JPH0725114A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform the replacement of a ribbon cassette, the replacement of paper or the removal of paper jamming by opening the upper cover and front cover of a printer. CONSTITUTION:A printing head 2, a printed circuit board and a motor are supported on an upper frame 1 and a platen and a pin tractor 34 are supported on a lower frame 30. The upper and lower frames 1, 30 are connected in an openable and closable state by a shaft 60 and respectively covered with upper and lower covers 50, 51. The upper cover 50 opens one side part of the printing head 2 and the front cover 52 covering the open surface of the head 2 is attached to the shaft 54 of the lower cover 51 in a revolvable manner. After the front cover 52 is opened, the upper cover 50 and the upper frame 1 can be opened without being interfered with the lower cover 51.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing data output from a computer or the like on paper,
In particular, it relates to a printer in which an upper frame can be opened and closed with respect to a lower frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printer in which a part of a frame can be opened and closed for paper replacement and paper jam removal.

For example, a platen and a sheet conveying device are arranged on the lower frame, a print head is arranged on the upper frame, and the upper frame is rotated with respect to the lower frame on one side away from the print head. It is possible to connect. The upper frame is provided with an upper cover for covering the upper frame, and the lower frame is provided with a cover for covering the lower frame.

In a normal state, that is, in a printing state, the upper frame is positioned on the lower frame by a lock mechanism so that the print head faces the platen, and the paper is passed between the print head and the platen by the transport device. Printing is performed on the paper by the print head while being conveyed.

When the lock mechanism is released and the upper frame is rotated around the rotation axis on one side of the platen in order to replace the paper, remove the paper jam, etc., the print head moves from the platen while making a large arc motion. Leave. In this state,
The carrier between the platen and the pivot axis of the upper frame can be reached, the paper can be removed and a new paper can be set in the carrier.

[0006]

In the printer having the above construction, when exchanging a sheet or removing a sheet jam, it is necessary to put a hand into the conveying device in a narrow space between the upper frame and the platen in the open state. Therefore, there is a difficulty in handling the paper. If the space around the transport device is widened, the problem can be solved, but this time, the size of the printer becomes large.

Further, when the upper frame is opened, the rotary shaft must be placed outside the upper and lower covers so that the upper cover does not interfere with the lower cover. However, if the shaft is supported by the cover itself, the positional accuracy of the print head cannot be maintained. Therefore, both the upper and lower frames are extended outside the cover to support the shaft. Therefore, the size of the printer becomes large and the external design becomes poor.

Further, in general, in a printer, it is usual to place a motor for moving the print head in the printing line direction and a motor for driving the conveying device outside the side walls of the upper and lower frames, respectively. A circuit board for controlling the print head, each motor, etc. is placed below or behind the upper and lower frames, and the upper and lower frames and the circuit board are covered together by a cover. For this reason,
Not only has the printer become larger, but the paper path has become longer, making the paper less manageable.

In addition, since the upper cover must be removed from the upper frame when replacing the ink ribbon cassette, the mechanical part of the printer and the circuit board are exposed, and there is a difficulty in handling in terms of safety. It was

The present invention solves the above drawbacks and problems,
(EN) Provided is a printer which is small in size, and excels in ribbon cassette replacement and paper handling.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided an upper frame having a print head, and a lower frame having a platen facing the print head and a conveying device for conveying a sheet between the platen and the print head. The upper frame is rotatably connected to the lower frame on one side of the platen remote from the transport device about an axis substantially orthogonal to the sheet transport direction, and the upper frame is A printer that is movable to a closed position that covers the upper side of the platen and the transport device, and an open position that is open from the upper side of the transport device to the one side of the platen around the axis, An upper cover which is open at one side to cover the upper frame, is fixed to the upper frame, and is rotatable integrally with the upper frame; and the platen. The lower frame can be rotated around an axis parallel to the axis, on the opposite side of the axis, and in a closed position that covers the open surface of the upper cover and a position that opens the same surface. When the front cover is opened, the upper cover can be moved to the open position integrally with the upper frame.

