JPH0529768U - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a printer in which the print gap does not change with the movement of the carriage even when the guide rail, the carriage shaft, and the platen are warped or bent. A printer 10 of the present invention comprises a carriage shaft 11 arranged substantially parallel to a platen 12, and a print head 14 which is rotatably and slidably supported by the carriage shaft 11 and faces the platen 12. The mounted carriage 13, a guide rail 21 arranged substantially parallel to the carriage shaft 11 for restricting the rotation direction of the carriage 13, and a support rail 22 arranged at a predetermined interval from the guide rail 21. Is provided between the guide rail 21 and the support rail 22, and
The support rail 22 is provided with adjusting means 23 and 25 that actuate a reaction force to bend the guide rail 21.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a printer or the like, and more particularly to a guide mechanism for a carriage in a serial printer.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A conventional printer will be described based on the perspective view of FIG. 6 and the side sectional view of FIG. 7. First, in the printer 50 in the figure, 51 is a carriage, and a carriage 51 is mounted on the carriage 51, and a print head 53 facing the platen 52 is mounted on the carriage 51. Have been combined. The carriage 51 is slidably and rotatably supported by the carriage shaft 54. Further, two rollers 55a and 55b are arranged on the upper surface of the carriage 51, and the rollers 55a and 55b sandwich the guide rail 56 by the urging force of the compression spring 57. Therefore, in the printer 50 in the figure, when a spacing motor (not shown) is driven, the carriage 51 moves along the carriage shaft 54, and its rotation direction is set to the guide rail 56 via the rollers 55a and 55b. Regulated.

On the other hand, a print gap setting mechanism is formed from both ends of the carriage shaft 54. According to the thickness of the print medium (not shown) conveyed on the platen 52, the gap between the print head 53 and the print medium, that is, the so-called print gap G, is set to an optimum value in consideration of print quality and the like. It is a mechanism for. First, in the configuration of the print gap setting mechanism, reference numeral 60 is a stepping motor, and a rotation shaft thereof is provided with a motor gear 61 and a slit disk 62 in which a plurality of slits are formed in the vicinity of the outer periphery at equal pitches. Further, 63 is a slit detecting element, which counts the slits passing through the detecting portion when the slit disk 62 is rotated by the driving of the stepping motor 60. The result counted by the slit detection element is output to a printer control unit (not shown) via a wire or the like.

Next, reference numeral 64 in the drawing denotes a pair of idle gears connected by a connecting shaft 65, and one of them is in mesh with a motor gear 61 of the stepping motor 60. A pinion gear 66 is meshed with each idle gear 64, and a rack 67 is meshed with each pinion gear 66. Both end surfaces of a carriage shaft 54 supporting the carriage 51 are fixed to the rack 67, and both ends of the carriage shaft 54 are fitted in guide holes 68 of a side frame (not shown).

In the operation procedure of the print gap setting mechanism configured as described above, first, the motor gear 61 is rotated in the CW direction by driving the stepping motor 60, and the carriage shaft 54 fixed to the rack 67. Then, the carriage 51 supported by the carriage shaft 54 is displaced downward, and the tip of the print head 53 is pressed against a print medium (not shown) on the platen 52. At the same time, the stop position of the stepping motor 60 that is forcibly stopped by the pressure contact is detected by the printer control unit (not shown) by stopping the count signal from the slit detection element 63. After that, the motor gear 61 is rotated by a predetermined amount in the CCW direction with reference to the stop position of the stepping motor 60, whereby the optimum print gap G is formed between the print head 53 and the print medium (not shown). Set.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-described conventional printer, the guide rail 56, the carriage shaft 54, and the platen 52 warp or bend due to manufacturing reasons, the weight of the carriage 51, or the like. Therefore, the printing set by the printing gap setting mechanism is performed. The gap G changes with the movement of the carriage 51, and the following problems occur. That is, the darkness of the printed print is not uniform, and the print quality is degraded. Further, when the optimum print gap G is set small in order to increase the print speed, the print gap G disappears depending on the movement position of the carriage 51, and the leading end portion of the print head 53 is a print medium (not shown). ), The print medium is jammed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even when the guide rail, the carriage shaft, and the platen are warped or bent, the print gap is changed as the carriage moves. The objective is to provide a printer that does not change.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The printer of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, includes a carriage shaft arranged substantially parallel to the platen, a print head that is rotatably and slidably supported by the carriage shaft and that faces the platen. The mounted carriage, a guide rail that is arranged substantially parallel to the carriage shaft and that regulates the rotation direction of the carriage, a support rail that is arranged at a predetermined interval from the guide rail, and a guide rail. The adjusting means is provided between the support rails, and the adjusting means is provided to apply a reaction force to the support rails to bend the guide rails.

