JPH021331A - Thermal printer printing pressure change-over mechanism for price tag - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable appropriate printing pressure in accordance with the thickness or rigidity of price tag by providing a pressure energization member which comes in contact with a support member for a thermal head and also a switching lever for the energization member to be set to either the first or the second position. CONSTITUTION:If a switching lever 53 is set to a state as indicated by a two-dot chain line, a drive shaft 50 moves in a guide groove 55 to stay in the first position P1, and the distance from the first position P1 to a position where a tip section for pressure energization 61 come sin contact with a support member 62 (thermal head energization member 64), is the first distance D1. Subsequently, the energization force of a spring for pressure energization 58 increased, and in turn, the pressure energization force to be brought to the thermal head energization member 64 by the tip section 61 increases. As a result, a printing pressure between a thermal head 34 and a platen 35 increases to a value suited to the price tag. In addition, if the lever 53 is set to a state as indicated by a one-dot chain line, and the drive shaft 50 is adjusted to the second position P2, the distance is the second distance D2 and the printing pressure decreases due to a reduction in the energization force.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer for price tags, and in particular, to appropriately switch the printing pressure depending on the type of price tag or its thickness and rigidity. The present invention relates to a printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer for price tags.

(Prior Art) FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional label continuum l. This continuous label body 1 is made by temporarily attaching a plurality of label pieces 3 whose back surfaces are coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive onto a band-shaped mount 2 whose surface is coated with a release agent. It has a configuration in which a position detection mark 4 is printed on the back side of the screen. Various information regarding the product is printed on the label piece 3 and then attached to the product as a price tag. In addition, a pilot hole (not shown) that does not use the pressure-sensitive adhesive is also used as a price tag.

However, the thickness and rigidity of these price tags are different between the label continuous body 1 and the pilot hole. In addition, in a so-called thermal printer that has a printing mechanism that prints on the price tag by passing the price tag between the platen and the thermal head, the printing between the platen and the thermal head depends on the type of price tag to be loaded. The pressure can be set in advance.

However, it is better to load the above-mentioned continuous label 1 and pilot hole into one printing device as needed and perform various types of printing, since each is dedicated for the continuous label 1 or pilot hole. The advantage is that the equipment cost is lower than preparing a printing device. However, there is a problem in that the label continuous body l and the pilot hole are different in thickness and rigidity, and the required printing pressure is also different. Therefore, in the case of a thermal printer for price tags that prints by appropriately loading the label continuous body 1 and the pilot hole, it is necessary to switch the printing pressure depending on the loaded label continuous body 1 or the pilot hole. It has been desired to develop a simple mechanism for this purpose.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its problem is to maintain appropriate printing pressure even when price tags having various thicknesses and rigidities are loaded into a single price tag printing device. A price tag that makes it possible to print multiple types of price tags with a thermal printer by easily changing the printing pressure depending on the price tag loaded. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention provides a thermal printer for price tags that prints on price tags by passing a label continuous body, pilot hole, or other price tag between a platen and a thermal head. a support member for the head; a rotation fixed shaft rotatably supported by the support member for the thermal head; a pressure biasing member that abuts the support member; It has a drive shaft that can be set to two positions, and a switching operation lever for operating this drive shaft, and by operating this switching operation lever, the contact pressure between the platen and the thermal head can be easily increased. This is a printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer for price tags, which is characterized in that printing pressure can be switched.

(Function) In the printing pressure switching mechanism of the thermal printer for price tags according to the present invention, by operating the switching operation lever, the drive shaft is moved to the first or second position, and the drive shaft is driven. By making it possible to change the distance between the press urging member connected to the shaft and the thermal head support member that comes into contact with it,
The biasing force applied to the thermal head by the pressing biasing member can be changed in stages, and by changing the biasing force, the pressing force that presses the thermal head against the platen can be switched, and the pressure generated between the thermal head and the platen can be changed. It is possible to switch the printing pressure in at least two stages.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of a portable price tag thermal printer IO equipped with a printing pressure switching mechanism for a price tag thermal printer according to the present embodiment, with a side cover removed.

This portable thermal printer 10 for price tags has a machine frame 11, and a vertical part 11A of this frame 11 is provided with a supply section 12 and a winding section 13 for a continuous label body l.
A passage 14 for the continuous label body 1 is formed between the winding section 13 and the winding section 13. That is, the label continuous body l fed out from the supply section 12 passes through the printing section 15 and the turning section 16 and is wound up by the winding section 13 .

