JP2880636B2 - Head stopper structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head stopper structure applied to a printer head or the like, and more particularly to a head stopper structure capable of speeding up a head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is conventionally known that a head for a printer or the like can be provided with a stopper for limiting the amount of movement of a head pin so that the head speed can be increased. By providing a stopper on the return side, the printing speed has been increased.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a schematic structure of a release type electromagnetic head provided with a stopper on the return side of the head pin.
1 is an electromagnetic coil, 12 is a yoke, 13 is an armature,
14 is a lever, 15 is a head pin, 16 is a fixed part, 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes a leaf spring, and reference numeral 18 denotes a stopper formed of a high-strength polyimide sheet or the like. One end of the armature 13 is attached to a fixed portion 16 by a leaf spring 17, and a head pin 15 is attached to the other end of the armature 13 via a lever 14.

In FIG. 1, an electromagnetic coil 11 is normally excited, and an armature 13 is attracted to a yoke 12 side. When printing, the electromagnetic coil 11 is de-energized. As a result, the armature 13 moves upward in the figure due to the elasticity of the leaf spring 17, and at the same time, the lever 14 and the head pin 15 move upward to perform a printing operation. Then, the electromagnetic coil 11 is excited again, and the armature 13 is pulled back downward in FIG. I do.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a schematic structure of a suction type electromagnetic head provided with a stopper on the return side of the head pin.
1 is an electromagnetic coil, 12 is a yoke, 13 is an armature,
Reference numeral 15 denotes a head pin, 16 denotes a fixing portion, 18 denotes a stopper formed of a high-strength polyimide sheet or the like, and 19 denotes a fixing portion that supports the stopper. One end of the armature 13 is rotatably supported by the fixed portion 16, and a head pin 15 is attached to the other end of the armature 13. The armature 13 is urged downward by a spring or the like (not shown). ing.

In FIG. 1, the electromagnetic coil 11 is normally non-excited, and the armature 13 is attracted downward by a spring (not shown). When printing, the electromagnetic coil 11 is excited. Thereby, the armature 13 is attracted to the yoke 12 side by the electromagnetic coil 11, and at the same time, the head pin 15 moves upward to perform a printing operation. Next, when the electromagnetic coil 11 is de-energized again, the armature 13 is pulled back downward in FIG.
It stops while oscillating upon colliding with 8.

The above-mentioned electromagnetic head uses a magnetic attraction surface or a relatively flat surface opposite to the magnetic attraction surface as a stopper as a stopper, but this has a certain volume in order to enhance the magnetic effect. It is considered necessary for armature. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a conventional piezoelectric head provided with a stopper on the return side of a head pin, where 1 is a piezoelectric element, 2 and 2 ′ are leaf springs, 3 is a lever,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a head pin, 16 denotes a fixing portion, 18 denotes a stopper formed of a high-strength polyimide sheet or the like, and 19 denotes a fixing portion that supports a stopper.

One end of the lever 3 is attached to the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 via a leaf spring 2 '.
The head pin 4 is attached to the other end of the lever 3. In the figure, when the piezoelectric element 1 is driven, the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 is displaced upward. Since one end of the lever 3 is attached to the fixed portion 16 by the leaf spring 2, when the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 moves upward, the lever 3 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. As a result, the head pin 4 moves upward to perform a printing operation.

When the piezoelectric element 1 is not driven, the piezoelectric element 1 is displaced downward, the lever 3 returns downward, collides with the stopper 18 and stops while vibrating.

