JP3314919B2 - Sheet dust removal mechanism in cutout character / image creation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutout character / image forming apparatus having a printer head for printing on a sheet and a cutout head for cutting out a printed portion, and a dust removing mechanism for removing dust attached to a printing sheet. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, as a cut-out character / image creating apparatus of this kind, after inputting an arbitrary character or image using a keyboard or an image scanner, pressing a start switch causes the input character or image to be adhered on a release paper by a printer head. It is known to print on a sheet and cut out the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet from the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet by a cutting head (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-76743).

[0003] In the above apparatus, the printer head is provided so as to be able to travel along guide rails arranged in parallel with the axis of the platen, so that the printer head performs printing while traveling. In order to prevent printing failure, a mechanism for removing dust attached to the sheet is provided. This dust removal mechanism, as shown in FIG.
A dust removal pad 41 is provided at one end of the link 40, and dust is removed from the sheet 42 by the dust removal pad 41 and then supplied to the printer head 43.

[0004]

However, in the above-described dust removing mechanism, the dust removing pad 41 must be moved upward when a sheet is replaced, and the upward movement is restricted by the rotation of the link 40. Therefore, work such as replacement was troublesome.

When characters are cut out, a sheet 4
2 is reciprocated in its longitudinal direction, so that when the cut-out portion 42a moves back, it may be caught by the dust removal pad 41, bent, wrinkled or cut.

Further, in particular, in the case of color printing, since the ink ribbons of four colors are used, the reprinting operation is performed four times and the overprinting is performed.
If the sheet does not separate from the sheet 42, the ink immediately after printing will be rubbed. In addition, resistance to movement of the sheet 42 such as rewinding is large.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, can easily perform work such as replacement and mounting of a sheet, and furthermore, a sheet garbage in a cut-out character / image creating apparatus in which a cut-out portion of the sheet is not caught. It is an object to provide a removing mechanism.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a sheet garbage removal mechanism in a cut-out character / image creating apparatus according to the present invention processes a character / image input unit and an input data from the input unit. A data processing unit, a printer head that prints characters or images by moving up and down on a sheet supplied on a platen under the control of an output signal from the data processing unit, and a printer that prints characters or images from the data processing unit. A cutting head that is controlled independently of the head to cut out characters or images from the sheet, supplies a sheet on a platen, and cuts out desired characters or images from the sheet. the dust removing means for removing dust above disposed in the width direction of the upper <br/> Symbol sheet, the dust removing means in one of the dust removing links Ri attached, characterized in that pivotally attached to the pivot link provided the other dust removing links on the side of the apparatus main body.

It is preferable that the rotation link and the dust removal link are provided with a regulating means for regulating a rotation range of the dust removal link with respect to the rotation link.

It is preferable that the vertical movement of the dust removing means with respect to the sheet is linked to the vertical movement of the printer head with respect to the sheet.

[0011]

1 and 2 show a plan view and a vertical sectional view, respectively, of a main part of a cut-out character / image creating apparatus. The apparatus has a built-in word processor unit and an input section mainly composed of a keyboard. (Not shown), a printer head 1 and a cutting head 2, an output part of a word processor unit, a roller type platen 3, and a stepping motor for rotating a sprocket 5 for supplying a long printing sheet 4 are provided. An ink ribbon 8 unwound from a ribbon cassette 6 and a sheet roll 7 and a printing sheet 4 are supplied on the platen 3 in an overlapping state, and the printer head 1 is disposed thereon, and the sheet supply for the sheet is performed. The cutting head 2 is disposed downstream. As shown in the block diagram of FIG.
An input unit, a data processing unit (for example, a CPU) for receiving and processing data from the input unit, a printer control circuit and a cutout control circuit for receiving an output from the data processing unit, and a printer head 1 controlled by the printer control circuit. Head 2 controlled by cutting control
Consisting of When a label is to be created, for example, desired characters and graphics are input from an input unit, and these characters are printed on a sheet 4 by a printer head 1. It is cut out as a label having.

The printer head 1 prints characters and images input to the word processor unit, and has a length substantially equal to the printable width of the printing sheet 4. The printer head 1 employs a thermal transfer method used together with the ink ribbon 8 in the same manner as the normal printer head 1, but may employ another printing method such as an ink jet method.

As shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the printer head 1 are provided with a head support plate 9 bent in a U-shape.
Is fixed to the inside of the head portion 10 at the tip of the head. A tension roller 11 and a peeling roller 12 are also attached to the head unit 10. The engaging plate 1 is located above the head supporting plate 9.
The eccentric cam 15 is engaged with the lower surface of the engagement plate 14. The head support plate 9 is constantly urged downward by a spring (not shown), and a printing pressure is generated by this spring force. The rotation of the eccentric cam 15 causes the engagement plate 14 to rotate.
At the same time, the head support plate 9 moves up and down, whereby the printer head 1 also moves up and down with respect to the platen 3, and when the printer head 1 moves down, the ink on the ink ribbon 8 is transferred onto the sheet 4 and printed.

The printing sheet 4 is unwound from the roll, passes over the platen 3 and engages with a sprocket 5 disposed downstream thereof, and the sheet 4 is guided to a cutting section where scissors 13 are disposed. The release paper superposed on the lower surface of the sheet 4 is configured to be wound around a winding shaft (not shown).

The sprocket 5 includes a timing belt 16
(Without backlash) and operatively connected to the motor. The teeth of the sprocket 5 are engaged with feed holes 17 formed along both sides of the printing sheet 4. A pair of pressing rollers 18 are arranged above the sprocket 5 on the upstream side and the downstream side of the sheet 4 so that the teeth of the sprocket 5 and the feed holes 17 are not disengaged when the sheet 4 is fed. .

The ink ribbon 8 is wound around a supply shaft 19 of the ribbon cassette 6, attached to one end of the ink ribbon cassette 6, and wound around a winding shaft 20 attached to the other end of the ink ribbon cassette 6. ing. Then, the ink ribbon 8 unwound from the supply shaft 19 is engaged with the tension roller 11, and further, after overlapping on the sheet 4 on the platen 3, is engaged with the peeling roller 12 constituting the peeling mechanism. It is configured to be wound around the winding shaft 20. Accordingly, the ink ribbon 8 passes between the platen 3 and the printer head 1 and reaches the peeling roller 12 disposed downstream thereof.
Are in a state of overlapping with the sheet 4.

Next, the cutting head 2 is mounted on a flat guide rail 21 extending along the printer head 1 at a position downstream of the printer head 1 in the sheet feeding direction. The cutting head 2 has a nib-shaped cutter that is substantially perpendicular to the peripheral surface of the platen 3. A stepping motor (not shown) is built in one end of the guide rail 21, and the cutting head 2 is moved through the guide rail 21 via a feed mechanism (not shown).
Move along. After the printing of a predetermined number of characters by the printer head 1 is completed, the control of the forward / reverse rotation of the platen 3 and the cutting
It is performed in cooperation with the forward / backward control of the vehicle.

The specific mode of printing and cutting out of the sheet 4 is substantially as described in the aforementioned Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 5-76743, and the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, the cutout character / image creating apparatus is provided with a dust removing mechanism for the sheet 4. That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a dust removing means for removing dust on the sheet 4, which is formed in a roller shape and is attached to one of a pair of U-shaped dust removing links 23. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the other of the dust removal links 23 is a rotation link 27 rotatably supported by support shafts 26 on both sides of the apparatus main body 25 together with a release lever 24.
Are pivotally mounted on a shaft 28 provided at The dust removing means 22 is arranged to move up and down on the sheet 4, and is urged downward by a spring (not shown).

An elongated hole 29 is formed at the end of the rotating link 27 as shown in FIG. 4, and a pin 30 provided at the other end of the dust removing link 23 is engaged with the elongated hole 29. As a result, the dust removal link 23 can rotate about the shaft 28 with respect to the rotation link 27, but can rotate only within a range in which the pin 30 can move in the elongated hole 29.
The pin 9 and the pin 30 constitute restricting means for restricting the rotation range of the dust removal link 23 with respect to the rotation link 27.

Further, a sheet presence / absence detection sensor 31 for detecting the presence / absence of the sheet 4 is disposed near the dust removing means 22 as shown in FIG. The sheet presence / absence detection sensor 31 is disposed below the sheet 4 and is pressed against the lower surface of the sheet 4.
2 is configured to rotate upward to detect the absence of the sheet 4 and output a signal.

According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, by rotating the rotation link 27 upward about the support shaft 26 by the release lever 24, the dust removing means 22 also operates upward. The upward operation of the dust removing means 22 is large, and a large space is secured below the dust removing means 22, so that the work of replacing and mounting the sheet 4 can be easily performed.

Further, since the dust removing means 22 is formed in a roller shape and rolls on the sheet 4, there is no inconvenience that the cutout portion of the sheet 4 is caught.

