JPH0890872A - Document preparation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a document preparation apparatus where the plane occupational area of a printer unit is reduced to downsize the apparatus as a whole. CONSTITUTION: A key input board 7 is provided on the upside of an upper case 2, and a printer until 30 is situated in the rear part of a lower case 1 and a raised part at the rear part of the upper case 2. A carriage 33 of the printer unit 30 is equipped with a thermal head 36 and an ink ribbon cassette 37 and leaned forward at an angle to vertical, and the thermal head 36 runs nearly horizontally with movement of the carriage 33. Therefore, the plane occupational area of the horizontal unit 30 can be considerably reduced, compared with the case of a horizontal arrangement of the printer unit 30. Thereby, an apparatus can be downsized as a whole.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document preparation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a document creating apparatus (word processor), a laptop type having excellent portability has been widely used. In this type of document creating apparatus, a key input portion and a lid case that covers the key input portion so as to be opened and closed are rotatably attached to the upper surface of the main body case, and the rear portion of the main body case behind the key input portion and the lid case. It has a structure in which a printer unit is provided. In this case, a display unit such as a liquid crystal display device is provided on the inner surface of the lid case. The printer unit includes a carriage on which a thermal head and an ink ribbon cassette are mounted. The carriage is movably provided on a guide rail in the main body case in a substantially horizontal state. The data is sequentially printed on the printing paper while moving in this state.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional document creating apparatus, the carriage of the printer unit provided in the rear portion of the main body case is movably provided on the guide rail in the main body case. Therefore, the printer unit can be made thin, but the printer unit occupies a large area in a plane, which causes a problem that the entire main body case becomes large in a plane. Such a problem is a serious problem particularly in a simple document creation device (document creation device for printing on a postcard or the like) that is required to be downsized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document creation apparatus that can reduce the area occupied by the printer unit in a plane and can reduce the size of the entire apparatus.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a key input portion on the upper surface of a housing, and a carriage for mounting a print head and an ink ribbon on the rear portion of the housing in a substantially vertical direction. The arranged printer section is provided,
It is characterized in that the print head is moved and scanned in a substantially horizontal state by the movement of the carriage. in this case,
As described in claim 2, it is preferable that an electronic circuit having a document creating function and a paper feeding unit are provided inside the housing below the key input unit. Further, as described in claim 3, the paper feed unit has a paper feed cover that opens and closes a paper feed port formed on the front end surface of the housing, and when the paper feed cover is in an open state, the medium to be printed is loaded. It is desirable that the structure be placed.
Further, as described in claim 4, the printer unit includes a printer cover that covers the rear portion of the housing so as to be openable and closable and has a discharge port, and discharges the print medium through the discharge port to the outside of the chassis, It is desirable to have a structure in which the medium to be printed is received and held by the printer cover in the open state. Further, as described in claim 5, it is desirable that the moving path of the print medium from the paper feeding section to the printer section is directed somewhat upward in the printer section.

[0005]

According to the present invention, since the carriage on which the print head and the ink ribbon are mounted is arranged substantially vertically at the rear part of the housing, compared to the conventional case where the printer part is horizontally arranged, the printer part The occupying area on the plane can be significantly reduced, and the overall size of the device can be reduced. In this case, as described in claim 2, if the paper feed unit is provided inside the housing below the key input unit, the print medium can be fed to the printer unit in a substantially horizontal state. . Further, as described in claim 3, the paper feed unit has a paper feed cover that opens and closes a paper feed opening on the front end face of the housing, and the print medium is placed with the paper feed cover open. By doing so, it is possible to favorably mount even a long printing medium. Further, as described in claim 4, the printer unit includes a printer cover that covers the rear portion of the housing so as to be openable and closable and has a discharge port, and discharges the print medium to the outside of the chassis through the discharge port in a closed state, If the print medium is received and held by the printer cover in the open state, the print medium can be smoothly discharged by properly using the open / closed state of the printer cover, and the printer cover can be properly used as a tray. it can. further,
As described in claim 5, if the print medium moving path from the paper feeding unit to the printer unit is directed somewhat upward in the printer unit, a large number of print mediums are continuously printed and stacked on the printer cover. You can

