JP2931178B2 - Line 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 line thermal printer for performing printing using a line thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a line thermal printer having a structure in which a plurality of heating elements arranged in a main scanning direction are selectively driven and a desired printing is performed on a sheet by conveying the sheet in a sub-scanning direction is known. Exist. As an example of a conventional line thermal printer, a line thermal printer mainly used as a label printer is illustrated in FIGS.

[0003] First, a label paper 3 is provided in which a long backing paper 2 to which a plurality of labels 1 are attached is wound in a roll shape, and the label paper 3 is arranged outside a main body case (not shown). It is held on a paper supply shaft 4. And
A paper path 5 for guiding the label paper 3 pulled out from the paper supply shaft 4 to a predetermined path is provided, and the paper path 5 includes a printing position P in the printing unit 6. Here, the paper path 5 upstream of the printing position P
Is formed by disposing a pair of guide plates 5a facing each other with a slight gap. A paper width guide 5c which guides both sides of the label paper 3 at both sides of the paper path 5 is provided in a paper insertion opening 5b of the paper path 5 formed by the guide plates 5a facing each other. Is provided.

The printing unit 6 includes a platen 7 driven by a drive unit (not shown) and rotated, and a line type thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements 8 are arranged on a line about several mm behind the edge E. 9 and a ribbon supply device 14 for guiding the ink ribbon 13 to a predetermined ribbon path 12 from the ribbon supply shaft 10 to the ribbon take-up shaft 11. Here, the thermal head 9 is connected to the paper path 5.
The heating element 8 is disposed so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum 15 so that the heating element 8 is
And is urged toward the platen 7 by an urging portion (not shown). The ribbon path 12 passes through a printing position P where the heating element 8 of the thermal head 9 contacts the platen 7 and is bent at an edge E of the thermal head 9.

[0005] Then, the paper path 5 is shifted more than the printing unit 6.
A label peeling plate 16 that bends the mount 2 at an acute angle and separates the label 1 from the mount 2 is provided on the downstream side. The mount 2 bent by the label peeling plate 16 is wound around a mount winding shaft (not shown), and the label 1 peeled from the mount 2 is issued from a label issuing port (not shown).

With such a structure, the label paper 3 in the paper path 5 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen 7, and in the course of the conveyance of the label paper 3, desired contents such as, for example, the label 1 are printed on the label 1 by the thermal head 9. Characters, bar codes, etc. are printed. That is, the heating elements 8 arranged in the main scanning direction are selectively driven, and the label paper 3 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, whereby the ink on the ink ribbon 13 is transferred to the label 1 and printing is performed. You. At this time, the label paper 3 guided along the paper path 5 is
Movement in the width direction is restricted by the paper width guide 5c, and meandering is prevented.

During printing, the ink ribbon 13 is wound around the ribbon winding shaft 11 in synchronization with the transport of the label paper 3, and the label paper 3 and the ink ribbon 13 pass through the printing position P at the same speed.

The label paper 3 which has been conveyed to the platen 7 and has passed the printing position P, has only the backing paper 2 wound on a backing paper winding shaft (not shown). At this time, since the mount 2 is sharply bent by the label peeling plate 16, the printed label 1 is separated from the mount 2, and the peeled label 1 is issued from a label issuing port (not shown).

Here, in order to set the label paper 3,
The leading end of the label paper 3 held by the paper supply shaft 4 is inserted into the paper insertion slot 5b of the paper path 5 and fed. As a result, the label paper 3 is guided along the paper path 5 and the print position P
And reaches the label peeling plate 16. Therefore, only the backing sheet 2 is bent at the portion of the label peeling plate 16, and
Is wound on the mount winding shaft.

[0010]

In order to set the label paper 3, the label paper 3 must be inserted into the paper path 5 from the paper insertion slot 5b and sent in. On the other hand, the paper path 5 It is a complicated path, for example, being bent in the vicinity. For this reason, there is a disadvantage that the work for setting the label paper 3 is complicated.

