JP5679184B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that prints predetermined information on a sheet, and in particular, a sheet guide for preventing meandering, skewing, and fluttering of a sheet to be transported, and a dust removal roller for cleaning dust and the like adhering to the sheet to be conveyed. The present invention relates to a printer provided with a paper guide mechanism with a dust removal roller integrated with.

  In a conventional printer, for example, the ink ribbon and the printing paper are sandwiched by a thermal head and a platen roller, the ink of the ink ribbon is melted by heat generated by the thermal head, and the melted ink is transferred and fixed to the printing paper. There are known thermal transfer printers for printing the above information and printers for printing predetermined information by directly applying the heat of the thermal head to the thermal paper for printing without using an ink ribbon.

  When paper is supplied from the outside in such a printer, if the printing operation is performed using the ink ribbon while the dust is adhered to the paper and the dust is adhered to the paper, the printing is lost. Cause printing failure. Further, in a thermal printer that does not use an ink ribbon, dust particles accumulate in the vicinity of the heating element of the print head, causing a printing failure and shortening the service life of the print head. Furthermore, dust particles accumulate in the paper guide used for transporting the paper to the printing unit in an appropriate state. If dust dust accumulates in the paper guide, it causes a transport failure such as paper jam, meandering, and skew feeding.

In order to solve the above problem, a configuration in which a dust removal roller for removing dust such as dust adhering to the paper inside the printer is provided (see Patent Document 1).
However, the provision of the dust removal roller is not preferable because the number of parts is increased, resulting in an increase in cost and an increase in the size of the printer.

  In addition, if dust particles adhere to the dust removal roller, the adhesiveness of the roller decreases, and dust particles cannot be removed neatly, and dust particles adhere to the paper guide provided near the dust removal roller. It was necessary to periodically clean the paper guide as well as the take-off roller.

  However, in order to more accurately clean the paper guide, it is necessary to raise the surface of the paper guide that comes into contact with the paper so that the dust powder adheres to the user. There was a risk of forgetting to close the guide. The printing operation itself of the printer can be performed with the paper guide raised, but if the printing operation is continued without forgetting to close the paper guide, a paper jam or a paper error may be caused, or the parts may be damaged.

JP 11-291527 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and removes dust particles adhering to a sheet to be transported without increasing the number of parts of the printer and increasing the size of the printer. An object of the present invention is to prevent forgetting to close the paper guide when dust adhering to the roller is cleaned.

A printer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a printing section that prints predetermined information by sandwiching printing paper between a thermal head and a platen roller, a pair of left and right inner plates, and a bottom plate that spans the inner plates. An urging member provided on the inner plate, an urging force transmission member that directly urges the urging force by the urging member, and an urging force transmission member that urges the urging force by the urging member. A support shaft that is indirectly received via the biasing force transmitting member and a paper transfer roller that is pivotally supported by the support shaft, and has a certain area applied to the print paper. A guide plate that is in contact, an engagement member that is provided at both ends of the guide plate and engages with the support shaft, and a protrusion-like stopper is provided at the upper end, and is held in the vicinity of the engagement member. Adhering dust A dust removal roller, and a paper guide mechanism with a dust removal roller that guides the printing paper vertically and horizontally with respect to the bottom plate and removes dust particles attached to the printing paper. It is characterized by that.
Further, the paper guide mechanism with dust removal roller is formed by notching a through hole in the width direction of the paper guide plate, and the surface of the dust removal roller is located through the through hole at a position corresponding to the through hole. It is provided so that it may contact | abut on the surface of printing paper.
The tip of the engaging member is formed in a substantially semicircular arc shape, optionally disengaged relative to the support shaft by the support shaft was formed on the substantially semicircular engages It is possible.
Further, the dust removing roller with the paper guide mechanisms, characterized in that the engagement member is provided rotatably about the support shaft.
Further, when the engaging member is rotated around the support shaft, times as pivotal movement by the stopper collides with the end portion of the biasing force transmission member is possible within a predetermined range In this predetermined range, the guide mechanism is closed in the direction of the bottom plate by its own weight.

The paper guide plate and dust removal roller are combined with the paper guide plate to form a paper guide mechanism with a dust removal roller that prevents the printer from becoming larger, improves print quality, prevents poor transfer, and extends the life of printer parts. Can be reduced.
Furthermore, by making the paper guide mechanism with the dust removal roller detachable, it can be easily detached from the printer body, and the paper guide plate and dust removal roller can be more accurately cleaned.
Further, by providing a stopper to the paper guide mechanism with dust removal roller and restricting the rotation so as not to rotate more than a predetermined angle, it is possible to prevent forgetting to close the paper guide mechanism with the dust removal roller during engagement / disengagement operation.

