JP2686013B2 - Paper feed magazine for thermal printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper feed magazine used in a thermal recording type thermal printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thermal recording type thermal printer uses a recording paper in which a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer and a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer are sequentially laminated on a support, and the thermosensitive coloring layer on the surface is sequentially arranged. When heat recording is performed and the next heat recording is performed on the next thermosensitive coloring layer, the wavelengths specific to each thermosensitive coloring layer are set so that the thermosensitive coloring layer on which the heat recording has been completed is not recorded again. Irradiating electromagnetic rays in the region, it loses its coloring ability. Since these recording papers are exposed to light under a fluorescent lamp, it is necessary to handle them with care when removing them from the packaging and setting them in the thermal printer.

[0003]

However, the conventional paper feed magazine has a box shape with an open upper side in order to improve the operability of setting the recording paper. For this reason, when the recording paper is set or when a paper jam occurs, if the paper feed magazine is taken out of the thermal printer and left as it is, the recording paper is exposed to light and the color development characteristics change.

According to the present invention, the recording paper is not exposed even if the paper feed magazine is detached from the thermal printer and left alone. Moreover, when the paper feed magazine is set in the thermal printer, the lid of the loading / unloading opening is automatically set. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper feed magazine that is opened so that paper can be fed.

[0005]

To achieve the above object of the Invention The inventors of claim 1 includes a box-shaped magazine body for accommodating a plurality of recording sheets stacked, the ends of the magazine body Slides that move between the recording paper loading / unloading opening provided in the magazine, the closing position that is attached to the magazine body and is set on the opening end side of the magazine body, and the opening position that is set in the middle of the magazine body. It is rotatably attached to the cover and the tip of this slide cover, and when the slide cover is set to the closed position, it blocks the access opening, and when it moves toward the open position, it is flipped up onto the magazine body. And a lid that retracts from the access opening , and the slide cover is
There is a magazine in the thermal printer, which is located outside.
When inserting the gin body, slide it on the wall of the magazine room.
Door cover is locked and this slide cover is moved to the open position.
The slide cover in the closed position.
A lock member that locks the gin body is provided.
A part of the material is projected to the outside of the slide cover and the thermal
When inserting the magazine body into the printer magazine room
The lock member on the wall of the magazine chamber,
The cover is unlocked .

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1 and 2, a paper feed magazine 10
Is provided with a box-shaped magazine body 11 for accommodating recording paper 12 (see FIG. 3). A loading / unloading opening 13 for loading and unloading the recording paper 12 is formed at this one end. The entrance / exit opening 13 is formed at one end and the upper surface 11a following the end.
And a part of the lower surface 11b are notched, and the notched upper surface opening 13a sets the paper feed magazine 10 in the magazine chamber 16 of the thermal printer 15 as shown in FIG. At that time, the paper feed roller 17 enters. Further, the paper feed up lever 18 is inserted into the notched lower surface opening 13b and presses the stacked recording papers 12 upward to bring the uppermost recording paper 12 into contact with the paper feed roller 17.

The magazine body 11 includes a slide cover 2
0 is movably attached. The slide cover 20 is formed in a U-shape or a rectangular tube shape, and a lid 21 is attached to one opening of the slide cover 20 so as to be openable and closable by an attachment shaft (not shown). A coil spring 23 that biases the lid 21 in the closing direction is attached to the mounting shaft.
In the guide groove 24 of the slide cover 20, the magazine body 1
A guide pin 25 provided so as to project from the side surface of the magazine 1 is inserted, and sliding on the magazine body 11 is restricted. This prevents the slide cover 20 from falling off the magazine body 11.

A lock lever 30 is provided on the side surface of the slide cover 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the lock lever 30 is biased by the spring plate 33 so that the claw portion 31 of the lock lever 30 is inserted into the lock groove 32 of the magazine body 11. The lock groove 32 is formed near the opening end of the magazine body 11, and the claw portion 31 of the lock lever 30 is locked in the lock groove 32, so that the slide cover 20 is closed at the position where the opening of the magazine body 11 is closed. Is prevented from moving.

A latch 36 is provided on the lower surface 11b of the magazine body 11 near the loading / unloading opening 13. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, a latch lock 37 for holding the latch 36 is provided in the magazine chamber 16, and the latch lock 37 allows the paper feed magazine 10 to be completely inserted into the magazine chamber 16. When the setting is completed, the latch 36 is sandwiched and the magazine chamber 16 of the magazine body 11 is held.
From falling out. It is convenient that the latch mechanism has a structure in which the latch is released by pushing the paper feed magazine 10 again after the paper feed magazine 10 is latched.