In addition, the portable price tag thermal printer IO is the machine frame 1.
1, a data input section 17 consisting of a digital key and a function key, and a data display section 18
has. Further, a label cutting mechanism 19 is provided facing the turning section 16. This portable thermal printer for price tags also includes a power supply connector 20 and a transformer 2.
1. Power switch 22, full keyboard connection connector 23, pen scanner connection connector 24, R5232C
A connector 25 for connection and a loading section 27 for a memory card 26 as an external storage medium are provided.

The label continuous body 1 is wound into a roll and attached to the supply shaft 28 of the supply section 12, and its width direction is regulated by a label presser 29. The continuous label l to be fed out passes through the guide part 30 of the continuous label l, and then passes through the label guide shaft 31 and the label guide shaft 3.
It is guided by a label width regulating member 32 attached to 1.

The label continuous body 1 is transported while its position is detected by a label position sensor 33 that detects the position detection mark 4,
It is supplied between the thermal head 34 and platen 35 of the printing section 15.

After information based on predetermined data is printed in this printing ffB15, the information is transferred to the turning section 16. Depending on the loading mode of the label continuous body 1, the converting section 16 selects either to peel the label pieces 3 from the mount 2 and take them out one by one, or to roll them up together with the mount 2 after printing. I can do something. That is, when peeling the label pieces 3 one by one, only the backing paper 2 is turned by the turning pin 36, and the peeled label pieces 3 are received by the label receiver 37. In addition, when transporting the label piece 3 together with the mount 2 without peeling it off, it is sufficient to guide the continuous label l to pass above the label receiver 37 and wind it up on the winding nia 38 of the @ take-up section 13. .

Note that the label receiver 37 can be rotated to open (see the imaginary line in FIG. 1), so that the mount 2 can be easily inserted through the label receiver 37. Further, a label take-out sensor 39 is provided in the turning section 16 of the label continuous body 1, and when the sensor 39 detects that a label piece 3 has been taken out, a detection signal is sent to start printing on the next label piece 3. It is designed to output .

Furthermore, the middle portion 15 is provided with an opening/closing mechanism 40 for the thermal head 34 and a printing pressure switching mechanism 41. By opening and closing the opening/closing mechanism 40, the label continuous body 1 is loaded into the printing unit 15, and by switching the printing pressure n and the mechanism 41, the thermal head 1 is loaded between the price tag, the label continuous body 1, or the pilot hole 34 and the platen 35. It is possible to switch the printing pressure by changing the contact pressure between the two.

The portable thermal printer for price tags 1O is provided with a motor 42 for driving the transfer, which is connected to the platen 35 by a timing belt 43, and the platen 35 and the winding core 35 are connected by a belt 44 to drive the motor. 42 to transmit rotational driving force. Further, a control circuit board 45 (illustrated by the imaginary line in FIG. 1) is provided. moreover,
A portable handle 46 is provided on the top of the machine frame 11 so that it can be raised and lowered, making the entire portable price tag thermal printer 10 portable.

Next, a more detailed mechanism of the opening/closing mechanism 40 of the thermal head 34 and the printing pressure switching mechanism 41 will be explained first.
The explanation will be given based on the figures.

That is, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional side view of the opening/closing mechanism 40 and printing pressure switching mechanism 41 of the thermal heads 3, 4. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the printing pressure switching mechanism 41 includes a drive shaft 50 and a pressing member 51. As shown in FIGS. The drive shaft 50 is connected to a switching operating lever 53 via a driving rotating member 52, and can be set to a first position P1 and a second position P2 by operating the switching operating lever 53. be. That is, the drive shaft 50 is movably fitted loosely into the arc-shaped guide grooves 55 formed in the pair of auxiliary machine frames 54 (FIG. 2), and
5 and the second position 22, which is the other end of the arc-shaped guide groove 55.

The pressing biasing member 51 is loosely fitted into the central portion of the drive shaft 50 so as to be relatively rotatable, and includes a driving side spring receiving portion 56, a pressing biasing side spring receiving portion 57, and the like. It has a press-biasing splinter 58 interposed between a driving-side splinter receiving portion 56 and a press-biasing-side spring receiving portion 57 . That is, one end of the driving side spring receiving part 56 is connected to the driving shaft 50, and the central sheath part 60 of the pressing biasing side spring receiving part 57 is loosely fitted into the central column part 59 inside thereof. Due to the urging force of the pressing and urging splinter 58 between both members, the pressing and urging tip 61 of the pressing and urging side spring receiving part 57 is thermally connected to the support member 62 of the cutter 34 (the thermal spatula 1 to
The biasing member 64) is adapted to come into contact with the biasing member 64).

The first distance D1 from the position where the pressing biasing tip 61 contacts the support member 62 (thermal head biasing member 64) to the first position IPI of the drive shaft 50 is as follows:
It is assumed that the distance is set smaller than the second distance D2 up to the second position P2.