2 is a schematic side view of the printer 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of the printer 1 when the housing 2 of the printer 1 is opened and viewed from the discharge port 9 side. FIG. 3 is a perspective view, a cross-sectional view of the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller, which is a feature of the present invention, and a diagram showing the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller from the bottom plate 29 direction. The left end enlarged view when the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is engaged and temporarily fixed to the support shaft 13 and the left end enlarged of the support shaft 14 when the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is removed. FIG.

A mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Here, a thermal transfer printer using an ink ribbon will be described as an example, but the present invention can also be used for a thermal printer, a facsimile, and an inkjet printer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a printer 1 equipped with the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing the inside of the printer 1.
The printer 1 mainly includes a housing 2 whose upper half can be opened and closed, a paper guide mechanism 3 with a dust removing roller that can be opened and closed in the direction of arrow B in the figure, a head arm 4, an ink ribbon supply unit 5, and an ink ribbon take-up A portion 6 and a platen roller 19 are provided. The housing 2 has a supply port 8 for supplying the printing paper 7 fed out from the outside to the inside of the printer 1 and a discharge port 9 for discharging the supplied printing paper 7 to the outside. A path through which the printing paper 7 passes from 8 to the discharge port 9 on the downstream side of the printing paper 7 transfer direction is a transfer path 10. In addition, a protrusion 12 projects toward the center of the transfer path 10 on the inner plate 11 in the vicinity of the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal rollers.

After the printing paper 7 is supplied from the supply port 8, the printing paper 7 is transported through the transport path 10 on the downstream side toward the paper transport roller 13 and the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller, and then further toward the downstream platen roller 19. After being transferred and sandwiched between the platen roller 19 and the print head 17 and printed with predetermined information, it is discharged from the discharge port 10.
Note that the printing paper 7 includes a wide sheet in which a label piece having a plurality of adhesive layers is temporarily attached to a belt-like mount, and a paper form in which no label piece is temporarily attached.
The supply port 8 is formed by cutting the housing 2 so that the printing paper 7 can be inserted into the printer 1.

The sheet transfer roller 13 is pivotally supported on the transfer path 10 by a support shaft 14. A biasing member 16 is attached to the support shaft 14 via a biasing force transmission member 15. As a result, the urging force of the urging member 16 acts directly on the urging force transmission member 15, and the urging force acts indirectly on the support shaft 14 via the urging force transmission member 15. Therefore, the position of the sheet transfer roller 13 can be changed up and down by urging.
The urging member 16 is a torsion coil spring and urges the sheet transfer roller 13 upward.

  A paper guide mechanism 3 with a dust removing roller is detachably engaged with the support shaft 14, details of which will be described later.

  The head arm 4 has a print head 17 at the tip, and is supported in the inside of the printer 1 by a head arm support shaft 18 and rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow A so that the print head 17 is in contact with the platen roller 19. The printing unit 21 is configured with the print head 17 in contact with the platen roller 19, and the printing unit 21 is configured by sandwiching the ink ribbon 20 and the printing paper 7 between the printing head 17 and the platen roller 19. On the other hand, a printing operation is performed.

  The ink ribbon 20 is supplied from the ink ribbon supply unit 5 using a shaft that is common to the head arm support shaft 18, and the supplied ink ribbon 20 is given a certain tension by the tension roller 22, and the platen roller 19 of the print head 17. The ink ribbon is wound around the ink ribbon winding unit 6.

  The printing unit 21 is operated by a lock mechanism (not shown) of the printer 1 when the head arm 4 is closed to a position where the print paper 17 and the ink ribbon 20 are sandwiched by the print head 17 and the platen roller 19 during the printing operation of the printer 1. It is configured by being locked inside the printer 1.

  At this time, the ink on the ink ribbon 20 is melted by the heat generated by the print head 17. Information is printed on the printing paper 7 by the molten ink being transferred and fixed to the surface of the printing paper 7. The printing paper 7 on which information is printed is discharged from the discharge port 9 to the outside of the printer 1 according to the rotation of the platen roller 19.

