JPH09226196A - Label printing device with paper feeding cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printing device with a paper feeding cassette, with which no retraction of a printing unit is necessary at the attaching and detaching of the paper feeding cassette. SOLUTION: This label printing device with a paper feeding cassette consists of a paper feeding cassette 1 equipped with a feeding mechanism 10 for feeding a printing paper L1 unwound from a label roll L installed onto an unwinding part 11 to a printing roller 12 and a main body frame 4, to which the paper feeding cassette 1 is installed, in which a guide mechanism for horizontally guiding the paper feeding cassette 1 is equipped and to which a printing head 31 for performing printing into the printing paper L1 is mounted under the posture being tilted so as to face the feeding-out direction of the printing paper L1 downwards in order to arrange the paper feeding cassette 1, the main body 4, the printing roller 12 and the printing head 31 in the positional relation that the printing roller 12 abuts against the under surface of the printing head 31 in the feeding-out direction of the printing paper L1, when the paper feeding cassette 1 is guided to the feeding-out direction of the printing paper L1 with the guide mechanism 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer having a paper feed cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of this type of label printing apparatus is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9A, the label printing apparatus unwinds the printing paper L1 from the label roll L mounted on the unwinding unit 100, and prints on the printing paper L1 by the print head 101. As shown in FIG. 9B, the print unit 102 including the print head 101 is attached to the main body frame 103, while the unwinding unit 100 and the take-up roller 104 are provided.
The supply mechanism 105 including the above is provided in the paper feed cassette 106. When the label roll L is to be replaced, as shown in FIG. 9B, the print unit 102 is rotated and released, and the paper feed cassette 106 is pulled out forward. This prevents the supply mechanism 105 and the label roll L from interfering with the printing unit 102 during attachment / detachment.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the printing unit 102 is rotated and retracted, the retracting mechanism becomes complicated. In particular, the printing unit 102
Since a large number of wiring members are connected to the wiring unit, the wiring members move as the printing unit 102 rotates, which complicates the retracting mechanism. Further, when the paper feed cassette 106 is attached, the print head 101 has to be pressed against the label paper L1 as shown in FIG.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a label printer with a paper feed cassette that does not require the printing unit to be retracted when the paper feed cassette is attached or detached.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a label printing apparatus with a paper feed cassette according to the present invention supplies a printing paper unwound from a label roll mounted on an unwinding portion to a printing roller. A paper feed cassette having a mechanism and a guide mechanism provided in a main body frame to which the paper feed cassette is mounted and for guiding the paper feed cassette in a horizontal direction are provided. When the paper feed cassette is mounted in the main body frame in a tilted position with the feeding direction facing downward, and the paper feed cassette is guided by the guide mechanism in the feeding direction of the printing paper, the printing roller is directed to the lower surface of the printing head in the feeding direction of the printing paper. The paper feed cassette, the main body frame, the print roller, and the print head are arranged in a positional relationship of abutting against each other.

According to the present invention, the print roller of the paper feed cassette abuts the print head in an inclined position with the print paper feed-out direction facing downward, and the print roller of the paper feed cassette abuts in the feed-out direction. At this time, the printing roller and label roll do not interfere with the printing unit. Therefore, it is not necessary to retract the printing unit when the paper cassette is attached or detached.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a label printing apparatus with a paper feeding cassette, FIG. 2 is a front view of a label printing apparatus main body, and FIG. 3 is a front view of a paper feeding cassette.

In FIG. 3, the paper feed cassette 1 is wound around the winding unit 13 by folding the printing paper L1 from the label roll L mounted on the unwinding unit 11 around the printing roller 12 at the lower left of the drawing. A supply mechanism 10 is provided. In addition, the supply mechanism 10 includes a large number of idle gears 1 indicated by broken lines.
4, the first driven gear 15 and the second driven gear 16 are provided on the back surface of the cassette frame 2, and the printing paper L1
A plurality of guide pins 17 for guiding the cassette frame 2
Prepared for the front of. After mounting the paper feed cassette 1, one of the idle gears 14 meshes with the drive gear 14A provided in the label printing apparatus main body 3 in FIG. 2 from the outside in the radial direction, and the first and second idle gears in FIG. 2 driven gear 15,
The print roller 12 and the winding unit 13 are rotationally driven via 16, respectively.

In FIG. 2, a printing unit 30 including a printing head 31 is attached to the plate-shaped body frame 4 of the label printing apparatus body 3. The print head 31
As shown in FIG. 1, prints on the print sheet L1 on the surface of the print roller 12. In this specification, the printing unit 30 includes a printing head 31 made of a semiconductor or the like, a control board for controlling the printing head 31, a support plate for supporting the control board, and the like.

