JP4211618B2 - Label peeling mechanism and label printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a label peeling mechanism that peels a label from the mount by conveying the mount attached in a peelable state with the label bent to 90 degrees or less. The present invention also relates to a label printer equipped with a label peeling mechanism for peeling a printed label from a mount.

As a label printer for creating a label, a board on which a certain length of a label is detachably attached to the surface of a long board is conveyed via a printing position to print on the label. After that, there is known a configuration in which the label after the production is peeled off from the mount by a label peeling mechanism, and the mount and the label are discharged through separate paths. In general, as a label peeling mechanism, a label with a label attached is conveyed in a bent state of 90 degrees or less, and the label is peeled from the mount using the strength (out-of-plane rigidity) of the label. What peels is used. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printer including a label peeling mechanism having this configuration.
Japanese Patent No. 2992363

  The label peeling mechanism having this configuration is provided with a mount bending guide for bending the mount to 90 degrees or less, and the mount is conveyed along the bent surface of the guide. When the mount is bent so as to have a smaller radius of curvature, the label can be more reliably peeled from the mount. However, even if the curvature radius of the bent surface of the guide for bending the mount is reduced, the mount is transported in a state of being lifted from the bent surface due to the strength of the back of the mount. It is difficult to bend along. Moreover, in order to bend the mount so that it follows a bending surface with a small radius of curvature, it is necessary to convey the mounting with a large tensile force and press it against the bending surface, but there is an upper limit to the pulling force of the mount. For this reason, conventionally, there is a problem that the mount cannot be bent with a small radius of curvature, and the label peeling operation cannot be performed stably. For example, when the adhesive strength of the label is large, or when the environmental humidity is high and the label is weak, the label may not be reliably peeled off from the mount.

  In addition, in order to surely peel the label from the mount, it is necessary to reliably peel the leading end of the label from the mount and to continue the peeling operation of the label that has started to peel off. For example, if the adhesive strength of the label is large or if the label is weak, the label with the tip peeled off at the bent surface will remain attached to the mount while only the tip is peeled off. There is a risk of being transported in the direction. When such a situation occurs, the adhesive surface of the label that has been peeled and exposed adheres to the components constituting the mount discharge path and causes a problem such as a paper jam occurring there. Therefore, in order to reliably perform the label peeling operation, it is necessary to reliably continue the label peeling operation in which the leading edge starts to peel off on the bent surface without interruption.

  In view of these points, the present invention has an object to provide a label peeling mechanism that can be bent to 90 degrees or less with a small radius of curvature, and the label peeling mechanism. It is to propose a label printer provided.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a label peeling mechanism capable of continuing the peeling operation of the label whose tip has started to peel without interruption until the end in order to reliably peel the label from the mount, and the label peeling mechanism. Is to propose a new label printer.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the label peeling mechanism of the present invention is: a convex bending for bending a long mount with a fixed length of label attached to the surface to 90 ° or less on the back side A mount bending guide having a surface; an upstream mount pressing guide facing an upstream guide surface portion of the mount bending guide in the mount conveying direction with respect to the bent surface of the mount bending guide; and bending the mount toward the back side The board holder is arranged on the upstream side of the upstream board holding guide with respect to the upstream board holding guide.
Further, the downstream mount retainer has a guide than the curved surface of the backing sheet bending guide is facing the downstream side of the guide surface portions of the backing sheet conveying direction; said mount includes a guide surface portion of the upstream After passing between the upstream mount pressing guides and being bent to 90 degrees or less along the bent surface, it is conveyed through the downstream guide surface portion and the downstream mount pressing guide, and the mount is The label is peeled from the mount while being conveyed along the bent surface in a bent state.

  The label peeling mechanism of the present invention has an upstream mount pressing guide and a downstream mount pressing guide for holding the mount so as not to swell in a direction away from the bent surface on both sides of the convex bent surface. Therefore, the mount can be conveyed in a state of being bent with a small curvature along a bent surface formed of a convex curved surface having a small radius of curvature. As a result, the label is reliably peeled from the mount while being conveyed along the bent surface.

