JPH0785940B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that improves the method of inserting and ejecting printing paper.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] Conventionally, there has been provided a printing apparatus having a printing mechanism inside, for example, a printing paper is inserted from a printing paper insertion port and discharged after printing from a printing paper discharge port. . This printer has a printing paper insertion opening formed on one side of the printing apparatus and a printing paper discharge opening formed on the other side, or an insertion opening and a discharge opening formed on the upper surface.

However, when the printing paper insertion opening and the ejection opening are formed on different side surfaces, the above-mentioned method requires a lot of work space for the insertion and ejection of the printing paper, and the insertion It is inconvenient because articles such as a recording medium driving device cannot be placed near the mouth and the outlet. Moreover, when the insertion port and the discharge port are formed on the upper surface, it is inconvenient because a device such as a display cannot be placed on the upper surface. Furthermore, when the above-mentioned thing is used in a limited space, in any case, the space cannot be effectively used, which is inconvenient.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that makes it easy to handle the insertion and ejection of printing paper and enables effective use of a limited space. To do.

[Outline of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a printing paper storage portion for storing printing paper and a printing paper insertion opening and a printing paper discharge opening provided with a lid portion that is openably and closably closed except for the upper surface. A main body formed on the same side of the main body, and a printing mechanism provided inside the main body,
A printing paper storage unit that is detachably mounted from the printing paper insertion opening by rotating the lid portion to a position that is substantially directly below the printing mechanism, and faces the printing paper insertion opening and the printing paper ejection opening. A print paper direction conversion mechanism which is provided so as to be positioned substantially horizontally with the print mechanism and has one end adjacent to the print paper storage unit for converting the transport direction of the print paper supplied from the print paper storage unit; A printing paper which is provided between the printing paper direction changing mechanism and the printing mechanism substantially horizontally with the printing paper direction changing mechanism and the printing mechanism and which conveys the printing paper conveyed from the printing paper direction changing mechanism to the printing mechanism. It is characterized in that the printer is provided with a supply mechanism so that other devices and the like can be placed near the upper surface and the side surface of the main body, and the printing apparatus is made compact.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the printing apparatus, which has a printing paper insertion port 2 formed on the same surface other than the upper surface 1b, for example, a lower portion of the front surface 1a,
In addition, the printing paper discharge port 3 is formed on the upper part of the front surface 1a. Inside the main body 1, a printing mechanism 4 is provided with the printing paper discharge port 3
Is provided adjacent to. Reference numeral 5 denotes a printing paper storage unit for storing the printing paper 6 to be supplied to the printing mechanism 4, which opens a printing paper insertion port 2 by rotating a lid 7 that opens and closes the printing paper insertion port 2 freely. By doing so, it is removably mounted in the main body 1 at a position substantially directly below the printing mechanism 4. A print paper supply roller 8 which is connected to a drive motor (not shown) and rotates in the direction of arrow A is provided at one end of the print paper storage portion 5 with an arm portion 9 and a support for urging the print paper 6 downward. It is attached to the body 1 via a shaft 10. Reference numeral 11 denotes a printing paper direction changing guide, which is provided so as to face the printing paper insertion opening 2 and the printing paper discharge opening 3, one end of which is adjacent to the printing paper storage section 5 and which is connected to a drive motor (not shown) and is in the direction of arrow B. Printing paper direction changing roller 12
A part thereof has a curved shape along a part of the outer peripheral edge thereof, and a driven roller 13 for pressing the printing paper 6 against the printing paper direction changing roller 12 is rotatably provided on the curved shape part. ing. At the other end of the printing paper direction changing guide 11, a pressure contact roller 14 for contacting the printing paper 6 with the upper portion of the printing paper direction changing roller 12 is rotatably attached to the main body 1 via a support shaft 15. It is installed. Between the printing paper direction changing roller 12 and the pressure contact roller 14 and the printing mechanism 4, printing paper supply guide plates 16 and 17 are provided to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween. The printing mechanism 4 will be described. First, upper and lower feeding rollers 18 and 19 which can be pressed and separated and are rotatable are provided in proximity to one ends of the printing paper feeding guide plates 16 and 17. A photocoupler 20 for detecting the presence of the printing paper 6 is provided adjacent to the upper and lower supply rollers 18 and 19 so as to face each other in the vertical direction, and adjacent to the photocoupler 20 positioned above the photocoupler 20. A platen 22 is rotatably attached to the main body 1 via a shaft 21.
