JPS6389357A - Current supply type recording head of printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To connect left and right recording electrode groups and a printing control part simply, effectively and certainly, by superposing the connection pattern of a printed circuit board to that of a head part and mounting the head part to a support part in a state grasping said patterns along with the elastic member arranged to the back side of the printed circuit board. CONSTITUTION:The support part 23 of a recording head 15 is mounted on a revolving arm 19 and a tension arm 20. A head part 24 is placed on the projection 23a of the support part 23 by inserting the lower engaging projection 24a of said head part 24 in the engaging hole 23b of the support part 23 and the upper engaging projection 24b thereof is hooked with the engaging part 23c of the support part 23 to mount the head part 24 to the support part 23 in a freely detachable manner to constitute a recording head 15. When the head part 24 is mounted to the support part 23, an elastic member 26 and a flexible substrate 27 are held between both parts 23, 24 and the connection pattern 28 of the wiring pattern 25 of said head part 24 is perfectly superposed to the connection pattern 29 of the flexible substrate 27 provided corresponding to said pattern 25. Then, both patterns are certainly brought to a continuity state by the elastic force of the elastic member 26 arranged to the back side of the flexible substrate 27.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Koka Chikuno This invention forms a conductive layer on a recording material (printing ribbon or paper) in a printing device such as a printer or typewriter, and connects the conductive layer through a ground electrode. At the same time, the recording electrode group of the recording head is pressed against the conductive layer, and a current is applied to the conductive layer. It can be applied to so-called energized type devices that generate heat to print on paper. More specifically, the present invention relates to an energized recording head that prints on paper set on a platen in such a printing device.

Traditionally, some thermal printing devices have a recording head that is divided into two parts: a head part that actually prints and a support part that supports the head part, and the head part is replaceable. .

However, in current printing devices, there is no such way to divide the recording head into two parts, and there are separate recording f! No one with a four-pole group was proposed;
Until now, nothing has been revealed about its electrical wiring and connection structure.

Purpose Therefore, an object of the present invention is to divide the entire current-carrying recording head of a printing device into a head portion and a support portion, and to provide recording electrode groups on both left and right sides of the tip of the head portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an effective electrical wiring and connection structure.

Structure Therefore, the current-carrying recording head of the printing device according to the present invention has recording electrode groups provided on the left and right sides of the tip and wiring patterns that connect the left and right corresponding electrodes of these recording electrode groups to each other, as shown in the following embodiments, for example. (25)...
. . . and connection patterns (28) arranged appropriately on the wiring patterns (25) . . . are formed on the head portion (24), respectively.
) to the connection pattern (28) of the flexible printed circuit board (27) (29)...
... are stacked on top of each other, and the head section (24) is attached to the support section (23) by sandwiching them together with an elastic member (26) arranged on the back side of the flexible printed circuit board (27). .

In a bidirectional printing device, the recording head (15) is switched between the forward path and the backward path to alternately use the right or left recording electrode group, respectively. On the other hand, in a unidirectional printing device, printing is performed using the recording electrode group on the negative side of the recording head (15), and when the recording electrode group reaches the end of its life, the recording head (15) is
15) is rotated 180 degrees to use the recording electrode group on the other side.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 5 show a case where a recording head shown as an embodiment of the present invention is applied to an electric transfer recording type serial printer. The platen number (10) in the middle of FIG. 2 is a platen, which, as is well known, is formed by extending between the left and right side plates (not shown) of the main body of the apparatus. A carrier (11) is provided on the front side of the platen (10) and is movable left and right along the platen (10) as is also well known. A ribbon cassette (12) is mounted on the carrier (11), and a printing ribbon (1) is pulled out from the ribbon cassette (12).
3) on the carrier (11).
) and (14) and stretch it along the platen (10). Then, the recording head (15) according to the present invention on the carrier (11) is pressed against the platen (10) with the printing ribbon (13) in between, and the recording head (15) is energized while moving the carrier (11). and print ribbon (
Paper (13) with ink set on the platen (10)
16) and print as appropriate on the paper (16). At this time, the recording head swinging mechanism (A) provided on the carrier (11) moves the recording head according to the moving direction of the carrier (11). (15) is swung left or right, and the left and right recording electrodes at the tips thereof are selectively pressed against the platen (10) as appropriate.

