JPH0544143Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] This invention uses a card or roll paper as a print recording medium, sends the medium through a guide section to a printing position, and has a printing head and a platen opposite thereto. The present invention relates to a positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer such as a time recorder that performs printing using the printer head unit.

[Prior art and its problems] Conventionally, in this type of printer, a configuration in which a print recording medium feeding guide section and a printing mechanism section including a printer head are assembled integrally within the printer body has been common. However, with this configuration, there were problems in that it was not possible to assemble efficiently and it was difficult to achieve accurate positional accuracy such as printing gaps.

Therefore, in recent years, it has been proposed to configure a printer head unit that can be individually assembled to the printer body, independent of the feed guide section, and incorporate both the printer head and the platen facing it. .

According to the above configuration, the printing gap between the printer head and the platen can be set in advance during sub-assembly of the unit, making it easier to manage the dimensions, making assembly more efficient, and solving the problems of the conventional printers. can be significantly improved.

However, in this case, when assembling the printer, complicated adjustments are required to accurately determine the relative position of the printer head unit with respect to the print recording medium feed guide, making it difficult to set the position. Problems such as smooth feeding of the recording medium being obstructed, or the recording medium not responding well to the platen surface, leading to deterioration in print quality, were unavoidable.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention solves the above-mentioned problems in a printer equipped with a printer head unit, and eliminates the need for complicated adjustment work when assembling the printer head unit into the printer body. The object of the present invention is to provide a positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer that can easily and accurately achieve positional accuracy for a printer, and that enables smooth feeding of a print recording medium and high-quality printing. .

[Summary of the invention] In order to achieve the above object, the invention basically consists of a guide section provided on the printer body to guide the insertion of the print recording medium, and a guide section for guiding the print recording medium through the printer. A printer comprising a printer head and a platen facing the printer head with a printing gap therebetween, and a printer head unit assembled on the printer main body in order to perform a printing operation on a printed recording medium. A guide surface is formed on the printer main body to slidably guide the printer head unit at least in the depth direction of the printer that intersects with the print line direction, and the guide surface is substantially parallel to the printing surface of the platen along the print line direction. A contact surface is formed on the back side of the printer head unit in the depth direction of the printer, and a fixed receiving portion is provided protrudingly on the printer main body opposite to the contact surface, so that when the printer head unit is assembled to the printer main body, A printer in a printer characterized in that the printer head unit is slid in the depth direction of the printer along the guide surface, and a contact surface of the printer head unit is brought into contact with the receiving part. This paper proposes a head unit positioning device.

According to the above configuration, by sliding the printer head unit in the depth direction along the guide surface formed on the printer main body, the contact surface provided on the back side of the unit can be moved to the receiving surface protruding from the printer main body. This automatically determines the relative position of the printer head unit to the printer body, in other words, the relative position to the feed guide, making it easy and accurate without the need for complicated adjustment work. It is possible to position the printer in the depth direction.

In the specific configuration of the present invention, the platen is formed of a plate material having a rectangular cross section, and one side along the longitudinal direction of the platen is configured as the printing surface of the platen, and the other side on the back side is substantially the same as the printing surface. They are formed parallel to each other, and the other side is configured as the contact surface, thereby simplifying the structure and reducing costs.

In addition, in a specific configuration of the present invention, as described in the following embodiments, a head fixing plate is provided which connects the printer head unit together, and an adjustment screw is arranged between the fixing plate and the printer body. By adjusting the screwing amount, the printer head unit can be easily positioned in the lateral direction, that is, in the printing line direction.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment shows a time recorder as the printer.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a printer main body, 2 is a card guide that is fixedly arranged in the main body 1 in the vertical direction and constitutes a feeding guide section that guides a time card as a print recording medium inserted in the direction of the arrow;
3 and 4 are card feeding rollers that further feed the time card guided by the card guide to the printing position below; 5 is a printer head having a printer head 7 and a platen 8 across a printing gap 6 aligned with the card guide 2; A unit 9 is a frame forming a part of the printer for assembling the printer head unit 5 on the printer main body 1 in a predetermined position as described later, and 10 is a control unit for setting required data as a time card. be.

The printer head 7 is of a structure found in general printers, such as a matrix wire dot type or a thermal transfer type.

In FIG. 1, the left-right direction is the front-back direction of the printer, the right side is the front side, the left side is the back side, and therefore, the direction toward the left is the depth direction of the printer.

The printing line direction in which the printing operation is performed is perpendicular to the paper surface.

The printer head unit 5 is sub-assembled separately from the printer main body 1, and the print gap 6 is set and adjusted to a predetermined dimension in advance. Then, the sub-assembled unit 5 is assembled onto the printer main body 1 as shown in the figure, and its relative position with respect to the printer main body 1, especially its positional relationship with the card guide 2, is accurately set by the positioning device according to the present invention. .

As shown in the exploded view of FIG. 2, in order to support the printer head unit 5 on the frame 9 of the printer body, a head mounting plate 12 is placed below the unit 5, and a head fixing plate 13 is placed below that. They are placed one after the other and are superimposed. The head mounting plate 12 is attached and fixed to the frame 9 with bolts 15 via attachment ears 14 which are bent and formed by press processing in a hanging state at both ends thereof, and constitute a part of the printer main body. .

Next, a plurality of mounting bolts 16 are installed in the vertical direction. That is, these bolts 16 engage mounting ears 17 protruding from the unit 5, pass through holes or elongated holes 18 formed through the lower mounting plate 12, and then pass through screw holes 19 formed in the lower fixing plate. is screwed onto. Therefore, when the bolts 16 are loosened, the upper unit 5 and the lower fixing plate 13 are integrated, and within the allowable range of the elongated hole 18, relative to the head mounting plate 12 located between them. It is now possible to move to During this movement, the upper surface of the mounting plate 12 serves as a guide surface for sliding movement of the unit 5.

Note that, as mentioned above, the mounting plate 12 is connected to the unit 5.
Since the unit 5 is sandwiched from above by the fixed plate 13, there is no risk that the unit 5 will come off from the main body even if the bolt 16 is loosened during positioning operation, and it also compensates for warpage of the mounting plate 12, achieving high assembly accuracy. can be obtained.

The head mounting plate 12 has an opening 20 formed at a position corresponding to the printing gap 6, and a pair of receiving portions 21 constituting positioning means adjacent to the opening 20 are arranged in a spaced apart position in the printing line direction. It is set up. These receiving parts 21 include an opening 20 and a long hole 18.
It is also manufactured integrally from a single plate by press working.

The distance between the pair of receiving parts 21 is set to such a size that the back surface of both ends of the platen 8 can come into contact with them.

The platen 8 is arranged along the printing line and is formed of a metal plate having a flat rectangular cross section, and one side of the front side thereof constitutes a printing surface 8a facing the printing gap 6. , the other side surface on the back side constitutes a contact surface 8b corresponding to the receiving portion 21. The platen plate material has a printing surface 8a.
It is processed by polishing or the like so that the parallelism between the contact surface 8b and the contact surface 8b is sufficiently accurate, and the material is easily and inexpensively available.

As described above, the printer head unit 5 is assembled to the printer main body 1 by fixing it to the head mounting plate 12 in the manner described above.

On the other hand, regarding the positioning of the unit 5 with respect to the main body 1, especially in the depth direction of the printer, which is the most important, as shown in FIG.
With the unit 5 loosened, place it on the head mounting plate 12.
Slide the contact surface 8b on the pair of receiving parts 2
It is automatically set by bringing it into contact with 1 and does not require any adjustment.

As a result, the printing surface 8a of the platen is accurately set at a predetermined position relative to the card guide 2,
This does not interfere with the time card K as a print recording medium to be sent, and high quality printing is guaranteed.

In addition, since the receiving part 21 is integrally formed by cutting and raising the mounting plate 12 by press working, the receiving part 21
The positional relationship with 2 is fixed, and high positional accuracy can be obtained by slightly finishing the abutting end surface with the abutting surface.