[0012]

In the printer of the present invention, when the upper frame is in the closed position, the print head faces the platen, and while the sheet is conveyed between the print head and the platen by the conveying device, the print head prints on the sheet. I do. When the upper frame is moved to the open position, the upper frame is rotated around the platen one side which is remote from the transport device. That is, the upper frame moves away from above the transport device to one side of the platen. As a result, the carrying device is located outside the line of the upper frame and the platen in the open position, and it becomes easy to remove the paper from the carrying device and to easily install the paper in the same device.

The front cover can be opened by rotating it about a shaft provided on the lower frame. This exposes the printhead and allows replacement of the ribbon cassette. Then, with the front cover in the open position, the upper frame can be rotated about the axis of the platen 1 side to be opened as described above. During this rotation, the front cover is already separated from the upper cover, so the upper cover is opened without interfering with the lower cover.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The printer of this embodiment comprises an upper frame 1 and a lower frame 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper frame 1 is provided with a print head 2 having a printing operation surface facing downward, and the lower frame 30 is provided with a platen 37 facing the print head 2 and a pair of pin tractors 3 as a conveying device.
4, 34 and are provided.

The print head 2 is of a normal impact type in which a plurality of wires are driven toward the platen 37 by respective electromagnets. The print head 2 includes a carriage 4 together with an ink ribbon cassette 3.
And is supported by a guide shaft 5 and a guide rail portion 5a of a center plate 1c, which will be described later, slidably in the print row direction. The carriage 4 is driven in the print line direction by the motor 7 of FIG.

The pin tractors 34, 34 are provided with a large number of pins 34 on the outer periphery of the rotating member, that is, the belt, as in the ordinary ones.
a has a feed hole on both sides of the continuous sheet, and the pin 34a is moved by the rotation of the drive shaft 33 to convey the continuous sheet. The pin tractor has an openable and closable paper restraining member, that is, a lid 34b, on the upper surface in order to hold the engagement between the pin and the continuous paper. In addition, the pin tractor 34,
34 is slidably supported by the drive shaft 33 and the support shaft 35 in the printing line direction, and can be fixed at a position corresponding to the width of the continuous paper.

This printer forms a path P for continuous paper between the belt of the pin tractor 34 and the lid 34b, and between the print head 2 and the platen 37, and the print head 2 prints one line on the continuous paper. Each time, the pin tractor 34 conveys the continuous paper in the direction orthogonal to the row direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the upper frame 1 has a rigid frame structure composed of left and right side plates 1a and 1b and a center plate 1c connecting the both plates. Both side plates 1a, 1b
Supports both ends of the guide shaft 5, and the center plate 1c supports two circuit boards 14. The circuit board 14 includes the print head 2, the motor 7, and the motor 11 for driving the pin tractor.
Has a circuit for controlling. The circuit board 14 is the center plate 1c.
It is located on the opposite side of the carriage 4 with the pinch sandwiched in between, and is long and vertically parallel to the moving direction of the carriage 4. The two motors 7 and 11 are provided at both ends of the circuit board 14, and one motor 7 is located at the center plate 1c on the inner side of the side plate 1a.
And the other motor 11 is mounted inside the side plate 1b. As a result, the left and right weights are balanced evenly when carrying the printer.

The lower frame 30 includes left and right side plates 30a, 3
0b and a plate 30c connecting both plates at one end,
It is integrally formed in a substantially U-shape when viewed from the plane direction.
The platen 37 is located close to the inside of the plate 30c and the side plates 30 are
It is fixed to a and 30b. The drive shaft 33 and the support shaft 35 of the pin tractor 34 have both side plates 30a,
It is supported by 30b. As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the pin tractor 34 is positioned so as to go under the platen 37, and as a result, the lid 34 b is positioned at one end in proximity to the upper surface of the platen 37 to prevent the sheet from floating on the platen 37. Keep it to a minimum.

The upper frame 1 and the lower frame 30 are rotatably connected with a step screw 60 as an axis. More specifically, the lower frame 30 includes the left and right side plates 3 in the vicinity of one side of the platen 37 on the side away from the pin tractor 34.
It has an arm 30d (FIG. 1) standing up from 0a and 30b. The stepped screw 60 penetrates the arm 30d and the both side plates 1a and 1b of the upper frame 1 overlapping with the arm 30d, around the axis line of the upper frame 1 which is orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction (that is, parallel to the printing line direction). The lower frame 30 can be opened and closed.

