JP3046488B2 - Barcode 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 bar code printer for printing a bar code on a label or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, an example of a bar code printer is shown in FIG.
9 will be sequentially described below. Note that the directions such as front and rear, up and down, and the like are defined for the sake of convenience in order to simplify the description, and do not limit the directions in which the actual apparatus is installed or used.

First, in a label printer 1 which is a bar code printer, as shown in FIG. 3, a printing unit 3 is provided in the front of a main body housing 2 and a sheet supply unit 4 is provided in the rear. The sheet supply unit 4 is configured to rotatably support a label sheet 5 and a tag sheet (not shown) wound in a roll shape.
The printing unit 3 for performing image printing on the label sheet 5 has a structure in which a line head 7 supported by a swingable bracket 6 is pressed and held on a platen roller 8 so as to be able to freely contact and separate. A label peeling member 11 for peeling the label 9 of the label sheet 5 from the sheet 10 is provided in front of the printing unit 3 having a simple structure.

Here, the main body housing 2 has a structure in which an opening / closing cover 13 and a mechanical cover 14 are arranged side by side on a main body base 12, and the opening / closing cover 13 is pivotally supported at a rear edge so as to be openable and closable. Printing unit 3 and sheet supply unit 4
And covers. At the front of the opening / closing cover 13, an outlet 15 for the label 9 and an outlet 16 for the sheet 10 separated by the label peeling member 11 are formed. A sheet conveying unit 17 for discharging the sheet 10 to the outside is formed by a guide roller 18 and the like abutting the platen roller 8 from below.

Here, the printing unit 3 has a structure in which the line head 7, the platen roller 8, and the sensor unit 20 are integrated into a main frame 19, and the sensor unit 20 has an open lower surface. It is formed in a flat rectangular tube. The sensor unit 20 includes a pair of reflective photosensors for detecting the black mark on the tag sheet from the upper surface and the lower surface, and the label sheet 5.
(Not shown) in combination with a transmission type photosensor for detecting the label 9.

A pair of support arms 24 erected on the upper surface of the main body base 12 are located in the sheet supply section 4, and bosses 25 abutting on the inner side surfaces of these support arms 24. Thus, the label sheet 5 wound in a roll shape is rotatably supported.

The drive mechanism 26 of the platen roller 8 covered by the mechanical cover 14 has a pair of gear frames 27 and 28 opposed to each other as shown in FIGS. The gear box 29 is integrally formed to form the gear box 29.
The driven gear 30, the transmission gear 31, and the drive gear 32 are located between the 9 gear frames 27 and 28. More specifically, the driven gear 30 is directly connected to the support shaft 33 of the platen roller 8 that penetrates a passive shaft hole (not shown) of the gear frame 28, and engages with the transmission gear 31. I have. The transmission gear 31 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 34 mounted between the gear frames 27 and 28. The drive gear 3 engaged with the transmission gear 31
Reference numeral 2 is attached to a drive shaft 37 of a stepping motor 36 which passes through a drive shaft hole 35 of the gear frame 27.

In this drive mechanism 26, the stepping motor 36 has two triangular flanges 39 integrally protruding from the outer peripheral portion of the front surface of a cylindrical main body 38, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, an arc-shaped support portion 40 that rotatably supports the main body 38 of the stepping motor 36 and a holder that forms a concave portion in which the flange portion 39 of the stepping motor 36 is detachably engaged. A part 41 is formed integrally with the rear surface of the gear frame 27.

In the drive mechanism 26, as shown in FIG. 7, the stepping motor 36 is driven by the engagement of the main body 38 and the flange 39 with the support 40 and the holder 41 as described above. The gear box 29 mounted on the rear surface of the
The flange portion 3 in the holder portion 41
The stepping motor 36 is fixed to the gear box 29 by holding the position 9 on the main body base 12. That is, in the driving mechanism 26, the fixing mechanism 43 for fixing the stepping motor 36 to the rear surface of the gear frame 27 includes the flange 39, the support 40, the holder 41, the main body base 12, the screw 42, and the like. It is formed with.

In this drive mechanism 26, the support shaft 34 has a flange 45 integrally formed at the end thereof.
Support shaft holes 44 formed in the gear frames 27 and 28
Are sequentially inserted. In the drive mechanism 26, a flange 45 formed at the end of the support shaft 34 is provided.
Is in contact with the rear surface of the gear frame 27 and the stepping motor 36 is connected to the gear box 29 as described above.
The support shaft 34 is fixed between the gear frames 27 and 28 by the front surface of the stepping motor 36 abutting on the flange portion 45 which is also a stopper portion.

