JPH05169764A - Thermosensitive printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a thermosensitive printer capable of contriving miniaturization in the constitution and enhancement of reliability. CONSTITUTION:A thermosensitive printer is integrally constituted by mounting the fitting part of a fitting member 32 to the recess 43 of the heat release plate 24 of a thermal head 25, engaging one end of a plurality of pinching pieces 37 with the grooves 39, 40 of the heat release plate 24 and positioning the other end of the force-pinching pieces 37 on the end face of the fitting member 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printing apparatus, such as a thermal printer head, which generates heat to perform thermal printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a typical conventional thermal printer 1, and FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the thermal printer 1. The thermal printer 1 includes a thermal head 5 including an insulating substrate 2 made of an electrically insulating material such as ceramics, and a heat dissipation plate 4 obtained by processing a metal such as aluminum to which the insulating substrate 2 is fixed via an adhesive layer 3. Equipped with. A large number of heating elements 6 are linearly arranged on the insulating substrate 2 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. A drive circuit element 7 for individually driving the heating elements 6 to generate heat in accordance with print data is covered with a protective film 8.

On the other hand, an external wiring board 10 for inputting print data and various control signals to the insulating board 2 from the outside via a connector 9 is fixed on the heat dissipation plate 4. A range from the external wiring board 10 to the drive circuit element 7 is covered with the head cover 11. Insulating substrate 2 of the heat sink 4
A plurality of screw holes 12 are formed at a depth d1 on the opposite end face. The heat radiating plate 4 is fixed to a mounting member 13 for mounting the thermal head 5 on a body frame (not shown) of the thermal printer 1 so that the thermal head 5 can be angularly displaced. Insertion holes 14 are formed in the mounting member 13 at positions corresponding to the screw holes 12, and the screws 15 are screwed into the screw holes 1 through the insertion holes 14.
The thermal head 5 is fixed to the mounting member 13 by being screwed onto the mounting member 13. A platen roller 16 is in contact with the heating element 6, and a thermosensitive recording paper 17 is sandwiched between the platen roller 16 and the heating element 6 to perform thermal printing.

[0004]

In the conventional thermal printer 1 described above, the thermal head 5 is mounted on the mounting member 13 using the screw 15. Therefore, it is necessary to form a plurality of screw holes 12 in the heat dissipation plate 4, as shown in FIG. 6 and an enlarged sectional view of FIG. Since it is necessary to mount the thermal head 5 on the mounting member 13 with sufficient strength, it is difficult to reduce the depth d1 and the effective length d2 of the screw hole 12, and therefore the thickness of the heat sink 4 cannot be suppressed. There is a problem that it is difficult to miniaturize the thermal head 5. Further, the head of the screw 15 projects on the side opposite to the thermal head 5 of the mounting member 13, which may cause a collision with other components of the thermal printer 1, resulting in reduced reliability. Have challenges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above technical problems and to provide a thermal printing apparatus which can be downsized and whose reliability is remarkably improved.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a heat-sensitive device comprising a wiring board, in which a plurality of printing elements that generate heat to perform heat-sensitive printing are linearly arranged, is attached to a mounting member via a heat-dissipating member. In the printing apparatus, the heat dissipation member has a groove on a side surface thereof, one end of the pinching piece is locked in the groove part, and the mounting member is pinched by the other end so that the mounting member is integrated with the heat dissipation member. It is a thermal printing device characterized by being fixed.

[0007]

The heat-sensitive printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a wiring board on which printing elements are linearly arranged, and a heat dissipation member to which the wiring board is fixed at one end surface. A mounting member is attached to the end surface of the heat dissipation member opposite to the wiring board. Further, after the mounting member is mounted on the heat radiating member, the mounting member and the heat radiating member are pinched and integrally fixed by using a pinching piece whose one end is engaged with the groove of the heat radiating member.

That is, the present invention eliminates the need to form a screw hole into which a fixing screw is screwed in the heat radiating member as in the prior art, and reduces the plate thickness of the heat radiating member as much as possible. Can be promoted. In addition, the situation in which the head of the fixing screw projects from the mounting member is prevented, which prevents the projecting portion of the screw from coming into contact with other components and causing a failure, which reduces reliability. Can be prevented.

[0009]

1 is a sectional view of a thermal printer 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the thermal printer 21 in use, and FIG. 3 is a thermal printer 21.
FIG. The thermal printer 21 includes a thermal head 25 including an insulating substrate 22 made of an electrically insulating material such as ceramic, and a heat radiating plate 24 obtained by processing a metal such as aluminum to which the insulating substrate 22 is fixed via an adhesive layer 23. Equipped with. A large number of heating elements 26 are linearly arranged on the insulating substrate 22 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. The drive circuit element 27 that individually drives the heating elements 26 to generate heat corresponding to the print data is covered with a protective film 28.

On the other hand, the insulating substrate 22 is provided on the heat sink 24.
An external wiring board 30 for inputting print data and various control signals from the outside via a connector 29 is fixedly attached. A range from the external wiring board 30 to the drive circuit element 27 is covered with the head cover 31.