Next, the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal rollers will be described with reference to FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the paper guide mechanism 2 with dust removal roller, FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller in the X direction, and FIG. It is the back surface perspective view seen from the baseplate 29 side with respect to the paper guide mechanism 3 with a dust removal roller.
The paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is provided on the transfer path 10 and mainly includes a paper guide plate 23 that guides the printing paper 7 from above, engaging members 24 and 24 that engage with the support shaft 14 , and printing paper. The dust removing roller 25 for removing dust adhering to the printing surface 7 and the holding plates 26 and 26 for holding the dust removing roller 25 are integrally formed.

  A through hole 31 is formed in the paper guide plate 23 in the axial direction of the support shaft 14, and rectangular portions 27, 27 are provided at both ends on the surface side in contact with the printing paper 7. Engaging members 24, 24 having substantially semicircular arc-shaped portions 24 a, 24 a at their tips are engaged with both ends of the paper guide plate 23 so as to be detachable from the support shaft 14. A stopper 28 is provided at the upper end portion of 24. The dust removal roller 25 has holding plates 26 and 26 at both ends of the paper guide plate 23 that are not in contact with the printing paper 7, so that the surface of the dust removal roller 25 passes through the through-hole 31 to the printing surface of the printing paper 7. It is supported in a contact state. That is, the surface of the dust removal roller 25 is brought into contact with the printing surface of the printing paper 7 that passes under the paper guide plate 23. Accordingly, dust particles adhering to the printing surface of the printing paper 7 can be removed.

Paper transport roller 13 is rotatably supported in the printer 1 by a support shaft 14, the biasing force transmission member 15 and the urging member 16 is provided coupled to the support shaft 14, the biasing force transmission member 15 is biasing member The urging force of 16 is transmitted to the support shaft 14 . That, and thus the engaging member 24 is a biasing force which the supporting shaft 14 directly receives from what is engaged to be further indirectly applied to the entire dust removing roller with a paper guide mechanism 3 to the support shaft 14 .

  Next, the correlation between the printer 1 and the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller when the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is engaged with the support shaft 14 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4A is an enlarged view of the left end when the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is engaged with the support shaft 14 in the transfer path 10. During the printing operation of the printer 1, that is, when the printing paper 7 is transported below the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal rollers, the engaging member 24 is engaged perpendicularly to the support shaft 14, and the rectangular portion 27 is the printing paper 7. Are fitted in the recesses 30 formed in the bottom plate 29 in the transfer path 10 in the direction of the arrow shown. Since the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller is urged upward by the urging member 16 as described above, the stopper 28 urges the projection 12 from below and resists the urging force of the urging member 16. It is fixed in a state where the fitting can be released again. (Hereinafter referred to as “temporary fixing” as appropriate.) By this temporary fixing, it is possible to prevent the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller from rattling in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a stable paper guide becomes possible.

  That is, while the rectangular portion 27 is temporarily fixed and the engaging member 24 is engaged with the support shaft 14, the position of the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is temporarily fixed in the left and right and up and down directions. During the transfer, the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller prevents the printing paper 7 from fluttering, and at the same time, dust such as dust adhering to the printing paper 7 can be removed by the dust removal roller 25.

  To release the temporary fixing of the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller, the support shaft 14 is pressed downward from the state in which the rectangular portion 27 is temporarily fixed to the recess 30 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller changes its position downward against the biasing force of the biasing member 16 applied to the engaging member 24 in the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller. By doing so, the stopper 28 is separated from the projection and the temporary fixing is released.

  In order to remove the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller from the printer 1 after releasing the temporary fixing, the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller is manually supported in a direction away from the transfer path 10 from the temporarily fixed state. By rotating around the shaft 14, the stopper 28 comes into contact with the end 15a of the urging force transmission member 15 as shown in FIG. It can be turned inside. By moving the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller away from the support shaft 14 from the state where the stopper 28 is in contact with the side end portion 15a, the support of the engagement member 24 is supported as shown in FIG. The engagement with the shaft 14 is released, and the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller can be detached from the support shaft 14, that is, the printer 1.

  In this way, by removing the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller, dust such as dust particles is cleaned over details that are difficult to reach when the paper guide mechanism with dust removal roller is attached to the printer 1. Can be removed.

  The above is an explanation of removing the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller from the printer 1, but when the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is set in the printer 1, the support shaft 14 in FIG. Thus, the engaging member 24 is engaged with the support shaft 14 so that the stopper 28 collides with the end portion 15a of the urging force transmitting member 15, and the support shaft 14 is moved against the urging force applied to the support shaft 14. When the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is released in a state of being pressed downward, the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller closes by its own weight and fits the rectangular portion 27 into the recess 30 so that the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is temporarily fixed. Preparation is complete.