In such a configuration, the label printer 1 prints a bar code on the label 9 of the label sheet 5 conveyed on the platen roller 8 by the heating scan of the line head 7, and thus prints the bar code on the label 9. The label 9 on which a predetermined image has been printed is issued by bending the sheet 10 on which the code printing has been performed at a sharp angle with the label peeling member 11 so that the first half of the label 9 projects outside. Further, in the label printer 1, the sheet 10 from which the label 9 has been peeled by the label peeling member 11 as described above is transported by the sheet transport unit 17 and discharged to the outside.

By doing so, in the label printer 1, the first half of the label 9 on which the barcode is printed is peeled off from the sheet 10 and protrudes. (Not shown).

Here, such a stepping motor 3
The mounting step 6 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. First,
As illustrated in FIG.
The main body 38 of the stepping motor 36 is connected to the support portion 4 of the gear frame 27 so that the flange portion 39 of the gear frame 27 is located inside the gap between the support portion 40 of the gear frame 27 and the holder portion 41.
0, and in this state, the stepping motor 36
To engage the flange portion 39 with the inside of the holder portion 41.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the gear box 29 in which the stepping motor 36 is detachably mounted is fixed to the main body base 12 with screws 42 so that the inside of the holder portion 41 is formed. Of the stepping motor 36 by holding the flange portion 39 of the
Is fixed to the gear box 29. In this manner, in the drive mechanism 26, the stepping motor 36 can be mounted on the gear box 29 very easily.

[0015]

In the above-described label printer 1, the drive mechanism 26 can be easily assembled and the productivity is good, and a bar code can be printed on the label 9 by parallel printing or serial printing. .

As described above, a method of printing a bar code on the label 9 includes, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, parallel printing in which the transport direction of the label 9 and the direction in which the bars are arranged are orthogonal. As shown in FIG. 3B, there is serial printing in which the direction in which the label 9 is conveyed and the direction in which the bars are continuously arranged are the same. When such barcode printing is performed, the driving force of the stepping motor 36 is applied to the driving gear 3.
2 to the driven gear 30 via the transmission gear 31 to rotate the platen roller 8 together with the driven gear 30 to sequentially convey the labels 9.

Here, in the above-described label printer 1, since the rotation of the stepping motor 36 is stepwise, the movement of the label 9 is also stepwise. Therefore, even in such a stepwise movement, in order to print a barcode on the label 9 well by serial printing, the stepwise movement amount of the label 9 matches the minimum width of the bar at the reduction ratio of each gear 30 to 32. Let me. In other words, even if the thermal head is replaced to change the minimum bar width when printing barcodes in parallel printing, the bar width of serial printing barcodes does not change. The width is different.

Therefore, the label printer 1 as described above
Normally, the reduction ratio is 1: 7 as standard for domestic specifications. For example, when exporting to a foreign country where the minimum width of the bar differs according to the standard, a unit that achieves a reduction ratio of 1: 9.3 Therefore, it is necessary to replace the drive mechanism 26, and the versatility of the parts is reduced, and it is difficult to improve the productivity.

[0019]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a drive gear connected to a stepping motor and a driven gear connected to a platen roller are disposed in a gap between a pair of gear frames. A transmission gear is rotatably supported by a support shaft mounted in a shaft hole formed in the gear frame, and the transmission gear engages the drive gear and the driven gear to form a drive mechanism. In a bar code printer for printing a bar code with a line head on a printing paper sequentially conveyed by the rotating platen roller, an arrangement density of bars is different in at least one replacement of the driving gear, the driven gear, and the transmission gear. In order to realize a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing of a plurality of types of barcodes, a plurality of shaft holes for arranging the transmission gears at appropriate positions are arranged in front. Formed on the gear frame, wherein the step
The ping motor is fixed to one of the gear frames,
The support shaft for supporting the transmission gear has a flange portion.
With the shaft hole of the gear frame inserted,
Wherein the flange portion is fixed to one of the gear frames.
So that it is positioned and held in front of the motor.
Was. According to a second aspect of the invention, the bar code printer according to claim 1, wherein the stepping motor has a shape that two flange portions protruding from the outer peripheral portion of the front surface of the cylindrical body, one of said gear An arc-shaped support portion rotatably supporting the main body and a holder portion forming a concave portion in which the flange portion of the stepping motor is detachably engaged with the frame are formed on the frame. The main body and the flange portion of the stepping motor are engaged with the portion and the holder portion, and are mounted on the gear frame.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the drive gear, the driven gear, and the transmission gear is formed in a plurality of types, and the transmission gear is arranged at an appropriate position corresponding to the plurality of types. Shaft holes are formed in the gear frame,
By selectively using one of the plurality of types of gears and changing the position of the transmission gear, a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing of a plurality of types of bar codes having different bar arrangement densities are realized. The support shaft that supports the transmission gear is geared.
With one of the shaft holes in the frame inserted,
Steppin with flange fixed to one gear frame
Fixed by being positioned and held on the front of the motor.
You. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the main body of the stepping motor is inserted into the support portion of the gear frame such that the flange portion of the stepping motor is located inside the space between the support portion of the gear frame and the holder portion. By rotating the stepping motor to engage the flange with the inside of the holder, the stepping motor is mounted on the gear frame.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Regarding the label printer 46 which is a bar code printer exemplified in the present embodiment, the same portions as those of the label printer 1 described above as a conventional example are given the same names and reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