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the document creating apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the document creating apparatus has a structure in which a main body case (housing) is composed of a lower case 1 and an upper case 2, and a printer cover 3 is provided at the rear part thereof. The lower case 1 has a structure in which an upper portion and a rear portion are opened, and an upper edge of a side wall is formed in an inclined portion that gradually increases from the front side toward the rear side. A power supply connection 4, a video signal input connection 5, and a video signal output connection 6 are provided on the side surface of the lower case 1. The upper case 2 has a structure in which a lower portion and a rear portion are opened, an upper surface thereof is formed parallel to an inclined portion of a side wall of the lower case 1 from the front side to the rear side, and a rising portion 2a is formed in the rear portion. ing. On the upper surface of the upper case 2, key input portions 7 such as character keys, function keys (including print keys), cursor keys, etc. are provided, and a display portion 8 composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like is provided. . The display unit 8 displays the data input by the key operation of the key input unit 7 and the processing result thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower portion of the printer cover 3 is rotatably attached to the lower portion of the lower case 1 by a hinge 9, and the upper end portion thereof is the upper end portion of the rising portion 2a of the upper case 2. It has a structure that can be closed corresponding to. A transparent window portion 3a is provided in the central portion of the printer cover 3, and a curved portion 3b is formed on the lower portion thereof so as to project outward, and the curved portion 3b has a sheet discharge port 3c.
Is provided. Further, on both sides of the printer cover 3, locking claws 3d that are removably locked in locking holes 2c provided on both rear sides of the upper case 2 are provided.

5 and 6 show the internal structure of the document creating apparatus. In the upper case 2 below the key input unit 7, a circuit board 10 on which various electronic components 10a forming an electronic circuit having a document creating function are mounted is arranged in the upper case 2.
It is attached by being screwed to a partition part 11 provided inside. A paper feeder (paper feeder) 12 is provided in the lower case 1 below the circuit board 10. The sheet feeding device 12 includes a table 14 on which a printing target sheet 13 such as a postcard is placed. The table 14 is provided with side plate portions 14a on both sides thereof.
Is attached to the lower case 1 by a shaft pin 15 so as to be vertically rotatable. Both sides of the rear end (right end in FIG. 5) of the table 14 are suspended by two coil springs 16. A crankshaft 17 is rotatably attached to the bottom of the lower case 1 below the rear end of the table 14 by a metal fitting 18. The crankshaft 17 has one end locked to a locking portion 19 provided on the lower surface of the table 14 and the other end extended upward.
An operation button 20 is provided on the upper end of the coil spring 1 so as to project upward from an opening 2b provided on the upper surface of the upper case 2. By operating the operation button 20 in the front-back direction,
The table 14 is structured to rotate in the vertical direction against the spring force of 6.

A paper feed port 21 is provided on the front surface of the lower case 1.
A paper feed cover 22 for opening and closing the paper feed port 21 is rotatably attached to the paper feed port 21 by a shaft pin 23. The paper feed cover 22 is biased in a direction of closing the paper feed port 21 by a torsion spring (not shown) provided on the shaft pin 23. Further, in the paper feed cover 22, when the table 14 is rotated downward by the operation of the operation button 20, the engagement cam 24 provided on the shaft pin 23 is provided at the front end of the side plate portion 14 a of the table 14. It is structured such that it is engageably and disengageably engaged with the provided engaging portion 25 and rotates around the shaft pin 23 against the spring force of the torsion spring, thereby opening the paper feed port 21. Further, at the bottom of the lower case 1 near the rear end of the table 14, there is provided a separation wall 26 for separating the printing papers 13 stacked on the table 14 one by one. This separation wall 2
Printed paper 1 placed on the table 14 is located above the table 6.
A first paper feed roller 27 for feeding 3 to the printer unit 30 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the printer unit 30 includes a printer cover 3 arranged over the rear portion of the lower case 1 and the rear portion of the rising portion 2a of the upper case 2, and also the lower case. Base 3 provided at the rear of 1
1 is provided. A guide rail 32 is horizontally extended between both side plates 31 a of the base 31, and a carriage 33 is movably attached to the guide rail 32. In the carriage 33, the protrusion 34 provided on the upper portion thereof is movably inserted into the groove 35a of the guide portion 35 provided between the upper ends of the both side plates 31a of the base 31, so that the vertical (vertical line A ) Is inclined to the front side to some extent (state of inclined line B). A thermal head 36 is provided in a substantially horizontal state below the front surface (right side surface in FIG. 6) of the carriage 33. The thermal head 36 is pressed against a platen 37 provided on the base 31 during printing, and is separated from the platen 37 during non-printing. An ink ribbon cassette 40 is removably mounted on the front surface of the carriage 33 by means of a cassette pressing portion 33a provided at an upper portion thereof, a winding shaft 38 and a mounting shaft 39 in an intermediate portion. Also,
A toothed belt 41 is attached to the back surface of the carriage 33. The toothed belt 41 is wound around two toothed pulleys 42 provided on both sides of the base 31 and driven by the rotation of the toothed pulleys 42,
The carriage 33 is moved back and forth along the guide rail 32.

