JPS6151372A - Head-up mechanism of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the insert of recording paper, by swinging a detector for detecting the presence and absence of a recording medium in connection with a handle for allowing a printing head to contact with or separate from a platen and allowing the probe of the detector to thrust in or withdraw from the running path of the recording medium at the time of contact or separation. CONSTITUTION:When a handle 14 is fallen to the right side and a thermal head 7 is separated from a platen 1, a support metal fitting 21 is rotated through a gear 24 and the probe 15 of a microswitch 6 is positioned below a through-hole 5. Therefore, recording paper 4 pierces through the through-hole 5 withut being blocked by the probe 15 and the leading end is inserted in the open space of the thermal head 7 and the platen 1. When the handle 14 is to the left side and the thermal head 7 is contacted with the platen 1, the probe 15 of the microswitch 6 blocks the through-hole 5 at the intermediate part thereof. Therefore, if the recording paper 4 is inerted in the through-hole 5, the probe 15 is pushed and the electric signal showing the presence of the recording paper is sent out by the microswitch 6 while, when no recording paper is inserted, the probe 15 is not pushed and, therefore, the electric signal showing the absence of the recording paper is sent out by the microswitch 6.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention makes it possible to normally and easily insert a new recording medium by linking the head-up mechanism of a printer, particularly a detector for detecting the presence or absence of a recording medium, with the hand insert operation. Along with
The present invention relates to an improvement in which one detector can serve as both the recording medium detector and the head amplifier detector.

[Conventional technology]

In printers that print characters, symbols, etc. on recording media,
Detecting that a recording medium is inserted into the printing section, especially when the recording medium is continuous paper, includes a mechanism that separates the print head from the platen in order to insert the leading edge of the recording paper into the printing section, and a mechanism that separates the print head from the platen. You will need a detection to confirm.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the main parts of a conventional thermal printer printing section, in which 1 is a platen made of hard rubber, 2 is a shaft on which platen 1 is fitted and rotates at a predetermined speed, and 3
Reference numeral 1 indicates a guide having a through hole (running path) 5 for guiding the recording paper 4 to the platen 1, 6 a microsinch (detector) for detecting the presence or absence of the recording paper 4, and 7 a plurality of resistance heating elements. The print head includes the formed thermal head 8, and 9 is a microsinch (detector) for detecting the state of the print head 7 (thermal head 8).

However, the print head 7 includes a support plate 10 that supports the thermal head 8, an elastic spring 11 that supports the support plate 10, and a oscillation that oscillates about an axis 12 having a length in the thickness direction. It is composed of a moving metal fitting 13 and a handle (lever) 14 for manually swinging the swinging metal fitting 13, and the guide 3 allows the contact 15 of the microswitch 6 to be inserted into the through hole 5 without contacting it. Through-holes 16 and 17 are provided to allow this.

In the printing section configured in this way, FIG. 2 shows a state in which it is set in the printing state, and the thermal head
contacts the platen 1, and the contact 14 of the micro switch 6
protrudes so as to block the through hole 5.

To insert a new recording paper 4, first tilt the upper end of the handle 14 to the right by a predetermined angle with your fingers, and then the thermal heater pad 7 will be separated from the platen 1 by an appropriate amount. Therefore, when a new recording paper 4 is inserted through the opening of the through hole 5, the recording paper 4 pushes the feeler I5 downward and is inserted so that its leading edge is located between the opposing sides of the platen 1 and the thermal head 7. However, when the feeler 15 is pushed downward, the microswitch 6 sends a signal indicating that recording paper is present to the apparatus control section.

Next, when the upper end of the handle 14 is tilted to the left, the recording paper 4
The tip of the thermal head 7 is sandwiched between the platen 1 and the thermal head 7, and the microswitch 9, which weakens the pressing force of the contact 18, sends a signal informing that the thermal head 7 is in the printing mode, and starts printing. Become.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As explained above, conventionally, the microswitch 6 for detecting the presence or absence of the recording paper 4 and the microswitch 9 for detecting the state of the thermal head 7, that is, two microsinches, are required. The feeler 15 protrudes so as to block the through hole 5 even when the leading end of the recording paper 4 is inserted, so not only does the insertion end get caught on the feeler 15 and is difficult to insert, but also the insertion end There were problems such as damage to the surface, and improvement of these problems was strongly desired.