  When the temporary fixing of the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller is released and the paper guide mechanism 3 is rotated in a direction away from the print paper 7, the rotation range of the paper guide mechanism 3 from the position where the paper guide plate 23 contacts the print paper 7 is the stopper 28. Is a rotatable range up to a position where it contacts the end 15a of the urging force transmission member 15. Accordingly, the stopper 28 stops at a position where it abuts against the end 15a of the urging force transmission member 15 during the rotation operation of the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller. Therefore, when the user releases it in this state, the stopper 28 is moved toward the bottom plate 29 by its own weight. close up.

  In other words, the stopper 24 is provided on the paper guide mechanism with the dust removal roller so as to collide with the end 15a of the biasing force applying member 15, thereby limiting the rotation range of the paper guide mechanism 3 with the dust removal roller, and with the dust removal roller. When the paper guide mechanism 3 is installed after cleaning, the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller is dropped and temporarily fixed by its own weight, so that it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to close the paper guide mechanism 3 with dust removal roller. A failure of the printer 1 can be prevented.

  Further, since the dust removal roller 25 comes into contact with the printing surface of the printing paper 7 in the temporarily fixed state, dust dust adhered to the printing paper 7 by the dust removal roller 25 while the printing paper 7 is guided by the paper guide plate 23. You can remove trash.

  It should be noted that the dust removal roller 25 is made of synthetic rubber or silicone rubber, or has a weak adhesive layer on the surface, whereby dust particles attached to the surface of the printing paper 7 can be removed.

    In addition, it is possible to maintain good print quality by easily cleaning the dust accumulated on the paper guide plate 23 and the dust removal roller 25.

  Further, since these can be detached from the printer as an integral guide mechanism, the number of parts of the printer 1 can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced without increasing the size of the printer 1. Moreover, the replacement of parts is simplified, and smooth maintenance work can be performed without using a special technique.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Case 3 Paper guide mechanism with dust removal roller 4 Head arm 5 Ink ribbon supply part 6 Ink ribbon take-up part 7 Printing paper 8 Supply port 9 Discharge port 10 Transfer path 11 Inner plate 12 Protrusion part 13 Paper transfer roller 14 Support shaft 15 Energizing force transmission member 15a End portion 16 Energizing member 17 Print head 18 Head arm support shaft 19 Platen roller 20 Ink ribbon 21 Printing portion 22 Tension roller 23 Paper guide plate 24 Engaging member 24a Arc forming portion 25 Dust removal roller 26 Holding plate 27 Rectangular member 28 Stopper 29 Bottom plate 30 Recessed portion 31 Through-hole

Claims (5)

A printing section that prints predetermined information by sandwiching printing paper between a thermal head and a platen roller, a transfer path that includes a pair of left and right inner plates and a bottom plate that spans the inner plates;
An urging member provided on the inner plate;
An urging force transmitting member for directly urging the urging force of the urging member;
A support shaft that indirectly receives the urging force of the urging member via the urging force transmission member and urges it together with the urging force transmission member;
A paper transfer roller supported by the support shaft;
A printer provided with
A guide plate having a certain area in contact with the printing paper;
An engagement member provided at both ends of the guide plate and engaged with the support shaft, and provided with a protruding stopper at the upper end;
A dust removal roller that is held in the vicinity of the engaging member and capable of removing dust particles attached to the printing paper, guides the printing paper in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the bottom plate, and the printing paper A printer comprising a paper guide mechanism with a dust removing roller for removing dust particles adhering to the printer. The paper guide mechanism with dust removal roller is formed by cutting out a through hole in the width direction of the paper guide plate, and the surface of the dust removal roller passes through the through hole at a position corresponding to the through hole. claim 1 Symbol placement printer, characterized in that provided so as to abut on the surface. The tip of the engaging member is formed in a substantially semicircular arc shape, optionally releasably and relative to the support shaft by the support shaft was formed on the substantially semicircular engages the printer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The dust removing roller with the paper guide mechanism, a printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the engagement member is rotatably provided around the support shaft. When the engaging member is rotated around the support shaft, rotation as rotational motion by the stopper collides with the end portion of the biasing force transmission member is possible within the predetermined range limits 5. The printer according to claim 4 , wherein the guide mechanism closes toward the bottom plate by its own weight within the predetermined range.

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