In addition, in the printing line direction perpendicular to the depth direction, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, an adjustment screw is screwed into an angle portion 13a bent by press working on one side of the head fixing plate 13. 23.

The position adjustment in the printing line direction is performed by sliding the printer head unit 5 in the horizontal direction after setting it in the depth direction described above. In particular, as shown in FIG. While it is in contact with the frame 9 on the main body side,
If you rotate it and adjust the screwing amount, the head fixing plate 13 will move together with the unit 5, so temporarily tighten the bolt 16 at an appropriate position, try printing, and check the printing condition in the row direction. By completely tightening all the bolts 16 at a position where a predetermined print quality is obtained, the assembly and positioning of the unit 5 to the printer body is completed.

Note that the adjustment of the position in the print line direction has the advantage that by providing the adjustment screw 23 as in the embodiment, it is easy to slide the fixing plate 13 and grasp the adjustment amount. , it is also possible to use a suitable adjustment tool.

Further, a configuration in which the adjustment screw 23 is screwed into the frame 9 side is also possible.

Further, in the embodiment, the back surface of the platen is used as the contact surface, but it is also possible to configure a suitable portion of the rear side of the unit as the contact surface in addition to the platen.

As described above, the present invention may include various modified configurations and is not limited to the embodiments.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, according to the invention, the abutting surface provided on the back side of the printer head unit abuts on the receiving portion protruding from the printer body, thereby,
The relative position of the printer head unit to the printer body, in other words, the relative position to the feed guide section, is automatically determined, and the printer can be accurately positioned in the depth direction without any complicated adjustment work. , the assembly work can be carried out extremely efficiently, and it can contribute to the production of a printer with a simple structure and low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show aspects of an embodiment of the present invention as a time recorder. Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the main parts of the time recorder, and Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the printer head unit portion of the time recorder shown in Fig. 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the printer head unit in the assembled state as seen from line 3-3 in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the printer head unit in the assembled state as seen from line 4-4 in Figure 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the head unit portion. 1... Printer main body, 5... Printer head unit, 8... Platen, 8b... Contact surface, 12
...Head mounting plate, 13...Head fixing plate, 21
... Receiving part, 23 ... Adjustment screw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A guide section provided on the printer body for guiding the insertion of a print recording medium, and for performing a printing operation on the print recording medium guided and sent by the guide section. In a printer comprising a printer head and a platen facing the printer head with a printing gap therebetween, the printer head unit is assembled on the printer main body, and the printer head unit is arranged at least in a direction intersecting the print line direction. A guide surface is formed on the printer main body to guide the printer in a slidable manner in the depth direction of the printer, and a contact surface that is substantially parallel to the printing surface of the platen along the printing line is connected to the rear surface of the printer head unit in the depth direction of the printer. A fixed receiving part is formed on the side and protrudes onto the printer main body opposite to the contact surface, and when the printer head unit is assembled to the printer main body,
A printer head unit in a printer, characterized in that the printer head unit is slid along the guide surface in the depth direction of the printer, and a contact surface of the printer head unit is brought into contact with the receiving portion. positioning device. (2) The platen is formed of a plate with a rectangular cross section, and one side along the length of the plate is the printing surface of the platen, and the other side parallel to the one side is the contact surface. 1. A positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer according to claim 1. (3) A head placement plate on which the printer head unit is placed is fixed on the frame of the printer body, the top surface of the placement plate is configured as the guide surface, and the receiving portion is formed on the placement plate by press working. A positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer according to claim 1, which is formed by bending. (4) A head fixing plate is arranged below the head mounting plate in parallel with the head mounting plate, and a connecting member is inserted between the fixing plate and the printer head unit through a long hole formed in the head mounting plate. A positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer according to claim 3, wherein the printer head unit is fixed integrally through a printer head unit. (5) On one side of the head fixing plate and the printer body,
An adjustment screw that can adjust the amount of screwing in along the printing line of the printer is screwed in, and the adjustment screw can be brought into contact with the other, and the printing of the printer head unit can be adjusted by adjusting the screwing amount of the adjustment screw. A positioning device for a printer head unit in a printer according to claim 4, which performs positioning along the row direction.