JP5784254B1 - Printer with movable print head - Google Patents

Abstract

A printer having a movable print head, which can guarantee high print quality. When the print head carrier is moved toward the stroke end, the surface of the deflector that contacts the front surface of the swivel cover is moved away from the front surface of the swivel cover. It was formed on an inclined surface, and rounds were provided at both ends of the inclined surface. When the print head carrier is moved toward the end of the stroke, the entire surface of the deflector that contacts the front surface of the swivel cover is placed in a radius where the base end side of the swivel cover at the shielding position of that surface moves away from the front surface of the swivel cover. Formed. [Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer having a movable print head.

  In a printer having a movable print head, two parallel guide shafts are bridged between the side plates provided on the left and right sides of the printer, and the print head carrier is moved in the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft by the two guide shafts. The print head is mounted on the print head carrier. In addition, a toothed timing belt is wound around two toothed pulleys provided near the left and right side plates, a print head carrier is coupled to the toothed timing belt, and one toothed pulley is used for moving the print head carrier. The rotational force of the motor (stepping motor) is applied directly or via a transmission belt. Further, in order to define the reciprocating movement range (stroke) along the guide shaft of the print head when the print head prints on the medium at a predetermined position near both ends of the guide shaft in an appropriate range with respect to the width of the medium. The limit switch is provided.

  Further, in a printer having a movable print head, a transport path is formed at a position perpendicular to the main scan direction (sub scan direction) by a transport unit below the moving surface in the direction along the guide axis of the print head (main scan direction). ) Is provided with a conveyance guide for guiding the print medium conveyed. Since one end in the width direction of the conveyed medium is in contact with the fixed guide on the home position side of the print head, the movement in the sub-scanning direction of one end in the width direction of the medium is guided by the fixed guide.

  The print head carrier needs to reciprocate by a distance that allows the print head mounted on the print head carrier to print to the end of the print area of the medium opposite to the home position of the print head. Therefore, an opening for moving the print head carrier is formed on the upper side of the two guide shafts over a length equal to the stroke of the print head carrier. Therefore, when the print head carrier is on the home position side of the print head, the opening is opened upward at a portion opposite to the home position of the print head. If this open portion is left unattended, there is a possibility that the leading edge of the medium transported along the transport path enters the opening and a jam occurs.

  Therefore, conventionally, a swivel cover that covers a portion of the opening for moving the print head carrier on the side opposite to the home position of the print head and prevents the bankbook from protruding laterally is provided. This swivel cover has a vertical axis provided at one end of the swivel cover at a distance slightly longer than the distance of the medium from the fixed guide, and the swivel cover covers a part of the opening around the vertical axis (shielding). Position) and a position from the shielding position to a position retracted outside the stroke of the print head carrier (retracted position). And the biasing means which moves a swivel cover to a shielding position is provided, and the stopper which stops the swivel cover to be biased to a shielding position is provided.

  According to the above configuration, when the print head carrier moves to the end of the stroke opposite to the home position of the print head (hereinafter referred to as the stroke end) during the printing operation of the print head, the print head carrier is swivel covered. The impact may affect the print quality. Therefore, conventionally, on the side facing the swivel cover of the print head carrier, when the print head carrier is moved to the stroke end, the deflector contacts the swivel cover and pivots the swivel cover around the vertical axis to retract to the retracted position. (Warping member).

  FIG. 7 is a plan view of a moving range of a print head carrier in a printer having a conventional movable print head. FIG. 8 shows changes over time in the swivel angle of the swivel cover and the contact position between the deflector and the swivel cover due to the approaching movement of the deflector shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, 1 and 2 are left and right side plates of the printer, 3 and 4 are two guide shafts bridged in parallel between the side plates, and 5 is a print slidably held on the guide shafts 3 and 4 A head carrier 6 is a swivel cover provided on the stroke end side, and 7 is a deflector attached to the swivel cover 6 side of the print head carrier 5. 6a is a part that serves as a cover that prevents the leading end of the bankbook being conveyed from entering the opening, and 6b is a part that serves as a guide that prevents lateral protrusion of the bankbook being conveyed.