  Here, in order to bend the mount along the bent surface having a small radius of curvature, the guide surface of the upstream mount pressing guide is moved from the upstream end of the bent surface in the mount transport direction in the mount transport direction. A predetermined length protrudes toward the downstream side, and similarly, the guide surface of the downstream board pressing guide also extends from the downstream end of the bent surface in the board conveyance direction toward the upstream side in the board conveyance direction. It is desirable to make it protrude for a predetermined length.

  Further, it is desirable that a mount presser for bending the mount in a direction opposite to the bending direction by the bent surface is disposed at a position upstream of the upstream mount pressing guide in the mount conveying direction. If it does in this way, it will be conveyed in the direction curved in the direction in which the base_sheet | mounting_paper part upstream from a bending surface is pressed on a bending surface, ie, a back surface side. Therefore, since the mount can be conveyed along the bent surface, it is easy to bend the mount so as to have a small radius of curvature along the bent surface.

  Next, the label peeling mechanism of the present invention has, in addition to the above configuration, a label feeding roller that feeds the label peeled off from the mount in a direction different from the mount conveying direction, and the label feeding roller is connected to the bent surface. It is characterized in that it is arranged at a position near the downstream side in the board conveying direction. The leading edge of the label that has started to peel off from the mount is fed in a direction different from that of the mount by the label feed roller, and the label peeling operation is continued without interruption, so that the label can be completely peeled off from the mount. Further, unlike the guide member fixedly arranged, the label does not stick to the label delivery roller and does not stop there.

  Here, the label feeding roller may be rotated by a driving force from a driving source such as a motor. However, the label feeding roller may be a roller that rotates with the label fed while being peeled from the mount. That is, the roller may be arranged in a rotatable state so as to come into contact with the fed label.

  Instead, if a roller that rotates with the board to be conveyed is arranged and the label feeding roller is driven to rotate in the label feeding direction by this roller, the label feeding roller can be rotated by the carrying force of the board. .

  Next, the label peeling mechanism of the present invention is as follows: a board bending provided with a convex bending surface for bending a long board with a fixed length label attached to the surface to the back surface side at 90 degrees or less A guide for feeding; a label feeding roller for feeding the label peeled off from the mount while the mount is transported in a bent state along the bent surface, and for feeding the label in a direction different from the mount transport direction. The label feeding roller is arranged in the vicinity of the bent surface in the vicinity of the downstream side in the board conveying direction.

  Here, the label feeding roller can be a roller that rotates with the label fed while being peeled from the mount. Instead of this, a roller that rotates with the board to be conveyed may be provided, and the label delivery roller may be driven to rotate in the direction in which the label is delivered by this roller.

  On the other hand, the label printer of the present invention includes: a label peeling mechanism having the above configuration; a print head that prints on the label; and a print position by the print head and a label peel position by the label peeling mechanism. A transport mechanism for transporting the long mount on which the label is affixed; a mount discharge port for discharging the mount after the label is peeled; and discharging the label after being peeled from the mount And a label issuance port.

  Here, when the print head is a thermal head, the transport mechanism includes a platen roller pressed against the thermal head.

  In the label peeling mechanism of the present invention, on both sides of the mount bending guide provided with a bent surface for bending the mount on which the label is attached to 90 degrees or less, the guide is not separated from the guide surface of the mount bending guide. Further, an upstream mount pressing guide and a downstream mount pressing guide for pressing the mount are arranged. Therefore, even if the curvature radius of the bending surface is reduced, the mount can be prevented from being conveyed in a state of being lifted from the bending surface, so that the mount can be reliably bent with a small curvature radius along the bending surface. Therefore, when the adhesive strength of the label is strong, the label can be reliably peeled from the mount even when the label is weak.