[0010]

However, in the above-described conventional head / stopper structure, since the movable portion collides to achieve the stopper function, the life of the head is determined by the stopper member. was there. In the above-mentioned conventional example, a high-strength polyimide sheet is used for the collision surface of the stopper, but its life is usually 200 to 400 million strokes. For this reason, polyimide sheets are designated as end-of-life parts and need to be replaced after their life has expired, but as a practical matter, their replacement is quite difficult.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to achieve a stopper function by utilizing buckling, thereby making it possible to achieve a stopper such as a polyimide sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide a head stopper structure that does not require replacement parts and can achieve a long life.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides an actuator (1)
The head pin (4) is attached, the movable member (3) that moves when the actuator is driven to project the head pin (4) in the printing direction, and one end is attached to the fixed part (6). And a stopper member (5) having the other end attached to the movable member (3), wherein the stopper member (5) is compressed.
The movable part (3) is made of a flexible material with a small spring constant at the time of expansion and a large spring constant at the time of extension.
Buckles when driven by the actuator, and the movable part (3) is not driven
When returning to the position, the movable part (3)
The movement is regulated .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the actuator (1) is connected to the actuator (1) at one end through a leaf spring (2 ').
(1) and via a leaf spring (2).
It is attached to the first fixing part (16) and has a head at the other end.
・ Pin (4) is attached and actuator (1) is displaced
To rotate around the leaf spring (2, 2 ').
Moving part that protrudes the head pin (4) in the printing direction
Material (3) and one end attached to the second fixing part (6),
The stopper member (5) whose end is attached to the movable member (3)
The stopper member (5) has a spring constant when compressed.
Formed from a metal material that is small and has a large spring constant when extended
The movable part (3) is driven by the actuator (1).
Buckles when the movable part (3) returns to the non-driven position
By extending, the movement of the movable portion (3) is regulated.

[0014]

Function One end of a plate-like or rod-like stopper member 5 shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D is attached to the movable member 3, and the other end is fixed to the fixing portion 6. When the head pin is in the protruding state, the stopper member is buckled as shown in FIG. 5A, and when the head pin returns to the original position, the stopper is moved as shown in FIG. The position of the movable member 4 is regulated and stopped by extending the member.

Here, for example, a plate-like stopper member having a thickness of 0.02 mm, a width of 10 mm and a length of 20 mm shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D, a diameter of 0.05 mm and a length of 20 mm
Stopper member (Young's modulus is 20,000kgf / mm each)
² ) is obtained as follows when a spring constant is obtained by brazing the fixed portion 6 and the movable portion 3 to each other. When compressed (pin protruding direction) 43.8 × 10 ^-3 kgf / mm During tension (pin returning direction) 200 kgf / mm Ratio of compression and tension 4566 Stopper member when compressed (pin protruding direction) 01 × 10 ⁻³ kgf / mm Tension (pin return direction) 1.96 kgf / mm Ratio between compression and tension 975 As described above, the spring constant in the compression direction and the tension direction of a member having the shape is considerably large. There is a difference, the above members,
By attaching the head pin to the movable member so as to be in an extended state when returning to the original position, the head pin can function as a stopper.

According to the present invention, a stopper function is obtained based on the above principle. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the spring constant during compression is small, and the spring constant during expansion is small.
It is made of a large number of flexible materials and the movable part (3)
Buckled when driven by tutor (1)
(3) By stretching when returning to the non-driven position
And the movement of the movable part (3) is restricted, so that a long-life stopper that does not require replacement parts can be obtained.
Manufacturing costs can be reduced.

In the invention of claim 2 of the present invention, the compression
Metal with low spring constant at the time and large spring constant at the time of extension
The movable part (3) is formed by the actuator (1).
Buckles when driven, and the movable part (3) is in the non-driven state.
Since the movement of the movable portion (3) is restricted by extending when returning to the original position, the same effect as that of the first aspect can be obtained , and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a piezoelectric element, 2 and 2 'are leaf springs, 3 is a lever, 4 is a head pin, and 5 is a stopper member. As described above, the stopper member 5 is formed of a flexible metal material or the like having a large difference in spring constant between the time of compression and the time of tension, as described above.
One end of the stopper member 5 is attached to the lever 3 by means such as brazing, and the other end is attached to the fixing portion 6 by similar means.

