JPH11216932A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small printer which can be used as a memo pad. SOLUTION: A printing mechanism 20 having a thermal head 15 capable of performing printing on a thermal paper and a paper accommodating section 30 capable of accommodating the thermal paper having a regular size are juxtaposed in a thin and flat case 11. As the printing paper having a size of A6 or B7 is used, the whole size of the printer can be constituted in a size like a memo pad so that it is possible to provide a printer which can be used as a normal stationary.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing images such as characters and images on printing paper, and more particularly to a space-saving printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, multimedia has rapidly advanced,
In particular, personal computers (PCs) are remarkably penetrating not only to companies but also to individual users. Accordingly, applications and demands of printers as output devices, which are peripheral devices of personal computers, have been diversified.

[0003]

As for printers, color, high resolution, multiple functions, high speed and high quality have been developed, and large and expensive printers have become mainstream. Therefore, these high-performance, multifunctional printers are shared by several people in an office or the like via a network or the like.

However, there is a strong demand for a personal printer. In the case of a shared printer, if the shared printer is not installed near the personal computer, one must leave the seat each time to obtain a print result output while working on the personal computer. In addition, when a shared printer wants to output, it may not be able to output immediately. In this way, the individual cannot use it freely, so that the work efficiency is low for the individual, and it may be difficult to easily print as much as a memo.

[0005] Small printers that can obtain high-quality prints are also commercially available for individual users, but even in such printers, the size of the paper used is A4 size or the same as the shared printer. That is all.
In addition, many printers that are widely used at present are laser printers and ink jet printers, and since many components are difficult to assemble in a compact manner, miniaturization is limited. Therefore, in addition to the space for a personal computer, a considerably large and stable installation space dedicated to a printer is required as a personal work space.

Therefore, when using a personal computer,
There is a demand for simple printing such as making hard copies of images or copying e-mails, but in such a case, installing a printer that occupies the same space as a personal computer in offices Or narrowing your personal space at home is a resistance. Further, current personal size printers are expensive and cannot be easily obtained due to their advanced functions.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer which requires a small installation space dedicated to the printer and can be supplied at low cost. It is another object of the present invention to provide a printer that can be used as if each user took notes.

[0008]

For this reason, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, a paper storage portion capable of storing fixed-form printing paper and a printing mechanism portion are provided inside a flat case having a substantially flat upper surface. And a discharge port for discharging printed printing paper is provided on the upper surface. The entire printing device can be made thinner by arranging the paper storage unit and the printing mechanism in the case so that they do not substantially overlap.Furthermore, the printing paper can be discharged as a memo or notebook by discharging the printing paper on a flat top surface. A simple printing apparatus.

Further, this printing apparatus has various advantages. First, in the printing mechanism, a pickup roller capable of picking up heat-sensitive printing paper from the paper storage unit, and a platen roller capable of feeding the printing paper,
By providing a thermal head capable of printing on thermal paper, a printing apparatus using thermal paper that does not require consumables such as toner and ink, unlike an inkjet printer or the like, is provided. Therefore, the space for consumables can be saved, and the printing mechanism can be arranged small and thin, so that the case housing the printing mechanism and the paper storage can be made very thin. Further, since the heat-sensitive paper is thin, it is easy to change the paper feeding direction, and a paper path for discharging paper from the upper surface in a narrow space can be arranged using a small-diameter platen roller.
In addition, the use of heat-sensitive paper can save labor and time for replacing consumables.

Further, in this printing apparatus, not a roll paper, but a fixed heat-sensitive paper which is a cut cut sheet is used.
The case can be made very thin. In other words, while a conventional small-sized printer that is compatible with thermal paper but is mostly roll paper, adopting it as a standard thermal paper makes it possible to realize a printing apparatus that is compact and very thin with respect to the paper size. Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, 1
Since the paper is fed for each sheet, the accuracy of the paper feeding mechanism does not need to be as high as that of roll paper, and a low-cost, highly reliable printing apparatus with less paper jams can be realized.