The support member 62 of the thermal head 34 is attached to the thermal spatula 1 with a member 63 and a member 6 for urging the thermal spatula 1.
4. That is, the thermal head mounting member 63 fixes the thermal head 34 on the side facing the platen 35, and also fixes the thermal head 34 on the side facing the platen 35.
It is rotatably supported by a fixed shaft for rotation 65 installed in the.

More specifically, in order to attach the thermal head, a loose fitting hole 66 having an oval cross section is formed in the member 63, and a protrusion 67 (see FIG. 2) is provided at the center of the loose fitting hole 66 having an oval cross section. ), the thermal head can be attached by forming a through hole 68 having a circular cross section in the central portion of the member 63 in the length direction.

Further, the loose fitting hole 66 is formed so as to taper from its outer end toward the protrusion 67 located inwardly. Therefore, when installing the thermal spatula 1, the member 63 can swing in the long sleeve direction with respect to the platen 35 using the protrusion 67 as a fulcrum (see arrow A in FIG. 2). As a result, the thermal spatula l-34 oscillates in response to changes in the contact pressure in the width direction of the label continuous body l loaded between it and the platen 35, transferred and printed, and the printing pressure is increased above the above. This is to make it as uniform as possible in the width direction. It should be noted that such a change in contact pressure is caused not only by assembly errors of each component but also by the state of transport of the label continuous body 1 and other price tags during transport.

The thermal head can be attached by engaging the hanging portion 69 of the member 63 with the thermal head biasing member 64, and the thermal head biasing member 64 can be attached to the rotating fixed shaft 65. (See arrow B in Figures 1 and 3)
. A link mechanism 70 is connected to the lower end of the thermal head biasing member 64, and a contact roller 7 is located at the end of the link mechanism 70.
1 or in conjunction with the rotation of the thermal head biasing member 64, the thermal head biasing member 64 moves toward and away from the label continuous body 1 about a fixed shaft 72.

Furthermore, an opening/closing drive member 73 for opening/closing the thermal head is connected to the 1 m back portion of the thermal head biasing member 64.
This can be operated by an opening/closing operating lever 74 provided integrally with the opening/closing driving member 73.

In the above configuration, the case where the thermal head 34 is opened and closed will be explained.

First, when the opening/closing operating lever 74 is rotated to the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. The rotation fixed shaft 65
34 support members 62, that is, thermal head mounting members 63 and thermal head biasing members 64 are attached to the thermal spatula 1 using the fulcrum as a fulcrum, and the pressing member 51 is attached to the thermal spatula 1.
By rotating the thermal head 34 counterclockwise in the figure against the biasing force of the pressing biasing sublink 58, the thermal head 34 can be separated from the platen 35, that is, the print section 15 can be opened. At this time, the contact roller 71 is retracted to a position retracted from the passage 14 of the continuous label body 1 by the action of the link mechanism 70, allowing the continuous label body 1 to be inserted.

Furthermore, when the opening/closing operation lever 74 is rotated to the position indicated by the dashed line in FIGS. 1 and 3 after loading the continuous label l, the opening/closing drive member 73 or the thermal head biasing member 64 is activated. After releasing the pressure, the thermal head mounting member 63 and the thermal head biasing member 64 are biased toward the platen 35 by the biasing force of the biasing spring 58 of the printing pressure switching mechanism 41. The platen 35 and the thermal head 34 are brought into contact with each other with a predetermined pressure, that is, printing pressure.

However, in this state, the switching operation lever 5
3 into the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 1 and 3, the drive shaft 50 moves within the arc-shaped guide groove 55 and reaches the first position P1, and the drive-side spring receiving portion The central pillar 7sy of 56, 59 penetrates deeper into the central sheath part 60 of the pressing biasing side spring receiving part 58, and the pressing biasing tip part 61 is inserted into the support member 6 from the first position Pi.
2 (thermal head biasing member 64) is the first interval Di, the biasing force of the press biasing sublink 58 is increased, and as a result, the pressure biasing tip 61 Thermal head biasing fls: The pressing force against R64 increases. Thermal head 34
The printing pressure between the label continuous body 1 and the platen 35 is increased, and the printing pressure can be made suitable for a prepared hole having greater rigidity and smaller adhesion with the thermal head 34 compared to the label continuous body 1.

Conversely, the switching operation lever 53 can be
If the drive shaft 50 is moved to the position indicated by the dashed line in the figure, the drive shaft 50
moves to the second position P2 and retreats from the central column part 59 of the driving side sublink receiving part 56 or the central sheath part 60 of the pressing biasing side spring receiving part 58, and moves to the second position P2.
From P 2 to the pressing biasing tip 61 or the support member 62
Since the distance to the position where it contacts the thermal head biasing member 64 is the second distance D2, the biasing force exerted by the drive-side splinter receiving portion 56 is reduced, and contrary to the above, the required printing pressure is increased. The printing pressure can be made suitable for small continuous labels.

