JP5670964B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printer including a head cable that is electrically connected to a reciprocating print head.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dot printer that outputs dots by a print head while a carrier on which the print head is mounted is reciprocated by a carrier motor is known. In this printer, a flexible flat cable (FFC) is used as a head cable for sending print data to a print head mounted on a reciprocating carrier.

  In order to prevent a sudden bending stress from being generated at a specific location in the FFC with respect to the reciprocating carrier, it is necessary to make the arc shape that can be naturally formed in the U-turn portion of the FFC as large as possible.

  However, in order to maintain the arc shape of the U-turn portion of the FFC, it is necessary to protect the hard plastic cover, and accordingly, a large extra space is required in the lower portion of the carrier. This space has a problem in designing a small, thin and small printer size.

JP-A-8-156292

  In this embodiment, there is provided a printer device that prevents the disconnection by suppressing the generation of a sudden bending stress applied to the head cable.

According to the embodiment, the print head is mounted and the carrier is supported so as to be reciprocally movable, and one end is electrically connected to the print head, and the other end which is U-turned in the middle is sent to at least the print head. A flexible flat cable electrically connected to a circuit board on which a circuit to be generated and supplied is configured, one end supported by the carrier, and the other end of the U-turn portion of the flexible flat cable as the carrier moves And a plastic film that can be elastically contacted between the side surfaces of the carrier facing each other and holds the arc-shaped bend of the flexible flat cable.

1 is a conceptual perspective view showing a first embodiment relating to a printer. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a printer drive circuit. FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the 1st state of the principal part of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the 2nd state of the principal part of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the 3rd state of the principal part of 1st Embodiment. It is the schematic diagram which expanded the principal part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a loop part. It is a schematic diagram of the 1st state which shows 2nd Embodiment regarding a printer. It is a schematic diagram of the 2nd state which shows 2nd Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows 3rd Embodiment regarding a printer.

Therefore, since the U-turn portion 171 is gradually bent along the curled portion 101 and the restoring force of the curled portion 101 exists even when the curled portion 101 is crushed, it is possible to press the stress at a specific location. Thus, by suppressing a larger stress than the other portion applied to the specific location , disconnection of the FFC 17 can be suppressed.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a peripheral portion of a print head in a dot printer according to a first embodiment related to a printer.

  Reference numeral 11 denotes a platen provided inside the printer 100, 12 denotes a print head provided facing the platen 11, and 13 denotes a carrier on which the print head 12 is mounted. The carrier 13 can move in both directions of arrows a and b in the figure by driving the carrier motor 14 and changing the traveling direction of the carrier belt 15. As the carrier motor 14, for example, a stepping motor is used.

  The carrier 13 is slidably supported on a guide shaft (not shown). Both ends of the guide shaft are fixedly supported by a chassis or the like.

  In the printer 100, the circuit board 16 on which electronic components and circuits for operating the printer 100 are mounted and the print head 12 are electrically connected by the FFC 17.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the circuit board 16 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 that constitutes a control main body. The CPU 21 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 in which program data for controlling each part of the carrier motor 14 by a control operation in the normal mode is stored in advance. The CPU 21 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24 in which various memory areas such as a print buffer for temporarily storing print dot data from the host computer 23 are formed, a controller 25, and an external interface (I / F) 26. Yes.

  The CPU 21, the ROM 22, the RAM 24, the controller 25, and the external interface 26 are connected to each other via a bus line 27 such as an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. A host computer 23 that transmits a print start signal, a print end signal, print data, and the like is connected to the external interface 26 via a communication line.

  A head driver 28 that drives the print head 12 and a carrier motor driver 29 that drives the carrier motor 14 are connected to the controller 25.

  The print dot data generated by the head driver 28 is supplied to the print head 12 via the FFC 17. The drive signal generated by the carrier motor driver 29 is supplied to the carrier motor 14 via the motor cable 18. The carrier motor 14 drives the carrier belt 15 based on the drive signal, and selectively moves the carrier 13 in the direction of arrow a or arrow b.

  Although the head driver 28 is mounted on the circuit board 16, it may be mounted on the carrier 13 and the head driver 28 of the carrier 13 may be electrically connected via the circuit board 16 and the FFC 17.

  One end of the FFC 17 and the circuit board 16 are electrically connected via connection means such as a connector 19. The other end of the FFC 17 and the carrier 13 are electrically connected via direct soldering or connection means such as a connector. The FFC 17 is fixed on the carrier 13 using, for example, an adhesive. The shape of the FFC 17 from the carrier 13 to the connector 19 has a U-turn portion 171 that extends from the carrier 13 to the opposite side of the carrier motor 14 and returns to the connector 19.