Here, the reason that the paper path 5 must be bent near the printing position P is due to a structural problem of the thermal head 9. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a circuit board 17 for driving the heating element 8 is attached to the thermal head 9. This circuit board 17
Is generally attached to the surface on which the heating element 8 is formed. The reason is that if the circuit board 17 is attached to a surface other than the surface on which the heating element 8 is formed, a lead electrode (not shown) connected to the heating element 8 must be bent at the corner of the thermal head 9 and guided to the circuit board 17. On the other hand, it is difficult to bend the lead electrode formed by the thin film technique. For this reason, the heating elements 8 and the lead electrodes connected to these heating elements 8 are formed on one smooth surface of the thermal head 9, and the circuit board 17 is mounted on the same surface as this, and formed on one surface of the thermal head 9. Conventionally, the connection between the lead electrode and the circuit board 17 is performed. However, while the circuit board 17 requires the IC cover 18 and the connector 19, the feet 19 a of the IC cover 18 and the soldered connector 19 project from the surface on which the heating element 8 is formed. Therefore, these IC covers 18 and connectors 19
It is necessary to bend the paper path 5 near the printing position P so as not to interfere with the foot 19a.

On the other hand, as a line thermal printer having a structure different from that of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, one side of a paper path formed by opposing a pair of guide plates with a slight gap therebetween is formed. A structure in which the continuous paper is set by inserting the continuous paper from the opened side into the paper path from the opened side has been widely used. However, in the line thermal printer having such a structure, since the paper path is formed by the guide plates facing each other with a slight gap, it is difficult to insert continuous paper from the side into the paper path. Since such a difficult continuous paper insertion operation must be performed on the paper path bent near the printing position, the operation of setting the continuous paper is complicated similarly to the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. There is a disadvantage that there is.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a paper feed unit for holding continuous paper, a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged on a line at an edge portion, and a platen contacting the heating element at a printing position. A paper path that is open from the paper supply section to the paper discharge section through the print position and that is open on the side and above, and that is a part of this paper path and is formed in a straight line in a predetermined range above and downstream of the print position. A straight path, a head holding unit that holds the thermal head by inclining at an angle that does not interfere with the straight path, and is disposed at a position upstream of the printing position to close both sides of the paper path and faces each other with a predetermined width. A paper width guide and a paper path opening mechanism for opening a side of the paper path by moving a paper width guide located on the same side as the open side of the paper path are provided.

[0014]

In order to set continuous paper, one paper width guide is moved by the paper path opening mechanism to open one side of the paper path. Then, the continuous paper held in the paper feeding unit is inserted from one side of the opened paper path. At this time, the paper path is formed straight on the straight path at the upstream and downstream of the printing position, and since the upper part of the paper path is open, it is easy to insert continuous paper into the paper path.
Easy to set continuous paper. Here, the reason why the paper path can be formed on a straight line at the straight path portion is that a thermal head having a heating element arranged at an edge portion is arranged to be inclined with respect to the straight path. Further, the reason that the upper part of the straight path can be opened is that the continuous paper is guided on a straight line in the straight path, and therefore the continuous paper advances on the straight line depending on the strength of its own stiffness.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is an example of a line thermal printer mainly used as a label printer. Inside a main body case (not shown), a paper supply shaft 30 as a paper supply unit and a printing unit 31 are provided adjacent to each other.
Then, the printing unit 31 is moved from the paper supply shaft 30 to the printing unit 31.
After passing through the printing position P, the sheet is divided into two paths, namely, a straight traveling direction and a bending direction, and the bent path forms a paper path 32 leading to a mount paper winding shaft (not shown) as a sheet discharging unit. Have been. One side of the paper path 32 is open, and a part of the paper path 32 is formed in a straight line in a predetermined range above and below the printing position P to form a straight path 33. In the vicinity of the downstream side of the printing position P, there is provided a label peeling plate 34 which bends one of the paper paths 32 at an acute angle and divides the paper path 32 into two paths. That is, the paper path 32
The one bent by the label peeling plate 34 reaches the mount winding shaft, and the one not bent is the straight path 3
3 is formed so as to reach a label issuing port (not shown) as a paper discharge unit.

Here, the paper supply shaft 30 holds a label paper 35 as continuous paper. The label paper 35 is formed by winding a long mount paper 37 to which a plurality of labels 36 are attached in a roll shape.