Further, since the printed paper is discharged onto the upper surface, the flat surface of the case can be used as a paper discharge tray. Further, the print result can be immediately seen by discharging the paper so that the printed surface faces upward.
In addition, since the paper is ejected on a flat upper surface, it is possible to use a memo instead of a memo added to a printed printing paper. In particular, since the printing apparatus of the present invention using thermal paper can be made thin as described above, it can be used by installing it on a desk instead of a notebook or a memo.

By making the size of the paper storage unit suitable for storing fixed-size printing paper of about A6 or B7, it is possible to realize a small memo pad or a printing apparatus of about a pen case. For this reason, the printing apparatus can be installed on the desk instead of the notepad, and the space occupied thereby can be reduced.

Further, since the printing apparatus of the present invention discharges paper to the upper surface of the case, a thin and flat case is not used as a mounting table for other apparatuses. Therefore, at least a part of the upper surface can be opened and closed while also serving as a cover for the paper storage portion, and work such as refilling paper can be performed extremely easily.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Since the printer 10 of the present example can be put together in a small notebook or pen case, as shown in FIG. Can be arranged side by side. For this reason,
Almost no printer-specific space is required. Then, the printer 10 of this example transmits and receives data to and from a personal computer via the printer cable 51 or an infrared interface, and prints.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the printer 10 of this embodiment. The printer 10 of this example has a printing case 20 and a paper storage unit 30 in a flat case 11 having a flat top surface 11a formed of plastic or the like and having a small thickness.
1a, the printing mechanism unit 20 and the paper storage unit 3
0 is stored so that it does not substantially overlap. Therefore, the case 11 of the printer 10 of the present embodiment has the upper surface 11a
Is rectangular and the whole is a thin rectangular parallelepiped. Further, in the vicinity of one short side 11b of the rectangular upper surface 11a, a discharge port 17 for discharging the printed paper 1 is provided in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the upper surface 11a, that is, along the short side 11b. Have been. Therefore, the sheet 1 a discharged from the discharge port 17 is discharged from the upper surface 11 a of the case as the discharge tray 31. Further, in the printer 10 of the present embodiment, since the printing surface 1a of the printing paper 1 is output to the upper surface 11a with the front side facing, the printing result can be immediately viewed. Since the upper surface 11a of the case 11 is flat, a memo can be written on the discharged printing paper 1 or used as a notebook.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the printer of this embodiment using a cross section. In the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the printing mechanism unit 20 is arranged along the short side 11b in the space near the short side 11b of the case 11 and in the space corresponding to the back side of the paper discharge port 17. Further, a sheet storage unit 30 is arranged adjacent to the printing mechanism unit 20 in a state where a part for picking up a sheet is overlapped by one part. The paper storage unit 30 is provided with a space 5 for storing the standard thermal paper 1 so as to be substantially parallel to the upper surface 11a along the back side of the upper surface 11a. Further, a space 39 below the paper storage unit 30 of the case 11 is a space where a control device such as a control board can be installed, and a storage space for the battery 35 is provided at one corner thereof.

The printing mechanism section 20 includes a pickup roller 13 for taking out the thermal paper 1 as a printing paper from the paper storage section 30, a thermal head 15 as a printing head capable of recording on the thermal paper 1 using heat, and a paper feeder. And a platen roller 14 having a function, and these are arranged in order from the paper storage unit 30 side. Further, the pickup roller 13 and the thermal head 15 are partially arranged vertically. Therefore, the paper storage unit 3
The thermal paper 1 stored in the pickup roller 1
3, is guided toward the printing portion 15 b of the thermal head in contact with the platen roller 14, and is further printed.
It is guided and discharged. As described above, the printing mechanism for printing on the thermal paper 1 requires a small number of components, and the thermal head 15 and the platen roller 14 are arranged substantially side by side in the paper feeding direction as in this embodiment. By doing so, the printing mechanism unit 20 can be thin and compact. Since the heat-sensitive paper 1 is thin and easy to change the paper feeding direction, the paper discharging direction can be changed to the upper surface 11a in a narrow space by using the platen roller 14 having a small diameter. Therefore, the printer 1 can be accommodated in the substantially rectangular thin case 11 so as to be adjacent to the printing mechanism unit 20 and the paper storage unit 30 and arranged along the upper surface 11a.
0 and can be designed and assembled.

