JP2861835B2 - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly, to a serial printing apparatus using rolled printing paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printing apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 3-6949. This is shown in FIG.

In this conventional example, a carriage 51 movably supported along a carriage guide 52 and a sub-guide 53 disposed in the width direction of the printing paper P, and a carriage 5
The print head 54 includes a print head 54 mounted thereon, a carriage moving mechanism (not shown), and the carriage 51 further includes a cutter mechanism.

[0004] The cutter mechanism comprises a motor 60 which is rotated by an operation command, an arm 59 which is rotated by the motor 60, and a cutter blade 57 provided at the tip of the arm 59. Reference numeral 58 denotes a sheet guide that is disposed in parallel with the moving direction of the carriage 51 and contacts the cutter blade 57 with a guide groove.

At the time of printing, the printing paper P is transported upward in the drawing by the rotation of the transport roller 55 and the driven roller 55A, and the carriage 51 is guided by the carriage guide 52 and the sub-guide 53, and is urged by the carriage moving mechanism. The print head P moves in the width direction of the printing paper P, and the print head 54 on the carriage 51 performs printing as the carriage 51 moves. At that time, the cutter mechanism stands by at a position where the arm 59 is rotated by 90 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 6 and the cutter blade 57 does not reach the printing paper P.

When cutting the printed printing paper P, the carriage 51 moves to one end of the carriage guide 52 upon receiving an operation command from an electrical unit or the like for controlling the operation of the printing apparatus P. The motor 60 is rotated by being energized by a cable (not shown), and stops in a direction in which the arm 59 faces substantially perpendicularly to the paper surface of the printing paper P. In this state, the tip of the cutter blade 57 of the cutter mechanism comes into contact with the guide groove provided in the sheet guide 58.

The carriage 51 includes a carriage guide 52
Is moved from one end to the other end, the cutter blade 57 of the cutter mechanism moves along the guide groove of the sheet guide 58, and the printing paper P is cut.

[0008]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the power for moving the carriage can be shared as the power for cutting the cutter mechanism by mounting the cutter mechanism on the carriage for moving the print head. It has a configuration.

However, in the above-described conventional example, the weight of the entire carriage is increased by mounting the cutter mechanism on the carriage, and the moment of inertia that affects the reciprocation of the carriage, such as vibration, is increased. For this reason, if the movement of the carriage is accelerated, the image quality of the printed material is degraded, and further, the state of the cut edge of the cut printing paper is deteriorated, which is not suitable for high-speed printing. there were.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the prior art, to maintain a high print image quality, and to provide a printing apparatus capable of high-speed printing.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a print head facing a print sheet, a carriage mounting the print head, a carriage guide arranged perpendicular to a conveying direction of the print sheet and guiding the carriage. A carriage mechanism for applying a moving force to the carriage, a cutter mechanism having a cutter blade abutting on the printing paper and guided by a carriage guide, and a connection for connecting or detaching the cutter mechanism to or from the carriage according to an operation command have a mechanism
You.

[0012] Then, the coupling mechanism is mounted on the cutter mechanism, and the guide plate having a W-shaped guide groove, the engagement projection to be engaged with the W-shaped guide groove that is provided on the cutter mechanism And a guide plate rotatably provided to guide the engaging protrusions along the W-shaped guide groove, and so that the opening of the guide groove faces the engaging protrusion. A configuration in which the current position return spring is attached to the guide plate
I am taking it. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0013]

The printing is performed with the cutter mechanism detached from the carriage. After a predetermined amount of printing is performed, the carriage and the cutter mechanism are connected by a connection mechanism in response to an operation command set separately, and the carriage is urged by the carriage moving mechanism along the carriage guide, and the movement is performed. The cutter mechanism also moves, and the printing paper is cut.

When connecting the carriage and the cutter mechanism
The carriage is moved so as to be close to the cutter mechanism, the engaging projection that is provided on the arm member on the carriage engages the W-shaped guide groove provided on the guide plate of the cutter mechanism, the carriage The engagement protrusion is guided along the W-shaped groove according to the reciprocating movement of the carriage, and when the cutting of the printing paper is completed, the engagement protrusion is released from the engagement with the W-shaped guide groove, and the carriage and the cutter mechanism are disengaged. Separates.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION based on an embodiment of the present invention in FIGS.

In the present embodiment, a print head 5 disposed opposite a print sheet P, a carriage 1 on which the print head 5 is mounted, and a carriage 1 disposed along the width direction of the print sheet P and A cutter having a carriage guide 52 for guiding and a carriage moving mechanism 4 for urging the carriage 1 to move, and further having a cutter blade 21 abutting on the printing paper P and moving by being guided by the carriage guide 53 The printing apparatus 10 includes a mechanism 2 and a connecting mechanism 8 that connects or disconnects the cutter mechanism 2 to or from the carriage 1 according to an operation command.

The printing paper P is conveyed by conveying rollers 55 and 56 that rotate by obtaining a rotational force from a driving unit (not shown) and driven rollers 55A and 56A that follow the printing paper P, and printing is performed between the conveying rollers 55 and 56. Is performed. Reference numeral 58 denotes a vertical surface 58b facing the print head 5.
And a sheet guide having a guide groove 58 a for guiding the cutter blade 21.

