JPH08238821A - Thermal printer equipped with half-cutting means for recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify the constitution of a half cutting means without deteriorating the function of the means in a thermal printer having the half-cutting means for cutting a continuous recording medium such as a tube or a label tape leaving part of the medium uncut. CONSTITUTION: On end 81 of a thermal head support member 8 is supported freely swingably, the projection of the other end is located close to a half-cutting means 20, and a cam member 12 is installed in which the first cam 14 which is engaged with the projection of the support member 8 and the second cam 15 which is engaged with the half-cutting means 20 are integrated. A thermal head 7 is transferred and the half-cutting means 20 is operated by rotating the cam member 12 so that both driving sources (motors) 19 can be made common to reduce costs.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer having a recording medium half-cutting means for cutting a continuous recording medium such as a tube or a label tape while leaving a part thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as such a thermal printer, there is known a tube printer which prints characters on a tube attached to an electric wire which is wired on a switchboard. In order to allow a person to easily tear it off during work, a half cut means for cutting while leaving a part of the tube was provided.

[0003]

For this reason, the conventional tube printer has to be provided with a driving means for driving the half-cutting means, resulting in a complicated structure. In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to simplify the structure of a thermal printer having a half-cutting means for a recording medium while sufficiently maintaining the function of the half-cutting means.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A thermal printer having a half-cutting means of the present invention comprises a carrying means for carrying a continuous recording medium, a thermal head, and a thermal support for supporting the thermal head with respect to a platen so as to be separable. In a thermal printer including a head supporting member and a half-cutting unit that cuts a part of a recording medium, one end of the thermal head supporting member is rotatably supported and the other end is near the half-cutting unit. And a driving member for driving the cam member, which is integrated with a first cam which is positioned and which engages with the other end of the thermal head support member and a second cam which engages with the half-cutting means. It is characterized by that.

[0005]

In the thermal printer having the half-cutting means of the present invention, when the drive source of the cam member is rotated, the cam member is rotated, and the thermal head can be moved and the half-cutting means can be operated depending on the rotational position of the cam member. .

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a print portion and a half cut portion of a thermal printer that also serves as a tube and a label sheet, and FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of this printer.

The printer 1 has a display unit 2, an input unit 3 using a keyboard, and a printing unit 4 for printing characters and the like on a tube and a label tape, and a label tape cassette 5 and an ink ribbon cassette 6 are attached and detached. It is free. Further, by removing the label tape cassette 6 and inserting the tube in its place, it is possible to print on the tube.

The printer 1 uses a thermal transfer system, and the thermal head 7 is provided at a position facing the platen roller 11 of the thermal head support member 8. The thermal head support member 8 drives one end 81 thereof. The roller 9 is mounted so as to be swingable about its axis, and is biased toward the platen roller 11 by a spring 10. Further, the convex portion 82 at the other end of the thermal head support member 8 is adapted to engage with the first cam 14 described later by the bias of the spring 10.

The cam member 12 is rotatably provided with respect to the shaft 13, and has a first cam 14, a second cam 15 and a gear 16.
Are integrated and equipped. Furthermore, this cam member 1
The motor 2 is rotated in both left and right directions by driving a motor 19 via a gear 16, a gear 17, and a gear 18.

The half-cutting means 20 is located close to the second cam 15 and has a holder 202 having a cutter 201 therein, and the holder 202 is slidable in the contacting / separating direction with respect to the second cam 15. The guide member 203 that guides the guide to the sheet and the cutter receiving table 204. The holder 202 of the half-cutting means 20 is urged toward the second cam 15 by the urging of a spring (not shown), and the convex portion 205 of the holder 202 engages with the second cam 15 so that the second It slides along the guide member 203 as the cam 15 rotates. The cutter 201 provided in the holder 202 is the cutter holder 2 of the holder 202.
By making it a little retracted from the contact surface with 04,
At the time of half-cutting, it is possible to cut while leaving part of the tube and label tape.

The driving roller 9 is rotated by the driving of a motor (not shown), and the driving roller 9 and the pair of rollers 21 convey the label tape 51 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. ing.