  In particular, the guide surface of the upstream mount pressing guide extends from the upstream end of the bent surface of the mount bending guide to the downstream side, and the guide surface of the downstream mount pressing guide extends from the downstream end of the bent surface to the upstream side. When extended, the mount can be reliably bent so as to have a shape along the bent surface, so that the label can be reliably peeled from the mount. In addition, when a mount presser for bending the mount opposite to the bending direction of the bent surface is arranged at a position upstream of the bent surface, the mount can be transported along the bent surface. It can be bent into a shape along the bending surface.

  Next, in the label peeling mechanism of the present invention, the leading edge of the label that has started to peel off from the mount is fed in a direction different from that of the mount by a label feed roller disposed at a position near the downstream side of the bent surface. Therefore, since the label peeling operation is continuously performed without interruption, it is possible to surely prevent the adverse effects such as the paper being transported while being attached to the mount and the occurrence of paper jam.

  On the other hand, in the label printer of the present invention, the label created by the label peeling mechanism can be reliably and completely peeled off from the mount and issued. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adverse effects such as the occurrence of a paper jam inside the label without peeling off from the mount.

  An example of a label printer equipped with a label peeling mechanism to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a label printer, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration thereof, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing a label peeling mechanism. The label printer 1 of this example includes a printer case 2 having a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and a label issuing port 3 is formed on the upper side of the front surface portion 2a, and a mount discharge port 4 is formed on the lower side. ing. Inside the printer case 2, a roll paper loading unit 5 is formed in the lower half portion thereof. The roll paper loading unit 5 is loaded with roll paper 6 for label production. The roll paper 6 for producing a label has a configuration in which a long mount 8 having a certain width and having rectangular labels 7 attached to the surface thereof at regular intervals are wound in a roll shape.

  The label mount 8 fed from the roll paper 6 loaded in the roll paper loading unit 5 is guided between the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 13 through the conveyance path 11. The platen roller 13 is pressed against the printing surface of the thermal head 12 and defines the printing position of the thermal head 12. After printing is performed on the label 7 affixed to the surface 8 a of the mount 8 by the thermal head 12, the mount 8 drawn out between these is bent as a whole at a sharp angle 21. It is conveyed via the label peeling mechanism 20 provided with. By the label peeling mechanism 20, the printed label 7 attached to the surface 8 a of the mount 8 is peeled from the mount 8 and issued from the label issuing port 3.

  On the other hand, the mount 8 after the label 7 is peeled is transported along a transport path bent at an acute angle by the mount bending guide 21. A peeler roller 22, which is a component of the label peeling mechanism 20, is pressed against the outer peripheral surface portion of the platen roller 13 at a position on the outer peripheral side of the platen roller 13 opposite to the thermal head 12. The mount 8 bent at an acute angle by the mount bending guide 21 is guided to the front side of the printer along the outer peripheral surface of the peeler roller 22 from between the platen roller 13 and the peeler roller 22, and from the mount discharge port 4 to the printer. It is discharged forward.

(Label peeling mechanism)
A label peeling mechanism 20 that peels the printed label 7 from the mount 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. The mount bending guide 21 of the label peeling mechanism 20 has a bent surface 21a having a small radius of curvature formed of a convex arc surface at the tip portion, and an upstream end 21b of the bent surface 21a in the mount conveying direction is The flat upstream guide surface portion 21c is smoothly continuous. Similarly, the flat downstream guide surface portion 21e smoothly continues to the downstream end 21d of the bent surface 21a in the board transport direction.