A second paper feed roller 44 driven by a paper feed motor 43 is provided in parallel with the platen 37 on the base 31 behind the platen 37. The second paper feed roller 44 has a peripheral speed of the first paper feed roller 2
It is structured to rotate so as to have the same speed as the peripheral speed of 7. Above the second paper feed roller 44, a paper pressing bar 45 is attached by a support member 46 so as to be vertically contactable and separable. That is, coil springs 47 for pressing the paper pressing bar 45 to the second paper feeding roller 44 are attached to both ends of the paper pressing bar 45. A push-up button 48 for pushing up the paper pressing bar 45 against the spring force of the coil spring 47 is provided below one end of the paper pressing bar 45.

As shown in FIG. 6, the carriage 33 of the printer unit 30 of this document preparation apparatus is inclined in the front side with respect to the vertical direction so that the carriage 33 installed in the lower case 1 is substantially horizontal. The movement path of the printing paper 13 from the table 14 of the paper device 12 to the printer unit 30 is
The printer unit 30 is directed somewhat upward. The paper discharge port 3c of the printer cover 3 is located on the moving path of the print target paper 13 when the printer cover 3 is closed.

Next, the case of using such a document creating apparatus will be described. First, the printing target paper 13 is stored in the paper feeding device 12 in the lower case 1. In this case, the operation button 20 of the upper case 2 is operated to the front side. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the crankshaft 17 causes the table 14 to rotate downward against the spring force of the coil spring 16, and as the table 14 rotates, the engaging portion 25 of the side plate portion 14 a. Engages with the engaging cam 24 of the shaft pin 23, the paper feed cover 22 rotates against the spring force of the torsion spring, and the paper feed port 21 on the front surface of the lower case 1 is opened. As a result, the table 14 in the lower case 1 is fed from the paper feed port 21.
The printing paper 13 is ready to be placed on it.

Then, the printing paper 13 is placed on the table 14.
When the table is placed, the tip of the table 14
And is placed on the edge of the paper feed cover 22 with its rear end opened, and is thereby supported substantially horizontally. In this way, in the state where the plurality of print-receiving papers 13 are stacked, the table 14 is urged upward by the spring force of the coil spring 16, and the uppermost print-receiving papers 13 are formed.
The leading end of the sheet is pressed against the lower surface of the first paper feed roller 27 and is positioned above the separation wall 26. As a result, the printing paper 13 can be fed out by the first paper feed roller 27.

When the data is printed on the printing paper 13, the printing paper 13 is first separated by the separation wall 26 one by one and the printer unit 30 is rotated by the rotation of the first paper feed roller 27. It is sent in and arranged between the thermal head 36 of the carriage 33 and the platen 37. At this time, the carry ridge 33 is at the initial position on the right side in FIG. 4, the thermal head 36 is separated from the platen 37, and the ink ribbon 40 of the ink ribbon cassette 40 is provided between the thermal head 36 and the printing paper 13.
a is arranged. When the toothed belt 41 is driven by the toothed pulley 42, the thermal head 36 presses the printing paper 13 against the platen 37 via the ink ribbon 40a, and in this state, the carriage 33 moves from the initial position on the right side to the left side. Data is printed on the printing target paper 13 by the heat generation operation of the thermal head 36. The printing paper 13 on which the data is printed is fed by the second paper feed roller 44 to the paper discharge port 3 of the printer cover 3.
It is sequentially sent out from c. In this case, if the printer cover 3 is opened, the printing target paper 13 sent by the second paper feeding roller 44 is received and held by the printer cover 13.