By the way, the recording head swing mechanism (
As shown in FIG. 1, A) is equipped with a motor (18), a rotation arm (19), a tension arm (20), etc. on a carrier (11). The motor (18) is attached to the carrier (11) and its motor gear (
The rotating arm (19) meshes the rotating arm (18a) with the transmission gear (19a) of the rotating arm (19).
) The motor (18
), and a fulcrum shaft (19
c). On the other hand, the tension arm (20) is attached to the platen (10) side of the rotation arm (19) so as to be rotatable about its base end, and has a fixed shaft (
20a). And that tension arm (2
0) is hung with one end of a tension spring (21), the other end of which is hung on the carrier (11), giving it a clockwise rotational habit in Figure 1. Therefore, the fixed shaft (20a) is always connected to the platen (
A biasing force is applied to 10) in the direction of movement, and the tension arm (20) is stopped by hitting a stopper (22) erected on the carrier (11). This allows the fixed axis (2
0a) and the mounting shaft (19b) of the rotating arm (19) mentioned above.
) The tension arm (20) is arranged so that the line connecting the platen axis is perpendicular or almost perpendicular to the platen axis.

Now, the support portion (23) of the recording head (15) is placed on the rotation arm (19) and tension arm (20). The support part (23) has a rectangular plate shape, has a protrusion (23a) protruding forwardly at the lower front side, has a latch hole (23b) there, and has a latch part (23b) on the upper surface. 23c). Further, a fulcrum hole (23d) which is open downward and provided at the rear, and a guide R (23e) extending toward the fulcrum hole (23d) at the front are provided. Then, the rotating arm (19) is inserted into the fulcrum hole (23d).
The tension arm (20
) is inserted into the fixed shaft (20a) and slidably engaged with the rotating arm (19) and tension arm (
20) on which the support part (23) of the recording head (15) according to the present invention is attached.

The aforementioned protrusion (23a) of such a support body part (23)
Insert the lower locking protrusion (24a) into the locking hole (23b) and place the head part (24) on the upper locking hole (23b).
24b) is hooked onto the locking portion (23c) and the head portion (24) is detachably attached to the support portion (23) to constitute a recording head (15) according to the present invention. The head section (24) of the recording head (15) has recording electrode groups on the left and right sides of the tip, and the corresponding left and right electrodes of these recording electrode groups are connected to each other by a wiring pattern (25). It becomes. When attaching such a head portion (24) to the support portion (23), the elastic member (26)
and the flexible printed circuit board (27), and the connection pattern (28) between the wiring pattern (25)...
)...and the corresponding connection pattern (29) of the flexible printed circuit board (27)...
- completely overlap each other, and the elastic force of the elastic member (26) placed on the back side of the flexible printed circuit board (27) ensures electrical continuity between them. In addition, connection pattern (28)
- (29) is arranged in sequentially shifted positions.

Therefore, we are now moving the carrier (11) along the platen (10).
) to the right from the normal position when printing outward.

The motor (18) is driven to move the rotary arm (19) approximately 90 degrees counterclockwise in the figure so that it is parallel to the platen axis.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording head (15)
It rotates around the fixed shaft (20a) and moves forward toward the platen (10) guided by the fixed shaft (20a). Then, the recording electrode group on the right side of the tip of the recording head (15) is pressed against the platen (10) by the biasing force of the tension spring (21) applied to the tension arm (20).

After the forward printing is completed, the motor (18) is driven again to return the rotating arm (19). The fulcrum shaft (19C) of the single rotation arm (19) and the fulcrum hole (23d) of the support body (23)
) and the mounting shaft (19b) of the rotation arm (19) and the tension arm (20) are shown in FIG.
) on the line connecting the fixed axis (20a). Then.

The recording head (15) is perpendicular to the platen axis, and the head portion (24) is separated from the platen (10) and held at an appropriate distance from the platen (10).

After that, the next step is to move the carrier (10) along the platen (10).
1) from right to left to perform return printing, the motor (18) is driven as it is, and this time the rotation arm (19) is moved from right to left.
) is moved approximately 90 degrees clockwise in the figure so that it is parallel to the platen axis. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the recording head (15) rotates in the opposite direction about the fixed shaft (20a) and is guided by the fixed shaft (20a) to the platen (10). The direction moves forward. Then, this time, the recording electrode group on the left side of the tip of the recording head (15) is pressed against the platen (work 0) by the biasing force of the tension spring (21) applied to the tension arm (20).