The printing unit 30 is mounted via a bracket 32 so as to be rotatable about the pin 33 in the upper direction A. A compression coil spring 39 is provided between the printing unit 30 and the bracket 32 to hold the printing unit 30 in the state shown in the figure and support it in a state permitting rotation in the direction of arrow A. ing.

FIG. 4 shows the main body frame 4 with the printing unit and the like removed, FIG. 5 shows the paper feed cassette 1 with the take-up portion 13 and other parts cut away, and FIG. 6 shows the initial state of the mounting operation. The relationship between the main body frame 4 and the cassette frame 2 is shown. The main body frame 4 is provided with a guide mechanism 5 for guiding the paper feed cassette 1 in a horizontal direction (left and right) H orthogonal to the axial direction of the print roller 12 (FIG. 5). The guide mechanism 5 will be described below.

A first guide groove 50 extending in the horizontal direction H is provided in the upper portion of the main body frame 4 with the depth direction set to the vertical direction. The first guide groove 50 is formed of a pair of rectangular rod-shaped members made of resin. on the other hand,
In the lower part of the body frame 4, first and second guide surfaces (guide portions) 51, 5 extending parallel to the first guide groove 50.
2 are provided. These guide surfaces 51 and 52 are made of a resin plate and support the vertical load of the paper feed cassette 1.

The cassette frame 2 shown in FIG.
A first engaged portion 20 that fits into the guide groove 50 from above and engages with the first guide groove 50, a first guided portion 21 supported by the first guide surface 51, and a second guide surface. The second guided portion 22 of FIG. 5 supported by 52. FIG.
A second guide groove 50A is provided at the lower right end of the main body frame 4, and the second guide groove 50A engages with a second engaged portion 20A formed in the lower portion of the cassette frame 2.

The main body frame 4 includes a printing roller 12
The axial direction S of (FIG. 1) is open, and therefore, as shown by an arrow C in FIGS. 6 and 7 (a perspective view seen from the rear surface), the first engaged state is from the side of the axial direction S. The portion 20 and the second engaged portion 20A can be fitted into the first guide groove 50 and the second guide groove 50A, respectively.

Further, a positioning guide portion 53 is provided on the upper left portion of the body frame 4 in FIG. The positioning guide portion 53 does not engage with the sheet feeding cassette 1 in the initial stage of the mounting operation of the sheet feeding cassette 1, and moves the sheet feeding cassette 1 to the front F of the main body frame 4 (to the depth on the left side) by the guide mechanism 5. At this time, that is, in the latter stage of the mounting operation of the paper feed cassette 1, the upper end portion 23 of the cassette frame 2 is pushed from the upper side to the lower side as shown in FIG.
The cassette frame 2 is vertically positioned by the second guide surfaces 51 and 52 (FIG. 6).

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing unit 30
As for the print head 31, the paper feed cassette 1 is guided by the guide mechanism 5.
Toward the front F (cassette insertion direction F) guided by
It is arranged obliquely downward. That is, the print head 31 is attached to the main body frame 4 in an inclined posture with the feeding direction of the print paper L1 downward. Further, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the paper feed cassette 1 is fed by the guide mechanism 5 in the feeding direction of the print paper L1 (front F).
When the print roller 12 is guided toward the print head 3,
The paper feed cassette 1, the main body frame 4, the print roller 12 and the print head 31 are arranged on the lower surface of the sheet 1 in a positional relationship in which they abut in the feeding direction (front F) of the print paper L1. Therefore, the printing unit 30
The paper feed cassette 1 can be mounted without retracting the paper feed cassette 1. The "feeding direction of the printing paper L1" referred to in the present specification means the conveying direction (moving direction) of the printing paper L1 in the vicinity of the place where printing is performed.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the label printing apparatus main body 3 includes a pressing roller 34 below the printing roller 12.
It has. The pressing roller 34 is rotatably attached to a mounting bracket 36 supported by a stepped screw 35, and a biasing spring (compression coil spring) 37 provided between the mounting bracket 36 and the body frame 4 Always urged upward. The biasing spring 37
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, when the paper feed cassette 1 is horizontally moved by the guide mechanism 5, the pressing roller 3 is moved along with the horizontal movement of the print roller 12.
Allow 4 to retreat downwards. In addition, as shown in FIG. 8B, the biasing spring 37
Presses the pressing roller 34 against the printing roller 12 that has passed over the pressing roller 34 via the mount L3.