A carriage guide 52 is provided in parallel with the sheet guide 58, and a sub guide 53 is provided in parallel with the carriage guide 52, and both support the carriage 1.

The carriage 1 has holes into which the carriage guide 52 and the sub-guide 53 are respectively inserted.
The carriage guide 52 and the sub-guide 53 can reciprocate in the arrangement direction. Also, the carriage 1
Is fixed to one place of the endless belt 42 on the lower side,
A carriage moving mechanism 4 including an endless belt 42 and a drive motor 41 for winding the endless belt 42 around a rotation shaft
Urges the moving force.

On the carriage 1, a thermal type print head 5, which heats when electric power is applied, is mounted. In the printing portion, 12 heating elements per 1 mm are printed on 8 mm of printing paper. It is arranged in the direction of conveyance of P, and is configured to be urged in the direction of printing paper P by a pressing spring.
The above-described vertical plane 58b of the sheet guide 58 is opposed to the print portion of the print head 5, and printing is performed between the vertical plane 58b and the print head 5. In this embodiment, as the printing paper P, a heat-sensitive recording paper that develops a black color when heat is applied is used.

The cutter mechanism 2 is supported by a carriage guide 52 and a sub-guide 53 in the same manner as the carriage 1, and can reciprocate along the carriage guide 52 and the sub-guide 53. Except when performing, it is waiting at one end of the carriage guide 52,
Further, in order to prevent a movement unrelated to the operation command due to a vibration or the like due to a printing operation, the locking member 7
It is locked by. Further, the above-mentioned protrusion member 32 is provided on the cutter mechanism 2 so as to protrude, and a guide groove 58 provided in a sheet guide 58 is provided on the printing paper P side of the cutter mechanism 2.
A cutter blade 21 is planted at a position corresponding to a.
The cutter blade 21 has a blade portion that comes into contact with the printing paper P obliquely.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting mechanism 8 includes a guide plate 80 having a W-shaped guide groove 81 provided on the cutter mechanism 2 and an engaging projection 82a for engaging with the guide groove 81 at the tip. And an arm member 82 provided and fixed on the carriage 1 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , the guide plate 80 has a W-shaped guide groove 81 on its upper surface.
The two opening portions 81b and 81f are provided with engaging projections 8 vertically provided at the distal end of an arm member 82 fixedly mounted on the carriage 1.
2a. The guide plate 80 is rotatably supported by the cutter mechanism 2 by a center shaft 80a, and a current position return spring 80b is engaged with the center shaft 80a (see FIG. 4). The return spring 80b has one end fixed to the cutter mechanism 2 and the other end fixed to the guide plate 80, and urges the guide plate 80 so that it always faces in a fixed direction.

On the other hand, the arm member 82 fixed on the carriage 1 toward the cutter mechanism 2 side, the engaging projection 82a is vertical in which the cylindrical width capable of loosely inserted into W-shaped guide groove 81 in the distal portion Has been established.

Next, referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, for explaining the printing operation of this embodiment. The printing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes:
The printing unit 1 includes an electric unit (not shown), and the electric unit operates in accordance with an operation command from a storage unit that stores each operation of the printing apparatus 10 or an operation panel (not shown).
0 controls the operation of each unit.

As shown in FIG . 2, the carriage 1 is located at the normal position A (home position), and is driven so that the carriage 1 moves from the position A to the position C during printing. An operation signal is given to the motor 41. Further, when the carriage 1 moves to the position C, the drive motor 41 reverses and returns the carriage 1 to the position A again. The timing of this inversion is determined by the amount counted by the electrical unit. Further, a micro switch 6 may be provided at the position A, and the position of the carriage 1 may be detected by turning on and off the micro switch. Further, the position of the carriage may be counted by an electrical unit, and the microswitch 6 may be used together. Thus, the drive motor 41 can be driven so that the carriage 1 comes to the position A accurately.

The above operation is performed every time the printing paper P is conveyed by one line, and when printing is completed, the printing apparatus 10 switches to the cutting operation of the printing paper P.

[0028] During the cutting operation, in response to a signal from the electric unit, the driving motor 41 performs driving to come carriage 1 to the position B. The carriage 1 is adjacent to the cutter mechanism 2 at the position B.

The W-shaped guide plate 80 has openings 81 b,
A side surface 81a having an opening 81f is formed in an inclined arc shape from the opening 81f to the opening 81b, and when the carriage 1 approaches the cutter mechanism 2, the engaging projection 82a is formed.
Abuts on the side surface 81a, slides on the side surface 81a, and enters the opening 81b. At this time, the guide plate 80 is rotated by the driving force of the carriage 1 in the p direction. Further, since the guide plate 80 is urged in the q direction by the movement operation of the carriage 1 and the current position return spring 80b of the guide plate 80, the engagement protrusion 82a moves to the bent portion 81c of the guide groove 81.

