JPH0939334A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce in torque and size a motor by maintaining a smaller gap than a card thickness at the position opposed to a planar thermal head, and disposing a platen roller. SOLUTION: When a card 12 is inserted from a card insertion inlet 13 and passed through a card detecting sensor 17, a motor starts to rotate in the direction of an arrow. The card 12 is further inserted, and is automatically fed from the time point when the card 12 is engaged between a sheet supply roller 10 and a pinch spring 16. The card 12 is passed through a read sensor 15, and sent to a planar thermal head 1. When the tip of the card 12 is engaged with the gap between the head 1 and a platen roller 3, the card 12 lifts the head 1, and the card 12 is fed while applying sufficient force to the card 12. Thermal energy is applied to the head 1 in this state to color develop the thermosensitive layer on the card surface to write a character, a picture or a graph. Thus, the load at the time of supplying the sheet can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ticket issuing machine, a card printing machine,
The present invention relates to a printing device for a small terminal of a label printing machine, and particularly to a printing device using a thermal recording paper of thick paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in demand for a small-sized printing apparatus using a thermal head system of low noise, low cost, and high speed printing, which uses thick paper, particularly a fixed-sized card.

In the card printing apparatus proposed so far,
Since the magnetic recording is also used, the card flatness is emphasized.

A conventional printing device will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 6, an end surface type thermal head 21 having a plurality of heating elements corresponding to the number of pixels corresponding to one row is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the passage of the card 22. The heating element portion mounted on the tip of the thermal head 21 faces the platen roller 23 and is pressed against the platen roller 23 by a spring 24. When the card 22 passes between the feed roller 25 and the pinch roller 26, the rotation of the motor 27 is transmitted through the reduction gear 28 and automatically fed.

The position of the card 22 is determined by the sensors 29, 3
When the card 22 is positioned immediately before the thermal head 21 by the detection sensor 30, the electromagnetic solenoid 32 is activated and the lever 33 is detected.
The thermal head 21 through the platen roller 23
Away from the card 22 to free the passage of the card 22. The detection sensor 31 detects that the tip of the card 22 has passed the thermal head 21, and the electromagnetic solenoid 32 is de-energized. At this time, the thermal head 21 has the spring 2
The pressure of 4 presses the printed surface of the card 22. By applying heat generation energy synchronized with the rotation of the platen roller 25 to the thermal head 21, the card 22 develops color and characters, pictures, bar codes, etc. can be printed.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the card 22 has the end face type thermal head 21.
The thermal head 21 moves to the platen roller 2 before
When the platen roller 23 is pressed, the rotational load of the platen roller 23 increases and a large torque motor is required. Therefore, in order to reduce the load on the platen roller 23, it is necessary to provide a mechanism that allows the thermal head 21 to escape from the platen roller 23 by using the electromagnetic solenoid 32. As a result, there are many members and it is difficult to realize a small size and low price. Had challenges.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a small-sized and low-priced printing apparatus.

[0008]

In order to solve this problem, the printing apparatus of the present invention arranges a platen roller at a position facing a flat type thermal head while maintaining a gap smaller than the card thickness, and there is no card. Even in this state, the thermal head does not come into contact with the platen roller.

[0009]

With this configuration, the thermal head does not hit the platen roller even when there is no card, and no load is applied by pressing the thermal head. Further, when the card enters the gap smaller than the card thickness, the spring pressure for pushing up the thermal head causes the thermal head to be sufficiently pressed by the card.

[0010]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show the construction of the printing apparatus in this embodiment. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 is a flat type thermal head, which is fixed to a heat radiating plate 2. The heat radiating plate 2 which also has a function of radiating the residual heat generated from the thermal head 1 is fixed to the head holder 14, and both ends thereof are U.
A bearing member 4 that is processed into a shape that forms a groove and that rotatably supports the platen roller 3 is sandwiched. The bearing member 4 has a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the platen roller 3 by about half the thickness of the paper used.

The head pressure spring 5 is arranged between the planar thermal head 1 and the upper case 6 via the head holder 14 and the heat radiating plate 2, and the pressing of the head pressure spring 5 causes the planar thermal head 1 to move. Both ends are constantly pressed against the outer diameter of the bearing member 4. At this time, a gap δ corresponding to the difference between the outer diameter of the bearing member 4 and the outer diameter of the platen roller 3 is formed between the flat thermal head 1 and the platen roller 3. As a result, even when the card 12 is not in the flat thermal head 1, the flat thermal head 1 is not pressed by the platen roller 3 and the load on the motor 7 is reduced.

On the other hand, the other end of the head holder 14 is supported by a column 6b provided on the upper case 6. A platen gear 3 a is coaxially fixed to the platen roller 3 and meshes with the transmission gear 9. Reference numeral 7 denotes a motor, which meshes with the transmission gear 9 via a motor gear 8 fixed to a motor shaft. By rotating the motor 7, the platen roller 3 can be rotated. A roller gear 10 a is coaxially fixed to the paper feed roller 10 and meshes with the motor gear 8 via a transmission gear 9. As a result, the platen roller 3 and the paper feed roller 1
0 rotates synchronously.