A crescent-shaped peeling shaft 38 is provided in front of the printing roller 12. The peeling shaft 38 is for peeling the label L2 from the printing paper L1 as shown by the chain double-dashed line by folding the printing paper L1 wound around the printing roller 12 at an acute angle. The pressing roller 3
4 is for giving sufficient tension to the printing paper L1 when peeling the label L2 from the printing paper L1 to facilitate the peeling of the label L2. The label L2 that has been peeled off
Is a label sticking device 7 shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG.
The label is attached to the upper surface of the product conveyed below the label attaching device 7.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cassette frame 2 is provided with a pair of handles 60 and a pair of round bars 61 protruding therefrom. A square bar-shaped positioning bar 62 is installed on each of the pair of handles 60 and the round bar 61. These positioning bars 62 come into contact with the end surface of the label roll L on the cassette frame 2 side and cooperate with the sandwiching plate 63 indicated by the chain double-dashed line to position the label roll L in the width direction S. The positioning bar 62 is provided with the handle 60 or the round bar 6 by a set screw (not shown), for example.
It is fixed at 1, and can be positioned in the width direction of the label roll L.

Next, a method of mounting the paper feed cassette 1 will be described. First, the position of the positioning bar 62 in the axial direction S is determined according to the width of the label roll L, and is fixed to the positioning bar 62 and the handle 60 in advance. Then
The label roll L is attached to the unwinding unit 11 (FIG. 1), the printing paper L1 is unwound by hand from the label roll L as shown in FIG. 3, and the leading end of the printing paper L1 is passed through a predetermined path to the winding unit 13.
Fixed to At this time, since the label roll L can be centered and fixed in the width direction by the positioning bar 62, the subsequent sticking becomes easy.

Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 6, the left side portion of the first engaged portion 20 of the sheet feeding cassette 1 is fitted into the right side portion of the first guide groove 50 of the main body frame 4 so as to be dropped. At the same time, the second engaged portion 20A of the paper feed cassette 1 is fitted into the second guide groove 50A. At this time, since the heavy paper feeding cassette 1 can be placed on the label printing apparatus main body 3, the mounting operation becomes easy.

Then, when the paper feed cassette 1 is pushed to the left, the first guided portion 21 slides on the first guided surface 51 while being supported by the first guided surface 51. . At this time, since the first engaged portion 20 is fitted in the first guide groove 50 and the second engaged portion 20A is fitted in the second guide groove 50A, the paper feed cassette 1 is dropped. That's not it.

When the paper feed cassette 1 is further pushed to the left end, the upper end portion (pressed surface) 23 of the cassette frame 2 is pressed against the positioning guide portion 53 of the guide mechanism 5 from above, and as shown in FIG. Since the first guided portion 21 and the second guided portion 22 of the above are supported from below by the first guiding surface 51 and the second guiding surface 52 of FIG. Positioned vertically. Here, since the positioning guide portion 53 presses the upper end portion 23 of the cassette frame 2 only in the latter stage of the mounting operation, the paper feeding cassette 1 can be smoothly moved to the left side with a small operating force.

On the other hand, in the latter stage of the mounting operation, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the print roller 12 pushes down the pressing roller 34 while the printing roller 12 passes over the pressing roller 34. In this way, as shown in FIG. 8B, the print roller 12 contacts the lower surface of the print head 31 via the print paper L1 in the feeding direction (front F) of the print paper L1, and the paper feed cassette 1 labels the label. It is attached to the printer body 3.

After the mounting, the pressing roller 34 pushes the print roller 12 obliquely upward, so that the positioning reliability of the print roller 12 with respect to the print head 31 is improved.

After the paper feed cassette 1 is attached to the label printer main body 3, the paper feed cassette 1 is prevented from moving to the left by a stopper (not shown), and the paper feed cassette 1 is moved to the right by a lock. It does not move.

Here, in the label printing apparatus with the paper feeding cassette, the print roller 12 contacts the print head 31 in the inclined posture with the feeding direction of the printing paper L1 downward, so that the printing roller 12 comes into contact with the printing unit 31 in the feeding direction. The sheet feeding cassette 1 can be attached to and detached from the label printing apparatus main body 3 without retracting the sheet feeding unit 30. Therefore, the retracting mechanism of the printing unit 30 is unnecessary, and the structure of the apparatus is simplified. Moreover, the print roller 12 is attached to the print head 3 when mounted.
Since the first contact roller 1 contacts the print head 12, the mechanism is simplified unlike the case where the print roller 12 is pressed against the print head 31 after mounting.

