JP6448678B2 - printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a printer that achieves downsizing of a printer by using a simple mechanism.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, thermal printers are known in which a printing medium is pressed and sandwiched between a thermal head and a platen roller, and a heating element on the thermal head is selectively heated to print on the printing medium by thermal transfer.

  The platen roller of the printer has problems such as roller wear due to transfer of the printing medium, deterioration of the roller material due to the passage of time and environmental factors, and therefore needs to be replaced periodically. And it is desired that each exchange is performed by a user or a service person and can be quickly performed by a simpler method.

In addition, when the printer is a portable printer that can be carried, a smaller and lighter printer is desired in order to carry more easily than a conventional portable printer. .

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-302073 discloses an invention in which a platen and a fixed blade are unitized so that parts can be removed in a single operation, and maintenance can be easily performed.

JP 2001-302073 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer in which the platen roller can be replaced and attached with a simple mechanism and method, and the printer can be reduced in size and weight. And

According to an aspect of the present invention, a printer main body having a supply unit for supplying a print medium wound in a roll shape, an open / close cover provided to be openable / closable with respect to the printer main body, and the printer main body are provided. A thermal head that performs printing on the print medium; a platen roller that is detachably provided on the open / close cover and that is provided at a position facing the thermal head in a closed state; and the open / close cover The platen roller is held by the opening / closing cover when attached to the opening / closing cover, and is configured to open the platen roller from the opening / closing cover when removed from the opening / closing cover, and guides the printing medium has a platen roller retaining mechanism, wherein the platen roller retaining mechanism, toward the thermal head Having a first guide portion for guiding the sheet-like portions of the printing medium to be fed, the printer is provided.

  According to the printer of the present invention, the platen roller can be replaced and the printer can be reduced in size and weight by a simple mechanism and method.

1 is a schematic side view of a thermal printer 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 2 is a schematic side view when the opening / closing cover 12 is in an open state with respect to the printer housing 10. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back side of the opening / closing cover 12. 3 is a perspective view of the platen roller 23. FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the platen roller holding mechanism 17. 4 is a perspective view when the cover opening / closing shaft 11, the platen roller 23, and the platen roller holding mechanism 17 are attached to the opening / closing cover 12. FIG. 2 is a side view when the cover opening / closing shaft 11, the platen roller 23, and the platen roller holding mechanism 17 are attached to the opening / closing cover 12. FIG.

  A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the thermal printer 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and is a view when the opening / closing cover 12 is in a closed state with respect to the printer housing 10. FIG. 2 is a view when the opening / closing cover 12 is open with respect to the printer housing 10. The thermal printer 1 is a portable printer with a built-in battery, and includes a printer main body 2, a supply unit 3, a detection unit 4, a printing unit 5, and a control unit 6.

  The printing medium used in Example 1 is a label continuum L in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached on a belt-like mount at a predetermined interval, and is used after being wound in a roll shape.

  The printer main body 2 includes a printer housing 10, a cover opening / closing shaft 11, an opening / closing cover 12, and a label discharge port 13. The printer housing 10 has a bottom plate and a side plate, and a cover opening / closing shaft 11 is attached to one end of the side plate. The open / close cover 12 is attached to the cover open / close shaft 11 and is rotatable, and forms a closed state shown in FIG. 1 and an open state shown in FIG. 2 with respect to the printer housing 10. A gap serving as a label discharge port 13 is provided between the printer housing 10 and the other end of the opening / closing cover 12, and printing is performed via the printing unit 5 from the upstream side in the conveyance direction where the supply unit 3 is provided. The label continuum L is transported toward the downstream side in the transport direction in which the label discharge port 13 is provided, and is discharged to the outside of the printer main body 2.