One end of the lever 3 is attached to the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 via a leaf spring 2 ′, and is attached to the fixed portion 16 via the leaf spring 2. Has a head pin 4 attached. As a metal material applicable to the stopper, for example,
The following materials are preferred.

That is, it is desirable to use a stopper material which has a wide elastic limit range, does not cause plastic deformation even in the case of large deformation due to buckling, and has the property of being thinner. In addition, by having the above characteristics, the spring constant at the time of buckling can be reduced, so that the stress can be reduced. As a material having the above-mentioned characteristics, for example, there is the following as a thin plate material for a spring according to JIS.・ JIS thin sheet material (JIS G4313) SUS301 CSP, SUS304 CSP (stainless steel strip for spring) C5210P (phosphor bronze sheet for spring) In addition, although the regulation by JIS is not clear, MAS1 (high strength maraging steel) Daido special steel) can also be used.

In FIG. 1, when the piezoelectric element 1 is driven, the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 is displaced upward. Since one end of the lever 3 is attached to the fixed portion 16 by the leaf spring 2, when the upper end of the piezoelectric element 1 moves upward, the lever 3
Rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. As a result, the head pin 4 moves upward to perform a printing operation, and the stopper member 5 buckles as shown in FIG.

When the piezoelectric element 1 is not driven, the piezoelectric element 1 is displaced downward, and the lever 3 returns downward. that time,
The stopper member 5 extends as shown in FIG. 2B and regulates the movement of the lever 3. Thus, the lever 3 stops while vibrating. In the above-described embodiment, the embodiment in which the head pin is driven by the piezoelectric element is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The present invention can be applied to a head that drives a head pin or uses an electrostrictive element, an electrostatic actuator, or the like, and can be applied to any of a release type and a suction type head.

The stopper member is not limited to a metal material, but may be made of any material having a significantly different spring constant during compression and tension. For example, a resin material reinforced with glass fiber Etc. can also be used. Further, the shape of the stopper member is not limited to a plate shape or a rod shape, and may be any other shape, and the number of stoppers to be attached may be plural.

[0024]

As described above, in the present invention, since the stopper member which buckles / extends when the movable portion is driven by the actuator or returns to the non-driven position, the replacement part is used. However, it is possible to obtain a stopper with a long service life that does not need to be used. Therefore, the reliability of the head can be improved, and the structure is simple, so that the cost of the head can be reduced. In particular, by there use a metal material as the stopper member,
The life of the head can be extended, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the function and shape of a stopper according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a conventional example of a release type electromagnetic head.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a conventional example of a suction type electromagnetic head.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional example of a head using a piezoelectric element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 piezoelectric element 2, 2 'leaf spring 3 lever 4 head pin 5 stopper member 6, 16 fixing portion

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An actuator (1), a movable member (3) to which a head pin (4) is attached, and which moves when the actuator is driven to project the head pin (4) in a printing direction; One end is attached to the fixed part (6) and the other end is the movable member (3)
The stopper member (5) has a small spring constant when compressed,
Spring constant during elongation is formed from a large flexible material, soluble
When the moving part (3) is driven by the actuator (1), the seat
Bends and extends when the movable part (3) returns to the non-driven position
A stopper structure for the head, which restricts the movement of the movable portion (3) . And wherein the actuator (1), one end via a leaf spring (2 '), the first fixing through a attached to the actuator (1) Rutotomoni leaf spring (2)
(16) and head pin (4) at the other end.
A movable member (3) that causes the head pin (4) to protrude in the printing direction by rotating about the leaf spring (2, 2 ′) when the actuator (1) is displaced, There mounting et is the second fixed part (6), the other end provided with and a stopper member attached to the movable member (3) (5), the stopper member (5), the spring constant in compression is small ,
Made of a metal material with a large spring constant during extension ,
(3) restricts the movement of the movable part (3) by buckling when driven by the actuator (1) and extending when the movable part (3) returns to the non-driven position. Head stopper structure.