JPH04284280A - Thermal line printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a structure wherein a thermal head can be detached from a printer body easily. CONSTITUTION:On side plates 2a and 2b of a printer body, guide grooves 2c for guiding a shaft 10 of a support body 6 of a head and positioning grooves 2e for bearings 2d and a thermal head 5 are provided. As the shaft 10 provided on the head support body is guided to the guide grooves 2c provided at the bearings on the side plates 2a and 2b, the thermal head can be attached and detached easily.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal line printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional thermal line printer, a recording paper is sandwiched between a platen roller and a thermal head, and the thermal head prints on the recording paper while the platen roller is rotated and fed by a motor.

A head portion consisting of a thermal head and a head support supporting the thermal head is supported by the printer body using a common shaft, and the head support is fixed to the printer body with screws.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the head support body and the thermal head are removed for maintenance of the thermal head, etc., the shaft must be removed from the printer body, and if the fixing screw is removed, it will be lost. Special tools are also required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal line printer whose thermal head can be easily removed.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the thermal line printer of the present invention has a platen roller that is rotatably supported in a housing having side plates at both ends by bearings of the side plates. A printer main body arranged, a drive unit that rotates the platen roller, a head support member arranged such that a bearing part provided at a rear end portion of the printer main body is rotatably supported by a side plate of the printer main body, and a head support member of the head support member. A line type in which the rear end is rotatably supported on the bearing side, and the tip is arranged so as to be caught on the tip of the head support and is elastically biased toward the platen roller. A thermal head is provided, a groove for guiding the bearing portion of the head support body is provided in the bearing portion of the side plate of the printer main body, and a shaft is provided in the bearing portion of the head support body.

[0007]

[Operation] With this configuration, it is easy to remove the thermal head from the printer body, and the shaft provided in the head support body is guided by the guide groove provided in the bearing part of the side plate, so it is easy to remove the thermal head from the printer body. It can be placed in the bearing part.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the head of this printer in an open state, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of this printer during printing. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a printer housing, and side plates 2a and 2b are provided at both ends. A platen roller 3 whose surface is made of rubber is rotatably supported by bearings on side plates 2a and 2b, and these parts constitute a printer body.

Further, on the side plate 2a side, a motor 4 having a motor pinion gear 4a attached to a rotating shaft, and an idler gear 4b meshing with the motor pinion gear 4a and a platen roller gear 4c attached to the shaft of the platen roller 3 are arranged. , These parts constitute a paper feed drive section. Here, the rotational motion of the motor 4 is first transmitted to the motor pinion gear 4a, and then transmitted to the idler gear 4b, which is an integral combination of a large gear with a large diameter and a gear with a small diameter, which mesh with the motor pinion gear 4a, and is then decelerated, and further to the platen roller gear. 4c and rotates the platen roller 3.

A line type thermal head 5 is also provided along the platen roller 3. The thermal head 5 is constructed by arranging a plurality of heat generating parts in a line on a substrate, and is held by a metal head support 6 and placed between the side plates 2a and 2b. It consists of A recording paper 7 is sandwiched between the thermal head 5 and the platen roller 3, and in this state, the motor 4 rotates the platen roller 3 to perform printing. Note that the thermal head 5 has a head connector 5a.
A print signal is inputted via. Further, the thermal head 5 is pressed against the platen roller 3 only during printing, and the thermal head 5 can be raised or lowered by moving the release arm 8.

The head section of this embodiment will now be explained in detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the side plates 2a and 2b are each provided with a guide groove 2c leading to the bearing part, and is fitted onto a shaft 10 provided in the bearing part of the head support 6, with the center being centered. As a result, the head support 6 is rotatable.

Further, in this embodiment, the head support 6 has a simple bearing part 2 because the shaft 10 provided in the bearing part is guided by the guide groove 2c provided in the side plates 2a and 2b.
It can be placed in d.

Further, one end of an L-shaped shaft fixing plate 11 is attached to the left and right sides of the head support 6, and the other end of this shaft fixing plate 11 is provided with a recess 11a. Furthermore, positioning grooves 2e are provided in the side plates 2a and 2b for positioning and arranging the head portion in the housing 1. In addition, a thermal head 5 is provided at the rear end of the thermal head.
A shaft 12 is provided which rotatably supports the shaft, and both ends of the shaft 12 fit into the recesses 11a of the left and right shaft fixing plates 11, and also fit into the lowest part of the positioning groove 2e, thereby positioning the head part. It is configured to be attached to the housing 1 side. In order to prevent the shaft 12 from falling off, there are E-rings 13 on both ends.
is installed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a spring 16 that presses the thermal head 5 toward the platen roller 3 is provided between the thermal head 5 and the head support 6.
Due to the elasticity of the spring 16, the thermal head 5 is elastically supported by the head support 6 in a state where it is urged toward the platen roller 3 side. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a substantially L-shaped stopper piece 6a provided at the distal end of a metal base plate 5b to which the substrate of the thermal head 5 is fixed to a substantially inverted L-shaped stopper piece 6a at the distal end of the head support 6. The shaped protrusion 5c is caught, and the thermal head 5a,
It is supported by being biased forward by a spring 16 from the back side of the base plate 5b.