The label supply unit 3 includes a first roll support unit 14, a second roll support unit 15, and a third roll holding unit 16, and rotatably holds the roll-shaped label continuous body L. The 1st roll support part 14 respond | corresponds to the 1st support part as described in a claim. The 2nd roll support part 15 and the 3rd roll holding part 16 respond | correspond to the 3rd support part as described in a claim. The first roll support portion 14 is a thin plate whose one side surface is cut out in an arc shape. A plurality of first roll support portions 14 are spaced apart from each other, and the arc surface is a roll-shaped label continuum L. The printer housing 10 is erected in a direction facing the side and parallel to the feeding direction of the label continuous body L. Further, the second roll support portion 15 and the third roll support portion 16 are cut out so that one side surface thereof forms one arc together with a fourth roll support portion 39 of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 described later. It is a thin plate and is erected on the inner surface of the opening / closing cover 12. The plurality of second roll support portions 15 have a predetermined interval in the width direction of the label on one end side (upstream side in the transport direction) of the opening / closing cover 12, and the arc surface is continuous with the label when the opening / closing cover 12 is closed. It is attached so as to face the body L and to be parallel to the feeding direction of the label continuous body L. The plurality of third roll support portions 16 are arranged on the same row as the corresponding second roll support portions 15, respectively, and the second roll support portion 15, the third roll support portion 16, and the fourth roll support portion of the platen roller holding mechanism 17. 39 is attached to the other end side (downstream side in the transport direction) of the opening / closing cover 12 so as to draw one arc. By reducing the contact area with the roll-shaped label continuous body L in the supply section 3 by these roll support portions, the label continuous body L can be smoothly transferred without being able to rotate.

The label detection unit 4 includes a light emitter 20 and a light receiver 21 that are detectors. The light receiver 21 is attached to a first label guide portion 18 provided in the printer housing 10. The 1st label guide part 18 respond | corresponds to the 2nd guide part as described in a claim. The first label guide portion 18 is configured as a part of the transport path by guiding the front surface side (printing surface side) of the label continuum L to suppress flapping of the label continuum L.
The light emitter 20 is attached to a platen roller holding mechanism 17 provided on the other end side of the opening / closing cover 12. The platen roller holding mechanism 17 is a member made of a material such as resin, and is arranged between the third roll support portion 16 and the platen roller 23 (near the upstream side of the printing portion 5). The first label guide portion 18 is also a member made of a material such as resin, is attached to the printer housing 10, and is disposed between the first roll support portion 14 and the battery 25.
When the open / close cover 12 is in the closed state, the platen roller holding mechanism 17 and the first label guide portion 18 are arranged to face each other, and a part of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 that faces the first label guide portion 18 is a label. The second label guide portion 37 guides the back side (mounting side) of the continuum L. The second label guide portion 37 corresponds to the first guide portion described in the claims. Both surfaces of the opposing arrangement are inclined parallel to each other toward the printing unit 5, and the label transfer path 19 of the label continuum L is formed by the first label guide unit 18 and the second label guide unit 37. Is supposed to form. The light emitter 20 is attached to the platen roller holding mechanism 17 so as to emit light from the back side of the label continuum L on the label transfer path 19. The light receiver 21 is attached to the first label guide 18 on the surface side of the label continuum L on the label transfer path 19 so as to receive the transmitted light emitted from the light emitter 20 toward the label continuum L. It has become.
Although a transmission type sensor is used, a reflection type sensor that receives a reflection amount of emitted light may be provided in the platen roller holding mechanism 17. In addition, one of the light emitting device or the light receiving device of the reflection type sensor and the transmission type sensor is provided in the platen roller holding mechanism 17, and the other light emitting device or light receiving device of the transmission type sensor is provided in the first label guide portion 18. Also good.

