JP4223850B2 - Printer head attachment / detachment mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer head attaching / detaching device, and more particularly to a printer head attaching / detaching mechanism in which a print head is detachably attached without using a screw or a dedicated tool.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A print head in a conventional printer is screwed to a print head mounting portion inside the printer body with a mounting screw (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-52147
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the print head is damaged due to wear or disconnection due to long-term use, the damaged print head needs to be replaced. By the way, the conventional printer has a structure in which the mounting screw is loosened and the print head is removed, so that there is a drawback in that the print head replacement work and the new print head positioning adjustment work become complicated.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer head attaching / detaching mechanism capable of easily positioning and attaching a print head.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention according to claim 1 is a head frame having a substantially U-shaped cross section and comprising opposing arm portions on both sides and an intermediate flat plate portion, and a width dimension similar to the flat plate portion. In a printer head attachment / detachment mechanism comprising: a head mounting plate that is formed to be attached to the flat plate portion so that both end portions are sandwiched between the arm portions; and a head body fixed to the head mounting plate. At one end of the mounting plate, a convex portion that engages with an engagement hole formed in the arm portion of the head frame is provided at the center of the side, and the engagement hole of the head frame extends along a bending line with the flat plate portion. One arm portion is formed with a width corresponding to the thickness of the head mounting plate, while the other arm portion of the head frame has a bending line with a flat plate portion at a portion facing the engagement hole. Board stretching along The accommodation hole is formed, it is characterized in that for clamping Align the other end of the flat plate portion and the head mounting plate of the head frame accommodates a clip-shaped leaf spring plate spring accommodating hole.
[0007]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when one end side is pressed against one arm portion so that the convex portion of the head mounting plate is inserted into the engagement hole of the head frame, the edges on both sides of the convex portion are the arm portions. When the other end of the head mounting plate is pressed against the flat plate portion of the head frame in this state, the inner side of the leaf spring receiving hole and the edge of the other end of the head mounting plate Therefore, when this is sandwiched from above and below by a clip-shaped leaf spring, the head mounting plate is fixed at a predetermined position of the head frame. Accordingly, misalignment, mounting inclination, member distortion, etc. are eliminated, and head mounting accuracy is improved. In addition, since a dedicated tool or the like is not used for attaching / detaching the head, attaching / detaching work can be easily and quickly performed.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a printer head attaching / detaching mechanism according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a label printer 10 to which a printer head attaching / detaching mechanism of the present invention is applied. The label printer 10 is a printer that prints and issues predetermined information on a label surface of a label continuous body 12 formed by temporarily attaching labels to a belt-like mount at a constant pitch. The figure shows a state where the head frame 11 is opened and the print head 26 is separated from the platen roller 28.
[0009]
A label roll 14 in which the label continuous body 12 is wound in a roll shape is rotatably supported by a distal end portion of an arm 18 protruding from the rear side surface of the apparatus main body 16.
[0010]
The label continuum 12 drawn out from the label roll 14 is guided by a label guide including an upper guide plate 20 and a lower guide plate 22 and fed to a printing unit 30 including a print head 26 and a platen roller 28. The rotation shaft of the platen roller 28 is connected to the drive shaft 36 of the motor 24 that can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions via the timing belt 32, and the drive shaft 36 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. Then, the rotational force is transmitted to the platen roller 28 via the timing belt 32, and the label continuum 12 is conveyed in the direction of arrow B in FIG.
[0011]
As shown in the figure, the label printer 10 has a head frame 11 that is pivotally supported by an apparatus main body 16 so as to be opened and closed. When the label continuous body 12 is set, when a paper jam occurs, when the print head 26 is replaced, etc. The head frame 11 is opened and closed.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 2, the head frame 11 includes a head frame body 40, a leaf spring 42, and the like. The head frame main body 40 has a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in the figure, and includes a flat plate portion 44 and arm portions 46 and 48 bent at both ends in the width direction of the flat plate portion 44. I have.
[0013]
A plate spring 42 is screwed to the upper surface of the flat plate portion 44 with screws 52 and 52. The plate spring 42 is formed, for example, by bending a plate-shaped spring steel material, and as shown in FIG. 3A, an attachment portion 42a bent into an L shape and continuous therebelow. The cross-section has a clip shape having a claw portion 54 formed in a U-shape and a pressing operation portion 56 protruding from the lower side of the claw portion 54. Here, the short side of the mounting portion 42 a has a length dimension that combines the flat plate portion 44 and the thickness of the head mounting plate 72 described later, and the plate spring 42 having such a configuration is flattened by screws 52. When attached to the portion 44, the attachment portion 42 a comes into contact with the end portion of the flat plate portion 44, the claw portion 54 is positioned below the flat plate portion 44, and the head attachment plate 72 overlaps the lower side of the flat plate portion 44. Is held.
[0014]
In FIG. 2, one arm portion 46 is formed with an engagement hole 60 that engages with a convex portion 78 of a head mounting plate 72 described later. The engagement hole 60 is positioned along a bend line between the arm portion 46 and the flat plate portion 44, and is formed with a width dimension corresponding to the thickness of the head mounting plate 72.
[0015]
The other arm portion 48 is formed with a leaf spring accommodation hole 62 extending along a bending line between the arm portion 48 and the flat plate portion 44 at a portion facing the engagement hole 60. The claw portion 54 of the leaf spring 42 is accommodated in the cutout portion of the leaf spring accommodation hole 62 (see FIGS. 3A and 3B).
[0016]