A protrusion 40 and a spring plate 41 are provided on the side surface 16a in the magazine chamber 16. The projecting portion 40 projects into the magazine chamber 16 so that the tip of the slide cover 20 and the lock lever 30 come into contact with each other.
Therefore, when the paper feed magazine 10 is inserted into the magazine chamber 16, the tip of the slide cover 20 and the lock lever 30 come into contact with the protrusion 40 during the insertion. When the lock lever 30 hits the protrusion 40, the lever 30 rotates to retract the claw portion 31 from the lock groove 32, so that the slide cover 20 can slide on the magazine body 11. Further, when the paper feed magazine 10 is inserted into the magazine chamber 16, the slide cover 20 is locked by the protrusion 40, so that only the magazine body 11 is inserted into the magazine chamber 16 and thus the slide cover 20 is inserted. Twenty-one lid 21
Is lifted up at the tip of the magazine body 11. When the magazine main body 11 is inserted into the magazine chamber 16, the latch 36 is locked by the latch lever 37, so that the paper feed magazine 10 is fixed in the magazine chamber 16 with the opening 13 opened.

The spring plate 41 is also provided so as to project into the magazine chamber 16, and the spring plate 41 is deformed by hitting the side surface of the slide cover 20 when the paper feed magazine 10 is taken in and out of the magazine chamber 16. , Allows or restricts passage of the slide cover 20. That is, when the paper feed magazine 10 is inserted into the magazine chamber 16, the slide cover 20 is locked to the magazine body 11 by the lock lever 30, so the spring plate 41
Deforms to allow passage of the slide cover 20.

On the other hand, the paper feed magazine 10 is provided in the magazine chamber 16
When pulling out from the slide cover 20, the spring plate 41 is attached to the slide cover 20.
Hits and regulates passage of the slide cover 20. Therefore, even if the magazine body 11 moves without the magazine chamber 16, the slide cover 20 is locked by the spring plate 41 and does not move, so that the slide cover 20 relatively moves on the magazine body 11. And the slide cover 20 is the magazine body 11
Guide groove 24 when set to a position covering the opening 13 of
Since the guide pin 25 is located at the end of the slide cover 20, the slide cover 20 deforms the spring plate 41 to get over it. When the guide pin 25 is located at the end of the guide groove 24, the claw portion 31 enters the lock groove 32 as shown in FIG. 4, so that the lid 21 of the slide cover 20 is closed and the slide cover 20 of the magazine body 11 is closed. It is fixed on the opening side. As a result, the paper feed magazine 10 is pulled out from the magazine chamber 16 with the opening 13 covered with the slide cover 20, so that the recording paper 12 is not exposed to outside light even if it is left outside.

A large number of recording papers 12 are piled up and wrapped with a wrapping paper (not shown). These recording papers 12 are
As is well known, a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer and a protective layer are sequentially formed on a support, and heat recording is performed in the order of yellow, magenta and cyan. These heat-sensitive color developing layers have higher color-developing heat energy as they go deeper, so that the thermosensitive color-developing layers of three colors can be selectively recorded by changing the color-developing heat energy.

When loading the recording paper 12 into the paper feed magazine 10, first, the lock lever 30 is pushed to pull out the claw 31 from the lock groove 32. In this state, slide cover 2
When 0 is moved to the right in FIG. 2, the lid 21 is pulled up along the end of the magazine body 11 as shown in FIG. A large number of recording papers in a stacked state by tearing the wrapping paper 1
2 is taken out and inserted through the access opening 13. Next, when the slide cover 20 is returned to the closed position, the lid 20 closes the doorway 13, as shown in FIG. The slide cover 20 is locked in the closed position by the lock lever 30.

The recording paper 12 is loaded into the paper feed magazine 10 and then inserted into the magazine chamber 16 of the thermal printer 15. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the slide cover 20
Since the tip of the lock lever 30 and the lock lever 30 are pressed against the protrusion 40 of the magazine chamber 16, the lock groove 32 and the claw 31
Is released. As a result, the slide cover 2
0 indicates that the magazine body 11 is inserted when the magazine body 11 is inserted.
Slide up. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, in conjunction with the movement of the slide cover 20, the lid 21 hits against the leading end of the magazine body 11 and is lifted, and retracts from the opening 13. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the latch 36 is held by the latch lock 37, so that the paper feed magazine 10
Is set in the magazine chamber 16 with the loading / unloading opening 13 open.

Interlocking with the completion of the setting, the recording paper up lever 18 is unlocked and is urged upward by a spring 19, as shown in FIG. This recording paper up lever 1
8 enters the lower surface of the lowermost recording paper, pushes it up, and presses the uppermost recording paper 12 against the paper feed roller 17.
When the paper feed roller 17 rotates counterclockwise, the recording paper 12
Is sent out from the entrance / exit opening 13 and is sent toward the platen drum 67 with the heat-sensitive recording layer on the lower surface. When the recording paper 12 reaches the platen drum 67 through the space between the guide plates 68 and 69, the leading end of the recording paper 12 is fixed by the clamp member 71. When the platen drum 67 starts rotating counterclockwise, the recording paper 12 moves toward the recording position while being wound around the platen drum 67.

A thermal head 72 for thermally recording a video image or the like on the recording paper 12 is provided at the recording position, and a yellow optical fixing device 73 and a magenta optical fixing device 7 are provided downstream thereof.
4 are arranged. In the thermal head 72, a large number of heating elements are arranged in a line in the main scanning direction, and each heating element generates heat energy according to the density of the pixel.
The optical fixing device 73 for yellow has an emission peak of about 420 nm.
The magenta optical fixing device 74 has an ultraviolet lamp having an emission peak of about 365 nm.