In the present invention, the configuration of the pressure biasing member 5 or the support member 62 of the thermal head 34 is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration, and can be arbitrarily changed. It may be configured to switch in stages or more.

Further, the pressure biasing tip portion 61 of the pressure biasing side spring receiving portion 57 may be pressed against the member 63 for mounting the thermal head.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the pressing force member can be operated in at least two stages using the switching operation lever, and the pressing force between the thermal head and the platen can be set at each position. Therefore, it is possible to ensure an appropriate printing pressure depending on the thickness or rigidity of the price tag serving as the printing medium, and to perform clear and accurate printing with a single thermal printer for price tags.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional and side view of a portable price tag thermal printer 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an I of FIG.
I-II line sectional view, Figure 3 is the same, thermal head 34
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the opening/closing mechanism 40 and the printing pressure switching mechanism 41, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the continuous label body l. l. 2. 3. 4. 10°11°11A. 12゜13゜14. l5. 16°17°18. 19. 20. 21°22. 23. 24. Continuous label mount label piece, mark for position detection, thermal printer for portable price tag, frame a, vertical section of machine frame 11 supply section of continuous label 1 winding section of continuous label l passage of continuous label 1; Printing section, conversion section, data input section, data display section, label cutting mechanism, power supply connection connector, transformer, power supply swift full keyboard connection connector, pen scanner VC connection connector 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30°31°32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. R3232C connection connector Memory card Memory card 26 loading section Label continuum l supply shaft Label presser Label continuum 1 guide section Label guide shaft Label width regulating member Label position sensor Thermal head Platen Turning pin Label receiver, winding core Label removal Opening/closing mechanism of sensor thermal head 34 Print pressure switching mechanism Motor timing belt, round belt 45. 46. 50. 51°52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60°61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. , board, handle, drive shaft, pressing biasing member, rotating member for driving, auxiliary machine frame for a pair of switching operation levers, arcuate guide groove, drive side spring receiver, press biasing side spring receiver, press Biasing spring center pillar part central sheath part, tip part for pressing and biasing, support member for thermal head 34, thermal head mounting member thermal head biasing member rotating fixed shaft, loose fitting hole with oval cross section, protrusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fixed shaft 73 of link a structure 70...
Opening/closing driving member 74, . . ., opening/closing operation lever Pl, . . ., first position P2 of drive shaft 50. . 11. Second position D1 of drive shaft 50. ．． First distance D2 from the position where the pressing biasing tip 61 abuts the support member 62 (thermal head biasing member 64) to the first position PI of the drive shaft 50. , :p, second interval A to the second digit 2ZP2,
For the thermal head with a nod, the swinging force direction of the member 63 is B, and the rotating direction of the support member 62 of the thermal head 34 is patented by Sato Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal price tag printer that prints on a price tag by passing the price tag between a platen and a thermal head, there is provided a support member for the thermal head, and a circuit that rotatably supports the support member for the thermal head. a fixed shaft for motion; a pressing force member that contacts the support member; a drive shaft that is connected to the pressure force member and can be set to at least a first and a second position; and a switching operation that operates the drive shaft. A printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer for price tags, comprising a lever; (2) A thermal printer for price tags that prints on price tags by passing the price tag between a platen and a thermal head, which includes a support member for the thermal head, and a circuit that rotatably supports the support member for the thermal head. a fixed shaft for motion; a pressing force member that contacts the support member; an auxiliary machine frame provided along the pressure force member and having an arcuate guide groove; and connected to the pressure force member. , a drive shaft that can be loosely fitted into the arc-shaped guide groove and set to at least a first and second position; a drive rotation member connected to the drive shaft; and a switch for operating the drive rotation member. 1. A printing pressure switching mechanism for a thermal printer for price tags, comprising: (3) The supporting member for the thermal head is constituted by a thermal head mounting member to which the thermal head is attached, and a thermal head biasing member that is in contact with the pressing biasing member. A printing switching mechanism of a thermal printer for price tags according to item 1 or 2. (4) The pressing biasing member includes a driving side spring receiving portion connected to the drive shaft, a pressing urging side spring receiving portion that comes into contact with the thermal head biasing member, and these driving side spring receiving portions and the pressing side spring receiving portion. A printing switch for a thermal printer for price tags as set forth in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the switch includes a pressure urging spring interposed between the urging side spring receiving portions. mechanism.