The printing unit 31 includes a platen 38 driven and rotated by a driving unit (not shown), a line-type thermal head 40 in which a plurality of heating elements 39 are arranged on a line at an edge portion E, A ribbon supply device 45 that guides the ink ribbon 44 to a predetermined ribbon path 43 from the ribbon supply shaft 41 to the ribbon take-up shaft 42 is formed. Here, the thermal head 40 is held by a head holding portion 47 that is rotatable about a fulcrum 46. As a result, the heating element 39 faces the platen 38 with the paper path 32 interposed therebetween, and the head holding section 47 rotates about the fulcrum 46 so that the heating element 39 moves relative to the platen 38. It is positioned so that it can come and go freely. Further, the head holding unit 4
The thermal head 40 held at 7 is positioned so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the straight path 33, and is arranged so as not to interfere with the straight path 33. An urging portion (not shown) for urging the head holding portion 47 is provided, and the head holding portion 47 is urged by the urging portion, so that the heating element 39 moves the platen at the printing position P. 38. Further, the ribbon path 43 includes the print position P.

Next, a paper path frame 48 and a ribbon path frame 49 for holding the components of the printing unit 31 and forming the paper path 32 are provided. Hereinafter, the paper path frame 48 and the ribbon path frame 49 will be described separately.

1. Configuration of the Paper Path Frame 48 The paper path frame 48 has a substantially rectangular shape. The paper path frame 48 is positioned at a corner closest to the paper supply shaft 30 and has a paper width guide 50 and a paper A holding roller 51 and an externally wound paper guide 52 are attached. The paper width guide 50 is formed by a pair of guide plates 50a opposed to each other at a position for regulating the width direction of the paper path 32 so as to slide on a support shaft 50b so as to come close to and separate from each other. That is, the paper width guide 50 is linked to one of the guide plates 5
An interlocking mechanism (not shown) such that Oa slides on the support shaft 50b is included. In addition, the front paper path 32
The guide plate 50a, which is located on the same side as one of the open sides, is rotatable around the support shaft 50b at a position where the two guide plates 50a are most separated from each other. At the position where is rotated and positioned at a predetermined position, the side of the paper path 32 is opened. here,
A paper path opening mechanism 70 is formed. 1 and 2
3 shows a state where one side of the paper path 32 is closed, and FIG. 3 shows a state where one side of the paper path 32 is open.

Here, the paper path opening mechanism 70 is shown in FIGS. First, a groove 71 is cut along the axial direction of the support shaft 50b, and a cylindrical bearing 73 having an anti-rotation convex portion 72 fitted on the groove 71 on the inner peripheral surface is provided. The bearing 73 is slidably fitted to the support shaft 50b. A closed position stopper 74 and an open position stopper 75 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the bearing 73 so as to protrude therefrom, and the intermediate stopper 7 protrudes slightly outward from the outer peripheral surface.
6 are formed. This claw part 77
Has elasticity in the normal direction of the bearing 73. A rotating body 80 is provided in which a pair of donut-shaped members 78 rotatably and slidably fitted to the bearing 50b are connected by an engagement piece 79, and the rotating body 80 is provided with a pair of donut-shaped opposed faces. The bearing 73 is located between the members 79 and attached to the support shaft 50b. Further, one guide plate 50a is fixed to the outer side surface 78a of the donut-shaped member 78 of the rotating body 80,
When the rotating body 80 rotates, the guide plate 5
0a is configured to rotate. When the guide plate 50a closes one side of the paper path 32, the engaging piece 79 is positioned without a gap between the closing position stopper 74 and the intermediate stopper 76 (see FIG. 6A). At the position where the guide plate 50a opens one side of the paper path 32, the engaging piece 79 is positioned without a gap between the open position stopper 75 and the intermediate stopper 76 (see FIG. 6B). Each part is positioned as shown in ()).

Next, the paper holding roller 51 is arranged such that a capstan roller 53 and a pinch roller 54 are opposed to each other via the paper path 32, and the pinch roller 54 is opposed to the capstan roller 53 by a leaf spring 55. It is a pressed structure.

Next, the outer paper guide 52 has a fan shape, and the label paper 35 which is the outer paper held on the paper supply shaft 30 by an arc portion thereof.
Is guided to the paper holding roller 51.