After completing the return printing, drive the motor (18) again to return the rotating arm (19), return the recording head (15) to the position shown in Figure 4, and move the head section (24) to the platen (10).
), and drive the motor (18) again to move the rotating arm (19) approximately 90 degrees in the opposite direction.
Rotate the recording head (15) and press the recording electrode group on the right side of the tip of the recording head (15) against the platen (10) as shown in FIG. It is something that is repeated.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the fulcrum @ (19c) was inserted into the fulcrum hole (23d), and the rotating arm (19) and the support part (23) were rotatably engaged. It is also possible to insert the protrusion of the support part into the recess of the rotary arm and engage them rotatably.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the rotary arm (19) is moved approximately 90 degrees to move the recording head (15) to the platen (10).
Of course, the rotation angle of the single rotation arm is not limited to 90 degrees.

Next, FIGS. 6 to 11 show the case where the recording head shown as another embodiment of the present invention is similarly applied to an electric transfer recording type serial printer.

For ease of understanding, the other embodiments will be described using the same reference numerals used for corresponding parts in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 described above as much as possible. The platen number (10) in the middle of FIG. 8 is a platen, and as is well known, the platen is installed between the left and right side plates (not shown) of the main body of the apparatus. A carrier (11) is provided on the front side of the platen (10), and is capable of reciprocating left and right along the platen (10), as is also well known. A ribbon cassette (12) is mounted on the carrier (11).

The printing ribbon (13) pulled out from the ribbon cassette (12) is placed on a guide roller (
14) The recording head (15) according to the present invention is guided by (14) and stretched along the platen (10), and is placed on the carrier (11) with the printing ribbon (13) sandwiched therebetween.
is pressed against the platen (10), and while moving the carrier (11), the recording head (15) is energized to sequentially transfer the ink on the printing ribbon (13) to the paper (16) set on the platen (10). At this time, the recording head swinging mechanism (B) provided on the carrier (11) moves the recording head (15) to the left or right depending on the direction of movement of the carrier (11). It swings to the right and selectively presses the left and right recording electrodes at its tips against the platen (10).

By the way, the recording head swing mechanism (
B) is a motor (1) as shown in Figures 6 and 7.
8) and a bracket (30) thereon. The motor (18) is a step motor or DC motor.
A motor gear (18b) is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft (18a). The bracket (30) has a rectangular shape, for example, as shown in Figure 1, and is arranged on the carrier (11) in a plane, with the rotation shaft (18) of the motor (18) at the rear.
a) has a circular hole (30a) passing through, and two stepped pins (31) and (32) spaced apart from each other on the left and right of the center.
), and an annular protrusion (30b) centered on the lower stepped pin (31) on the left side is formed on the outer periphery of the stepped pin (31).

Further, in front of the annular projection (30b), a "<"-shaped guide groove (30c) is formed so as to open toward the platen (10).

The lower stepped pin (31) is equipped with a switching gear (33).
) and fit the center hole (33a) of the switching gear (3
3) is rotatably mounted on the bracket (30) and placed on the annular projection (30b) described above to maintain a horizontal state. The switching gear (33) has teeth (33b) on the outer periphery, and a pair of opposing protrusions (33) protruding oppositely with a slight gap in place of the teeth (33b) at the front of the outer periphery.
c)・(33c) is formed. In addition, its opposing protrusion (3
There is a center hole (33a) inside the 3c) and (33c) positions.
Open an arc-shaped cam groove (33d) that gradually becomes farther away as the distance from the switch gear (33d) goes left and right.
The motor gear (18b) meshes with the teeth (33b) of 3), so that the switching gear (33) is connected to the motor (18).
The structure is such that it rotates at

Now, the cam groove (33d) of the switching gear (33) has an engagement protrusion (33d) that projects downward from the tip of the switching lever (34).
The switching lever (34) into which the switch 34a) is fitted has a rod shape, and has a cylindrical portion (34b) at the base end and a fulcrum shaft portion that projects upward at the tip in correspondence with the engagement protrusion (34a). (34c) stands. Also, attach a locking piece (
34d), insert the above-mentioned stepped pin (32) into the cylindrical part (34b), and insert the engaging protrusion (34a) into the cam groove (33d) of the switching gear (33) as described above.
At the same time, the locking pieces (34d) are extended rearward and placed on the left and right sides of the bracket (30) to swingably attach the switching lever (34).

The base end of the recording head (15) described above is attached to the fulcrum shaft portion (34c) of the switching lever (34). The recording head (15) has a pair of locking protrusions (2) on the head portion (24).
4a) and (24a) into the pair of locking recesses (23a) and (23a) of the support part (23), and then
4) is attached to the tip of the support portion (23).

The head part (24) is.