In the closed position, the upper frame 1 covers above the platen 37 and the pin tractor 34 as shown in FIG. That is, at this position, the print head 2 faces the platen 37, and the circuit board 14 and the two motors 7 and 11 are located above the pin tractor 34.

Further, the upper frame 1 is in the open position as shown in FIG.
As described above, the pin tractor 34 is separated from the upper side and opened so as to stand up on the one side of the platen 37. At this position, the stoppers 1e bent from the both side plates 1a and 1b of the upper frame come into contact with the plate 30c of the lower frame to limit the rotation angle of the upper frame 1.

Locking means for locking the upper frame 1 in the closed position is composed of a pair of lock arms 15 and 16 and a bent portion 45. The pair of lock arms 15 and 16 are provided outside the both side plates 1a and 1b of the upper frame 1, and are fixed to both ends of a shaft 17 penetrating the upper frame 1 in the left-right direction so that both can be rotated at the same time. Has become. An operating portion 15c for manual operation is extended and formed only on one arm 15.

The bent portions 45 are provided on both side plates 30a and 30b of the lower frame 30 in correspondence with both arms 15 and 16, and guide pins 47 are provided below the bent portions. Each of the arms 15 and 16 has a lock portion 15a that comes into contact with the bent portion 45 from below, and the guide pin 4
It has a U-shaped portion 15b for receiving 7. Further, both arms 15 and 16 are constantly urged by a spring 21 to rotate in a direction in which the arms 15 and 16 are engaged with the bent portion 45.

When the upper frame 1 is closed, as shown in FIG. 6, before the lock portion 15a is engaged with the bent portion 45, the U-shaped portion 1
The circular portion on the lower surface of the tip of 5b contacts the guide pin 47. The cam action of the arc portion causes the arm 15 to move the spring 2
The lock portion 15a is rotated against 1 to bring the lock portion 15a to a position where it engages with the bent portion 45. Thereby, the lock portion 15a
And wear of the bent portion 45 is minimized. Lock part 15a
The guide pin 47 is away from the inner surface of the U-shaped portion 15b when the bent portion 45 is engaged with the guide pin 47.

The first elastic means for pushing up the upper frame 1 by a first angle smaller than the open position comprises a pre-open lever 38 (FIGS. 3 and 4) and a spring 40. This pre-open lever 38 is provided on one side plate 3 of the lower frame.
0a and the pin tractor 34 are rotatably supported by the support shaft 35. The side plate 1 a of the upper frame 1 is provided with a protrusion 20 that hangs down toward the lever 38. The lever 38 is biased by a spring 40 in a direction in which its free end pushes up the protrusion 20.

The second elastic means for holding the upper frame 1 in the open position is the pins 18, 19 and the open lock lever 4.
1, 42 and springs 43, 44. The pair of pins 18 and 19 are provided on both side plates 1a and 1a of the upper frame 1, respectively.
In b, it is provided in a portion slightly protruding from the shaft 60 in the sheet conveying direction, and extends substantially parallel to the central axis direction of the shaft 60. Further, the pair of open lock levers 41 and 42 are
Side plates 30a, 3 of the lower frame corresponding to the pins 18, 19
0b is rotatably supported by a shaft 46 parallel to the pins 18 and 19, and is biased by springs 43 and 44 in a direction to push up the pins 18 and 19. Pins 18 and 19 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, it moves back and forth with respect to the shaft 60 with the rotation of the upper frame 1, but during the movement, it slides on the levers 41 and 42 and comes into contact therewith, and receives the biasing force.

The pin tractor 34 is driven by the motor 11 through the gear train of FIG. A motor 11 and gears 12, 13 driven by the motor are supported on the side plate 1b of the upper frame 1. Gears 31 and 32 meshing with each other are supported on the side plate 30b of the lower frame 30, and the gear 32 at the rear stage is fixed to the drive shaft 33 of the pin tractor 34. When the upper frame 1 is in the closed position, the gear 13 of the upper frame meshes with the gear 31 of the lower frame 30, and the rotation of the motor 11 is transmitted to the pin tractor 34. When the upper frame 1 moves to the open position, both gears 1
The meshing of 3 and 31 is released.