  When the print head carrier 5 is moved toward the stroke end, as shown in FIG. 8A, the deflector 7 and the guide shafts 3 and 4 are moved immediately before the print head carrier 5 reaches the stroke end. As shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D, the swivel cover 6 opens as the opening angle (swivel angle) with respect to the parallel straight line hits the swivel cover 6 at the shielding position of 90 degrees, and then the deflector 7 further advances. 6 is turned counterclockwise in FIG. 8 about the longitudinal axis 61.

  8A to 8D are obtained by arbitrarily extracting when the swivel angles of the swivel cover 6 are 90 degrees, 71 degrees, 11 degrees, and 4 degrees, respectively.

  However, the conventional deflector 7 has a planar shape that is substantially rectangular. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8A, the flat front surface of the deflector 7 first hits the flat front surface of the swivel cover 6 having a swivel angle of 90 degrees, and then the swivel cover 6 is moved vertically by the deflector 7 moving forward. It starts to turn around 61, and only one corner of the front surface of the deflector 7 comes into contact with a position close to the vertical axis 61 of the flat front surface of the swivel cover 6 in one line. Then, the contact position moves to a position far from the vertical axis 61 of the flat front surface of the swivel cover 6 according to further advancement of the deflector 7 and further swiveling of the swivel cover 6.

  The transition of the swivel angle of the swivel cover 6 during this time is shown in FIG. 9 as a graph. In FIG. 9, the time from the turning start time (the swivel angle is 90 degrees) to the turning end time (the swivel angle is 9 degrees) of the swivel cover 6 is divided into 11 equal parts. The swivel angle at the end point is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the change rate of the swivel angle from the turning start time to the turning end time of the conventional swivel cover 6 is large. That is, the swivel cover 6 starts to turn rapidly and stops turning rapidly. For this reason, the impact force received when the print head carrier 5 moved toward the end of the stroke reaches the end of the stroke and the deflector 7 hits the swivel cover 6 is increased, and the print head carrier 5 may be slightly vibrated. High nature. If there is a backlash between the belt that moves the print head carrier 5 and the pulley, the print head carrier 5 is more likely to be vibrated. Therefore, the conventional printer has a limit in improving the print quality (there is no prior art document).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer having a movable print head that can guarantee high print quality.

One aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object includes a print head carrier equipped with a print head and movable between strokes in the main scanning direction, and near the stroke end opposite to the home position of the print head carrier. Provided around the vertical axis , and is provided so as to be pivotable between a shielding position that shields the end of the opening for moving the print head and a retracted position that opens the end of the opening. The swivel cover that is biased to return and the swivel cover side of the print head carrier that moves in the main scanning direction hits the swivel cover when it approaches the end of the stroke, and the print head carrier In a printer having a deflector that swivels the swivel cover to the retracted position before the stroke is stopped at the stroke end Yaria of deflector when it is moved toward the stroke end, the surface contacting the front surface of the swivel cover, the vertical axis side of the swivel cover is formed on the inclined surface away from the front of the swivel cover at the shielding position of the surface, It is characterized by providing rounds (curved surfaces) at both ends of the inclined surface.

It is desirable that the radius of the deflector on the vertical axis side of the swivel cover is continuously connected to the side surface of the deflector.

According to another aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object, the entire surface of the deflector that contacts the front surface of the swivel cover when the print head carrier is moved toward the stroke end is swiveled at the shielding position of the surface. It is characterized in that the longitudinal axis side of the cover is formed in a rounded shape away from the front surface of the swivel cover.

  According to the present invention, since the rate of change of the swivel angle from the swivel start time of the swivel cover when the deflector hits the swivel cover to the end of the turn is reduced, the print head carrier moved toward the stroke end. There is no impact on the print head carrier when the end of the stroke is reached. For this reason, the print head carrier and the print head do not generate fine vibrations. Therefore, high print quality can be guaranteed.