The label printing unit 5 includes a thermal head 22 and a platen roller 23. The thermal head 22 is provided in the printer housing 10 near the label discharge port 13. The platen roller 23 is rotatably attached to the platen roller holding mechanism 17 of the opening / closing cover 12, and when the opening / closing cover 12 is in a closed state, the heating element on the surface of the thermal head 22 and the platen roller 23 are arranged to face each other. Is done.
Further, the printer housing 10 is provided with a drive motor (not shown), and meshes with the gear of the platen roller 23 when the opening / closing cover 12 is closed to enable rotation.
The thermal head 22 has a head bracket (not shown) so that the bearing 35 of the platen roller 34 is rotatably supported by platen engaging portions provided on both side surfaces of the head bracket when the open / close cover 12 is closed. It is configured.
Further, the head bracket is provided with an elastic member (not shown), and when the label continuous body L is sandwiched between the platen roller 23 and the thermal head 22, the thermal head 22 is pressed toward the platen roller 23 with a predetermined pressing force. While printing is performed on the continuous body L, the label continuous body L is transferred to the label discharge port 13.
The elastic member urges the bearing 35 of the platen roller 34 in a direction to support the platen engaging portion, maintains the closed state of the opening / closing cover 2, and rotates the head bracket against the urging force of the elastic member. The opening / closing cover 12 can be opened by releasing the engagement between the bearing 35 and the platen engaging portion.

  The control unit 6 includes a control board 24 and a battery 25. The control board 24 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of each unit. The battery 25 supplies power for operating each unit to each unit.

  The thermal printer 1 according to the first embodiment has the above-described configuration, and the label continuum L is supplied by the label supply unit 3, and the supplied label continuum L passes through the label detection unit 4 to be a label printing unit. 5 is transferred. In the label printing unit 5, the label continuum L is sandwiched between the thermal head 22 and the platen roller 23, and printing is performed at a predetermined position. After printing, the label continuum L is discharged from the label discharge port 13 to the outside.

Next, the peripheral part of the opening / closing cover 12 will be described more specifically. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the back side of the opening / closing cover 12. On the inner side surface of the opening / closing cover 12, the second roll support portion 15, the third roll support portion 16, the screw hole 30, the platen roller holding protruding piece 31, and the gap 32 are provided. A cover opening / closing shaft through hole 12A and a cover opening / closing shaft through hole 15A are provided at one end of the opening / closing cover 12, and the cover opening / closing shaft 11, which is a metal cylindrical shaft, is inserted therethrough. The pair of screw holes 30 are holes provided on the downstream side of the plurality of third roll support portions 16, and are screwed into screws (not shown) to attach and fix the platen roller holding mechanism 17 to the opening / closing cover 12. ing.
The second roll support unit 15 and the third roll support unit 16 are loaded in the label supply unit 3 together with the first roll support unit 14 of the printer housing 10 and the fourth roll support unit 39 of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 described later. It functions as a roll guide for guiding the peripheral surface of the roll-shaped continuous label L.
The platen roller holding protruding pieces 31 are provided on both side surfaces opposite to the side on which the cover opening / closing shaft 11 and the cover opening / closing shaft through hole 12A are provided, and the platen roller holding protruding pieces 31 and the opening / closing cover 12 A gap 32 is formed between the platen roller insertion hole 32A into which a platen roller holding portion 38 of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 described later fits, and a platen roller holding hole 32B through which the shaft 33 of the platen roller 23 passes. including.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the platen roller insertion hole 32 </ b> A is closed by the platen roller holding portion 38, thereby forming a platen roller holding hole 32 </ b> B having a long hole shape.
The long hole is longer than the shaft diameter of the platen roller shaft 33, and the platen roller shaft 33 is rotatable in the long hole and movable in the transport direction of the label continuum L. When the open / close cover 12 is closed, the thermal head 22 and the platen roller 23 can be relatively aligned by the platen engaging portion of the head bracket described above. That is, the position of the platen roller 34 can be adjusted within the long hole even if there is an assembly error of the apparatus, so that the optimum alignment of the head 22 and the platen roller 23 is possible without the influence of the assembly error.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the platen roller 23, and the platen roller 23 includes a platen roller shaft 33, a platen roller body 34, and a bearing 35. The platen roller shaft 33 is made of metal such as stainless steel, and one end of a cylindrical metal rod is cut into a D-shaped cross section, and a gear (not shown) of the platen roller 34 is fixed at this position. The platen roller main body 34 is an elastic body made of, for example, urethane rubber or silicone rubber having a hole in the central axis. The platen roller shaft 33 is inserted and fixed in the hole, and when the platen roller shaft 33 is rotationally driven, the platen roller main body 34 is also rotationally driven. The pair of bearings 35 are fixed to both sides of the platen roller shaft 33 and to the outside of the platen roller body 34 with a gap therebetween.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the platen roller holding mechanism 17. The platen roller holding mechanism 17 is a member having a width substantially equal to the width direction of the printer housing 10, and includes a label roll support portion 36, a second label guide portion 37, and a platen roller holding portion 38. The label roll support part 36 corresponds to the second support part described in the claims.