First, in a label printer 46 which is a bar code printer, a driving mechanism 47 for the platen roller 8 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 2, a first driven gear 48 and a second driven gear 49 for realizing a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing of two types of bar codes having different bar arrangement densities.
Are prepared in advance, and one of the first driven gear 48 and the second driven gear 49 is used as the support shaft 3 of the platen roller 8.
3 is selectively mounted. The first driven gear 48 that realizes two types of reduction ratios as described above.
And the second driven gear 49 have different diameters, so that the support shaft 34 of the transmission gear 31 connected thereto is
The transmission gear 31 is attached to one of the first support shaft hole 50 and the second support shaft hole 51 formed at two places of the transmission gear 31 and the first driven gear 48 whose axis does not move. And the second driven gear 49 and the drive gear 32 are connected well.

It should be noted that the driving mechanism 47 also uses the support shaft 34.
Is integrally formed with a flange portion 45 at the end, and is fixed by a stepping motor 36 in a state of being inserted into support shaft holes 50 and 51 formed in the gear frames 27 and 28.

In such a configuration, in the label printer 46, the parallel printing in which the conveying direction of the label 9 and the bar code bar connecting direction are orthogonal to each other and the label 9 conveying direction and the bar connecting direction of the bar are parallel. The matching serial printing can be executed. In this serial printing, the bar code is printed satisfactorily by matching the stepwise moving amount of the label 9 by the rotation characteristics of the stepping motor 36 with the minimum width of the bar at the reduction ratio of the drive mechanism 47. .

In the label printer 46, a first driven gear 48 having a reduction ratio of 1: 7 is usually standard as a domestic specification or the like. For example, the minimum width of the bar differs depending on the standard. When exporting to a foreign country:
The transmission gear 31 is mounted at the second position by replacing the second driven gear 49 that realizes the reduction ratio of 9.3.

In this manner, in the label printer 46, a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing in which the minimum width of the bar is different can be realized, and only one driven gear 48, 49 needs to be replaced. Therefore, the versatility of the parts is also good, and the change of the position of the transmission gear 31 is merely a change of the support shaft holes 50 and 51 for mounting the support shaft 34, so that the productivity is also good.

In particular, in the label printer 46, even if the driven gears 48 and 49 are exchanged as described above, the transmission gear 31 can be used.
The driving gear 32 is directly connected to the stepping motor 36 and is difficult to move, and the driven gears 48 and 49 are directly connected to the platen roller 8 and are difficult to move.
Since there is no need to move, the gear ratio can be changed with a simple structure.

In addition, as described above, the support shaft holes 50, 51
The support shaft 34 can be easily attached and detached without using any tools. For example, the driven gears 48 and 49 of the label printer 46 that has been assembled can be replaced to change the reduction ratio. It can be easily realized. That is, in the drive mechanism 47, the support shaft 34 that supports the transmission gear 31 as described above is
The distal flange 45 is positioned and held on the front surface of the stepping motor 36 on the rear surface of the gear frame 27 with the support shaft holes 50 and 51 of 7, 28 inserted therethrough, thereby being fixed inside the gear box 29. This fixing is achieved manually without the need for a dedicated tool or the like, so that productivity is good.

Further, in the driving mechanism 47, the support shaft 3 protruding from the front surface of the gear frame 27 as described above is provided.
4 is inserted into the support shaft holes 50 and 51 of the gear frame 28, the position of the support shaft 34 is firmly held, and the transmission gear 31 is rotatably held without the need for a snap ring or the like. ing. Further, in the drive mechanism 47, the stepping motor 36 is mounted on the gear box 29 mounted on the main body base 12 with the screw 42 as described above.
Can be mounted manually without the need for tools, so that productivity is extremely good.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a plurality of types of driven gears 48 and 49 are used in order to realize a plurality of types of reduction ratios. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to use a plurality of types of gears 32 and transmission gears 31. In this case, it is possible to cope only by moving the transmission gear 31.