Note that if the springiness of the feeler 15 is weakened in order to alleviate the above-mentioned problem, the detection performance of the recording paper 4 will be degraded, and it has been extremely difficult in practice to set the springiness to an optimum value.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention aims to solve the above problems, and a detector for detecting the presence or absence of a recording medium swings in conjunction with a handle for bringing the print head into contact with the platen and separating it from the platen. A printer characterized in that when the probe of the detector enters into the running path of the recording medium, and when the probe is released, the probe of the detector retracts from the running path of the recording medium. This is a head-up mechanism.

[Effect]

According to the above means, when the handle is operated so that the print head comes into contact with the platen, the detector detects the presence or absence of the recording medium, thereby eliminating the need for a detector for detecting the thermal head and reducing the swinging of the detector. Utilizing this, when the platen and the thermal head are separated, the feeler is retracted from the recording medium travel path, thereby facilitating insertion of the recording paper.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a thermal printer will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the main parts of a thermal link printing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is a side sectional view in a state where recording paper is inserted, and (II) is a side sectional view in a printing state.

In FIG. 1, the same reference numerals are used for parts common to those in FIG. The shaft is movably supported, 23 is a sector gear formed on the other side of the support metal fitting 21, and 24 is a sector gear attached to the lower part of the swinging metal fitting 13, so that the gears 23 and 24 mesh with each other.

When the handle (lever) 14 configured in this manner is tilted to the right side and the thermal radar 7 is separated from the platen 1, the second step is completed.
As shown in Figure (a), the support metal fitting 21 rotates via the gear 24, and the contact 15 of the microswitch 6 is located below the through hole 5. Therefore, the recording paper 4 passes through the through hole 5 without being obstructed by the probe 15, and its leading end is inserted between the thermal head 7 and the platen 1.

Then, when the handle (lever) 14 is turned to the left and the thermal head 7 is brought into contact with the platen 1, the ! As shown in figure (U), since the support metal fitting 21 is rotated via the gear 24,
The contact 15 of the microswitch 6 comes to block the through hole (traveling path) 5 at the middle part. Therefore, if the recording paper 4 is inserted into the through hole 5, the toucher 15 is pressed and the microswitch 6 sends out an electrical signal indicating that the recording paper is present, but when the recording paper 4 is not inserted, the toucher 15 is pressed. Since 15 is not pressed, the tip of the toucher 15, which does not touch anything, enters the through hole 15 of the guide 3 unless the electricity from the recording paper is received, and the microswitch 6 sends out a signal indicating that the recording paper is present. First, the recording paper fish will be detected.

In the above embodiment, the detector is configured to rotate using a gear, but the present invention is not limited to such a gear mechanism. For example, the detector may be rotated using a crank mechanism, a cam mechanism, or a belt mechanism. It should be noted that this example is also implemented in the same manner as in the example.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the recording medium can be read, and the thermal head (print head) is brought into contact with the platen directly or via the recording paper 4 as a premise for detecting the presence of recording paper. Therefore, there is no need for a detector for detecting the posture of the thermal head, which has the effect of simplifying the configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the main parts of a printing section according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a thermal printer, in which (a) is a side sectional view in a state where recording paper is inserted, and (b) is a side sectional view in a printing state. , FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the main part of the printing section of a conventional thermal printer. In the figure, 1 is a platen, 4 is a recording paper (recording medium), 5 is a running path that guides the recording paper, 6.9 is a microsinch (detector), 7 is a print head, 8 is a thermal head, - 10 is a support plate for the thermal head 8; 14 is a handle for swinging the swinging metal fitting 13; 15 and 18 are tentacles; and 23 and 24 are sector gears.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A detector that detects the presence or absence of a recording medium swings in conjunction with a handle that brings the print head into contact with and separates from the platen, and when the contact occurs, the contact of the detector moves into the travel path of the recording medium. A head-up mechanism for a printer, characterized in that the probe of the detector is configured to retract from the travel path of the recording medium when the probe enters and separates.