The carriage 1 is moved to the position D for cutting.
, The engaging protrusion 82a slides in the W-shaped guide groove 81 to move from the bent portion 81c to the bent portion 8c.
Move to 1d. Since the engagement protrusion 82a is locked by the bent portion 81d, the printing paper P is cut while the cutter mechanism 2 is pulled by the carriage 1.

The carriage 1 performs a move print paper P after cutting, to return again to the position B from the position D. At this time, since the carriage 1 moves so as to press the cutter mechanism 2, the engagement protrusion 82a moves in the W-shaped guide groove 81 from the bent portion 81d to the bent portion 81e.

When the carriage 1 returns to the home position, the engagement protrusion 82a moves from the bent portion 81e of the guide groove to the opening 81f, and the engagement between the guide groove 81 and the engagement protrusion 82a is stopped. Then, the carriage 1 and the cutter mechanism 2 are separated.

In this embodiment, since the cutter mechanism 2 is separated from the carriage 1 during printing, printing is performed with the weight of the carriage 1 alone, and the moment of inertia corresponding to the weight of the cutter mechanism 2 is reduced. Occurrence of vibration at the time of the reciprocation of 1 is suppressed. For this reason, according to the present invention, the image quality in printing is improved, and it is possible to cope with an increase in the moving speed of the carriage 1, and it is possible to realize an increase in the speed of the printing.

In this embodiment, since the locking member 7 is provided, the cutter mechanism 2 is held at one end of the carriage guide 52 at the time of printing, and the one end of the cutter mechanism 2 is related to the operation signal of the electric unit. In order to prevent undesired movements, it is possible to preferably perform printing without hindering the printing operation of the carriage 1.

Furthermore, this embodiment, by providing the micro-switch 6 at the position A, it is possible to stop the carriage 1 accurately. The microswitch 6 may be provided at another stop position of the carriage 1 so that each operation can be performed more accurately.

In this embodiment, the connecting mechanism 8 is used as a guide.
Engagement projection 82 which engages with plate 80 and W-shaped guide groove 81
constituted by an arm member 82 having a, for performing the coupling by mechanical engagement, an electric circuit, wiring and the like is not required, there is no occurrence of a failure of contact failure of wires, maintenance of the apparatus Can be kept high.

In this embodiment, the arm member 82 may be rotatable and the guide plate 80 may be fixed. Also, a guide plate 80 is mounted on the carriage 1,
An arm member may be mounted on the cutter mechanism 2.

In the present embodiment, a thermal head is used as the print head 5, but another serial print head (for example, a dot impact method) may be used.

[0039]

According to the present invention , after printing is performed with the carriage not connected to the cutter mechanism, the cutter mechanism is connected to the carriage by the connection mechanism, and the cutter mechanism moves together with the carriage along the carriage guide. The printing paper is cut.

[0040] According to the above operation, the conventional carriage equally cutting to that equipped with a cutter mechanism is performed, at the time of printing, by the cutter mechanism is disengaged from the carriage, the printing is performed only by the carriage In addition, the moment of inertia corresponding to the weight of the cutter mechanism is reduced, and the occurrence of vibration during reciprocation of the carriage during printing is suppressed. For this reason, according to the present invention, the image quality in printing is improved, and it is possible to cope with an increase in the moving speed of the carriage.

[0041] Further, the present invention provides a coupling mechanism is constituted by an arm member having a guide plate provided with W-shaped guide groove, the engagement projection to be engaged with the W-shaped guide groove, mechanical Since the connection is performed by the engagement, electrical wiring and the like become unnecessary, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a failure such as poor contact of the wiring, and to maintain the maintainability of the device at a high level.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially omitted plan view showing a cutting operation according to an embodiment of the present invention .

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a connecting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of a guide plate is omitted.

FIG. 4 One of the present invention FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection operation of the embodiment.
Figure4(A) is a figure which shows the state before connection,4
(B) is a figure which shows a connection state.

FIG. 5 is a side view, partially omitted and partially cut away, showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carriage 2 Cutter mechanism 4 Carriage moving mechanism 5 Print head 7 Locking member 8 Connecting mechanism 80 Guide plate 80b Current position return spring 81 Guide groove 82 Arm member 82a Engagement projection 10 Printing device 21 Cutter blade 52 Carriage guide P Printing paper

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A print head mounted opposite the print paper; a carriage mounting the print head; a carriage guide disposed along a width direction of the print paper and guiding the carriage; A printing apparatus having a carriage moving mechanism for applying a moving force to a carriage, comprising: a cutter mechanism having a cutter blade in contact with the printing paper and moving by being guided by the carriage guide; and having a connecting mechanism for connecting or leaving with the carriage, W-shape the coupling mechanism, which is mounted on the cutter mechanism
A guide plate having a guide groove in a shape of
An engaging projection that engages with the W-shaped guide groove provided
And guides the engagement protrusions along the W-shaped guide grooves.
So that the guide plate is rotatably provided, and
So that the opening of the groove faces the direction facing the engagement protrusion.
A printing device, wherein a current position return spring is attached to the guide plate .