In the paper path frame 48,
The platen 38 is rotatably mounted at a corner adjacent to the corner where the paper holding roller 51 and the like are mounted, and the label peeling plate 34 is mounted. Each part is positioned such that a contact line between the capstan roller 53 and the pinch roller 54 and an outer peripheral surface of the platen 38 are in contact with a plane including an upper surface of the paper path frame 48. The path 33 has been established. Therefore, the upper surface of the straight path 33 is open. In the straight path 33, a transmission type paper sensor 56 is disposed near the downstream side of the paper holding roller 51.

2. Configuration of the Ribbon Path Frame 49 The ribbon path frame 49 includes the ribbon path 43
The ink ribbon 44 is supported at one point on the upstream and downstream sides of the printing position P in
And an upstream ribbon support portion 57 and a downstream ribbon support portion 58 are formed. And the ribbon path 4
A transmission-type ribbon sensor 59 is disposed between the upstream ribbon support portion 57 and the printing position P in FIG. The ribbon sensor 59 includes the ink ribbon 44 when the thermal head 40 is raised.
An upstream ribbon guide 60 that supports and guides is formed. In the vicinity of the downstream ribbon support portion 58, a downstream ribbon guide 61 that supports and guides the ink ribbon 44 together with the downstream ribbon fulcrum 58 when the thermal head 40 is raised is formed. That is, the ink ribbon 44 is supported by the upstream ribbon support portion 57 and the downstream ribbon support portion 58 in the head set state, and is supported by the upstream ribbon support portion 57 and the upstream ribbon guide in the head up state. 60, the downstream ribbon support portion 58, and the downstream ribbon guide 61.
Are positioned so as not to interfere with a straight line connecting the upstream ribbon guide 60 and the downstream ribbon guide 61. Here, FIGS. 1 to 3 show a state where the thermal head 40 is set, and FIG. 7 shows a state where the thermal head 40 is raised.

In such a configuration, the label paper 35 in the paper path 32 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen 38, and in the course of the conveyance of the label paper 35, desired contents such as characters And bar codes are printed. That is, the heating elements 39 arranged in the main scanning direction are selectively driven, and the label paper 35 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, so that the ink of the ink ribbon 44 is transferred to the label 36 and printing is performed. You. At the time of printing, the ink ribbon 44 is wound around the ribbon winding shaft 42 in synchronization with the transport of the label paper 35, and the label paper 35 and the ink ribbon 4
4 pass the print position P at the same speed.

The label paper 35 which has been conveyed to the platen 38 and has passed the printing position P is wound around a mount paper winding shaft (not shown). At this time, since the mount 37 is sharply bent by the label peeling plate 34, the printed label 36 is separated from the mount 37, and the peeled label 36 is issued from the label issuing port.

Here, an operation for setting the label paper 35 in the apparatus will be described. First, the paper width guide 5
At 0, the two guide plates 50a are slid on the support shaft 50b to separate them to the maximum extent. In this state, the guide plate 50a located on the same side as the opened one side of the paper path 32 is rotated to open one side of the paper path 32. This state is shown in FIG. At this time, the engaging piece 79 of the rotating body 80 located between the closed position stopper 74 and the intermediate stopper 76 deflects the claw portion 77 to get over the intermediate stopper 76, and the open position stopper 75 and the intermediate stopper 76 Between the guide plates 50a at this position.
Is positioned. Then, before and after such opening work of the paper path 32, the thermal head 40 is raised, and the contact of the thermal head 40 with the platen 38 at the printing position P is released. This state is shown in FIG.
Therefore, the label paper 35 is attached to the paper supply shaft 30,
The label paper 35 pulled out from the paper supply shaft 30 is inserted into the paper path 32 from the side. Then, only the mount 37 is bent at the label peeling plate 34 so that the mount 37 is wound on a mount winding shaft (not shown). Before or after this, the guide plate 50a is rotated to return to the initial position where one side of the sheet path 32 is closed, and the facing interval between the pair of guide plates 50a is adjusted to the width of the label sheet 35. Thereby, the label paper 35 is set in the apparatus.

In setting such label paper, since the paper path 32 is formed in a straight line at the straight path 33, there is no need to bend the label paper 35 along the paper path 32. Becomes Moreover, since the upper part of the straight path 33 is open,
There is no need to insert the label paper 35 into a narrow space. Therefore, the label paper 35 can be easily inserted into the paper path 32, and the setting operation of the continuous paper can be facilitated.