When the tip of the recording area of the recording paper 12 reaches the thermal head 72, a yellow image is thermally recorded line by line on the yellow thermosensitive recording layer. The portion on which the yellow image is thermally recorded reaches the yellow optical fixing device 73,
Near-ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of about 420 nm are irradiated here to optically fix the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer.

At the second rotation of the platen drum 27, the yellow optical fixing device 73 is turned off and the magenta optical fixing device 74 is turned off.
Is turned on and the thermal head 72 causes the recording paper 12 to
The magenta image is heat-recorded line by line on the magenta thermosensitive color developing layer. During recording of this magenta image, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer is also heated, but since the coloring ability has already been lost, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer does not develop color. The portion on which the magenta image is thermally recorded reaches the magenta optical fixing device 74, where it is irradiated with ultraviolet rays of about 365 nm, and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer is optically fixed.

When the platen drum 67 further rotates for the third rotation, the magenta optical fixing device 74 is turned off, and the thermal head 72 thermally records a cyan image on the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer of the recording paper 12 line by line. . Since the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer has a considerably high heat energy required for thermosensitive coloring and does not develop color under normal storage conditions, optical fixing is omitted for the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer.

After the thermal recording of the yellow image, the magenta image, and the cyan image is completed, the platen drum 67 is reversed. By the reverse rotation of the platen drum 67, the rear end of the recording paper 12 is guided to the paper discharge passage 82 by the separation claw 81 and is nipped by the pair of transport rollers 83. After that, the fixing of the leading end portion of the recording paper 12 by the clamp member 71 is released, the platen drum 67 is stopped, and the recording paper 12 on which the thermal recording has been performed is conveyed to the tray 87 by the conveying roller pair 83.
Is discharged. After that, the paper feed roller 17 is rotated again, and the next recording paper 12 comes in and out through the opening 13 and the platen drum 6
It is sent to 7.

Similarly, when the recording papers 12 are sequentially fed and all the recording papers 12 are discharged from the paper feed magazine 10, for example, the rotational position of the recording paper up lever 18 is detected by a sensor and recording is performed. Since the user is notified that the paper 12 is used up, the user can pull out the empty paper feed magazine 10 from the magazine chamber 16.

Further, when the paper feed magazine 10 is pulled out from the magazine chamber 16 at the time of paper jam or maintenance / inspection of the inside, the slide cover 20 first contacts the spring plate 41 in the magazine chamber 16 as shown in FIG. Cover 2
0 slides on the magazine body 11. And
When the guide pin 25 is located at the end of the guide groove 24, the claw portion 31 of the lock lever 30 enters the lock groove 32 as shown in FIG. 4, so that the slide cover 20 is positioned so as to cover the opening 13 of the magazine body 11. Locked. At this time, the lid 20 covers the access opening 13 by the bias of the coil spring 23. Furthermore, if you pull out the magazine body 11,
The paper feed magazine 10 is completely removed from the magazine chamber 16. Since the slide cover 20 shields the entrance / exit opening 13 of the paper feed magazine 10, the recording paper 12 is not exposed to light even if left unattended.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the slide cover that slides over the magazine body is provided with a lid that opens and closes the opening / closing opening of the magazine body, there is a risk that the stored recording paper will be exposed even if the paper magazine is left out of the thermal printer. Absent. Further, when the paper feed magazine is inserted into the magazine chamber, the slide cover engages with the projection of the magazine chamber, so that the slide cover can be moved to automatically open the access opening. Furthermore, when the paper feed magazine is inserted into the magazine chamber, the lock of the slide cover is automatically released, so that the paper feed magazine can be easily set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a paper feed magazine of the present invention with a lid open.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a paper feed magazine with a lid closed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a thermal printer.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a lock lever.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which a paper feed magazine is set in a magazine chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Paper Feed Magazine 11 Magazine Body 12 Recording Paper 13 Entry / Exit Opening 15 Thermal Printer 16 Magazine Chamber 20 Slide Cover 21 Lid 30 Lock Lever

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A box-shaped magazine main body for accommodating a plurality of stacked recording papers, a recording paper inlet / outlet opening provided at an end of the magazine main body, and a magazine main body mounted on the magazine main body. Slide cover that moves between the closed position set on the open end side of the magazine and the open position set in the middle of the magazine body, and the slide cover is rotatably attached to the tip of the slide cover and closes the slide cover. The slide cover is provided with a lid that closes the loading / unloading opening when set to the position, and is flipped up on the magazine main body when moving toward the open position and retracts from the loading / unloading opening. Go outside
Insert the magazine body into the magazine room of the thermal printer.
When you insert the slide cover on the wall of the magazine room,
Stop and move this slide cover to the open position
And, locked to the magazine body in a closed position the slide cover
A locking member that allows
The cover of the thermal printer.
When inserting the magazine body into the magazine room,
The lock member to operate to unlock the slide cover.
A paper feed magazine for a thermal printer, which is characterized in that it is removed .