  The fixing of the FFC 17 with an adhesive has the purpose of preventing disconnection by suppressing mechanical shock at the electrically connected portion. That is, when the carrier 13 approaches or moves away from the carrier motor 14, no mechanical load is applied to the electrical connection portion of the carrier 13 and the FFC 17.

  Further, the plastic film 20 is fixed between the carrier 13 and the FFC 13 with one end of the plastic film 20 interposed therebetween. At the other end of the plastic film 20, an arc-shaped loop portion 201 is formed from a state extending along the FFC 17 as shown in FIG. The tip of the other end side of the plastic film 20 is joined to the FFC 17 by a connecting portion 202 by means such as adhesion or welding. The joining position of the connecting portion 202 is set in the vicinity of the intersection of the upper surface 131 of the carrier 13 and the side surface 132 of the carrier 13.

  Examples of the plastic film 20 include polyester resins, olefin resins, polyvinyl chloride resins, acrylic resins, vinyl acetate resins, amide resins, polyimide resins, polyether ether ketone, and polyphenylene sulfide. From the viewpoints of price, rigidity and rigidity, polyester films and polyolefin films are preferable. More preferably, it is a polyethylene terephthalate film (PET film).

  Next, the operation of the plastic film 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the first state in which the carrier 13 is on the carrier motor 14 side. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the second state just before the carrier 13 moves in the direction of arrow b and the plastic film 20 contacts the U-turn portion 171. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the third state in which the carrier 13 is most moved from the carrier motor 14 in the right direction in the drawing. FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of the main part of FIG.

  First, in FIG. 3, the positional relationship among the carrier 13, the FFC 17, and the plastic film 20 is in the illustrated state. In this state, there is a considerable space between the plastic film 20 and the U-turn part 171 of the FFC 17, and no load is applied to the loop part 201 of the plastic film 20.

  In the state of FIG. 4 in which the carrier 13 has moved in the arrow b direction, the loop portion 201 sandwiched between the side surface 132 of the carrier 13 and the U-turn portion 171 is not yet loaded. Therefore, the deformation of the space portion 203 of the loop portion 201 is not seen.

  In the state of FIG. 5 in which the carrier 13 further moves in the direction of arrow b, the loop portion 201 of the plastic film 20 hits the U-turn portion 171 of the FFC 17. When the carrier 13 moves in the direction of the arrow b, a stress is generated in the loop portion 201 by the U-turn portion 171 and the side surface 132 of the carrier 13 and is crushed against the elasticity of the space portion 203.

  At this time, the crushed loop portion 201 acts to expand the space portion 203 as shown by an arrow c in FIG. For this reason, the load concerning the part where the bending of the U-turn part 171 shown by the arrow d in FIG. 6 starts can be reduced. Moreover, since the U-turn part 171 makes a U-turn along the loop part 201, an excessive load is not applied to the specific location of the U-turn part 171. For this reason, it can suppress that a specific load is applied to the specific position of the FFC 17 with respect to the reciprocating movement of the carrier 13, and the disconnection of the FFC 17 can be suppressed.

  In addition, the width | variety of the part in which the loop part 201 of the plastic film 20 was formed was demonstrated as the same as shown to Fig.7 (a). As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the width of the plastic film 20 at the loop portion 201 may be gradually reduced toward the tip. In this case, the elastic force of the loop portion 201 can be adjusted by simply changing the width according to factors such as the material of the plastic film 20.

  Furthermore, when there is a sufficient space for the carrier 13 to reciprocate and a space for reducing the bending angle of the U-turn portion 171 and the loop size of the loop portion 201 can be increased, the load related to a specific location of the FFC 17 can be further suppressed. it can. It should be noted that the stress reduction can be adjusted by changing the loop size of the loop portion 201. The loop size can be adjusted in accordance with the rigidity of the FFC 17. A rigid object increases the loop size, and a soft object decreases the loop size.

  In this embodiment, it is possible to suppress disconnection of the FFC by suppressing the bending stress applied to the specific portion with respect to the FFC that occurs with the reciprocation of the carrier.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment relating to a printer will be described. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state just before the plastic film 20 comes into contact with the U-turn portion 171. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the carrier 13 has moved most in the direction of the arrow b in the figure.

  In this embodiment, the position of the plastic film 20 to be attached to the upper surface 131 of the carrier 13 is set at a position away from the connection portion 202 by the distance e. That is, the non-joining part 71 was provided between the loop part 201 and the carrier 13.