The upper cover 50 is fixed to the upper frame 1 by covering the upper frame 1 itself, the carriage 4, the circuit board 14, the motors 7, 11 and the gear trains 12, 13, 31, 32, and is integrated with the upper frame 1. It is possible to rotate about the shaft 60. The upper cover 50 has an open surface 50 on one side for exposing the print head 2 and the ribbon cassette 3.
have a.

The front cover 52 is openably and closably provided on the open surface 50a of the upper cover. That is, the front cover 52 covers the shaft 60 and covers the print head 2 and the ribbon cassette 3 from the side opposite to the platen 37 so as to be openable and closable. The front cover 52 is made of an elastic resin material, and is locked in the closed position by engaging the claw 52a with the notch 50b of the upper cover 50 in the closed position. By pushing the upper surface of the front cover 52 against elasticity, the claw 52a can be disengaged from the notch 50b and the front cover 52 can be opened.

The front cover 52 also has a pair of arms 53 extending toward a lower cover 51, which will be described later, on both left and right sides of the paper path P. The lower end of the arm 53 is rotatably supported by the shaft 54 of the lower cover 51, and the front cover 52 can be opened and closed around the shaft 54 as described above.

The lower cover 51 is formed in a box shape having an open upper surface so as to accommodate the lower frame 30. The side plates 30a and 30b of the lower frame 30 are fixed to the bottom wall of the lower cover 51 via a vibration-proof rubber 55. The lower cover 51 has an opening 56 that is open downwardly adjacent to both front and rear walls thereof,
A plurality of walls 57 are spaced across the opening.
A pair of shafts 54 (FIG. 2) are formed between the walls 57. The shaft 54 is outside the shaft 60 and is located parallel to the shaft 60.

Further, at one end of the lower cover 51, a control box 58 is provided upright as shown in FIG. The control box 58 is located on the side of the upper cover 50 and the front cover 52, and has a key switch 59 on the upper surface, a connector 61 for connecting to the host computer, and a connector 62 for connecting to a power source on the side surface, respectively.

The operation of the printer of this embodiment will be described below.

When the upper frame 1 is in the closed position, that is, in the printable state as shown in FIG. 1, the lock arms 15 and 16 are engaged with the bent portions 45 (FIG. 2) to hold the upper frame 1 in the closed position. ing. In this state, the print head 2 is opposed to the platen 37 with a minute gap, and the pin tractor 34 conveys the continuous paper between the print head 2 and the platen 37 to perform printing on the continuous paper. You can

When the ribbon cassette 3 is replaced, the front cover 52 is rotated around the shaft 54 so as to be tilted forward and opened as shown in FIG. Then, the print head 2 and the ribbon cassette 3 are exposed, and the ribbon cassette 3 can be replaced through the open surface of the upper cover 50.

When the paper is replaced or the paper jam is removed, the front cover 52 is opened as described above.
The operating portion 15c of the lock arm 15 is exposed. When the operating portion 15c is operated against the spring 21 and is rotated clockwise in FIG. 2, the lock arms 15 and 16 are disengaged from the bent portion 45 and the guide pin 47. As a result,
As described above, the pre-open lever 38 pushes up the protrusion 20 of the upper frame 1 by the action of the spring 40. The upper frame 1 and the upper cover 50 are opened by an angle X smaller than the open position where they are completely opened. At this time, the open lock levers 41 and 42 press the pins 18 and 19 and urge the upper frame 1 toward the closed position. The biasing force of the springs 43 and 44 of the open lock lever is the pre-open lever. It is sufficiently smaller than the biasing force of the spring 40 of 38.

After this, the operator manually operates the upper cover 50.
Is further raised about axis 60 and moved to the fully open position. As the upper frame 1 rotates about the shaft 60, the pins 18 and 19 move about the shaft 60, and when the pins 18 and 19 move beyond the position directly below the shaft 60, the open lock levers 41 and 42 as shown in FIG. Presses the pins 18 and 19 around the shaft 60 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5, that is, the upper frame 1 toward the open position. The stopper 1e of the upper frame 1 comes into contact with the lower frame 30 and stops at the open position.