Here, the paper path 32 is connected to the straight path 3
3 can be formed on a straight line by using a thermal head 40 in which a heating element 39 is arranged at an edge portion E.
This is because they are arranged to be inclined with respect to 3. Also,
The reason that the upper part of the straight path 33 can be opened is that the label paper 35 is guided on a straight line in the straight path 33, and thus the label paper 35 travels on the straight line depending on the strength of its own stiffness. That is, if the label paper 35 is guided along a curved path, the label paper 35 is bent due to the strength of the stiffness,
In particular, in the vicinity including the bent portion, the position of both sides of the label paper 35 must be regulated by a pair of guide plates facing each other. On the other hand, in the straight path 33, if only a member that supports the lower surface of the label paper 35 is provided, the label paper 35 travels on a straight line by the strength of its own stiffness and is guided along the straight path 33. You.

The sheet path opening mechanism includes one guide plate 50a in a direction to open one side of the sheet path 32.
Guide plate 50a such as a structure that bends or slides
Any structure may be used as long as one side of the paper path 32 is opened by the movement of. Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the label paper 35 is used as the recording medium has been described, but the apparatus of the present embodiment is not the label paper 35 regardless of whether it is a continuous paper or a cut sheet. Other common papers can also be used.

[0031]

According to the present invention, there is provided a paper feed unit for holding continuous paper,
A thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged on a line at an edge portion, a platen in contact with the heating element at a printing position, and a side and an upper side from a paper feeding section to a paper discharging section through a printing position are opened. A paper path, a straight path that is a part of the paper path, and is formed linearly upstream and downstream of a predetermined range of the printing position, and a head holding unit that holds the thermal head at an angle that does not interfere with the straight path. , A sheet width guide disposed at a position upstream of the printing position to close both sides of the sheet path and facing each other with a predetermined width, and a sheet width guide positioned on the same side as the open side of the sheet path And a paper path opening mechanism that opens the side of the paper path by moving the paper path, so that one side of the paper path is opened by moving one paper width guide by the paper path opening mechanism, and Retention The continuous paper can be set by inserting the continuous paper from one side of the open paper path. At this time, the paper path is formed as a straight path in a straight line at the upstream and downstream of the printing position. This eliminates the need for operations such as bending the continuous paper along the paper path, and the inconvenience of having to insert the continuous paper into a narrow space because the upper part of the paper path is open. Therefore, there is an effect that the continuous paper can be easily inserted into the paper path and the setting operation of the continuous paper can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a paper path from a paper supply unit to a label peeling plate via a printing position and a printing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a printing unit.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a printing unit in a state where a paper path is opened.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bearing which is a part of the paper path opening mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotating body that is a part of the paper path opening mechanism.

6A is a vertical side view of a paper path opening mechanism showing a state in which a guide plate is positioned at a position to close a paper path, and FIG. 6B is a state showing a state in which the guide plate is positioned at a position to open a paper path. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing, in an enlarged manner, a printing unit in a state where the thermal head is headed up.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an arrangement state of a thermal head with respect to a platen.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a paper path from a paper supply unit to a label peeling plate via a printing position and a printing unit, showing an example of the related art.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing an arrangement state of a thermal head with respect to a platen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 30 paper feed section 32 paper path 33 straight path 35 continuous paper 38 platen 39 heating element 40 thermal head 47 head holding section 50 paper width guide 70 paper path opening mechanism E edge portion P printing position

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-178469 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Application Sho 62-162046 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2 / 32 B41J 15/04 B65C 1/00-11/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A feeder for holding continuous paper; a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged on a line at an edge portion; a platen in contact with the heating element at a printing position; A paper path that is open on the sides and the upper part of the paper path through the printing position and a straight path that is a part of the paper path and that is formed linearly upstream and downstream of a predetermined range of the printing position; A head holding unit that holds the thermal head by inclining at an angle that does not interfere with the straight path, and a sheet width that is disposed at a position upstream of the printing position and closes both sides of the sheet path and opposes with a predetermined width. A line having a guide and a paper path opening mechanism for opening the side of the paper path by moving the paper width guide located on the same side as the opened side of the paper path. Thermal printer.