Further, in the printer 10 of the present embodiment, a driving motor 18 is housed inside the platen roller 14, and the platen roller 14 and the pickup roller 13 are respectively connected via a power transmission mechanism such as an appropriate gear train. It can rotate in the appropriate direction. Therefore, the storage space for the motor 18 can be saved, and the printing mechanism 20 is compact.

The printing mechanism section 20 of this embodiment is configured such that the printing section 15b of the thermal head contacts (faces) the platen roller 14 from below (the side opposite to the upper surface 11a), and the printed paper is printed. The paper is fed along the platen roller 14 and provided on the upper surface 11 a to be discharged from the paper discharge port 17. Therefore, the printed thermal paper discharged to the upper surface 11a has the print surface 1a facing upward, and the printed content can be viewed immediately.

The direction of rotation of the pickup roller 13 is switched according to the direction of rotation of the motor 18. When the sheet is fed, it rotates in the direction of the platen roller 14, and when printing starts, it rotates in the opposite direction. The thermal paper 1 is separated one by one and guided to a platen roller 14 and a thermal head 15.

The paper storage unit 30 is provided on the upper surface 11 of the case 11.
Along the back side of a, a paper cassette (cartridge) -shaped storage space 5 capable of storing a plurality of heat-sensitive papers cut in a fixed form in a stacked manner is formed. The portion of the upper surface 11a of the case 11 that covers the storage space 5 also functions as a cover 8 that can open and close the storage space 5. The cover 8 is attached by a hinge 9 on the short side of the case opposite to the paper discharge port 17 so that the cover 8 can rotate with respect to the case 11.

The cover 8 can be opened upward with respect to the main body 10 as shown in FIG. 4A, and in this state, the heat-sensitive paper 1 can be supplied to the storage space 5. At this time, the printing surface 1a of the thermal paper sheet 1 is stored with the printing surface 1a facing downward, so that the paper is fed with the printing surface 1a facing the thermal head 15, and the printed surface 1a faces upward and is discharged. The paper is discharged from the opening 17. After inserting paper 1, FIG.
As shown in (b), when the cover 8 is closed, the thermal paper 1 is pressed against the pickup roller 13 by the spring paper presser 8a provided on the storage space side (back side) of the cover 8. Therefore, the thermal paper 1 can be smoothly fed to the printing mechanism unit 20 one by one until the end. Cover 8
When is closed, the paper storage unit 30 is in a sealed state, so that the heat-sensitive printing paper 1 can be protected from light, heat, dust, or the like. Further, in the printer 10 of the present embodiment, since the upper surface 11a serving as the cover 8 is used as a paper discharge tray, no other device is installed on the cover 8 and the thermal paper is not used. Is easy to replenish.

As described above, in the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the fixed-type thermal paper is stored in the cartridge-type paper storage unit 30 and the thermal compact printing mechanism unit 20 is arranged at one end. The printer is thin and compact. Further, the storage space 5 in the form of a paper cassette of the present embodiment has a size of A6 (approximately 105 m wide) smaller than the A4 size used in a normal printer.
m, about 148 mm in length or B7 (about 91 mm in width, about 128 mm in length). For this reason, the case 11, that is, the printer 10 as a whole is small and thin and compactly assembled, and can be realized, for example, in the size of a notebook such as a memo pad.

The printer 10 of the present embodiment prints on a small standard size thermal paper 1 of A6 or B7 smaller than the conventional A4 size. The printing paper of this size is large enough to make a copy of e-mail or make a hard copy of the content displayed on the browser, for example, and has a sufficient function as a printer for personal use. In addition, by adopting the standard thermal paper 1 as the printing paper, it is possible to use parts with a paper feeding function, etc., which are not so accurate, in contrast to the roll-shaped thermal paper used in conventional small printers. can do. That is, since the standard paper is fed one by one, there is no need to accumulate a slight shift at the time of feeding the paper as in the case of roll paper and to cause a paper jam. Thus, it is possible to provide a low-cost printer with less paper jam. .