[0009]

[Action]

 In the printer of the present invention, when the guide rail is bent by applying a reaction force to the support rail by the adjusting means, the carriage is rotated by the bending of the guide rail, and the carriage is rotated in accordance with the rotation direction. The print head mounted on the printer moves toward or away from the platen.

[0010]

【Example】

 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view thereof. First, in FIG. 1, 11 is a carriage shaft, and this carriage shaft 11 is arranged parallel to the platen 12. A carriage 13 is slidably and rotatably supported on the carriage shaft 11, and a print head 14 facing the platen 12 is mounted on the carriage 13. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on the upper surface of the carriage 13, two rollers 15a and 15b are rotatably arranged. One roller 15a is attached to the upper surface of the carriage 13, and the other roller 15a is attached to the upper surface of the carriage 13. The roller 15b is attached to the movable plate 16. The movable plate 16 has one end rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the carriage 13 with a mounting screw 17, and the other end urged by a compression spring 18 toward the roller 15a. Therefore, the rollers 15a and 15b sandwich the guide rail 21 and the support rail 22 which will be described later with the pressure of the compression spring 18. A print gap setting mechanism is formed from both ends of the carriage shaft 11 as in the conventional example. This mechanism overlaps with the conventional example, and is therefore omitted in the description of the present embodiment.

Next, reference numeral 21 in the drawing denotes a guide rail arranged in parallel with the carriage shaft 11, and the guide rails 21 are attached to both ends of the opposing support rails 22 with a predetermined space therebetween. Further, the guide rail 21 is made of, for example, a plate thinner than the support rail 22 so that the guide rail 21 has a lower rigidity than the support rail 22. On the other hand, an adjusting screw 23 screwed into the support rail 22 is disposed between the rails 21 and 22, and a lock nut 24 for locking rotation is incorporated in the screw portion of the adjusting screw 23. Has been. The head of the adjusting screw 23 is sandwiched by the guide rail 21 and the holding plate 25 attached to the guide rail 21. The number of these adjusting screws 23 and the like provided is not limited to the number (three) shown in FIG. 2, and may be appropriately provided in consideration of the movement range of the carriage and the like.

Next, the operating state of the printer 10 of this embodiment will be described. In the printer 10 of the illustrated example, when a spacing motor (not shown) is driven, the carriage 13 moves along the carriage shaft 11, and the rotation direction thereof is regulated by the guide rail 21. On the other hand, when the adjusting screw 23 arranged between the guide rail 21 and the support rail 22 is rotated, a reaction force acts on the support rail 22 and the guide rail 21 having a lower rigidity than the support rail 22 bends. That is, when the adjusting screw 23 is rotated in the tightening direction, the guide rail 21 is pulled toward the support rail 22 side by the holding plate 25, and when the adjusting screw 23 is rotated in the pulling direction, the guide rail 21 is adjusted. The head of 23 pushes it out to the side opposite to the support rail 22. As a result, in the printer 10, the contact position P 1 between the guide rail 21 and the roller 15a is displaced, the carriage 13 is rotated according to the displacement direction, and the print gap G is changed. That is, when the guide rail 21 is pulled toward the support rail 22 side, the carriage 13 rotates in the direction A (FIG. 3) to reduce the printing gap G, and when the guide rail 21 is pushed out, the carriage 13 moves. The print gap G becomes larger by rotating in the B direction (FIG. 3).