Next, the vertical movement of the dust removing means 22 with respect to the sheet 4 is configured to interlock with the vertical movement of the printer head 1 with respect to the sheet 4. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a position link 34 is pivotally attached to a support shaft 33 provided on both sides of the apparatus main body 25 near the dust removing means 22, and the position link 34 is engaged with a lower surface of the dust removing means 22. A matable pin 35 is fixed. The position link 34 is a spring (not shown).
The pin 30 is urged upward by a constant force, and is pressed so that the pin 30 is engaged with the dust removing means 22. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the engagement groove 36 of the head support plate 9, a protrusion 37 engageable with the distal end receiving portion 38 of the position link 34 is provided.
Are formed.

In the above configuration, the sheet 4 is cut off by the cutting head 2 at the time of rewinding operation for overprinting, when the printer head 1 completes one printing operation and shifts to the next printing operation, or after printing. At the time of cutting or the like, the head support plate 9 moves upward as shown in FIG. 7 and the printer head 1 separates from the sheet 4, so that the position link 34 also rotates upward by spring force, and the pin 3
5 goes up. Accordingly, the dust removing means 22 also moves upward and separates from the sheet 4. Thus, the printer head 1
Since the dust removing means 22 separates from the sheet 4 at the same time, the resistance to the sheet 4 is reduced, and the sheet 4 can be reliably and quickly fed by a predetermined moving amount, and the printing surface is stained by the dust removing means 22. There is no. Next, when printing on the sheet 4, the projection 37 of the head support plate 9 pushes down the distal end receiving portion 38 of the position link 34 when the head support plate 9 moves down and the printer head 1 contacts the sheet 4. Therefore, the position link 34 also pivots downward, and the pin 35 also descends. Along with this, the dust removing means 22 also moves down and comes into contact with the sheet 4 to remove dust attached to the sheet 4. As described above, when the printer head 1 performs a printing operation, dust on the sheet 4 is removed, so that good printing can always be performed.

As described above, the dust removing means 22 moves upward together with the printer head 1 and separates from the sheet 4 during printing. At this time, the refuse removal link 23
Since the pin 30 can be rotated only within a range in which the pin 30 can move in the elongated hole 29 by the restricting means, the dust removing means 22 can only move slightly above the sheet 4. When the dust removing link 23 of the sheet 4 rotates largely, the dust removing means 22 separates from the sheet 4 and the sheet 4 loses the pressing force of the spring of the dust removing means 22 and rises greatly. Although the operation of the dust removal means 22 is restricted, the lifting of the sheet 4 is suppressed by restricting the operation of the dust removing means 22, so that the malfunction of the sheet presence / absence detection sensor 31 (see FIG. 2) can be effectively prevented. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a cutout character / image creation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cut-out character / image creating apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electric circuit of the cutout character / image creating apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part showing a vertical operation mechanism of a printer head and dust removing means.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part of the dust removal mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a rotation mode of a rotation link in the dust removal mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an interlocking mode of the printer head and the dust removing mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a conventional dust removal mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer head 2 Cutout head 3 Platen 4 Sheet 22 Dust removal means 23 Dust removal link 27 Rotation link

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page (72) Inventor Tomoaki Saito 6-6, Hakozakicho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Inside Max Co., Ltd. (56) References Shokai 60-154150 (JP, U) Shohei Hei5 -76743 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 29/17

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A character and image input section, a data processing section for processing input data from the input section, and a vertical movement of a sheet supplied on a platen controlled by an output signal from the data processing section. A printer head that prints characters or images, and a cutting head that cuts out characters or images from the sheet by being controlled independently of the printer head by an output signal from a data processing unit, and supplies a sheet onto a platen. in the cutout character-image creating apparatus to crop the desired character or image from the sheet, a dust removing means for removing dust on the sheets arranged in the width direction of the upper Symbol sheet, the dust removing means of dust removal link Character cutout / image creation characterized in that the dust removal link is attached to one side and the other side of the dust removal link is pivotally connected to a rotating link provided on the side of the apparatus main body. Dust removal mechanism of the sheet in the location. 2. The rotation link and the dust removal link include:
2. The dust removing mechanism for a sheet in a cut-out character / image creating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a regulating means for regulating a rotation range of the dust removing link with respect to the rotating link. 3. A sheet dust removing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the vertical movement of said dust removing means with respect to said sheet is linked with the vertical movement of said printer head with respect to said sheet.