JP2587288Y2 - Guide mechanism for printing media - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a guide mechanism for a printing medium in a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a guide for a printing medium capable of guiding both roll paper and fanfold paper as the printing medium. It concerns the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing medium in this type of printing apparatus, a label continuum in which a number of label pieces are temporarily attached on a band-shaped backing paper or a tag continuum without an adhesive layer is used. .

[0003] As a supply form of the printing medium, there is a roll paper wound in a roll shape around a core, or a fanfold paper folded.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the above label continuous body. FIG. 9 shows a roll paper 2 wound around a core 1.
FIG. 10 shows the fanfold paper 3 respectively.

Of course, there is a supply form of the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3 for the tag continuous body.

When both the roll paper 2 and the fan-fold paper 3 are used as print-receiving media in a printing apparatus, their supply modes are different. Conventionally, different apparatuses have been adopted according to the supply modes. Alternatively, when an attempt is made to realize a printing device capable of guiding both the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3, it is necessary to attach a dedicated guide means for guiding each of them to the printing device, resulting in high cost. In addition, there is a fear that the size of the printing apparatus may be increased, which is difficult to realize.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to load either roll paper or fanfold paper as a printing medium in a printing apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a guide mechanism for a medium to be printed, which guides both paper and fanfold paper using one guide means.

[0008]

That is, the present invention comprises a vertical support, and a loading shaft which is mounted on the vertical support in a cantilevered manner and which can support a roll-shaped printing medium in a cantilever manner. A guide mechanism for a medium to be printed in a printing apparatus, comprising: a substantially L-shaped guide body having at least one guide surface for guiding the medium to be printed; and an upper end portion on which the guide body is placed. A guide having an elongated hole formed in a direction intersecting with the transport direction of the print-receiving medium, holding a biasing member in a vertical portion, and inserting a tip end of the vertical portion into the elongated hole of the support to guide the guide. A support member engaged with the body, wherein the guide body is movably provided along the long hole of the support base, and the guide body is provided rotatably around one end thereof. With the print media guide mechanism That.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a guide mechanism for a printing medium engages a support member on which a biasing member is wound with a substantially L-shaped guide body through an elongated hole formed in the support base. Side is always biased.

In a state where one surface of the substantially L-shaped guide body is erected, the guide body is moved along the long hole of the support base in a direction away from the loading shaft, so that the roll-shaped printing medium is attached to the loading shaft. Can be loaded.

After the loading, the guide surface inside the guide body is brought into contact with the roll-shaped print medium to guide the roll-shaped print medium. It can prevent loosening and can surely guide this.

When guiding the fanfold paper, the guide body is rotated at the upper end of the support base around one end of one side of the guide body so that the one guide surface of the guide body is in a horizontal state. Then, the other guide surface of the guide body is in an upright state, and this guide surface contacts the side surface of the fanfold paper.

One guide surface of the guide body is protruded so as to cover the fanfold paper, guides the upper surface of the fanfold paper, and the fanfold paper does not float up, and is vertically supported together with the other guide surface. The fanfold paper will be guided without blurring.

As described above, by rotating one of the substantially L-shaped guides according to the printing medium, the one guide surface and the other guide surface are used to form the roll-shaped and fan-folded paper. Since both the print-receiving media can be guided, there is no need to provide guide means corresponding to the print-receiving media.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing apparatus 10 equipped with a guide mechanism for a medium to be printed according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As a printing apparatus, an apparatus using a thermal paper in which the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3 themselves develop color by heat will be described as an example.

1 to 3, a printing device 10
The printer mainly includes a printing mechanism 13 having a thermal print head 11 and a platen 12, a guide mechanism 16 and a loading shaft 18 formed between a rear vertical device frame 14 and a front vertical device frame 15.

The loading shaft 18 is connected to the rear vertical device frame 1.
4 can be horizontally mounted in a cantilever manner on a vertical support 17 attached to the vertical support frame 4 and can support the roll paper 2.
Pointed towards 5.

By setting the inner diameter of the roll core 2 of the roll paper 2 to be larger than the outer diameter of the horizontal loading shaft 18, wrinkling of the inner diameter portion of the roll paper 2 wound on the roll core 1 is prevented as much as possible. be able to. In particular, when the printing medium is a continuous tag body having no pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, such prevention is effective because it is thicker than the continuous label body.

The guide mechanism 16 is formed by a support 19, a support member 20, and a guide body 21. The support base 19 is
The cross section is a plate having a substantially Z shape, and is disposed below the loading shaft 18. At the upper end of the support 19, an elongated hole 22 substantially parallel to the loading shaft 18 and having a constant groove width D is formed.

The support member 20 is for supporting the guide body 21 through the long hole 22 of the support base 19, and is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, it is below the support base 19 and is formed of a spring support member 23, a collar 24, and a compression spring 25. The spring support member 23 is a substantially L-shaped member having a short side and a long side, and a fitting hole 2 is provided above the long side.
6 are formed. The support member 20 has the long sides of the pair of spring support members 23, 23 bonded back to back, and a compression spring 25, a collar 24
Are arranged in order.