Separate recording electrode groups are provided on both sides of the tip, and corresponding electrodes of these recording electrode groups are connected to each other in a wiring pattern (25
)...... to connect. Then, when attaching the head section (24) to the support section (23) as described above,
Elastic member (26) and flexible printed circuit board (27)
between the wiring patterns (25) and the flexible printed circuit board (27) provided correspondingly.
) and the elastic member (2) placed on the back side of the flexible printed circuit board (27).
6) The elastic force ensures electrical continuity between them. Although not shown, these connection patterns are also shown.

As in the embodiment described above, they are appropriately arranged with sequentially shifted positions. On the other hand, the support portion (23) has a fulcrum hole (23b) at the base end.
), and has a switching lever (34) in its fulcrum hole (23b).
) Insert the fulcrum shaft part (34c) that stands up at the tip.

The recording head (15) is then swingably mounted on the switching lever (34). Moreover, the support body part (23) is
An engaging protrusion (23c) projects downward from the lower surface, and the pair of opposing protrusions (33c) and (3) of the aforementioned switching gear (33)
3c) Guide groove (30c) of the bracket (30) through the gap.
). At this time, the width of the guide groove (30c) is made slightly larger than the diameter of the engagement protrusion (23c) so that the engagement protrusion (23c) fits into the guide groove (30c) with an appropriate clearance. Furthermore, the support part (23)
The locking piece (23d) projects backward from the base end, and the biasing spring (35) is hooked between the locking piece (23d) and the locking piece (34d) of the aforementioned switching lever (34). pass it on. and.

The recording head (15) is always held at a neutral position as shown in FIG.

Therefore, when the carrier (11) is normally moved from left to right along the platen (10) for printing in this state, the motor (18) is driven and the motor gear (igb) is moved as shown in the figure. Rotate clockwise and switch gear (33)
Turn counterclockwise. Then, the switching lever (34) is swung in the direction of pushing the recording head (15) closer to the platen (10) by pushing with the cam groove (33d). At the same time, the engaging protrusion (23c) is pushed by the opposing protrusion (33c) on the - side, and the recording head (15) is swung counterclockwise in the figure against the biasing spring (35). Even after the engagement protrusion (23c) is detached from the opposing protrusion (33c), the engagement protrusion (23c)
This time, the recording electrode group on the right side of the tip of the recording head (15) is guided by the guide groove (30c) of the bracket (30), and further swung counterclockwise in the figure as the switching gear (33) rotates. Press it against the platen (10). At this time, since the engaging protrusion (23c) fits into the guide groove (30c) with some clearance, the recording head (15) that has pressed against the platen (10) further rotates the switching gear (33).

It further swings its head against the biasing spring (35) and escapes, and the tip of the recording head (15) is pressed against the platen (10) by the biasing force of the biasing spring (35) as shown in FIG. It happens. Then, as this state, the platen (
10), the carrier (11) is normally moved from left to right while forward printing is performed.

After the forward printing is completed, the motor (18) is reversely driven to rotate the motor gear (llllb) counterclockwise in the figure, and the switching gear (33) is rotated clockwise.
) to return the switching lever (34) and turn the recording head (1
5) in a direction that moves it away from the platen (10).

Then, as the recording head (15) is separated from the platen (10), the engaging protrusion (23c) is guided by the guide groove (30c), the recording head (15) is returned clockwise in the figure, and the engaging protrusion (23c) is guided again by the guide groove (30c). 23c) with a pair of opposing protrusions (33c) (
33e) return the recording head (15) to the neutral position shown in FIG. 9 with the help of the biasing force of the biasing spring (35);
At this time.

The neutral position of the switching gear (33) is detected by a sensor (not shown).

Next, when returning the carrier (11) along the platen (10) from this state, continue to drive the motor (18) in reverse and rotate the motor gear (18b) counterclockwise in the figure. Rotate the switching gear (33) clockwise.

Then, press again with the cam groove (33d) and press the recording head (1).
5) in the direction of bringing it closer to the platen (10).
34). At the same time, the other opposing protrusion (33c)
Press the engaging protrusion (23c) to swing the recording head (15) clockwise in the figure against the biasing spring (35). Even after the engagement protrusion (23c) is detached from the opposing protrusion (33c), the engagement protrusion (23c) is guided by the guide groove (30c) of the bracket (30), and the switching gear (33c) is guided by the guide groove (30c) of the bracket (30).
), further swing clockwise in the figure, and move the recording electrode group on the left side of the recording head (15) to the platen (15).
0). At this time, since the engaging protrusion (23c) fits into the guide groove (30c) with sufficient clearance, the recording head (15) that has pressed against the platen (10) is biased when the switching gear (33) is further rotated. The recording head (15) swings further against the spring (35) and escapes.
The tip of the holder is pressed against the platen (10) as shown in FIG. 11 by the urging force of the urging spring (35). In this state, backward printing is performed while moving the carrier (11) from right to left along the platen (10).

