the connection plate 47b of the take-up roll 47 and the retaining plate 51 are released from the fixed state, and the take-up roll 47 is set.
And remove the mount on which the printed label is wrapped. Therefore, it is easy to remove the printed label and the workability is good. When removing the cassette 23 from the printer main body 24, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the cassette attaching / detaching lever 45 is rotated in the direction of the arrow Y4 to separate the engaging plate 42 from the protrusion 31, and then, As shown in FIG. 8A, the cassette removal lever 25 is rotated counterclockwise to remove the cassette 23 from the printer body 24.

As described above, in the cassette type label printer of this embodiment, the cassette in which the label roll is stored is
23, a platen roller 46 and a winding roll 47 are provided, and a power transmission mechanism 48 for connecting the platen roller 46 and the winding roll 47 to the transfer means 26 of the printer body 24.
Since the cassette 23 is provided, continuous printing can be performed only by mounting the cassette 23 on the printer main body 24 provided with the thermal head of the printing unit and the transfer means 26.

Therefore, the cassette 23 is compatible with the above-mentioned peeling label cassette 1 (see FIG. 9). Therefore, if the peeling label cassette is prepared in advance, continuous label and The release label can be printed.

In the present embodiment, the platen roller 46 is provided on the cassette body 34 in connection with the power transmission mechanism 48, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the platen roller 46 provided on the cassette body 34 may be previously provided integrally with the transfer means 26 of the printer body 24. However, in this case, new connecting means for connecting the power transmission mechanism 48 of the take-up roll 47 and the transfer means 26 of the printer body 24, or a dedicated drive means for driving the take-up roll 47 is provided. The need arises.

Further, since the cutter lock mechanism 62 of the cutting portion 40 is configured to convert the linear motion of the operating plate 77 into the substantially rotary motion of the driven plate 78 via the intermediate portion 75a of the leaf spring 75 as described above,
The amount of movement of the tip of the driven plate 78 required to release the fixing of the cutter 63 can be obtained by a small amount of movement of the operating plate 77. Also, since the operating plate 77 is a linear movement, its operating range is also small. The special effect that the installation space of the mechanism itself is minimal is obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects occur.

By exchanging the cassette with one printer,
A continuous label and a release label can be switched and issued. In this case, when switching the label to be issued from the continuous label to the peelable label or from the peelable label to the continuous label, the switching operation is easy because only the cassette is exchanged.

In the continuous label cassette, the mount on which the printed label is attached is wound up outside the cassette label printer, so the roll of the printed label can be removed with the cassette attached to the cassette label printer. Can be used as a work piece and has good workability.

Further, in the present invention, the winding means for the printed label is provided not on the label printer side but on the continuous label cassette side. Therefore, when the label to be issued is switched from the continuous label to the peelable label, the winding means is removed together with the continuous label cassette when the cassette is exchanged, so that it does not disturb the printing of the peelable label.

Since the continuous label cassette has both a storage means for storing the label roll and a winding means, the label roll can be stored in the cassette and then mounted in the printer. Eliminating the work of winding the mount on the

The power supplied from one motor of the printer body is transmitted to the platen roller and the winding means by the power transmission means, and this power drives the platen roller and winds the mount on which the printed label is attached. It is economical because you can do both.

According to the invention of claim 3, when the cassette for continuous labels is detached from the cassette type label printer, the cutter is automatically locked. Therefore, even if the height of the cutter guide plate is not so high, When the cassette is removed, the cutter will not be exposed to the outside, and
It can also protect the blade of the cutter.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 to 8 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a view of a winding side cassette with a winding part cover removed, viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2 are views of the take-up side cassette with the take-up section cover and the cutter cover removed, viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the take-up section cover and the cutter cover removed. 5 is a view of the winding-side cassette in the state of being viewed from the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the cutting portion shown in FIG.
1 is an enlarged view of the cutter slide mechanism of the cutting portion shown in FIG. 1 in a partial cross section, FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the cutter lock mechanism of the cutting portion shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the cutter slide mechanism with the guide plate removed.
The figure shows a cassette installed in a label printer. (A) is a right side view of the label printer, (b) is a front view of the label printer, and FIG. 9 is a cross section showing a conventional label printer cassette. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a conventional label printer. 3a …… label, 12 …… label roll, 23 …… cassette,
24 …… Label printer, 26 …… Transfer means, 46 …… Platen roller, 47 …… Winding roll, 48 …… Power transmission mechanism, 62 …… Cutter lock mechanism, 72 …… Mounting paper.

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A cassette containing a label roll, which is formed by winding a mount on which a label before printing is attached, in a roll shape is mounted, and the cassette is supplied with power for pulling out and transferring the mount from the label roll. In a cassette type label printer having a power supply means for supplying to the label and a printing unit for printing a label on the mount, a platen roller around which the mount is wound, a storage means for storing the label roll, and the storage A take-up unit that pulls out the mount, which is pulled out from the device and is affixed with the label printed by the printing unit, on the outside of the cassette type label printer when the cassette is mounted, and the platen roller and the take-up unit. A power transmission means for transmitting the power supplied from the power supply means,
A continuous label cassette for sequentially winding a plurality of labels printed continuously with the same print content together with a mount, and a storage means for storing the label roll, and receiving power from the power supply means to obtain the power from the storage means. The label that is pulled out and printed by the printing unit is released one by one in a state where it is peeled from the mount, and it can be mounted by exchanging with a peeling label cassette that winds up the unnecessary mount. Cassette type label printer. 2. The cassette type label printer according to claim 1, wherein the platen roller is provided so as to be connected to the power transmission means. 3. A cutter for cutting a mount having a label attached thereto, and a cutter lock mechanism for fixing and releasing the operation of the cutter in association with the attachment / detachment of the cassette for continuous labels to / from the cassette type label printer. The cassette label printer according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: