JPH0684094B2 - Printer head crimping device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an assembly structure of a thermal head of a thermal printer, and more particularly to a platen in conjunction with an opening / closing lid in a roll paper storage part constituting a portable printer. The present invention relates to a printer head crimping device for crimping.

[Conventional technology]

Today, various types of printers have been developed and put into practical use as data output means of computer processing devices. In particular,
A thermal printer having a thermal head of a thermal type or a thermal transfer type is widely used because of its simple mechanism and small size. Therefore, for example, this type of thermal printer is preferably used in a portable computer processing device (terminal device or the like).

However, this type of thermal printer can print out by pressing the thermal head from above the printing paper to the platen that sequentially feeds the roll-shaped printing paper. Therefore, in this type of printer, when the print paper is replenished or replaced, it is necessary to separate the printer head from the platen so as not to damage the head surface of the printer head. For this reason,
The printer head is provided with an operation lever that can be pressed against or separated from the platen at any time, and is configured to be manually operated by an operator.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional typical thermal printer. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 designates a printer frame. A platen 12 is rotatably supported on the printer frame 10 via a support shaft 14, and a thermal head 16 is supported so that it can be pressed against the platen 12. It is rotatably supported by a shaft 18. A spring for elastically pressing and contacting the thermal head 16 to the platen 12 side is provided on the side surface of the thermal head 16 opposite to the side contacting the platen 12.
A support plate 22 having 20 is provided, and both ends of the support plate 22 are fixed to the printer frame 10, respectively. Also,
An electric motor 24 is provided on one side of the printer frame 10, and the drive shaft of the electric motor 24 is appropriately coupled to the support shaft 14 of the platen 12 via a gear mechanism 26. Therefore, the print paper is supplied from the side between the platen 12 and the thermal head 16 thus configured, and the print-out paper is sequentially sent out upward. In this case, when supplying or replacing the print paper,
On the other hand, in order to separate the thermal head 16 in the pressure-bonded state against the elastic force of the spring 20, a protrusion 28 that is connected to a part of the thermal head 16 is movably projected on one side of the printer frame 10. The protrusion 28 is configured to be operated via an operation lever 30 and a link lever 32 pivotally attached to the printer frame 10. In this case, a switch 34 that is operated by the operating lever 30 is provided, and by operating the operating lever 30 in the direction of the arrow, it is possible to detect the state where the thermal head 16 separates from the platen 12 (that is, the head-up state). It is preferable to configure it. The thermal head 16 is further provided with a connector 36, a temperature sensor 38, and a paper sensor (not shown).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the above-described conventional thermal printer, after the print paper is replenished or replaced, the operation of pressing the thermal head with the operation lever 30 is often forgotten, and the print paper may not be printed out. In particular, such a situation often occurs in a portable terminal device or the like in which a printer is built in together with paper. Therefore, such an operation not only complicates the replacement or replacement of print paper, but also There is a drawback that the handling of the device is troublesome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to interlock with an opening / closing operation of an opening / closing lid provided in a part of a casing when a printer integrated with a computer processing device is incorporated in a required casing, particularly when replenishing and exchanging print paper. (EN) A pressure-applying device for a printer head capable of easily and reliably achieving pressure-bonding and separating operations of the head with respect to a platen.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

A printer head crimping device according to the present invention comprises a thermal printer thermal head installed inside a casing having an opening / closing lid for supplying or exchanging print paper to a platen for supplying print paper. Pivotally held so that it can be elastically crimped,
In a printer head crimping device configured to crimp or separate from a platen by displacing a part of the thermal head via an operation lever, a support arm is provided on an opening / closing lid, and a part of the support arm is provided. A pivot is pivotally attached to the support shaft so as to be openable and closable, a pin is provided on a part of the support arm, and the pin is engaged with the other end of a swing rod having one end pivotally supported. It is characterized in that the operation lever is linked so as to be interlockable with a link lever.

In the crimping device for the printer head described above, if the swinging rod is connected to the coil spring so as to have a tensile elasticity in the opening direction of the opening / closing lid, the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid can be smoothly performed.

In addition, a sliding groove for slidably locking the pin protruding from the support arm is engraved at the other end of the swing rod, and a pin engaging recess is provided in a part of this sliding groove for rocking. It is preferable that the pin be held in pressure contact with the pin engaging concave portion by the spring elastic force acting on the moving rod to hold the open / close lid open.

Further, it is preferable to provide an opening for leading out the print sheet printed out from the back side to the front side in a part of the opening / closing lid.

[Action]

According to the printer head crimping device of the present invention, in a thermal printer installed inside a casing having an opening / closing lid for supplying or exchanging print paper, a support arm is provided on the opening / closing lid and one of the supporting arms is provided. Part is pivotally attached to a support shaft so as to be openable and closable, and a part of this support arm and an operation lever for pressing or separating the thermal head of the thermal printer from or to a platen for supplying print paper are interlocked with each other. By doing so, when the opening / closing lid is opened for replenishing or exchanging print paper, the operation lever can be automatically operated to separate the thermal head from the platen, and when closing the opening / closing lid. The thermal lever can be automatically operated to crimp the thermal head to the platen. It is possible to facilitate the operation of the kick printer.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of a printer head crimping device according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are side views of essential parts showing an embodiment of a press-bonding device for a printer head according to the present invention, and an opening / closing lid for adhering or exchanging print paper adjacent to an operation panel part. And a printer is housed and arranged inside a required casing. For convenience of explanation, the same components as those of the printer shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. It should be noted that FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the present invention shows a state in which the opening / closing lid 40 is closed, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the opening / closing lid 40 is opened.

In this embodiment, the platen 12 and the thermal head 1 mounted on the printer frame 10 which constitutes the printer, respectively.
6 and the supporting plate 22, the electric motor 24 and the gear mechanism 26 supporting the same, and the operating lever 30 and the link lever 32 for performing the pressing and separating operations of the thermal head 16 with respect to the platen 12 are shown in FIG. It is the same as the printer. Therefore, the operation of each component of the printer is also the same as that of the printer shown in FIG.

However, in the present invention, a support arm is provided at the base of the opening / closing lid 40.
42 is provided, and this support arm 42 is rotatably attached to an operation panel section 44 constituting a part of the printer housing casing via a support shaft 46, whereby the opening / closing lid 40 is openable / closable. Further, a pin 48 is provided so as to project from a part of the support arm 42, and one end of a swing rod 50 is engaged with the pin 48. That is, one end of the swing rod 50 is pivotally attached to the printer housing casing via the support shaft 52, and a slide groove 54 is cut at the other end, and the pin 48 is provided in the slide groove 54. Insert and engage. Further, one end of a coil spring 56 is connected to the swing rod 50 at a substantially middle portion thereof, and the other end of the coil spring 56 is engaged with the printer housing casing so as to maintain a required tensile force. Stop. As a result, when the opening / closing lid 40 is opened, the operation can be facilitated by the pulling force of the coil spring 56, as shown in FIG. Then, a part of the swing rod 50 configured in this way and the support shaft 58 of the operation lever 30 are coupled via the link levers 60 and 62. In this case, the link lever 60,
62 is positioned so that the operating lever 30 is in a state of pressing the thermal head against the platen when the opening / closing lid 40 is closed (see FIG. 1), and when the opening / closing lid 40 is opened. The operation lever 30 functions to position the thermal head so that it is separated from the platen by the displacement of the swing rod 50 (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation of the operation lever 30 is such that when the opening / closing lid 40 is closed, the link lever 32 connected to the operation lever 30 is moved to the right to move the thermal head. Can be pressed against the platen. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, when the opening / closing lid 40 is opened, the link lever 32 connected to the operation lever 30 can be moved leftward to separate the thermal head from the platen. Further, in this embodiment, by providing a pin engaging recess 64 at a contact portion of the sliding groove 54 provided on the swing rod 50 with the pin 48 engaging with the sliding groove 54, as shown in FIG. As shown, when the open / close lid 40 is opened to the specified position, the sliding rod
The pin engaging recess 64 is pinned under the action of the coil spring 56.
Abut against 48 with sufficient pressing force.
It becomes possible to hold 40 in the open state with the required spring elasticity.