A pinch spring 16 is pressed against the paper feed roller 10 from below the card path. The pinch spring 16 has spring contact portions at both ends, one end presses the feed roller 10 and the other end presses the sensor surface of the reading sensor 15 that reads the printed bar code data, and the center part is the lower case. It is supported by a dowel 11a provided at 11.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. The card 12 is inserted through the card insertion slot 13 formed by the upper case 6 and the lower case 11. When the card 12 passes through the card detection sensor 17, the card detection sensor 17
The signal from the motor 7 causes the motor 7 to start rotating in the direction of arrow A in the figure. When the card 12 is further inserted and the card 12 is caught between the paper feed roller 10 and the pinch spring 16, the card 12 is automatically fed.

The card 12 passes through the reading sensor 15 and is sent to the planar thermal head 1. When the tip of the card 12 is caught in the gap δ between the planar thermal head 1 and the platen roller 3, the card 12 pushes up the planar thermal head 1 and the card 12
The card 12 is sent while being sufficiently pressed. By applying heat energy to the planar thermal head 1 in this state, the heat-sensitive layer on the surface of the card is colored, and characters, pictures, graphs, etc. can be written.

When the printing is completed, the sheet may be discharged as it is, but with the card 12 sandwiched between the planar thermal head 1 and the platen roller 3, the motor 7 is moved to the arrow B.
When rotated in the direction, the card 12 returns to the original path. At this time, it is possible to read information such as a bar code printed by the reading sensor 15.

(Embodiment 2) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Since the basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted. 1 to 4, an IC for controlling the heating element is projected on the same surface as the heating element of the miniaturized planar thermal head 1, and when the card 12 comes into contact with the protruding portion 1a, Damage or affect print quality. In order to solve this problem, in order to avoid contact between the protrusion 1a and the card 12, the planar thermal head 1 is arranged at a certain angle with respect to the passage of the card 12. In this case, the card 12 that has passed through the planar thermal head 1 is curved as shown in FIG.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Card 1 with upper and lower cases 6 and 11 at position 0
The sheet feeding roller 1 is arranged below the passage 2 by μ.
The card 12 curled in a curved shape is corrected to a flat shape by passing 0 and taking it out from the insertion opening 13 of the card 12.

(Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Since the basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the upper case 6 and the lower case 11 are supported by the rotation fulcrums 6a and 11a at the rear position of the planar thermal head 1. Locking claws 6c having an operating portion 6d are provided on both sides of the other end of the upper case 6, and are always in a closed state by meshing with a fixing groove 11c of the lower case 11. The lock claws 6c are released by inclining the operation portion 6d inward as shown in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, and the state shown in FIG. 5 can be opened. The upper case 6 is provided with a restricting portion 6b, which is pressed against the rear wall of the lower case 11 when the upper case 6 is open to restrict the opening position.

When closed, the planar thermal head 1 pressed against the outer diameter of the bearing member 4 is opened by the opening of the upper case 6, but the receiving seat 6e provided in the upper case 6 is opened.
And the support 6b receives the force of the head pressure spring 5 and supports it. As a result, the flat thermal head 1 does not fall off even when the upper case 6 is opened. When the upper case 6 is closed, the planar thermal head 1 is fitted into the bearing member 4 and the position is guaranteed by using the U groove portion on the side surface of the head holder 14 as a guide.

With these, thick recording paper (card, etc.)
It is possible to provide a low-load printing device that is light in load, small in size, highly accurate, and inexpensive as a printing device that uses a printer.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the recording paper is fed by supporting and fixing the platen roller to the frame while maintaining the gap smaller than the recording paper thickness when the recording paper is not in the print head portion. It is possible to greatly reduce the load when the motor is operated, and it is possible to reduce the torque and size of the motor.

Further, curl correction of a curved recording paper can be performed by passing the thick printed paper through a paper feed roller located below the path of the recording paper and ejecting it.

Further, due to the opening structure in which the upper and lower cases are divided from the recording paper passage, maintenance such as paper jamming and cleaning of the print head is facilitated, and the size and weight are reduced.
An inexpensive printing device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to first to third embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a front view thereof, and FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a paper feed roller portion of a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an open state of the printer according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a conventional printing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Planar Thermal Head 2 Heat Sink 3 Platen Roller 4 Bearing Member 5 Head Pressure Spring 6 Upper Case 7 Motor 8 Motor Gear 9 Transmission Gear 10 Paper Feed Roller 11 Lower Case 12 Card 13 Card Insert 14 Head Holder 15 Read Sensor 16 Pinch Spring 17 Detection sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head having a plurality of heating elements corresponding to the number of pixels corresponding to one row, a platen roller disposed at a position facing the thermal head with a gap smaller than a recording paper thickness being maintained, A pressing member that presses the thermal head toward the platen roller, a feed roller that draws in the recording paper, a motor that rotates the platen roller and the feed roller, and the rotation from this motor to each roller is decelerated or accelerated to be transmitted. A printing device including a rotation transmitting member, a pinch member that presses the recording paper against a feed roller, and a frame that both controls the passage of the recording paper and supports and fixes each member. 2. The thermal head is arranged at an angle to the paper feed path of the recording paper, and a feed roller for drawing in the recording paper is arranged at a position lower than the path of the recording paper to bend the recording paper downward. Claim 1 which was made to draw in while making it
The printing device described. 3. A frame is divided into an upper case and a lower case that can be opened and closed with a recording paper path as a boundary surface, and a platen roller, a feed roller, a motor and a rotation transmitting member are supported and fixed to the lower case, and a thermal head and this The printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a pressing member for pressing the thermal head toward the platen roller is supported and fixed to the upper case.