The directions such as front and rear and up and down in this embodiment are defined for the sake of convenience for simplicity of description, and do not limit the directions of installation and use of the actual apparatus. Absent.

[0032]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above,
A drive gear connected to a stepping motor and a driven gear connected to a platen roller are arranged in a gap between a pair of gear frames, and a transmission gear is rotatably supported by a support shaft mounted in a shaft hole formed in these gear frames. Then, the drive gear and the driven gear are engaged with the transmission gear to form a drive mechanism, and a bar code is printed by a line head on a printing paper that is sequentially conveyed by the platen roller that is rotationally driven by the drive mechanism. In a bar code printer, when at least one replacement of the drive gear, the driven gear, and the transmission gear realizes a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing of a plurality of types of bar codes having different bar arrangement densities. A plurality of shaft holes for arranging the transmission gear at appropriate positions are formed in the gear frame, and the stepping motor has one
Fixed to the gear frame to support the transmission gear
The support shaft has a flange portion and is in front of the gear frame.
With the shaft hole inserted, the flange portion is
Front face of the stepping motor fixed to the frame
Optimal by that to be positioned and held, by securing the linked position change of the transmission gear while selectively utilizing one of a plurality of types of gears, in such as a serial printing minimum width of the bars is different to the Multiple reduction ratios can be realized, and only one gear is replaced, so the versatility of the parts is also good.The position change is a transmission gear that is not mounted on the stepping motor or platen roller, so the movement is It has effects such as easy and good productivity. In addition, the support shaft that supports the transmission gear
With one of the shaft holes of the
Stepping mode with the part fixed to one gear frame
Is fixed by being positioned and held on the front of the
Is achieved manually without the need for specialized tools
The productivity is good. The invention according to claim 2 is
The main body of the stepping motor is inserted into the support portion of the gear frame so that the flange portion of the stepper motor is located inside the space between the support portion of the gear frame and the holder portion. Since the stepping motor is mounted on the gear frame by engaging the portion with the inside of the holder portion, the stepping motor can be manually mounted on the frame without the need for tools, so that productivity is extremely good. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an assembly structure of a main part of a label printer which is an embodiment of a barcode printer according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a relationship among a driving gear, a transmission gear, and a driven gear of a label printer, wherein FIG. 2A is a side view illustrating a state of a standard specification, and FIG. It is a side view which illustrates the state which carried out.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view illustrating the entire structure of a label printer which is a conventional example of a barcode printer.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the entire structure of the label printer.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an assembly structure of a drive mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an assembly structure of a drive mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating a mounting method of a drive motor.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an assembly structure of a main part of the label printer.

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating a relationship among a drive gear, a transmission gear, and a driven gear of the label printer.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a barcode printing method, in which FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram illustrating parallel printing, and FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating serial printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 Line head 8 Platen roller 9 Printing paper 27, 28 Gear frame 32 Drive gear 34 Support shaft 36 Stepping motor 39 Flange section 40 Support section 41 Holder section 45 Flange section 46 Bar code printer 47 Drive mechanism 48, 49 Follower gear 50, 51 Shaft hole

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 19/76 B41J 2/515 B41J 3/01 B41J 15/04

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A drive gear connected to a stepping motor and a driven gear connected to a platen roller are arranged in a gap between a pair of gear frames, and a transmission gear is supported by a support shaft mounted in a shaft hole formed in these gear frames. The drive gear is rotatably supported, the drive gear and the driven gear are engaged with this transmission gear to form a drive mechanism, and a line head is applied to printing paper that is sequentially conveyed by the platen roller that is driven to rotate by this drive mechanism. In a barcode printer for printing barcodes, a plurality of reduction ratios optimal for serial printing of a plurality of types of barcodes having different bar arrangement densities in at least one replacement of the drive gear, the driven gear, and the transmission gear. a plurality of axial hole to place the transmission gear in the proper position to form the gear frame when realizing, the stepper
Motor is fixed to one of the gear frames, and the transmission
The support shaft that supports the first gear has a flange portion and
With the shaft hole of the gear frame inserted through the flange
The stepper having a portion fixed to one of the gear frames
A bar code printer characterized in that the bar code printer is positioned and held on the front surface of a motor . 2. The stepping motor has a shape in which two flanges are protruded from an outer peripheral portion of a front surface of a cylindrical main body, and one of the gear frames supports the main body rotatably. An arc-shaped support portion and a holder portion forming a concave portion in which the flange portion of the stepping motor is detachably engaged are formed, and the stepping motor is formed by the main body and the stepping motor with respect to the support portion and the holder portion. bar code printers according to claim 1, characterized in that it is mounted to the gear frame engagement with the flange portion of the.