It is a top view of the movement range of the print head carrier in the printer which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the time-dependent change of the swivel angle of the swivel cover by the approach movement of the deflector of FIG. 1, and the contact position of a deflector and a swivel cover. It is a graph which shows transition of the swivel angle of the swivel cover accompanying the movement of the deflector of FIG. It is a top view of the movement range of the print head carrier in the printer which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the time-dependent change of the swivel angle of the swivel cover by the approach movement of the deflector of FIG. 4, and the contact position of a deflector and a swivel cover. It is a graph which shows transition of the swivel angle of the swivel cover accompanying the movement of the deflector of FIG. It is a top view of the movement range of the print head carrier in the conventional printer. It is a figure which shows the time-dependent change of the swivel angle of the swivel cover by the approach movement of the deflector of FIG. 7, and the contact position of a deflector and a swivel cover. It is a graph which shows transition of the swivel angle of the swivel cover accompanying the movement of the deflector of FIG. 10 is a comparative graph showing the transition of the swivel angle of FIGS.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same members as those shown in FIG.

[First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the difference from the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is the planar shape of the deflector 7A. That is, the deflector 7 in FIG. 7 is substantially rectangular in plan view, and the front surface of the deflector 7 facing the swivel cover 6 is a plane parallel to the front surface of the swivel cover 6. On the other hand, the deflector 7A in the first embodiment is formed such that the front surface facing the swivel cover 6 is an inclined surface 71 such that the vertical axis 61 side of the swivel cover 6 is away from the front surface of the swivel cover 6. The rounded surfaces 72 and 73 are formed at both ends of the inclined surface. The round 73 is continuous with the flat side surface 74 of the deflector 7A.

  When the deflector 7A having the above shape is used, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the print head carrier 5 moved toward the stroke end, which is the left side of FIG. 2, approaches the stroke end, the swivel cover of the deflector 7A is used. 6 is close to the tip of the swivel cover 6 having a swivel angle of 90 degrees first present at the shield position, and the swivel cover 6 is resisted by the urging force of the urging means and is centered on the vertical axis 61. Start turning.

By the turning, the contact position between the deflector 7A and the swivel cover 6 shifts from the curved surface of the round 72 to the inclined surface 71 on the deflector 7A side, and the front surface shifts to the vertical axis side on the swivel cover 6 side. . As shown in FIG. 2B, when the swivel angle reaches about 74 degrees, the entire surface of the inclined surface 71 of the deflector 7A comes into contact with the front surface of the swivel cover 6.

As the deflector 7A continues to advance, the swivel cover 6 is further rotated as shown in FIG. 2C, and the contact position of the deflector 7A with the swivel cover 6 changes from the inclined surface 71 to the round 73. When the print head carrier 5 reaches the end of the stroke and the main scanning is stopped as shown in FIG. 2D, the side surface 74 connected to the radius 73 of the deflector 7A is the vertical axis side of the front surface of the swivel cover 6. It touches the part.

  The transition of the swivel angle of the swivel cover 6 that is swung from when the advancing deflector 7A hits the swivel cover 6 of FIG. 2 (a) until it stops at the stroke end of FIG. 2 (d) is as shown in FIG. is there. FIG. 3, similarly to FIG. 9, divides the time from the turning start time (swivel angle 90 degrees) of the swivel cover 6 to the turning end time (swivel angle 5 degrees) into 11 equal parts, and the turning start time and each divided time elapse. It is a graph showing the swivel angle at the time point and the turning end time point.

  FIG. 3 shows that in the first embodiment, the change rate of the swivel angle from the start of turning to the end of turning is relatively small. That is, when the print head carrier 5 stops at the end of the stroke, the occurrence of slight vibration in the print head is suppressed. Therefore, improvement in print quality can be expected.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the entire surface of the deflector 7 </ b> B that contacts the front surface of the swivel cover 6 between the time when the print head carrier 5 approaches the stroke end and stops is rounded. The point formed in 75 is different from the first embodiment. The round 75 is formed such that the vertical axis side of the swivel cover 6 at the shielding position is away from the front surface of the swivel cover 6.