  The guide surface 23a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23 is opposed to the upstream guide surface portion 21c at a predetermined interval. The downstream guide surface portion 21e is also opposed to the guide surface 24a of the downstream mount pressing guide 24 at a predetermined interval. The distance between the upstream guide surface portion 21 c and the guide surface 23 a of the upstream mount guide 23 is slightly larger than the total thickness of the mount 8 and the label 7. Further, the guide surface 23 a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23 protrudes by a predetermined length from the upstream end 21 b of the bent surface 21 a of the mount bending guide 21 to the downstream side in the mount conveying direction. That is, it extends downstream from the line segment L1 connecting the center 25 of the curved surface defining the bent surface 21a and the end 21b. The guide surface 24a of the other downstream mount pressing guide 24 protrudes by a predetermined length upstream from the downstream end 21d of the bent surface 21a in the mount transport direction. That is, it extends upstream from the line segment L2 connecting the center 25 and the end 21d.

  Further, at the position upstream of the upstream mount pressing guide 23 in the mount transport direction, a mount press 26 for curving the mount 8 conveyed toward the bent surface 21a so as to be convex toward the back side thereof. Has been placed. In other words, the mount retainer 26 has the convex arc-shaped retainer surface 26a on the upstream mount retainer guide 23 so that the mount 8 can be slightly curved in a direction opposite to the bending direction of the mount 8 by the bent surface 21a. Slightly protrudes toward the upstream guide surface portion 21c from the guide surface 23a. Accordingly, the mount 8 is guided to the bent surface 21a of the mount bending guide 21 through a state where the mount 8 is slightly bent to the back side by the mount holder 26, and is bent at an acute angle along the bent surface 21a.

  Next, in the vicinity of the downstream side of the bent surface 21a of the mount bending guide 21, a label feed roller 27 is disposed in a rotatable state. The label feed roller 27 is disposed so that the upper portion of the outer peripheral surface thereof is substantially positioned on the extended surface of the guide surface 23 a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23. A label guide roller 28 is rotatably disposed at a position adjacent to the label issuing port 3 in the label delivery roller 27. The label guide roller 28 is substantially at the same height as the label feed roller 27. Here, on the downstream side of the downstream mount pressing guide 24, the power transmission roller 29 is disposed in a rotatable state in a state of facing the downstream guide surface portion 21e of the mount bending guide 21. When the mount 8 is transported through these spaces, the power transmission roller 29 is in a state of being rotated with the mount 8. The power transmission roller 29 is connected to the label delivery roller 27 via a power transmission mechanism such as a gear train (not shown), and is driven to rotate in a direction in which the label delivery roller 27 sends the label 7 toward the label issuing port 3. It has come to be.

  Here, in the label printer 1 of this example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an opening / closing part 30 that can be opened forward of the printer around the upper position of the mount discharge port 4 is provided. A peeler roller 22, a label feed roller 26, a label guide roller 28, and a power transmission roller 29 of the label peeling mechanism 20 are attached to the opening / closing unit 30. Further, a downstream mount pressing guide 24 is attached. Therefore, when the opening / closing part 30 is opened, the mount discharge path from the mount bending guide 21 to the mount discharge port 4 is opened. Therefore, with the opening / closing portion 30 opened, the leading end portion of the mount 8 may be pulled out to the mount discharge port 4 on the lower side of the opening / closing portion 30 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the opening / closing portion 30 may be closed in this state.

(Label peeling operation)
The peeling operation of the label 7 by the label peeling mechanism 20 having this configuration is described. While the mount 8 with the label 7 attached to the surface is conveyed between the thermal head 12 and the platen roller 13, predetermined information is printed on the surface of the blank label 7 to create a label. . The mount 8 that has passed between these passes through the space between the upstream guide surface portion 21c of the mount bending guide 21 and the mount retainer 26, and passes through the state where the mount 8 is slightly curved toward the back side of the mount. Then, it is conveyed toward the bent surface 21a. Since it is bent to the back side by the mount holder 26, the mount 8 to which the label 7 is attached is conveyed along the upstream guide surface portion 21c without lifting from the upstream guide surface portion 21c of the mount bending guide 21. Is done.