When the upper frame 1 and the upper cover 50 are integrally rotated about the shaft 60, the front cover 52 is already separated from the upper cover 50. Therefore, the upper cover 50 does not interfere with the lower cover 51.

When the upper frame 1 is in the open position, the space above the pin tractor 34 is opened as shown in FIG. 5, so the lid 34b of the pin tractor 34 is opened to remove the paper or to insert new paper. Can be installed. Further, in this state, the upper frame 1 stands up on one side of the platen 37, which is remote from the pin tractor 34. That is, since the pin tractor 34 is located outside the array of the platen 37 and the upper frame 1, it is easy to manually operate the pin tractor 34 and the paper.

When returning the upper frame 1 and the upper cover 50 to the closed position again, the upper cover 50 is manually moved to the shaft 60.
Defeat mainly. Accordingly, when the pins 18 and 19 move directly under the shaft 60 to the outside of the lower frame 30, the upper frame 1 naturally drops to the position of the angle X (FIG. 4).
Further, the upper frame 1 is manually pushed down against the bias of the pre-open lever 38. Then, the lock arm 1
The springs 21 and 5 engage the bent portions 45, and the upper frame 1 is fixed to the lower frame 30 in the closed position.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the printer can be constructed in a small size, and as a result, the sheet conveying path is shortened, the handling of the sheet is improved, and ribbon cassette replacement, sheet replacement, and sheet jam removal are performed. At this time, it is possible to open the front cover and the upper cover according to the respective works, and it is easy to bring the hand close to the ribbon cassette, the sheet conveying device, and the sheets, and the work is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view showing an operating state of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a part of the printer.

4 is an operation state diagram of FIG. 3. FIG.

5 is an operation state diagram of FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial operation state diagram of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the printer.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the printer taken out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper Frame 2 Print Head 4 Carriage 7 Motor 11 Motor 14 Circuit Board 15 Lock Arm 16 Lock Arm 30 Lower Frame 34 Pin Tractor 37 Platen 50 Upper Cover 51 Lower Cover 52 Front Cover

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An upper frame having a print head, and a lower frame having a platen facing the print head and a transport device for transporting a sheet between the platen and the print head, the upper frame comprising:
The lower frame is rotatably connected to one side of the platen remote from the transport device about an axis substantially orthogonal to the sheet transport direction, and the upper frame is mounted above the platen and the transport device. A printer movable to a closed position for covering and an open position for opening to the one side of the platen apart from above the transport device around the axis line, wherein one side of the print head is opened to open the print head. An upper cover that covers the upper frame and is fixed to the upper frame and is rotatable integrally with the upper frame, and the platen is located on the opposite side of the axis line,
The lower frame is provided with a front cover that is rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis at a closed position that covers the open surface of the upper cover and a position that opens the same surface, and the front cover is opened. A printer in which the upper cover and the upper frame can be moved to the open position when the above is done. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the transport device includes a rotating member having a pin on an outer periphery thereof, and a paper pressing member that holds engagement between the pin and a feed hole provided on both sides of the paper. The paper holding member can be opened and closed with respect to the rotating member, and the paper holding member can be opened when the upper frame is opened. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein a circuit board having a circuit for controlling the print head is supported on the upper frame substantially parallel to a moving direction of the print head, and the upper frame is closed. The printer, when in the position, the circuit board is above the transport device and the top cover covers the circuit board. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein a motor that moves the print head in a print row direction and a motor that drives the transport device are provided on the upper frame.
A printer installed at both ends of the circuit board. 5. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a lock lever means having a lock portion for releasably locking the upper frame with respect to the lower frame at one end and a manual operation portion at the other end. A printer that covers the manual operation unit of the lock lever when the front cover is in the closed position. 6. The printer according to claim 1, wherein a ribbon cassette is attachable / detachable through the open surface of the upper cover near the print head. 7. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the lower frame has a lower cover that covers the lower frame, and the front cover is rotatably attached to the lower cover. 8. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the front cover and the upper cover have a claw and a notch that are engaged with each other to hold the front cover in the closed position.