Therefore, in the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the change of the print gap G due to the movement of the carriage 13 can be eliminated by performing the adjustment work described below by utilizing the above operation state. .. That is, the print gap when the carriage 13 is located at the right end of the carriage shaft 11, for example, is set as the reference gap value G1. Next, the carriage 13 is moved to the position where the adjusting screw 23 is provided, and the print gap value G2 at that position is compared with the previously set reference gap value G1. At this time, if an error occurs in both gap values G1-G2 due to warpage or bending of each component, assembling accuracy, etc., the adjustment screw 23 is rotated by a spanner or the like to rotate the carriage 13 to rotate the print gap. The value G2 is adjusted so as to match the reference gap value G1. Then, when the adjustment is completed, the rotation of the adjusting screw 23 is locked by the lock nut 24. After that, the carriage 13 is moved to the position where another adjusting screw 23 is arranged, and the same adjustment as described above is performed, and this is carried out for all the adjusting screws 23 appropriately arranged within the moving range of the carriage 13. To do.

By performing such adjustment work, the print gap G can be made uniform in the moving range of the carriage 13 regardless of the warp or bending of the carriage shaft 11, the guide rail 21 and the platen 12. Therefore, in the printer 10 that has been subjected to the above adjustment work, the optimum print gap G1 set by the print gap setting mechanism becomes uniform in the moving range of the carriage 13, and the print quality is greatly improved and the optimum print is achieved. Even if the gap G1 is small, the print medium is not scratched by the tip of the print head 14, and the jamming of the print medium is eliminated.

As a method of attaching the holding plate 25, other than the method described in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the correction rail 22 is formed by bending portions formed above and below the holding plate 25a. Alternatively, the head of the adjusting screw 23 may be sandwiched by the holding plate 25a and the guide rail 21 in this state. Further, in the description of this embodiment, the adjusting screw 23 and the holding plate 25 are used as the adjusting means for bending the guide rail 21, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 5, for example. Alternatively, the guide rail 21 and the support rail 22 may be coaxially provided with screw holes having different threading directions, and the adjusting screws 23a may be respectively screwed into these screw holes. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the holding plate 25, and the number of parts can be reduced.

[0016]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the printer of the present invention, the adjusting rail applies a reaction force to the supporting rail to bend the guide rail, thereby causing the carriage whose rotation direction is restricted by the guide rail. It can be rotated to change the print gap. Therefore, by appropriately adjusting the adjusting means in the moving range of the carriage and adjusting the print gap at the position where each adjusting means is provided to a predetermined value, the carriage shaft, the guide rail, and the platen are warped and bent. Regardless of this, it is possible to make the print gap uniform. As a result, the print quality is significantly improved, and even when the optimum print gap is reduced to increase the print speed, the print medium does not jam. Further, the warp and deflection of each member described above increases in proportion to the length thereof, but the printer of the present invention makes the printing gap uniform by performing a predetermined adjustment work regardless of the member length. Therefore, it is particularly effective for a printer or the like which is compatible with a wide print medium. Further, in the printer of the present invention, since the print gap can be uniformly adjusted after the parts are assembled, it is not necessary to demand strict part accuracy, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a main part showing another example of the adjusting means.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential part showing still another example of the adjusting means.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional printer.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a conventional printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Carriage Shaft 13 Carriage 21 Guide Rail 22 Support Rail 23 Adjusting Screw 25 Holding Plate

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Hiroyuki Yamaoka 20-10 Sakaemachi, Takasaki-shi, Gunma Offshore Information Systems Co., Ltd. (72) Makoto Shimizu 20-10 Sakaemachi, Takasaki-shi Gunma Prefecture Offshore Corporation Report Systems Inside (72) Creator Kenzo Sugiyama 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A carriage shaft disposed substantially parallel to a platen, a carriage that is rotatably and slidably supported by the carriage shaft, and has a print head that faces the platen, and a carriage shaft. Guide rails arranged substantially parallel to each other for restricting the rotation direction of the carriage, support rails arranged at a predetermined distance from the guide rails, and arranged between the guide rails and the support rails. In addition, the printer is provided with an adjusting means for bending the guide rail by applying a reaction force to the support rail.