The platen 11 is rotated by the driving of a motor (not shown), and the platen 11 and the roller 22 paired with the platen 11 removes the printed label tape 51 from the half-cutting means 2.
It is being transported toward 0.

The cutter 23 is a printed label tape 5
It is for cutting 1. Further, when the label tape cassette 5 is detached, the tube insertion port 24 is inserted from here so that the transport roller 9 and the roller 2 can be inserted.
The tube is guided to 1.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
It should be noted that FIG. 1 shows a state before printing the label sheet.
Shows the state when the label sheet is printed, and FIG. 4 shows the state when the label sheet is half-cut.

When the user inputs a print start from the state shown in FIG. 1, first, the transport roller 9 is rotated and the label tape 51 is held until the tip of the label tape 51 is positioned between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 11. It is conveyed in the direction of arrow A, and then the motor 19 is rotated to move the first cam 14 and the second cam 14.
The cam member 12 is rotated in the arrow B direction until the cam 15 reaches the position shown in FIG. With the rotation of the cam member 12, the thermal head support member 8 in contact with the first cam 14 is swung by the bias of the spring 10, and the thermal head 7 puts the ink ribbon 61 and the label tape 51 in between.
It moves so as to contact the platen roller 11.

Next, a predetermined character is printed on the label tape 51, and after the label tape 51 is conveyed to a predetermined length, the label tape 51 is half-cut. First, when the transport roller 9 and the platen roller 11 are stopped and the label tape 51 is stopped, the motor 19 is rotated to move the cam member 12 in the direction of arrow B until the first cam 14 and the second cam 15 reach the positions shown in FIG. Rotate to. Along with the rotation of the cam member 12, the holder 202 of the half-cutting means 20 in contact with the second cam 15 moves, and the label tape 51 is partially cut.

Next, the motor 19 is rotated in the reverse direction and the first cam 1 is rotated.
The cam member 12 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow B until the fourth and second cams 15 reach the positions shown in FIG. This cam member 1
With the rotation of 2, the holder 202 of the half-cutting means 20 in contact with the second cam 15 returns to the non-cutting position shown in FIG.
Next, the transport roller 9 and the platen roller 11 rotate, and the printing process is performed again.

When the printing process and the half-cutting process on the label sheet 51 are repeatedly performed for a predetermined number of sheets in this way, the motor 19 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the first cam 14 and the second cam 15 are at the positions shown in FIG. The cam member 12 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow B until it becomes. As the cam member 12 rotates, the thermal head support member 8 in contact with the first cam 14 swings, and the thermal head 7 separates from the platen roller 11.

[0019]

According to the present invention, one end of the thermal head support member is rotatably supported and the other end is positioned in the vicinity of the half-cutting means, so that both the thermal head support member and the half-cutting means are provided. With a simple configuration that only provides the engaging cam means, it is possible to control the movement of the thermal head to the printing position and the non-printing position and the driving of the half-cutting means by a common drive source. The common use can reduce the number of parts and reduce the cost of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a print section and a half cut section of a thermal printer according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of a thermal printer

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a printing section and a half cut section during printing.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a printing section and a half-cut section at the time of half-cutting.

[Description of sign]

 1 Printer 5 Label Tape Cassette 6 Ink Ribbon Cassette 7 Thermal Head 8 Thermal Head Support Member 10 Spring 11 Platen Roller 12 Cam Member 14 First Cam 15 Second Cam 19 Motor 20 Half-Cut Means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transporting means for transporting a continuous recording medium, a thermal head, a thermal head supporting member for supporting the thermal head so as to be movable toward and away from a platen, and a half cut for cutting a portion of the recording medium. A thermal printer having means for rotatably supporting one end of the thermal head support member, positioning the other end in the vicinity of the half-cutting means, and engaging the other end of the thermal head support member. A thermal printer having a half-cutting means for a recording medium, comprising: a cam member, which integrates a cam and a second cam engaging with the half-cutting means; and a driving means for driving the cam member.