After the return printing is completed, the motor (18) is driven forward to rotate the motor gear (18b) clockwise in the figure, and the switching gear (3
3) counterclockwise, then return the switching lever (34) using the cam groove (33d) and turn the recording head (15) in the opposite direction.
is swung in a direction to move away from the platen (10). Then, the recording head (15) is separated from the platen (lO), the engaging protrusion (23c) is guided by the guide groove (30c), the recording head (15) is returned counterclockwise in the figure, and the engaging protrusion is again (23c) with a pair of opposing protrusions (33c) ・(
33c) With the help of the biasing force of the biasing spring (35), the recording head (15) is returned, and the switching gear (33) is again set to the neutral position shown in FIG. 9 as detected by the sensor.

Thereafter, by repeating the same procedure, the recording head (15) is oscillated and the pressing angle against the platen (10) is switched between the forward and backward passes of the carrier (11).

The recording head (15) is used to sequentially print in both directions on a sheet of paper (16) set on a platen (10).

Incidentally, in the two embodiments described above, both are described as electric transfer recording printers that perform printing using a printing ribbon (13). However, the recording head according to the present invention does not use a printing ribbon.

Of course, the present invention can also be similarly applied to an energized recording printer that directly prints on recording paper with an energized recording head.

Further, although the case where the present invention is applied to a printer has been described, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to a typewriter or the like.

Further, in the two embodiments described above, the recording head according to the present invention is applied to a bidirectional printing device. However, the recording head according to the present invention is not limited to a one-way printing device, but can also be applied to a one-way printing device that prints only when the carrier moves from left to right, for example.

In this case, the entire recording head or only the head portion may be
If the recording electrode group on the negative side can be attached by rotating 80 degrees, and when the recording electrode group on the negative side reaches the end of its life, it can be reversed and printing can be performed using the recording electrode group on the other side, then one recording head can print twice as much. becomes possible.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the entire current-carrying recording head of a printing device is divided into a head portion and a support portion, and recording electrode groups are provided on both left and right sides of the tip of the head portion. In a device, the left and right recording electrode groups are effectively connected by a wiring pattern, the appropriately arranged connection pattern of the wiring pattern is overlapped with that of a flexible printed circuit board, and the flexible printed circuit board is connected to an elastic member. Since it is reliably sandwiched between the head section and the support section through the interposition, the left and right recording electrode groups and the printing control section can be easily and effectively and reliably connected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show a case where a recording head shown as an embodiment of the present invention is applied to an electrical transfer type serial printer, and FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head and head swinging mechanism, and FIG. The figure is an enlarged perspective view of the carrier part in the printer, and Figures 3 to 5 are explanatory diagrams of the swinging state of the recording head. Figure 3 is during forward printing, and Figure 4 is when it is separated from the platen. , FIG. 5 shows the case of backward printing, FIGS. 6 to 11 show the case where the recording head shown as another embodiment of the present invention is similarly applied to an electric transfer type serial printer, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an assembled perspective view of the recording head and head swing mechanism, FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the carrier portion of the printer, and FIGS. 9 to 11 show the swing of the recording head. This is an explanatory diagram of the state, and Fig. 9 is for forward printing,
FIG. 10 shows the state when the printer is removed from the platen, and FIG. 11 shows the state during backward printing. (15)... Recording head (23)...
...Support part (24) ...Head part (25) ...Wiring pattern (26) ...
......Elastic member (27)...Flexible printed circuit board (28)...Connection pattern of wiring pattern (29)... ...Flexible printed circuit board connection pattern

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Groups of recording electrodes provided on the left and right sides of the tip, wiring patterns for connecting left and right corresponding electrodes of these recording electrode groups, and connection patterns arranged appropriately on the wiring patterns, respectively, are provided in the head portion. The connection pattern of the flexible printed circuit board is superimposed on the connection pattern of the head section, and the head section is attached to the support section by sandwiching them together with an elastic member arranged on the back side of the flexible printed circuit board. , a current-carrying recording head of a printing device. 2. The energized recording of the printing device according to claim 1, which is applied to a bidirectional printing device, and is configured to alternately use the recording electrode group on the right or left side by switching between the forward path and the backward path, respectively. head. 3. The current-carrying recording head of the printing device according to claim 1, which is applied to a unidirectional printing device and can be mounted by rotating 180 degrees so that the other recording electrode group can be used.