The print head 26 includes a thermal head 70 and a head mounting plate 72 that fixes the thermal head 70. The thermal head 70 is provided with a large number of heating elements on the printing surface (the lower surface side in FIG. 2). The thermal head 70 is provided with a power supply and print signal connector (not shown), and a wiring connector (not shown) from the apparatus main body 16 is connected to the connector.
[0017]
The head mounting plate 72 is formed with a width dimension that is similar to that of the flat plate portion 44, and a convex portion 78 that engages with the engagement hole 60 is formed at the center of one side of the head mounting plate 72. The thermal head 70 is fixed to the lower part of the head mounting plate 72. When the thermal head 70 is fixed to the head mounting plate 72, a holding portion 90 is formed on the other end side of the head mounting plate 72 as shown in FIG.
[0018]
In FIG. 2, arm holes 46 and 48 are formed with shaft holes 49 and 49, respectively, and a shaft 47 (see FIG. 1) provided on the apparatus main body 16 side is inserted into the shaft holes 49 and 49. Is done. As a result, the head frame 11 is pivotally supported on the shaft 47 so as to be freely opened and closed. Reference numerals 74 and 74 denote positioning pins that engage with the holes 75 and 75 of the head mounting plate 72.
[0019]
Next, the operation of the head attaching / detaching mechanism of the printer of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
[0020]
First, the replacement of the print head 26 is performed in a state where the head frame 11 is opened and the print head 26 is separated from the platen roller 28. In this state, when the pressing operation portion 56 is pushed up counterclockwise in FIG. 3B, the leaf spring 42 can be bent with the large-diameter head portion 52a of the screw 52 as a fulcrum. As a result, the engagement between the claw portion 54 of the leaf spring 42 and the holding portion 90 of the head mounting plate 72 is released, and the print head 26 can be removed below the head frame 11.
[0021]
On the other hand, to attach a new print head 26, first, the convex portion 78 of the head attachment plate 72 is inserted into the engagement hole 60 of the arm portion 46. Next, while pushing up the pressing operation portion 56 of the spring 42, the holding portion 90 of the head mounting plate 72 is moved to the claw portion 54 side of the plate spring 42, and the head mounting plate 72 is pressed toward the flat plate portion 44. Since the claw portion 54 of the leaf spring 42 is formed in a dogleg shape, if the holding portion 90 moves over the claw portion 54 and moves to the mounting portion 42 side and releases the pressing operation portion 56 in this state, The claw portion 54 of the spring 42 sandwiches the holding portion 90, and the head mounting plate 72 is locked. As a result, the print head 26 can be attached to the head frame 11. At this time, the flat plate portion 44 and the other end of the head mounting plate 72 are aligned by the mounting portion 42 a of the leaf spring 42, and the head mounting plate 72 is fixed at a predetermined position of the head frame 11.
[0022]
The head mounting plate 72 is always applied with a biasing force in the left direction in FIG. 3A due to the biasing action of the leaf spring 42, thereby preventing the play of the print head 26 in the longitudinal direction (the arrow C direction in FIG. 3). it can. Thereafter, when the head frame 11 is closed, the attachment and positioning operations are completed.
[0023]
As described above, according to the head attaching / detaching mechanism of the printer of the present invention, the print head 26 can be attached to the head frame 11 very easily, and positioning of the print head 26 can be easily performed. In particular, compared to the conventional fixing by tightening the mounting screw, there is no displacement due to the rotation of the mounting screw, and the tilt of the mounting and distortion of the member due to imbalance in the tightening strength are eliminated, and the head mounting Accuracy is improved. In addition, since a dedicated tool or the like is not used for attaching / detaching the print head 26, the attaching / detaching operation can be easily and quickly performed.
[0024]
The configuration of the printer head attaching / detaching mechanism shown in the embodiment as described above is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in this embodiment, the thermal head 70 is attached to the head frame main body 40 via the head attachment plate 72. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the convex portion 78 and the holding portion 90 are formed on the thermal head 70. 70 may be directly attached to the head frame main body 40 in a detachable manner.
[0025]
In this embodiment, the present invention has been described with reference to an example in which the present invention is applied to a label printer. However, the application of the present invention is not limited to this. Can also be applied. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a printer that performs single sheet printing without using a label roll, and the same effect as the present invention can be obtained.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the printer head attaching / detaching mechanism according to the present invention eliminates misalignment, attachment inclination, member distortion, and the like, and improves head attachment accuracy. In addition, since a dedicated tool or the like is not used for attaching / detaching the head, attaching / detaching work can be easily and quickly performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a head attaching / detaching mechanism of a printer according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a head frame and a print head used in the printer head attaching / detaching mechanism according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the operation of the head frame and print head used in the printer head attaching / detaching mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Label printer, 11 ... Head frame, 26 ... Print head, 42 ... Leaf spring, 60 ... Engagement hole, 70 ... Thermal head, 72 ... Head mounting plate, 78 ... Convex part

Claims (1)

A head frame having a substantially U-shaped cross-section and provided with opposing arm portions on both sides and an intermediate flat plate portion;
A head mounting plate that is formed in a width dimension that is similar to the flat plate portion, and is attached to the flat plate portion so as to be sandwiched between both ends of the arm portion;
In a head attaching / detaching mechanism of a printer comprising a head main body fixed to the head attaching plate,
At one end of the head mounting plate, a convex portion that engages with an engagement hole formed in the arm portion of the head frame is provided at the center of the side, and the engagement hole of the head frame is in a bending line with the flat plate portion. While forming a width dimension corresponding to the thickness of the head mounting plate on one arm part along,
In the other arm portion of the head frame, a leaf spring accommodation hole extending along a bending line with the flat plate portion is formed at a portion facing the engagement hole, and a clip-like plate is formed in the leaf spring accommodation hole. A printer head attaching / detaching mechanism characterized in that a spring is accommodated and the flat portion of the head frame and the other end of the head mounting plate are aligned and clamped.

Images