In the above embodiment, the guide portion 51 of the guide mechanism 5 and the guided portion 21 of the sheet feeding cassette 1 are in surface contact, but in the present invention, they may be guided by rolling contact.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The print roller and label roll of the paper feed cassette do not interfere with the print unit when the cassette is attached / detached because the print roller contacts the print head in the inclined position with the print paper feed-down direction facing down. Therefore, it is not necessary to retract the printing unit when attaching or detaching the cassette. Further, since the print roller contacts the print head during mounting, it is not necessary to separately press the print roller against the print head after mounting. Therefore, the structure of the device is simplified.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the heavy paper feed cassette is placed on the main body frame, and the print roller and the paper feed cassette are positioned after the paper feed cassette is horizontally moved. When mounting the cassette on the label printing apparatus main body, the mounting operation becomes easier than mounting the cassette while directly positioning it.

Further, in the third aspect of the invention, since the cassette frame is vertically positioned with respect to the main body frame in the latter stage of the mounting operation of the paper feed cassette, the pushing operation of the paper feed cassette is performed in the initial stage of the mounting operation. Since the force becomes smaller, the mounting operation becomes easier.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the pressing roller for pressing the printing roller is provided with the biasing spring, the reliability of the positioning of the printing roller is improved, so that the printing quality is improved and the pressing roller is It does not interfere with the mounting operation.

Further, in the invention of claim 5, the label roll can be centered by changing the position of the positioning bar according to the roll width of the label roll. Since the label can be centered on the label sticking machine, the sticking of the label becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a label printing apparatus with a paper feed cassette showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a printer body.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a main body frame with a printing unit and the like removed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a paper feed cassette.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing an initial state in which the paper feed cassette is attached to the main body frame.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view seen from the back side.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a printing mechanism portion showing a latter state of mounting the paper feed cassette on the printing apparatus main body.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Paper feed cassette 10: Supply mechanism 11: Unwinding part 12: Printing roller 2: Cassette frame 20: Engagement part 21: First guided part 3: Label printer main body 31: Printing head 4: Body frame 5 : Guide mechanism 50: First guide groove 51: First guide surface 52: Second guide surface 53: Positioning guide portion 62: Positioning bar

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed cassette having a feeding mechanism for feeding print paper unwound from a label roll attached to an unwinding portion to a print roller; and a main body frame to which the paper feed cassette is attached,
A guide mechanism that guides the paper feed cassette in a horizontal direction, and a print head that prints on the print paper is attached to the main body frame in an inclined posture in which the feeding direction of the print paper is downward, Is guided by the guide mechanism in the feeding direction of the print sheet, the print roller comes into contact with the lower surface of the print head in the feeding direction of the print sheet. A label printing device with a paper feed cassette, in which a frame, print roller, and print head are arranged. 2. The main body frame according to claim 1, wherein a depth direction is set to be a vertical direction and a guide groove extending in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction of the sheet feeding cassette extending in parallel with the guide groove. A guide portion that supports a load is provided, and an engaged portion that fits into the guide groove from above and engages with the guide groove is provided in the cassette frame of the sheet feeding cassette, and is supported by the guide portion. A guided portion is provided to configure the guide mechanism, and the engaged portion can be fitted into the guide groove from the axial side of the print roller, so that the main body frame is provided with the guided portion. Label printer with a paper feed cassette that is axially open. 3. The cassette according to claim 2, wherein the cassette is not engaged in the initial stage of the mounting operation of the sheet feeding cassette, and the cassette is moved in the latter stage of the mounting operation of moving the sheet feeding cassette to the front of the main body frame by the guide mechanism. A label printing apparatus with a paper feed cassette, wherein the main body frame is provided with a positioning guide portion that pushes the frame downward and vertically positions the cassette frame with the guide portion. 4. The pressing roller according to claim 1, wherein a pressing roller for sandwiching a printing sheet with the printing roller is provided below the printing roller, and the pressing roller is constantly biased upward. A biasing spring is provided, and the biasing spring allows the pressing roller to retreat downward as the print roller moves horizontally when the paper feed cassette is moved horizontally by the guide mechanism. A label printing apparatus with a paper feed cassette, which presses a pressing roller via a printing paper against a printing roller that has passed over the pressing roller after mounting the paper feeding cassette. 5. The cassette frame according to claim 1, wherein the cassette frame is provided with two positioning bars that come into contact with an end surface of the label roll on the cassette frame side, and these positioning bars are positionable in the width direction of the label roll. Label printing device with a paper cassette.