The label roll support portion 36 is a surface having an arcuate cross section disposed on one surface of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 and has a fourth roll support portion 39. The plurality of fourth roll support portions 39 are plate-like members that are erected perpendicularly to the surface of the label support portion 36, and the upper side of the fourth roll support portions 39 can rotate the roll-shaped label continuous body L in the supply portion 3. It is arcuate to support.
Further, the platen roller holding mechanism 17 is provided with two screw through holes 40, and the platen roller holding mechanism 17 is attached to the opening / closing cover 12 by screws (not shown).

The second label guide portion 37 is a surface disposed on the opposite surface of the label roll support portion 36, and forms part of the transport path with the first label guide portion 18 described above. The second label guide is provided with a detection portion window 41, and the second label guide portion 37 and the label roll support portion 36 are integrally formed with each other via a bent portion 17A bent at an acute angle. Yes.
Since the label supply section can be provided larger in an arc shape by forming an acute angle in this way, the roll paper can be supported more stably, the label continuous body L can be squeezed, and Since the label transfer path, which is the distance between the first label guide portion 18 and the second label guide portion 37, is narrowed, the label continuum L can be accurately transferred by the printing portion.
The detector is provided with an issuer 20 that constitutes a part of the detector at the position of the detector window 41, and fluttering of the label continuum L can be suppressed in a narrow transfer path, so that the label can be read with high accuracy. Detection can be performed.

  The pair of platen roller holding portions 38 are disposed at both ends of the platen roller holding mechanism 17, between the label roll support portion 36 and the second label guide portion 37, and below the second label guide portion 37. The platen roller holding portion 38 is integrally formed with the platen roller holding mechanism 17 and is a protruding piece that protrudes outward in a curved shape. The protruding piece is adapted to fit into the platen roller insertion hole 32 </ b> A of the printer body 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view when the cover opening / closing shaft 11, the platen roller 23, and the platen roller holding mechanism 17 are attached to the opening / closing cover 12. The peripheral portion of the opening / closing cover 12 has the above-described configuration, and the cover opening / closing shaft 11 is inserted into the cover opening / closing shaft through holes 12A, 15A provided at one end, so that the opening / closing cover 12 is rotatable with respect to the printer housing 10. The opening / closing cover 12 can be opened and closed with respect to the printer housing 10. At the opposite end, a platen roller shaft 33 between the platen roller main body 34 of the platen roller 23 and the bearing 35 passes through the platen roller holding hole 32B, and the platen roller holding portion 38 of the platen roller holding mechanism 17. Is fitted into the platen roller insertion hole 32A, the platen roller insertion hole 32A is closed, and the platen roller 23 is rotatably supported in the platen roller holding hole 32B. The label roll support portion 36 of the platen roller holding mechanism 17 rotatably supports the roll-shaped label continuous body L, and the plurality of fourth roll support portions 39 support the corresponding second roll support portion 15 and third roll support. Along with the portion 16, a single arc is formed, and the periphery of the label continuum L is supported in a straight line, so that the friction is less than that in a plane form and the label continuum L is transported smoothly. Can do.

