JPH04284281A - Thermal line printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it easy to detach a thermal head from a printer body. CONSTITUTION:A protruding piece 2c to which a bearing 10 of a head support body 6 is to be engaged and a positioner 2d of a thermal head 5 are provided on side plates 2a and 2b. Further, a stopper plate 14 at an upper part of the head support body 6 is held by a holding hole 15b having a notch. Thus, the thermal head can be detached easily and the stopper can be held in a stable and parallel position.

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 a printer body through 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. There is also a risk that special tools are 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 disposed in a housing having side plates at both ends and rotatably supported by bearings of the side plates. a printer main body, a drive unit that rotates the platen roller, a head support that rotatably supports a bearing provided at a rear end on a side plate of the printer main body, and a drive unit that rotates the platen roller; A line-type device whose rear end is rotatably supported on the bearing side and whose tip is hooked to the tip of the head support and is elastically biased toward the platen roller. two stopper plates are slidably fitted between the rails provided on the top of the head support, and a long window longer than the width of the stopper plate is provided in the side plate; A locking portion consisting of a locking hole into which the end portion is locked is provided, and the end portion of the stopper plate is inserted into the locking portion through a long window and fixed by being locked in the locking hole, and A notch is provided at the end of the side of the locking hole where the stopper plate touches.

[0007]

[Operation] With this configuration, the thermal head can be easily removed from the printer body, and the slideable stopper plate of the head support can be inserted into the locking part provided on the side plate to hold it in a parallel and stable position. Can be locked.

[0008] Therefore, the head support and the printer main body can be fixed and detached extremely easily.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

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, 1 is 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, 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 an L-shaped protrusion 2c, which is fitted into the bearing part 10 of the head support 6, and the head support 6 is rotated around this part. It is rotatable. The bearing part 10 has a C-shaped cross section, with a groove provided in a part of the cylinder for attaching and removing the protruding piece 2c to the bearing part 10. Further, one end of an L-shaped shaft fixing plate 11 is attached to the left and right sides of the head support body 6, and a recess 11a is provided at the other end of this shaft fixing plate 11. Furthermore, positioning grooves 2d are provided in the side plates 2a and 2b for positioning and arranging the head portion in the housing 1. Further, a shaft 12 that rotatably supports the thermal head 5 is provided at the rear end of the thermal head, and both ends of the shaft 12 fit into the recesses 11a of the left and right shaft fixing plates 11 and are positioned. The head portion is positioned by fitting into the lowest part of the groove 2d and is configured to be attached to the housing 1 side. In order to prevent the shaft 12 from falling off, E-rings 13 are attached to both ends.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, 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 is rotatable around the bearing 10 of the head support 6 and the protrusions 2c of the side plates 2a, 2b, and the head can be rotated from the operating state shown in FIG. With this, the head portion can be placed in 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 part 15 consists of a long window 15a that is longer than the width of the stopper plate 14 and a locking hole 15b with a notch, and the stopper plate 14 is inserted through the long window 15a and has a hook part formed at the end of the stopper plate 14. 14a can be locked and fixed in the locking hole 15b.

Furthermore, a notch 15c is provided at the end of the locking hole 15b on the side where the stopper plate 14 contacts, so that the hook portion 14a formed at the end of the stopper plate 14 can be engaged with only the straight portion. In the locked state, it can be fixed in a parallel and stable position.

Here, the head support 6 and the thermal head 5
The spring 16 provided between the stopper plate 1
4 is elastically biased upward, so that it does not come off from the locking hole 15b.

In this locked state, the stopper plate 14
When the thermal head 5 is fixed in a stable position parallel to the side plates 2a and 2b, the thermal head 5 is stably biased against the platen roller 3.

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

Further, 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 3. It becomes possible to place it in an accurate position.

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 Figure 3. 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.

Furthermore, when replacing the thermal head 5 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 2d 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.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the thermal head can be easily removed from the printer body, and the stopper plate can be held in a parallel and stable position by the notch provided in the locking hole. It can be stopped.

[0025] Therefore, the head support and the printer main body can be fixed and removed extremely easily.

[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 head support bearing 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 Projection piece 2d 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 Bearing part 11 Shaft fixing part 11a Dent 12 Shaft 13 Rail 14 Stopper plate 14a Hook part 14b Protrusion 15 Locking part 15a Long window 15b Locking hole 15c Notch 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 drive unit for rotating the platen roller, and a side plate of the printer main body. a line that rotatably supports a bearing provided at a rear end thereof, is disposed such that its leading end is caught on the leading end of the head support, and is elastically biased toward the platen roller; type thermal head, two stopper plates are slidably fitted between rails provided on the upper part of the head support, and a long window longer than the width of the stopper plate and a stopper plate are provided in the side plate. A locking part consisting of a locking hole into which the end of the stopper plate is locked is provided, and the end of the stopper plate is inserted into the locking part through a long window and fixed by being locked in the locking hole, and A thermal line printer in which a notch is provided at the end of the side of the locking hole that the stopper plate contacts.