As described above, the printer of this embodiment has the shaft 10 of the head support 6 and the bearing portions 2 of the side plates 2a, 2b.
The head can be rotated about d, and the head can be rotated from the usage state shown in FIG. 1 to an open state as shown in FIG.

That is, a rail 13 is provided on the upper part of the head support 6, and a substantially L-shaped stopper plate 14 is slidably fitted between the rails 13.
As shown in FIG. 7, one end of the head portion slides toward the side plates 2a and 2b, thereby being inserted into the locking portion 15 and remaining in the locked state, thereby fixing the head portion. The locking portion 15 consists of a long window 15a that is longer than the width of the stopper plate 14 and a locking hole 15b.
The stopper plate 14 is inserted from the stopper plate 14 through the stopper plate 14 and has a structure in which a hook portion 14a formed at the end thereof is locked in the locking hole 15b and fixed. Here, the stopper plate 14 is moved by the spring 16 provided between the head support 6 and the thermal head 5.
is elastically biased upward, so the locking hole 1
5b.

FIG. 6 shows the tip of the head portion, and a band-shaped guide sheet 18 is provided to cover the gap 17 between the protruding piece 5c and the stopper piece 6a.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, positioning grooves 2c are provided in the side plates 2a and 2b attached to the housing 1, and the shaft 12 attached to the thermal head 5 is fitted therein, so that the thermal head 5 can be attached to the platen roller. It becomes possible to arrange the position at an accurate position with respect to 3.

Next, the operation of the thermal line printer of this embodiment will be explained. First, pull the release arm 8 toward you to release the thermal head 5 from the platen roller 3.
Insert the recording paper 7 as shown in FIG. Then, push the release arm 8 to move the thermal head 5 to the platen roller 3.
The thermal head 5 prints on the recording paper 7 by moving it to the side and pressing it, and by driving the motor 4 to give rotational motion to the platen roller 3 and giving a print signal to the head connector 5a.

When the thermal head 5 is replaced for maintenance or the like, the hook part 14a of the stopper plate 14 is removed from the locking part 15, the shaft 12 stuck in the positioning groove 2e is removed, and the recess 11a of the shaft fixing plate 11 is removed. If the head section is opened while being held in the position shown in FIG. 2, the thermal head 5 can be removed from the head support 6. Further, the head part and the printer main body are fixed by inserting the stopper plate 14 of the head support 6 into the locking parts 15 of the side plates 2a and 2b and urging it upward by the elasticity of the spring 16. It can be done easily.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is easy to remove the thermal head from the printer body, and the shaft provided in the head support body is guided by the guide groove provided in the bearing portion of the side plate. Therefore, it can be easily placed in the bearing part of the side plate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermal line printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] A perspective view of the thermal line printer with the head section opened.

[Figure 3] A partially cutaway perspective view of the thermal line printer when printing

[Fig. 4] A perspective view showing the side plate and the bearing part of the head support of the thermal line printer.

[Figure 5] Enlarged view showing the side plate and bearing part of the head support of the same thermal line printer.

[Figure 6] A perspective view of the tip of the head of the thermal line printer.

[Fig. 7] A perspective view showing a state in which the stopper plate of the thermal line printer is locked to the side plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Housing 2a Side plate 2b Side plate 2c Guide groove 2d Bearing part 2e Positioning groove 3 Platen roller 4 Motor 4a Motor pinion gear 4b Idler gear 4c Platen roller gear 5 Thermal head 5a Head connector 5b Base plate 5c Projection piece 6 Head support 7 Recording paper 8 Release arm 10 Shaft 11 Shaft fixing plate 11a Dent 12 Shaft 13 Rail 14 Stopper plate 14a Hook part 14b Protrusion 15 Locking part 15a Long window 15b Locking hole 16 Spring 17 Gap

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer main body in which a platen roller is rotatably supported by a bearing part of the side plate in a housing provided with side plates on both sides; a driving part for rotating the platen roller; A head support body is arranged such that a side plate rotatably supports a bearing portion provided at a rear end portion, and a rear end portion of the head support body is rotatably supported on the side of the bearing portion, and a tip portion thereof a line-type thermal head disposed so as to be caught on the tip of the head support and elastically biased toward the platen roller; A thermal line printer, wherein a groove is provided for guiding a bearing portion of the head support, and a shaft is provided in the bearing portion of the head support.