As described above, in this embodiment, the opening / closing lid 40 is the supporting arm.
It is held openably and closably by 42, but in this case, as shown in FIG.
And a guide plate 68 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) protrudingly provided on the back side of the opening / closing lid 40 provided with the opening 66.
The print sheet printed out by the printer is led out to the front side of the opening / closing lid 40 through the opening 66. Further, in order to facilitate the derivation of the print paper, a hood 70 may be appropriately provided around the opening 66 of the opening / closing lid 40,
Further, in order to facilitate the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid 40, it is preferable to appropriately provide a handle 72 at the end portion of the opening / closing lid 40.

1 and 2, the switch operated by the operation lever 30 is not shown, but in this embodiment as well, a switch 34 is provided as in the conventional printer shown in FIG. It is possible to detect the state in which the thermal head is pressed against or separated from the platen by the operation of.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. .

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above-mentioned embodiments, according to the present invention,
The opening / closing lid for replenishing or replacing the print paper, which is provided in the casing housing the printer, swings the operating lever for pressing and separating the printer head, and the supporting arm linked with the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid. By configuring it to interlock via a moving rod and a link lever, it is possible to perform the operation of pressing or separating the printer head from the platen at the same time by opening / closing the opening / closing lid, which simplifies the handling and operation of this type of printer. And it can be achieved reliably.

Further, according to the device of the present invention, the opening / closing lid is provided by providing a required recessed portion at a portion that engages with the coil spring and the pin with respect to the swinging rod that interlocks the support arm of the opening / closing lid and the operation lever. When it is opened up to a predetermined angle, the pin engagement state is held by the elastic force of the coil spring, and thus the open state of the opening / closing lid can be held to facilitate the work of supplying or exchanging print paper.

Further, the device of the present invention has a simple structure and can be easily manufactured by simply adding components without changing the structure of the existing printer. Therefore, the device can be manufactured at low cost. It has many advantages such as easy application to existing printers.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an essential part showing an embodiment of a crimping device for a printer head according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the essential part showing an operating state of the printer head shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of an opening / closing lid that interlocks with the crimping device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a head portion of a conventional thermal printer. 10 ... Printer frame, 12 ... Platen 14 ... Spindle, 16 ... Thermal head 18 ... Spindle, 20 ... Spring 22 ... Support plate, 24 ... Electric motor 26 ... Gear mechanism, 28 ... … Protrusion 30 …… Operating lever, 32 …… Link lever 34 …… Switch, 36 …… Connector 38 …… Temperature sensor, 40 …… Opening / closing lid 42 …… Supporting arm, 44 …… Operating panel 46 …… Support Shaft, 48 …… Pin 50 …… Swing rod, 52 …… Spindle 54 …… Sliding groove, 56 …… Coil spring 58 …… Spindle, 60,62 …… Link lever 64 …… Pin engaging recess , 66 …… Opening 68 …… Guide plate, 70 …… Hood 72 …… Handle

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location 9305-2C B41J 3/20 109 C

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A thermal printer installed inside a casing having an opening / closing lid for supplying or exchanging print paper, wherein a thermal head of the thermal printer can be elastically pressure-bonded to a platen for supplying the print paper. In the crimping device of the printer head, which is configured so as to be pivotally held and to be crimped to or separated from the platen by displacing a part of the thermal head via an operation lever, a support arm is provided on the opening / closing lid. A part of the support arm is pivotally attached to a support shaft so as to be openable and closable, and a pin is projectingly provided on a part of the support arm, and one end of the pin is engaged with the other end of the swinging rod. A crimping device for a printer head, characterized in that the swing rod and the operating lever are connected by a link lever so as to be interlocked with each other. 2. A crimping device for a printer head according to claim 1, wherein a coil spring is connected to the swinging rod so as to have a tensile elasticity in the opening direction of the opening / closing lid. 3. A sliding groove for slidably locking a pin projecting from a supporting arm is formed at the other end of the swing rod, and a pin engaging recess is formed in a part of the sliding groove. 3. The printer head crimping device according to claim 2, wherein the pin is held in pressure contact with the pin engaging recess by an elastic spring force acting on the swing rod to hold the open / close lid open. 4. The printer head crimping device according to claim 1, wherein an opening for leading out a print sheet printed out from the back side to the front side is provided in a part of the opening / closing lid.