JPH02155781A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to make a printer small in size while enabling execution of proper printing, by constructing a coupling means so that it maintains a gap between a print head and a platen and can change the angle of inclination of pins for printing to the direction of movement of a carrier. CONSTITUTION:A coupling means 40 is constructed so that it maintains a gap between a print head 30 and a platen 10 and also can change the angle theta of inclination of pins 31 for printing to the direction of movement of a carrier 20. An inclination angle switching device 34 is formed, including pins 32 and 33 provide on the carrier 20, projecting members 3 fixed on the frame 2 of a printer, etc. In order to adjust the angle of inclination by using the inclination angle switching device 34, the carrier 20 is moved farther than a distance of movement on the occasion of printing, so as to make the pin 32 strike on the projecting member 3. Thereby the print head 30 is rotated around a fitting pin 43 and the angle theta of inclination lessens. Since the means is so constructed as to enable the change of the angle theta of inclination as started above, the width of the print head 30 in the direction of feeding of paper, as well as the diameter of the platen 10, can be lessened. Therefore the printer can be made small in size, while proper printing can be executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer that can reduce the size of the entire device and print appropriately.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, a printer includes a platen 50 extending long in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, a carrier 51 provided so as to be movable back and forth in the longitudinal direction of this platen 50, and this carrier 51. It is generally configured to include a print head 52 held by the printer.

Here, in the print head 52, a plurality of print bins 53 are arranged so as to extend in the paper feeding direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the platen 50.

To print characters or the like on paper using the printer, the paper is fed between the print head 52 and the grating 50 along the cylindrical surface of the platen 50, and the carrier
1 is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the platen 50, and during the movement, the print head 52 is driven to selectively project the print bin 53 of the head 51 toward the paper 9 to print.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Recently, many attempts have been made to miniaturize printers so that they can be used in various fields.

However, in conventional printers, the width of the print head 52 in the paper feeding direction increases due to the arrangement structure of the print pins 53, and the width of the print head 52 and the platen 5 increases.
In order to maintain a constant gap from 0, it is necessary to reduce the curvature of the platen portion facing the printing pin, which results in a large diameter platen, which increases the size of the entire printer device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can reduce the size of the entire device and print properly.

The present invention is characterized in that a gap between the head and the platen is maintained, and the inclination angle of the plurality of printing pins can be changed with respect to the moving direction of the carrier.

[Function] By using the connecting means, the gap between the print head and the platen is maintained constant, and the plurality of printing pins arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the platen are tilted at a predetermined inclination with respect to the moving direction of the carrier. Printing is performed by tilting the printer at an angle and driving the print head in that state.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a platen, a carrier provided to be reciprocally movable in the longitudinal direction of the platen, and a print head held by the carrier via a connecting means. A plurality of printing pins of the print head are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the platen, and the connecting means is connected to the printing [Example of actual repair] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes a platen 10 that extends long in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in the figure (in the direction of arrows A and B in FIG. 2).
And, a carrier shaft 2 is installed in the longitudinal direction of this platen 10.
2. Carrier 2 provided so as to be reciprocally movable via 22
0, a print head 30 held on this carrier 20 via a connecting means 40, and a carrier 20 of the print head 30.
and an inclination angle setting means for adjusting the inclination angle with respect to the moving direction.

Here, in the present invention, in order to reduce the size of the entire printer device, the connecting means 40 and the inclination angle setting means are organically and integrally constructed.

That is, the connecting means 40 maintains the gap between the print head 30 and the platen 10, and also supports the movement direction of the carrier 20 (arrow A) of the multiple printing pin 3 shown in FIG. 5(a).
, B direction). In this embodiment, the connecting means 40 has a positioning hole 41 bored through the carrier body 21 shown in FIG. Angle adjustment hole 42, print head 30
The mountings provided are pins 43, 44 as well as washers 46, wave springs 47 and stops shown in FIG. ! 48 and the like.

Therefore, the print head 30 is attached to pins 43 and 44.
are held on the carrier body 21 by being fastened by holding members 45 and 45 through the positioning holes 41 and the inclination angle adjusting holes 42, respectively.

Here, the print head 30 is attached to a reference surface 23 formed on the lower surface of the carrier body 21 with a washer 46 and a pin 43.
．． 44 etc., and is elastically pressed by a wave spring 47. Therefore, the printing head 30 can be rotated to tilt the head 30 with respect to the carrier 20, and functions as a tilt angle setting means.

Next, the effect will be explained.