As described above, since the printer 10 of the present embodiment uses the thermal paper 1, printing consumables such as ink, ribbon and toner are unnecessary, and the space for storing these consumables is eliminated. The printing mechanism unit 20 can be made compact. Further, since the standard thermal paper 1 is used, a sufficient amount of printing paper can be stored in the thin storage space 5. By setting the size of the printing paper to about A6 and B7, the entire printer can be made thin and compact. Furthermore, by arranging the printing mechanism unit 20 and the printing storage unit 30 in a horizontal direction so as not to substantially overlap each other, the thin and flat case 11 is formed.
Since the printer can be stored in the printer, the entire printer can be organized into a general size of a stationery normally arranged on a desk such as a notebook or a pen case. Therefore, the printer can be easily installed around the personal computer without providing the printer exclusive space on the desk. Of course, since the printer 10 according to the present invention is small and thin, it can be easily carried, and can be used together with a PDA or a notebook personal computer at a carrying company and at home or on a business trip.

In the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the upper surface 11a of the case is flattened, and the printed paper is discharged therefrom. Therefore, it is easy to write a comment or a memo on a printed sheet, and a printer can be used as a notebook or a memo. In addition, since printing is performed on a fixed sheet, storage and filing are easy. Furthermore, since the printer of this example is small and has a simple configuration, it can be provided to users at a low price, and can be easily used as a printer for personal use in offices and homes.
In addition, the printer of this example operates exclusively for printing of small standard size printing paper such as B7 size, so that the motor load is small and all can be driven by one motor, so that the power consumption is low and the space below the storage unit 30 is small. The battery 35 is installed in the power supply and can be sufficiently driven by the power supply. Therefore, it is not necessary to secure the power supply and wiring, etc., and this point is also suitable as a desktop printer.

The shape of the printer 10 of this embodiment is a thin rectangular parallelepiped. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to adopt a case such as a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse. Printer can be provided. Further, the thermal paper is not limited to a single color printing such as black, but may be a color printing such as two colors of black and red.
Further, although the cover 8 of this example is a revolving type that can be opened and closed,
It is of course possible to employ a cover of a sliding type or the like, and furthermore, the paper storage unit 30 of the present example can store a cartridge in which a bundle of paper is packaged with paper or plastic. .

[0028]

As described above, the printing apparatus of the present invention has a printing mechanism and a plurality of A
A paper storage unit capable of storing standard printing paper of about 6 or B7 is arranged side by side along the upper surface of the flat case, so that the paper printed on the upper surface of the flat case can be discharged. ing. For this reason, it is possible to provide a low-priced, thin, and compact printing apparatus that requires a small dedicated installation space and can be used in the same atmosphere as a memo pad or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing paper storage of the printer shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Thermal paper (printing paper) 5. Storage space 8. Cover 9. Hinge 10. Printer (printing device) 11. Case 13. Pickup roller 14. Platen roller 15. Thermal head 17・ ・ Discharge port 18 ・ ・ Motor 20 ・ ・ Printing unit 30 ・ ・ Paper storage unit 31 ・ ・ Discharge tray 35 ・ ・ Battery 39 ・ ・ Control device space 50 ・ ・ PC (information processing device) 51 ・ ・ Printer Cable 60 desk

Claims (6)

[Claims] A flat case having a substantially flat upper surface is provided. A printing mechanism and a paper storage portion capable of storing a plurality of fixed-form printing papers are provided along the upper surface of the case. A printing apparatus, wherein a discharge port for discharging printed printing paper is provided on the upper surface. 2. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein
A printing apparatus comprising: a pickup roller capable of picking up thermal paper from the paper storage unit; a platen roller capable of feeding print paper; and a thermal head capable of printing on thermal paper. 3. The paper storage unit according to claim 1, wherein:
A printing apparatus characterized in that the printing apparatus has a size suitable for storing standard printing paper of about A6 or B7. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein printing paper is set in the paper storage unit with its printing surface facing down, and the printing paper is discharged from the paper discharge port with the printing surface facing upward. Printing device. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the case can be used as a paper discharge tray. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the upper surface of the case is openable and closable as a cover for the paper storage unit.