Has been attached. A print head 23 is disposed below the platen 22 so that the print paper 6 is pressed against the platen 22 for printing, and the print head 23 is freely released from the press contact.
A carriage in which an ink ribbon cassette 25 for supplying an ink ribbon 24 between the platen 22 and the platen 22 is slidable on a shaft 26 attached to the main body 1 in parallel with the platen 22 by a drive motor (not shown) via a belt. It is attached to 27. When the ink ribbon cassette 25 is detachably attached to the carriage 27, the upper surface 25a of the ink ribbon cassette 25 is substantially horizontal and the printing paper discharge port 3 is provided.
The printing paper 6 is exposed to the position. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink-liphone cassette 25 includes the ink ribbon.
A supply reel 26 for supplying 24 and a take-up reel 27 for winding the ink ribbon 24 are rotatably attached to a base surface 25b via support shafts 28 and 29, respectively. In addition, the ink ribbon 24 is made parallel to the base surface 25b by an action portion 25c formed in a concave shape on the base surface 25b, and the print head 23 and the platen 22.
In order to position the ink ribbon 24 in the vicinity of the supply reel 26, a pin 30 that contacts the ink ribbon 24 at a predetermined angle is attached to the base surface 25b, and the ink ribbon 24 is provided on both sides of the action portion 25c.
Holding members 31, 31 for holding the base plate in parallel with the base surface 25b are provided. And the ink ribbon in this parallel state
In order to return 24 to the same state as the ink ribbon 24 between the supply reel 26 and the pin 30 instead of being parallel, the recovery pin 32 that contacts the ink ribbon 24 at a predetermined angle is a take-up reel.
It is provided near 27. Reference numeral 33 is a knob rotatably mounted on the side surface of the main body 1, which is the upper supply roller 18
Is connected to. Reference numeral 34 is a printing paper guide, which is detachably attached to the main body 1 below the printing paper discharge port 3 and is formed of a transparent resin so as to be curved upward from the printing paper discharge port 3. ing. Incidentally, 35 is the main body 1
The upper body 1b is a lid that partially opens and closes, and 36 is the main body 1
It is a display placed on the upper surface 1b. Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. In order to perform printing by the printing device, first, a part of the upper surface 1b of the main body 1 closed by the lid 35 is opened, the platen 22 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the ink ribbon cassette 25 is mounted on the carriage 27. . After that, the platen 22 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow C and returned to the predetermined position,
A part of the upper surface 1b opened by the lid body 35 is closed. Then, the lid portion 7 is rotated in the direction of arrow D to open the printing paper insertion slot 2, the printing paper storage portion 5 containing the printing paper 6 is mounted in the main body 1, and the lid portion 7 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow D direction. And the printing paper insertion opening 2 is closed. Next, when a drive motor (not shown) or the like is energized, the printing paper supply roller 8 urged downward is indicated by an arrow A.
The printing paper 6 in the printing paper storage unit 5 is reliably sent out one by one to the printing paper direction changing guide body 11. The printing paper 6 that has reached one end of the printing paper direction conversion guide body 11 is sent to the other end by the printing paper direction conversion roller 12 along the printing paper direction conversion guide body 11. At this time, since the printing paper 6 is nipped and pressed by the driven roller 13 and the pressure contact roller 14 and the printing paper direction changing roller 12, the printing paper 6 is reliably and smoothly delivered. The printing paper 6 sent out to the other end of the printing paper direction conversion guide 11 is further sent out and guided between the printing paper supply guide plates 16 and 17 to pass between the upper and lower supply rollers 18 and 19 in a separated state. Pass through and reach between photocouplers 20. Then,
Since the photocoupler 20 detects the presence of the printing paper 6 and cuts off the electric power to the drive motor (not shown) to stop the feeding of the printing paper 6, the printing paper 6 is positioned immediately before the platen 22 and the printing head 23. . Where the upper and lower feed rollers 18,
When the print paper 6 is sandwiched by pressing 19 into contact with each other and a print command is issued, the print paper 6 is sent between the platen 22 and the print head 23, and the print head 23 prints the print paper 6 via the ink ribbon 24. Print while pressing the platen 22 against. And
The printed printing paper 6 is the upper surface of the ink ribbon cassette 25.
After passing over 25a, it is sent out to the printing paper discharge port 3.