The heat dissipation plate 24 is integrally fixed to the mounting member 32 by a structure described later. Mounting member 32
Is attached to a body frame (not shown) of the thermal printer 21 so as to be angularly displaceable around a pivot 33. The thermal head 25 is a spring of a pressing spring 34 whose one end is fixed to the opposite side of the attachment member 32 from the thermal head 25. The platen roller 35 is pressed by force. That is, the thermal recording paper 3 is formed between the platen roller 35 and
6 is clamped to perform thermal printing.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the heat radiating plate 24 of this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the pinching piece 37. Reference is also made to these drawings. The heat dissipation plate 24 has a recess 38 in which the insulating substrate 22 is mounted, and the insulating substrate 2 mounted in the recess 38
The upper surface of 2 is substantially the same as the upper surface of the external wiring board 30.
Grooves 39 and 40 that penetrate the heat dissipation plate 24 in the longitudinal direction are formed on the side portions of the heat dissipation plate 24 at the upstream end surface and the downstream end surface of the recording paper 36 in the transport direction.

The grooves 39 and 40 have the same depth W1, and the lengths of the bottom portions 39a and 40a in the vertical direction in FIG. 4 are set to the length T1. Inner peripheral surfaces of the grooves 39 and 40 on the opposite side of the recess 38 are formed as tapered surfaces 41 and 42 that gradually incline upward in FIG. The respective tapered surfaces 41, 42 form an angle θ with the horizontal direction in FIG. 4, and the outer end portions are formed at a height T2.

A dent 43 having a depth T3 is formed on the end surface of the heat dissipation plate 24 opposite to the recess 38 so as to penetrate the heat dissipation plate 24 in the longitudinal direction thereof, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface direction of FIG. The left and right ends of the recess 43 in FIG. 4 are configured as support walls 44 and 45 having widths W2 and W3. It should be noted that when the recess 43 is formed, it is desirable in that the displacement of the mounting member 32 on the heat dissipation plate 24 can be prevented.

The rectangular plate-shaped mounting portion 32a of the mounting member 32 is housed in the recess 43 of the heat dissipation plate 24, and two clamping pieces 46 shown in FIG. 5 are used for each groove 39, 40, for example. The radiator plate 24 and the mounting member 32 are fixed by mounting the radiator plate 24 near both ends in the longitudinal direction.

The pressing piece 37 as described above is formed of a synthetic resin material or a metal material having elasticity and has a substantially lateral U shape. That is, the flat plate-shaped connecting portion 46 facing the side portions of the heat dissipation plate 24 and the mounting member 32 is connected to the upper and lower ends of the connecting portion 46 by curving in a circular arc shape, and as they are separated from the connecting portion 46, the connecting portions 46 are bent toward each other. In addition, after passing through the maximum proximity state, a pair of pinching portions 47 and 48 each having a shape that is bent and displaced again in a direction away from each other are included.

To assemble the thermal printer 25 in this embodiment, after the adhesive layer 23 is applied on the heat dissipation plate 24, the insulating substrate 22 and the external wiring substrate 30 are fixed, and the head cover 31 is attached thereon. In the thermal head 25 configured as described above, one end of the pivot 33
A mounting member 32, which is angularly displaceably mounted on a machine frame (not shown) of the thermal printer 21, is fitted into the recess 43 of the heat dissipation plate 24 via the four pinching pieces 3 in this embodiment.
Two ends of each of the seven are mounted in the grooves 39 and 40 of the heat dissipation plate 24 near both ends in the longitudinal direction. After that, the pressing pieces 47 are strongly pressed toward the heat dissipation plate 24, so that the pressing portions 47 and 48 spread apart against each other against the spring force, and the pressing portions 48 of the pressing pieces 37 are attached to the mounting member 32. The heat radiating plate 24 reaches the end surface on the opposite side and engages with it.

As described above, in the thermal printer 21 of the present embodiment, when the heat dissipation plate 24 of the thermal head 25 is mounted on the mounting member 32, the screwing work as described in the section of the prior art is unnecessary, and the heat dissipation plate is eliminated. The screw hole in 24 is unnecessary. Therefore, the thickness of the heat dissipation plate 24 can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional one, and the thermal head 25,
Therefore, the thermal printer 21 can be downsized. Further, in the present embodiment, since the screw is not used unlike the conventional example, it is possible to prevent the head portion of the screw from protruding from the side opposite to the thermal head 25 of the mounting member 32, and other components included in the thermal printer 21. It is possible to prevent the collision with and improve the reliability significantly.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a recess is formed in the end surface of the heat dissipation member opposite to the wiring board, and the mounting member is mounted in the recess. Further, after the mounting member is mounted on the heat radiating member, the mounting member and the heat radiating member are integrally fixed by using a pinching piece whose one end is engaged with the groove of the heat radiating member.

That is, the present invention eliminates the need for forming a screw hole into which a fixing screw is screwed in the heat radiating member as in the prior art, and reduces the plate thickness of the heat radiating member as much as possible to achieve a compact structure. Can be promoted. Further, the situation in which the head of the fixing screw projects from the mounting member is prevented, which prevents the situation in which the projecting portion comes into contact with other components to cause a failure and reduce reliability. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a thermal printer 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a usage state of the thermal printer 21 according to the present embodiment.

3 is a right side view of the thermal printer 21. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a heat dissipation plate 38.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a sandwiching piece 37.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional thermal printer 1.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the thermal printer 1.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a heat dissipation plate 4.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Thermal Printer 22 Insulating Substrate 24 Heat Sink 25 Thermal Head 32 Mounting Member 37 Clamping Piece 38 Recesses 39, 40 Groove 43 Recess

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat-sensitive printing apparatus comprising a wiring board, in which a plurality of printing elements that generate heat to perform heat-sensitive printing are linearly arranged, and is attached to a mounting member via a heat-dissipating member. A heat-sensitive device characterized in that it has a groove portion on its side surface, one end of a pressing piece is locked in the groove portion, and the mounting member is clamped at the other end so that the mounting member is integrally fixed to the heat dissipation member. Printing equipment.