  In this case, in the process until the carrier 13 reaches the state shown in FIG. 9 where the carrier 13 has moved most in the direction of the arrow b, the non-joint portion 71 is first curved near the intersection of the upper surface 131 and the side surface 132 of the carrier 13. Next, the loop portion 201 is sandwiched between the U-turn portion 171 and the side surface 132 of the carrier 13. The loop portion 201 is stressed and crushed against the elasticity of the space portion 203.

  That is, by providing the non-joining portion 71, the interval f between the FFCs 17 positioned above and below via the U-turn portion 171 is widened. For this reason, the curvature of the U-turn part 171 of FFC17 becomes large, and the load with respect to the bending concerning FFC17 can be made smaller.

  In this embodiment, the plastic film provided with the non-joining portion can further reduce the load applied to a specific portion with respect to the U-turn portion of the FFC. Therefore, it can be expected to further improve the suppression of FFC disconnection.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a third embodiment relating to a printer.

  In the first embodiment, the tip of the loop portion 201 is connected to the FFC 17 by the connecting portion 202. In this embodiment, the curled portion 101 is simply formed on the plastic film 20 without connecting the tip to the FFC 17. The curled portion 101 has a shape that comes into contact with the side surface 132 of the carrier 13 when a part of the outer surface thereof is located farthest from the carrier motor 14. The curled portion 101 can be formed by curling in advance and heating, for example.

  Even in this case, since the U-turn portion 171 is gradually bent along the curled portion 101, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of stress on a specific portion. Further, the curled portion 101 is sandwiched between the movement of the carrier 13 in the direction of the arrow b and the U-turn portion 171 of the FFC 17. For this reason, it contributes to the effect | action which suppresses the stress to a specific location with the restoring force of the curl part 101. FIG.

  Therefore, since the U-turn portion 171 is gradually bent along the curled portion 101 and the restoring force of the curled portion 101 exists even when the curled portion 101 is crushed, it is possible to press the stress at a specific location. In this way, by suppressing a larger stress than the other portion of the specific portion, disconnection of the FFC 17 can be suppressed.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to provide the connecting portion 202, and it is only necessary to provide the curled portion 101. For this reason, the trouble of processing the plastic film 20 can be saved.

  It is not limited to each said embodiment, For example, the plastic film 20 may have a single layer form, and may have a multiple layer form. Further, the adjustment of the elasticity of the loop portion is performed by gradually changing the width, but the thickness may be gradually changed. Moreover, you may adjust the elasticity of a loop part by putting a cushioning material in a loop part.

  Further, even when a flexible printed circuit cable (FPC) is used in place of the FFC 17, a plastic film can be provided to prevent the occurrence of stress at a specific portion of the FPC and to suppress disconnection of the FPC.

  Although several embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, combinations, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Printer 11 Platen 12 Print head 13 Carrier 131 Upper surface 132 Side surface 14 Carrier motor 15 Carrier belt 16 Circuit board 17 FFC
171 U-turn part 18 Motor cable 20 Plastic film 71 Non-joining part 201 Loop part 202 Connection part 203 Space part 101 Curled part

Claims (10)

A carrier equipped with a print head and reciprocating;
A circuit board configured with a circuit for generating and supplying print data to the print head;
The Tomo Once is connected to the print head and electrical, and attached to the opposite surface and the circuit board side of the carrier, the other end is connected to the circuit board and electrically, halfway bent in a U-shape a flexible flat cable,
A plastic film that has one end attached between the flexible flat cable and the carrier and the other end elastically holding a curved portion of the flexible flat cable on a side surface of the carrier as the carrier moves. Printer. 2. The printer according to claim 1 , wherein the plastic film has a loop portion in which the other end different from one end attached to the circuit board is looped and the end portion is brought into contact with the flexible flat cable . The printer according to claim 2, wherein the loop portion gradually decreases in width as it approaches a contact portion with the flexible flat cable. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the loop portion gradually decreases in thickness as it approaches a contact portion with the flexible flat cable. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the loop portion is formed with a gap between the loop portion and the carrier . The printer according to claim 1, wherein the plastic film is provided with a curled curled portion at the other end different from the one end attached to the circuit board . The printer according to claim 6, wherein the curl portion has a width that gradually decreases toward a tip of the curl portion . The printer according to claim 6, wherein the curl portion has a thickness that is gradually reduced toward a tip of the curl portion .   The printer according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a cushion material is disposed in the loop portion. The printer according to claim 6, wherein a cushion material is disposed inside the curl portion.

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