The sent printing paper 6 is guided upward to the transparent printing paper guide 34 and discharged. At this time, the operator working toward the front surface 1a of the main body 1 can visually recognize the printing result of the printing paper 6 of the printing paper 6 discharged onto the printing paper guide 34 while performing the work.

According to the above embodiment, the front surface 1a of the main body 1 is provided with the printing paper insertion opening 2
Since the printing paper discharge port 3 is formed, an operator who is looking at the screen of the display 36 or operating a keyboard or the like can insert the printing paper from the front surface and discharges the printing paper from the front surface, so that it is easy to handle. And convenient. Since the print paper insertion port and the discharge port are formed on different surfaces or are formed on the top surface as in the conventional case, the work must be interrupted and the posture must be changed to handle the print paper. That is solved. Further, since other devices and the like can be placed on the upper surface or the side of the main body 1, the space can be effectively utilized, which is very practical. In particular, the ink ribbon cassette 25
And the print head 23 are provided in parallel with each other, and the print paper direction changing guide 11 and the print paper direction changing roller 12 are arranged substantially horizontally with the print head 23.
Since and are provided, the thickness of the main body 1 can be reduced,
Further, the print paper storage portion of the print paper storage portion 5 is detachably mounted at a position substantially directly below the print mechanism 4 provided inside the main body 1, and the upper and lower supply rollers 18 and 19 are connected to the print head 23. Since it is provided between the printing paper direction changing guide 11 and the printing paper direction changing roller 12, the length in the depth direction of the printing apparatus can be shortened by the amount of the printing mechanism 4 and the upper and lower supply rollers 18 and 19. The printing apparatus itself does not require much space. In addition, the print paper guide 34 is very convenient because it comes out from the print paper discharge port 3 in a state that is easy for the operator to read without any action. Furthermore, since the printing device has a printing paper insertion port and a discharging port formed only on the same surface side and is made compact, it has a very favorable design and a great degree of freedom in design. , Very useful.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be formed on the side surface of the main body of the printing paper insertion port and the ejection port, for example, or on the back surface of the main body, and the insertion port and the ejection port are usually formed. Then, it may be made invisible to allow a greater degree of freedom in design, and various modifications can of course be made without departing from the spirit.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the printing paper insertion opening and the ejection opening are formed on the same surface side other than the upper surface of the main body, and the printing paper insertion opening and the ejection opening are detachably mounted from the printing insertion opening substantially directly below the printing mechanism. A printing paper storage portion having a printing paper storage portion at an opposing position, and a printing paper storage portion which is provided so as to face the printing paper insertion port and the printing paper discharge port and is substantially horizontal to the printing mechanism. A printing paper direction changing mechanism for changing the conveying direction of the printing paper supplied from the printing paper storage unit adjacent to the printing unit, and the printing paper direction changing mechanism between the printing paper direction changing mechanism and the printing mechanism. Since the printing mechanism is provided with the printing mechanism and the printing paper feeding mechanism which is provided substantially horizontally and conveys the printing paper conveyed from the printing paper direction changing mechanism to the printing mechanism, the insertion and the ejection of the printing paper into the main body are on the same plane. It can be done by the side and is easy and convenient to handle. Therefore, other devices and the like can be placed on the upper surface or the side surface of the main body, and the limited space can be effectively used, and the printing device can be made compact, which is an extremely excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall view with a part broken away, FIG. 2 is a perspective view, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an ink ribbon cassette. In the figure, 1 is a main body, 1a is the same surface (front surface), 2 is a printing paper insertion port, 3 is a printing paper discharge port, 4 is a printing mechanism, and 5 is a printing paper storage unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main body in which a printing paper insertion opening and a printing paper discharge opening provided with a lid portion which can be opened and closed freely are formed on the same surface side other than an upper surface, and a printing mechanism provided inside the main body, A printing paper storage unit provided with a printing paper storage portion at a position that is detachably mounted from the printing paper insertion port by rotating the lid and faces substantially directly below the printing mechanism; the printing paper insertion port and the printing A printing paper direction that is provided so as to face the paper ejection port and is positioned substantially horizontally with the printing mechanism, and has one end adjacent to the printing paper storage unit for converting the conveying direction of the printing paper supplied from the printing paper storage unit. A converting mechanism, and the printing paper direction converting mechanism and the printing paper which is provided substantially horizontally between the printing mechanism and the printing mechanism conveyed from the printing paper direction converting mechanism. Equipped with a printing paper feeding mechanism to convey to A printing device characterized by being made.