  An upstream mount pressing guide 23 is disposed on the downstream side of the mount retainer 26, and the gap between the guide surface 23 a and the upstream guide surface portion 21 c is slightly larger than the total thickness of the mount 8 and the label 7. It is a narrow gap. Further, the guide surface 23a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23 is in a state of overlapping the upstream portion of the bent surface 21a. Therefore, the mount 8 to which the label 7 is attached is conveyed to the bent surface 21a along the guide surface 23a without being lifted from the guide surface 23a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23.

  The bent surface 21a is a convex arc surface having a small radius of curvature, and the mount 8 is conveyed in a state of being bent at an acute angle along the bent surface 21a. As a result, the label 7 is sent out in the same direction as before, with the leading end peeled off from the mount 8 due to the strength of its own waist. The mount 8 is guided along the bent surface 21a between the downstream guide surface portion 21e and the guide surface 24a of the downstream mount pressure guide 24 facing the downstream guide surface portion 21e. It passes between the power transmission roller 29, passes between the platen roller 13 and the peeler roller 22, and is discharged from the mount discharge port 4.

  Here, since the guide surface 24a of the downstream mount pressing guide 24 is disposed so as to overlap the bent surface 21a, the mount 8 after being bent along the bent surface 21a is lifted from the bent surface 21a. There is nothing. Therefore, since the mount 8 is bent along the bent surface 21 a so as to have a small radius of curvature, the label 7 is reliably peeled from the mount 8.

  On the other hand, a label delivery roller 27 is disposed on the delivery side of the label 7 that has started to peel off from the mount 8 on the bent surface 21a. The label delivery roller 27 is rotationally driven in the label delivery direction by a power transmission roller 29 that rotates with the board 8 to be conveyed. Therefore, when the leading end portion of the label 7 that has started to peel off from the mount 8 is placed on the label feed roller 27, the label 7 is sent by the label feed roller 27 in the direction of the label issuing port 3, which is a direction different from the mount 8. Therefore, the label 7 whose tip portion has begun to be peeled off by the bent surface 21 a is continued as it is without being interrupted, and is guided to the label issuing port 3 by the label guide roller 28 that rotates with the label 7.

  As described above, in the label peeling mechanism 20 of the label printer 1 of the present example, the both sides of the mount bending guide 21 provided with the bent surface 21a for bending the mount 8 on which the label 7 is attached to an acute angle. The upstream mount pressing guide 23 and the downstream mount pressing guide 24 for pressing the mount 8 are arranged so as not to leave the mount bending guide 21. Therefore, even if the curvature radius of the bending surface 21a is made small, it is possible to prevent the mount 8 from being conveyed in a state of being lifted from the bending surface 21a, so that the mount 8 is reliably bent along the bending surface 21a with a small curvature radius. Can be made. Therefore, when the adhesive strength of the label 7 is strong, the label 7 can be reliably peeled from the mount 8 even when the label 7 is weak.

  In particular, in this example, the guide surface 23a of the upstream mount pressing guide 23 and the guide surface 24a of the downstream mount pressing guide 24 are arranged so as to overlap the bent surface 21a of the mount bending guide 21. Therefore, the mount 8 can be reliably bent so as to have a shape along the bent surface 21a. Further, since the mount holder 25 for bending the mount 8 opposite to the bending direction of the bent surface 21a is arranged at a position upstream of the bent surface 21a, the mount 8 can be brought into close contact with the bent surface 21a. It is easy to bend the mount 8 into a shape along the bending surface 21a.

  Furthermore, the leading end portion of the label 7 that has started to peel off from the mount 8 is forcibly sent in a direction of peeling from the mount 8 by the label feed roller 27 arranged in the vicinity of the downstream side of the bent surface 21a. Therefore, since the peeling operation of the label 7 is continuously performed without being interrupted, it is possible to surely prevent a bad effect such as the paper 7 being transported while being attached to the mount 8 to cause a paper jam.