  FIG. 5 shows a change in the contact position between the radius 75 of the deflector 7B and the front surface of the swivel cover 6 at a typical swivel angle from the turning start time of the swivel cover 6 to the end time of turning when the deflector 7B is used. ing. At any swivel angle, a part of the round 75 of the deflector 7B is in contact with the front surface of the swivel cover 6. That is, the contact position moves smoothly along the curved surface of the radius 75.

  9 and FIG. 3, the time from the turning start time (swivel angle 90 degrees) to the turning end time (swivel angle 9 degrees) of the swivel cover 6 is divided into 11 equal parts as in FIGS. It is a graph showing the swivel angle at the time when the division time has elapsed and the time when the turn is completed.

  FIG. 6 shows that in the second embodiment, the change rate of the swivel angle from the start of turning to the end of turning is almost linear, and the change rate is very small. In other words, it is understood that the print head does not vibrate slightly when the print head carrier 5 stops at the end of the stroke. Therefore, the effect of improving the print quality is remarkable.

  FIG. 10 shows changes in swivel angle when the conventional deflector 7 of FIG. 9 is used (round 1), changes in swivel angle when the deflector 7A according to the first embodiment is used (full 2), It is a graph which shows transition (maru 3) of the swivel angle at the time of using the deflector 7B by embodiment of this. It is obvious that the first embodiment has a smaller swivel angle change rate than the prior art, and the second embodiment is even less.

[Other embodiments]
The example in which the present invention is applied to a printer having a movable print head has been described above, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a magnetic recording apparatus having a movable magnetic recording head (MS head).

3,4 Guide shaft 5 Print head carrier 6 Swivel cover 61 Vertical axis 7 Conventional deflector 7A Deflector according to the first embodiment 71 Inclined surface 72, 73 R (curved surface)
74 Side 7B Deflector according to Second Embodiment 75 R (curved surface)

Claims (2)

Mounting the printing head, the main scanning direction of the print head carrier provided movably between the strokes, provided on the opposite side near the stroke end of the home position of the print head carrier, printed around a longitudinal axis head A swivel cover that is pivotable between a shielding position that shields the end of the opening for movement and a retracted position that opens the end of the opening, and is biased to return to the shielding position. And when the print head carrier, which is provided on the swivel cover side of the print head carrier and moves in the main scanning direction, approaches the stroke end, hits the swivel cover, and the print head carrier reaches the stroke end. In a printer having a deflector that swivels the swivel cover to a retracted position before being stopped,
The print head carrier of the deflector when it is moved toward the stroke end, the surface in contact with the front of the swivel cover, prior SL front of the vertical axis side the swivel cover of the swivel cover in the blocking position A printer characterized in that it is formed on an inclined surface that is away from the surface, and rounds are provided at both ends of the inclined surface. Mounting the printing head, the main scanning direction of the print head carrier provided movably between the strokes, provided on the opposite side near the stroke end of the home position of the print head carrier, printed around a longitudinal axis head A swivel cover that is pivotable between a shielding position that shields the end of the opening for movement and a retracted position that opens the end of the opening, and is biased to return to the shielding position. And when the print head carrier, which is provided on the swivel cover side of the print head carrier and moves in the main scanning direction, approaches the stroke end, hits the swivel cover, and the print head carrier reaches the stroke end. In a printer having a deflector that swivels the swivel cover to a retracted position before being stopped,
The print head carrier of the deflector when it is moved toward the stroke end, the entire surface contacting the front surface of the swivel cover, wherein the vertical axis side the swivel cover of the swivel cover on the front Symbol shielding position A printer that is formed in a rounded shape that is far from the front of the printer.

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