  Thus, according to the configuration of the present invention, since the roll paper support part and the roll paper detection part are provided and integrated in the platen roller holding mechanism, each part has fewer parts than the independent parts, and Effects such as simplification and downsizing of the printer can be achieved.

1 Thermal printer (Example 1, Fig. 1)
2 Printer body 3 Label supply unit 4 Label detection unit 5 Label printing unit 6 Control unit 10 Printer housing 11 Cover opening / closing shaft 12 Opening / closing cover 12A Cover opening / closing shaft through hole 13 Label discharge port 14 First roll support unit 15 Second roll support unit 15A Cover opening / closing shaft through hole 16 Third roll support portion 17 Platen roller holding mechanism 18 First label guide portion 19 Label transfer path 20 Light emitter 21 Light receiver 22 Thermal head 23 Platen roller 24 Control board 25 Battery 30 Screw hole 31 Platen Roller holding protrusion 32 Gap 32A Platen roller insertion hole 32B Platen roller holding hole 33 Platen roller shaft 34 Platen roller body 35 Bearing 36 Label roll support part 37 Second label guide part 38 Platen roller holding part 39 Le support 40 threaded through hole 41 detector window

Claims (15)

A printer body having a supply unit for supplying a print medium wound in a roll;
An opening / closing cover provided to be openable / closable with respect to the printer body;
A thermal head provided on the printer body for printing on the print medium;
A platen roller that is detachably provided on the opening / closing cover, is provided at a position facing the thermal head in a closed state, and conveys the print medium;
The printing medium is configured to hold the platen roller on the opening / closing cover when attached to the opening / closing cover, and to release the platen roller from the opening / closing cover when removed from the opening / closing cover. A platen roller holding mechanism for guiding
Have
The said platen roller holding mechanism is a printer which has a 1st guide part which guides the sheet-like part of the said printing medium conveyed toward the said thermal head. The platen roller holding mechanism is attached to the inner surface side of the opening / closing cover,
The printer according to claim 1. The platen roller holding mechanism is provided with a second support portion having a circular arc cross section,
A roll-shaped portion of the print medium is rotatably guided by the second support portion;
The printer according to claim 1 or 2. A first support portion provided on a bottom surface of the printer main body and rotatably supporting a roll-shaped portion of the print medium;
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The second support part is formed with a plurality of ribs.
The printer according to claim 3. A third support portion is formed on the inner surface of the opening / closing cover, and is formed along with the second support portion to form one arc.
The printer according to claim 3 or 5. The third support part is formed with a plurality of ribs.
The printer according to claim 6. The ribs of the second support part and the ribs of the third support part are provided on the same plane perpendicular to the axis of the roll-shaped print medium.
The printer according to claim 7. The opening / closing cover has an insertion port that allows the shaft of the platen roller to be inserted and removed,
The platen roller holding mechanism has a platen roller holding part that closes the insertion port,
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A long hole is formed by the insertion port and the platen roller holder,
The platen roller is movable in the slot.
The printer according to claim 9. The elongated hole extends in a direction in which one end is separated from the thermal head.
The printer according to claim 10. A first detection unit for detecting a sheet-like portion of the print medium;
The first detection unit is attached to the platen roller holding mechanism.
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A second guide portion disposed at a position facing the first guide portion when the open / close cover is in a closed state, and guiding a sheet-like portion of the print medium;
A second detector comprising a light emitter and a light receiver facing the light emitter;
Have
One of the light emitter and the light receiver is provided in the platen roller holding mechanism,
The other of the light emitter and the light receiver is provided on the second guide portion side,
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 12. The first guide portion is provided in proximity to the platen roller.
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 13. The platen roller holding mechanism is fixed to the opening / closing cover with screws,
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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