When the stacked print-receiving papers 13 are sequentially printed, the table 14 is sequentially pulled up by the spring force of the coil spring 16 accordingly, so that the operation button 20 is gradually moved rearward and all of the operation buttons 20 are moved. When the printing paper 13 is removed from the table 14, the operation button 20 returns to the original initial position. At the same time, the paper feed cover 22 is rotated by the spring force of the torsion spring to close the paper feed port 21.

As described above, in this document creating apparatus, the carriage 33 on which the thermal head 36 and the ink ribbon cassette 37 are mounted is provided above the vertical position in the rear part of the lower case 1 and in the rising part 2a of the rear part of the upper case 2. Since the printer is inclined to the front side, the area occupied on the plane of the printer unit 30 can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the printer unit is horizontally arranged as in the conventional case. Can be planned. In this case, the sheet feeding device 1 is placed in the lower case 1 below the key input unit 7.
Since the second printing sheet 13 is provided, the printing sheet 13 can be fed to the printer unit 30 in a substantially horizontal state, and the printing sheet 13 can be smoothly transported. Further, the sheet feeding device 13 has a sheet feeding cover 22 that opens and closes a sheet feeding port 21 provided on the front end surface of the lower case 1.
Since the print-receiving paper 13 is placed on the table 14 when the sheet 2 is open, the long print-receiving paper 13 can be placed well. Also, the lower case 1 and the upper case 2
The printer cover 3 which covers each rear part of the printer is opened and closed through the discharge port 3c in the closed state, and holds and holds the print sheet 13 in the opened state. By selectively using the open / closed state of the printed sheet 3, the printed sheet 13 to be printed can be smoothly discharged, and the printer cover 3 can be favorably used as a tray for receiving the printed sheet 13. Further, since the movement path of the printing target sheet 13 from the paper feeding device 12 to the printer section 30 is directed slightly upward in the printer section 30, even if a large number of printing target sheet 13 are continuously printed, the printer cover 3 can be satisfactorily printed. Can be stacked on top.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the carriage for mounting the print head and the ink ribbon is arranged substantially vertically on the rear portion of the housing, the printer portion is arranged horizontally as in the conventional case. Compared to the case, the area occupied by the plane of the printer unit can be significantly reduced, which allows the size of the entire apparatus to be reduced, and a simple document to be printed on a medium to be printed, which is about the size of a postcard. It can be advantageously applied to a producing device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of a document creating apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view seen from the rear side of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the printer cover of FIG. 3 in an open state.

5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the paper feed cover is opened by operating the operation button in FIG. 5 to the front side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Lower Case 2 Upper Case 3 Printer Cover 3c Paper Ejection Port 7 Key Input 8 Display 10 Circuit Board 12 Paper Feeding Device 13 Printed Paper 14 Table 21 Paper Feeding Port 22 Paper Feeding Cover 30 Printer 33 Carriage 36 Thermal Head 37 Ink ribbon cassette

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A key input unit is provided on an upper surface of a casing, and a printer unit, in which a carriage for mounting a print head and an ink ribbon is arranged substantially vertically, is provided at a rear portion of the casing. A document preparation device characterized in that a print head is moved and scanned in a substantially horizontal state. 2. A key input section and a display section are provided on an upper surface of the housing, and an electronic circuit having a document creating function and a paper feeding section are provided inside the housing below the key input section. A document producing apparatus, comprising: a printer section in which a carriage for mounting a print head and an ink ribbon is arranged substantially vertically on a rear part of a body, and the print head is moved and scanned in a substantially horizontal state by movement of the carriage. 3. The paper feed unit has a paper feed cover that opens and closes a paper feed opening formed on the front end surface of the housing, and the paper feed cover is supplied to the printer unit in an open state. The document creating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a print medium is placed. 4. The printer unit includes a printer cover that covers the rear portion of the housing so as to be openable and closable and has a discharge port, and the print medium, which has finished printing in a closed state, passes through the discharge port. 3. The document creation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing medium that has been discharged to the outside of the housing and finished printing in the open state holds and holds the printing medium. 5. The carriage is provided such that an upper portion thereof is inclined to a front side with respect to a vertical direction, and a movement path of a print medium from the paper feeding unit to the printer unit, which is provided substantially horizontally in the housing, is 5. The document creating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printer unit is oriented somewhat upward.