  The label feed roller 27 and the power transmission roller 29 may be omitted, and the label guide roller 29 may be disposed at the position of the label feed roller 27. In this case, the label guide roller 29 is rotated with the fed label 7 to guide the label 7 in the peeling direction. Also by this, the peeling operation | movement of the label 7 can be performed reliably. Conversely, it is also possible to dispose the label guide roller 28 and the power transmission roller 29 and omit the label guide roller 28. Of course, three or more rollers for feeding the peeled label 7 to the label issuing port 3 may be disposed. Further, as a roller for guiding the label 7, it is desirable to use a roller having an outer peripheral surface as an uneven surface and having a small contact area with the label adhesive surface.

  On the other hand, the label printer 1 of the present example includes a thermal head, but it is needless to say that a different type of print head such as an inkjet head may be included.

1 is an external perspective view of a label printer to which the present invention is applied. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the label printer of FIG. It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the label peeling mechanism of the label printer of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the state which opened the opening-and-closing part of the label printer of FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the label printer of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label printer, 2 Printer case, 2a Front part, 3 Label issuing port, 4 Mount discharge port, 5 Roll paper loading part, 6 Roll paper, 7 Label, 8 Mount, 11 Transport path, 12 Thermal head, 13 Platen roller, 20 Label peeling mechanism, 21 backing guide for bending, 21a bent surface, 21b upstream end of bent surface, 21c upstream guide surface portion, 21d downstream end of bent surface, 21e downstream guide surface portion, 22 peeler roller , 23 Upstream mount pressing guide, 23a guide surface, 24 Downstream mount pressing guide, 24a guide surface, 26 mount pressing, 26a pressing surface, 27 Label feed roller, 28 Label guide roller, 29 Power transmission roller, 30 Opening / closing section

Claims (8)

A mount bending guide having a convex bent surface for bending a long mount with a label attached to the front surface to 90 ° or less on the back side;
An upstream mount holding guide facing the guide surface portion on the upstream side of the mount conveying direction with respect to the bent surface of the mount bending guide;
A mount retainer that curves the mount to the back side;
The mount presser is a label peeling mechanism that is arranged on the upstream side in the mount transport direction with respect to the upstream mount presser guide.   In claim 1,
  A downstream mount pressing guide facing the downstream guide surface portion in the mount transport direction with respect to the bent surface of the mount bending guide,
  The mount passes between the upstream guide surface portion and the upstream mount pressing guide, and is bent to 90 degrees or less along the bent surface, and then the downstream guide surface portion and the downstream mount. Conveyed through the holding guides,
  A label peeling mechanism that peels off the label from the mount while the mount is conveyed in a bent state along the bent surface. In claim 2 ,
The guide surface of the upstream mount pressing guide projects a predetermined length from the upstream end of the bent surface in the mount transport direction toward the downstream side of the mount transport direction,
A label peeling mechanism in which a guide surface of the downstream mount pressing guide projects a predetermined length from an end of the bent surface on the downstream side in the mount transport direction toward the upstream side in the mount transport direction. In any one of claims 1 to 3,
A label feed roller for feeding the label peeled from the mount in a direction different from the mount transport direction;
This label feeding roller is a label peeling mechanism arranged at a position near the downstream side of the bent surface in the board conveying direction. In claim 4,
The label peeling mechanism, wherein the label feeding roller is a roller that rotates with the label fed while being peeled from the mount. In claim 4,
A roller that rotates with the board to be conveyed;
A label peeling mechanism in which the label feeding roller is rotationally driven by the roller in a direction of feeding the label. A label peeling mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A print head for printing on the label;
A transport mechanism for transporting the long mount on which the label is affixed by sequentially passing through a print position by the print head and a label peel position by the label peel mechanism;
A mount outlet for discharging the mount after the label is peeled;
A label printer having a label issuing port for discharging the label after peeling from the mount. In claim 7 ,
The print head is a thermal head;
The label printer includes a platen roller pressed against the thermal head.

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