To print characters etc. on paper using this printer 1,
The paper is fed between the platen 10 and the print head 30 along the cylindrical surface of the platen 10, and the carrier 20
is reciprocated in the directions of arrows A and B, and during the movement, the print head 30 is driven to selectively project the printing pin 31 toward the paper that is in contact with the platen 1O to print characters, etc.

At this time, since the print head 30 is pressed against the reference surface 23 of the carrier 20 by the elastic force of the wave spring 47 of the holding member 45, the print head 30 will not be misaligned during printing, and proper printing will be possible. can get.

Here, if you want to print characters particularly clearly,
In this embodiment, the inclination angle is changed using the inclination angle switching device 34 shown in FIG. 3.

Here, the inclination angle switching device 34 includes a bin 32.33 provided on the carrier 20, a protrusion member 3.3 fixed on the frame 2 of the printer 1, and the like. To adjust the tilt angle using the tilt angle switching device 34,
The carrier 20 is moved in the direction of arrow B longer than the moving distance when printing, and the bottle 32 is moved to the right side of the figure by the protruding member 3.
hit it against. Then, the print head 30 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow around the attached bin 43, and the inclination angle θ becomes smaller.

At this time, since the print head 30 is elastically pressed against the reference surface 23 of the carrier 20 by the wave spring 47 of the holding member 45, the resistance generated when the print head 30 rotates is absorbed.

Therefore, the print head 30 can be rotated smoothly.

When the inclination angle θ of the multiple printing bin 31 with respect to the directions of arrows A and B becomes small, the carrier 20 is reciprocated in the directions of arrows A and B at a slower rate than usual to perform printing.

At this time, each adjacent printing pin 31 shown in FIG. 5(a)
．． 31, the distance in the directions of arrows E and F is narrower than in the normal case, and the moving speed (printing speed) of the carrier is slow, so the distance between the characters printed in the directions of arrows A and B and arrows E and F is smaller than in the normal case.
The dot spacing in the direction is narrower than in the normal case. Therefore,
Characters will be printed clearly.

At this time, since the print head 30 is securely held with respect to the carrier 20 via the connecting means 40, the inclination angle θ does not change during printing.

According to this embodiment, the plurality of printing pins 31 of the print head 30 are connected in the longitudinal direction of the platen 10 (arrow A,
B direction), and the bins 31 are arranged in such a way that the inclination angle θ can be changed with respect to the moving direction of the carrier 20 (arrow A, B direction), so that the width of the print head 30 in the paper feeding direction can be changed. can be made smaller. Further, since it is not necessary to reduce the curvature of the portion of the platen that faces the printing pin 31, the platen 10 can be made small in diameter.

Therefore, the entire device can be downsized and printing can be performed appropriately.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the print head 30 is
The case has been described in which the connecting means 40 is attached by rotating the pin 43 about the bottle 43 so that the printing pin 31 is tilted with respect to the moving direction of the carrier 20 as shown in FIG. 5(a). However, the method of tilting the printing pin 31 is not limited to this. For example, a mounting pin 43 may be provided in the center of the print head 30, and a positioning hole 41 may be mounted on the carrier 20 in a manner that corresponds to the mounting bin 43. The bottle 43 is formed to fit into the hole 41, and the print head 30 is rotated around the center of the carrier 20 as shown in FIG. 5(b). It may also be tilted with respect to the direction of movement.

[Effect of the invention] A plurality of printing pins of the print head are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the platen, and the inclination angle of the bin can be changed with respect to the moving direction of the A-year by using a connecting means. With this configuration, the entire device can be downsized and printing can be performed appropriately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the external appearance, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the position of the print head relative to the carrier when performing normal printing, and FIG. The figure shows the position of the print head relative to the carrier when printing particularly clearly. Figure 5 (a) shows an example of tilting the printing pin with respect to the carrier. Figure 5 (b) shows the position of the print head relative to the carrier. A diagram showing another example of tilting the pins with respect to the carrier,
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of a conventional printer. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer, 10... Platen, 20... Carrier, 30... Print head, 31... Printing pin, 40... Connection means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A platen, a carrier provided to be reciprocally movable in the longitudinal direction of the platen, and a print head held by the carrier via a connecting means, and a plurality of printing pins of the print head are connected to the platen. are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction, and the connecting means is configured to maintain a gap between the print head and the platen, and the inclination angle of the plurality of printing pins can be changed with respect to the moving direction of the carrier. Featured printers.