The guide body 21 has a substantially L-shape.
An opening 50 having a width corresponding to the groove width D of the long hole 22 is provided at the end 40 of the short side. Furthermore, its end 40
Is provided with a shaft hole 27 passing through the opening 50. The spring support member 23 of the support member 20
Of the guide body 21 through the long hole 22 of the support base 19
The guide body 21 is pressed against the upper surface of the support base 19 by the urging force of the compression spring 25 by inserting the shaft as the rotating shaft 28 into the shaft hole 27 and the fitting hole 26. It has become. At this time, the support member 20 itself is pressed against the back surface 19a of the support base 19 while urging the guide body 21.

The wall surface 29 inside the long side of the L-shape of the guide body 21 is a guide surface for guiding both the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3, and the wall surface 30 inside the short side is the fanfold paper 3. It is a guide surface that guides the user.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the guide body 21 is moved toward the vertical device frame 15 along the elongated hole 22 with the long side of the L-shape standing (the imaginary line position A). Then, the roll paper 2 can be loaded on the loading shaft 18, and by moving the guide body 21 to the vertical device frame 14 side after loading, the guide surface 29 comes into contact with the side surface of the roll paper 2 and The roll paper 2 can be guided between them. Roll paper with different paper width is loaded on the loading shaft 1
8, the guide body 21 can be moved along the long holes 22 to accommodate roll paper having different paper widths.

The guide body 21 is connected to the vertical device frame 1.
By tilting the roll paper 2 to the side 5 (imaginary line position B), the loading of the roll paper 2 becomes easier.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, when fanfold paper 3 is used as a print medium, a pair of front and rear vertical device frames 15 and 14 are used.
Fanfold paper 3 placed on the outer flat part 35 between
Is fed out to the guide mechanism 16 side. Then, around the shaft 28 of the guide body 21,
By rotating the guide body 21 toward the vertical device frame 14, the guide surface 29 having a substantially L-shaped long side protrudes so as to cover above the fanfold paper 3 and the fanfold paper 3
, The fanfold paper 3 is guided without being lifted between the support base 19 and the guide surface 30 on the short side is in an upright state, and the side face 3 of the fanfold paper 3 is set up.
a, and the fanfold paper 3 can be guided between the vertical support 17 and the vertical support 17. As described above, the guide surfaces 29 and 30 can be selectively used depending on the supply mode of the printing medium.

Reference numerals 31 and 32 denote a pair of guide pins.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 5, the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3 as the print-receiving medium are smoothly transferred to the printing mechanism 13 in the transfer path 34 of the print-receiving medium between the printing mechanism 13 and the guide mechanism 16. It is intended to play an auxiliary role for guiding. Specifically, guide pins 31 and 32 are movable along a long hole 33 formed between the front and rear vertical device frames 15 and 14, and the roll paper 2 and the fanfold paper 3 passing through the transfer path 34 are provided. The guide mechanism 16 suppresses blurring, and the transfer of the printing medium to the printing mechanism 13 is smoothed by a synergistic effect with the guide surfaces 29 and 30 of the guide mechanism 16. In addition, both sides of the guide body 21 can be the same length.

[0028]

As described above, the guide mechanism of the present invention is provided such that a guide body having two guide surfaces is urged toward the support base by an urging member provided on the support member. Since it is provided so as to be movable and rotatable along the elongated hole formed in the support base, it is possible to guide the roll paper when one guide surface of the guide body is standing, and to provide a fan when the other guide surface is standing. Fold paper can be guided.

Further, when guiding the fanfold paper, one of the guide surfaces covers the fanfold paper and comes into contact with the upper surface of the fanfold paper to guide the fanfold paper. Can be prevented.

As described above, both the roll paper and the fan-fold paper can be guided by one guide body, and the number of parts of the apparatus can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

[0031]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a printing apparatus equipped with a guide mechanism for a printing medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a guide mechanism for a printing medium.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a guide state of roll paper as a print target medium, as viewed from an upstream side of a guide mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a guide state of fanfold paper as a print target medium as viewed from an upstream side of a guide mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a print medium guide mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an operation when loading roll paper as a print target medium.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an operation when loading fanfold paper as a print medium.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a guide mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional roll paper.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional fanfold paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Roll paper (printed medium) 3 Fanfold paper (printed medium) 3a Side surface 16 Guide mechanism 17 Vertical support 18 Loading shaft 19 Support base 20 Support member 21 Guide body 22 Slot 25 Compression spring (biasing member) 29 Guide surface (L-shaped long side) 30 Guide surface (L-shaped short side)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 15/04 B41J 11/58 B65H 16/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A guide for a printing medium in a printing apparatus comprising a vertical support, and a loading shaft which is mounted on the vertical support horizontally in a cantilever manner and can support a roll-shaped printing medium in a cantilever manner. In the mechanism, a substantially L-shaped guide body provided with at least one guide surface for guiding the print-receiving medium, an upper end portion on which the guide body is placed, and a transfer direction of the print-receiving medium at the upper end portion A supporting member having an elongated hole formed in an intersecting direction; and a supporting member that holds an urging member in a vertical portion and that inserts a distal end of the vertical portion into the elongated hole of the supporting member and engages with the guide body. A guide mechanism for a medium to be printed, wherein the guide body is provided movably along a long hole of the support table, and the guide body is provided rotatably around one end thereof.