TW201704044A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

A printer includes a base, a cover, a first restraining portion, a second restraining portion and a sensor. The cover is pivotally connected to the base. The first restraining portion is disposed on the base. The second restraining portion is selectively disposed on one of the base and the cover. The first and second restraining portions divide a space between the base and the cover into a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space. The sensor is disposed in the second accommodating space. When a diameter of a paper roll is larger than a distance between the first and second restraining portions, the paper roll is disposed in the first accommodating space. When the diameter of the paper roll reduces to be smaller than the distance between the first and second restraining portions, the paper roll falls into the second accommodating space and triggers the sensor.

Description

Printer

The invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a printer capable of judging whether a paper roll is about to be used up.

At present, thermal-sensing printers have been widely used in various point-of-sales (POS) printing of consumer documents, such as retail, finance, hotels, medical and other service industries. Thermal-sensing printers typically use paper rolls for printing. In order to allow the user to replace the new paper roll when the paper roll is about to be used up, the heat-sensitive printer is equipped with a sensor for sensing whether the paper roll is about to run out. Previous technology used an optical sensor to detect the hollow position of the paper roll to determine if the paper roll was about to run out. However, when the relative position of the sensor and the paper roll is deviated, it may happen that the paper roll or the sensing error is not detected.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of judging whether a paper roll is about to be used up, to solve the above problems.

According to an embodiment, the printer of the present invention comprises a body, a cover, a first limiting portion, a second limiting portion and an inductor. The cover body is pivotally connected to the base body. The first limiting portion is disposed on the base. The second limiting portion is selectively disposed on one of the base body and the cover body. The first limiting portion and the second limiting portion divide the space between the seat body and the cover body into a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space, wherein the first accommodating space is larger than the second accommodating space. The inductor is disposed in the second accommodating space. When the diameter of a paper roll is greater than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, the paper roll may be disposed in the first receiving space. When the diameter of the paper roll is reduced to be smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, the paper roll falls into the second receiving space by the first receiving space to trigger the sensor.

In summary, the present invention divides the space between the seat body and the cover body into a larger first accommodating space and a smaller second accommodating space by using the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion. When the diameter of the paper roll is greater than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, the paper roll is located in the first accommodating space, indicating that the paper roll has a sufficient amount for printing. When the diameter of the paper roll is reduced to be smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, it indicates that the paper roll is about to be used up. At this time, the paper roll will fall into the second capacity from the first receiving space. Set the space to trigger the sensor. The processor of the printer can judge that the paper roll is about to run out based on the sensing signal sent by the sensor. The present invention is not only simple in structure but also effective in avoiding misjudgment.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the printer 1 in FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the internal view of the printer 1 in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the printer 1 in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a partial exploded view of the printer 1 in FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the printer 1 in FIG. 5 at another viewing angle, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the printer 1 along line XX in FIG. 3, wherein the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 is larger than the first A distance D2 between the limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18, and FIG. 8 is that the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 in FIG. 7 is reduced to be smaller than between the first limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18. A schematic diagram of the distance D2.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 8 , the printer 1 includes a casing 10 , a body 12 , a cover 14 , a first limiting portion 16 , a second limiting portion 18 , and an inductor 20 . An alert unit 22, a processor 24, a drive module 26, and a paper feed roller 28. In this embodiment, the printer 1 can be a thermal-sensing printer, and the paper roll 3 can be a heat-sensitive paper roll, but is not limited thereto. In practical applications, the printer 1 will also have the necessary hardware and software components for operation, such as the print head, circuit board, memory, power supply, application, communication module, etc., depending on the actual application. set.

The base 12 , the cover 14 , the first limiting portion 16 , the second limiting portion 18 , the inductor 20 , the warning unit 22 , the processor 24 , the driving module 26 and the paper feed roller 28 are all disposed in the housing 10 . . The cover 14 is pivotally connected to the base 12 such that the cover 14 can be opened or closed relative to the base 12. The first limiting portion 16 is disposed on the base 12 and the second limiting portion 18 is disposed on the cover 14 . As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , the first limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18 divide the space between the base 12 and the cover 14 into a first receiving space S1 and a second capacity. The space S2 is set, wherein the first accommodating space S1 is larger than the second accommodating space S2. It should be noted that the second limiting portion 18 can also be disposed on the base 12 and is not limited to being disposed on the cover 14 . In other words, the second limiting portion 18 can be selectively disposed on one of the base 12 and the cover 14 according to an actual application. In this embodiment, at least one of the first limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18 may be a roller to assist the rotation of the paper roll 3.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the inductor 20 is disposed in the second housing space S2. The sensor 20 can be a contact sensor, an optical sensor or other sensor, depending on the application. As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 , the driving module 26 is disposed on the base 12 , and the paper feeding roller 28 is disposed on the cover 14 and is driven to rotate by the driving module 26 . The drive module 26 includes a motor 260 and a plurality of gears 262 that mesh with each other. One of the plurality of gears 262 is coupled to the motor 260, and the other of the plurality of gears 262 is coupled to the paper feed roller 28 such that the paper feed roller 28 can be rotated by the motor 260 to rotate the plurality of gears 262. As shown in FIG. 2 , the processor 24 is electrically connected to the sensor 20 , the warning unit 22 and the motor 260 of the driving module 26 .

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the base 12 has a slope 120, and the slope 120 is located in the first accommodation space S1. Further, the inclined surface 120 is disposed toward the second accommodation space S2. As shown in FIG. 7, when the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 is greater than the distance D2 between the first limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18, the paper roll 3 can be disposed in the first receiving space S1. When the paper roll 3 is disposed in the first accommodating space S1, the inclined surface 120 abuts against the paper roll 3. When the printing is performed, the processor 24 can drive the motor 260 to drive the plurality of gears 262 to rotate, thereby driving the paper feed roller 28 to rotate. At this time, the printing head 30 of the printer 1 prints the paper of the paper roll 3, and the paper of the paper roll 3 is taken out of the printer 1 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 28.

As the printing progresses, the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 gradually decreases. When the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 is reduced to be smaller than the distance D2 between the first limiting portion 16 and the second limiting portion 18, the paper roll 3 is dropped into the second receiving space by the first accommodating space S1 due to gravity. The sensor 20 is triggered by the space S2 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, since the paper of the paper roll 3 is rolled out of the printer 1 due to the rotation of the paper feed roller 28, the diameter D1 of the paper roll 3 is smaller than between the first limit portion 16 and the second limit portion 18. When the distance D2 is reached, the paper roll 3 is pulled by the paper feeding roller 28, and is pulled by the first accommodating space S1 into the second accommodating space S2. Further, since the auxiliary inclined surface 120 is disposed toward the second accommodating space S2, the paper roll 3 is more likely to roll on the inclined surface 120 in the direction of the second accommodating space S2 during the printing.

When the paper roll 3 is triggered by the first accommodating space S1 into the second accommodating space S2 to trigger the sensor 20, it means that the paper roll 3 is about to be used up, and the sensor 20 sends an induction signal to the processor 24. At this time, the processor 24 controls the alert unit 22 to send an alert message according to the sensing signal sent by the sensor 20. In this embodiment, the warning unit 22 may be an illumination unit (for example, a light-emitting diode) exposed to the housing 10, as shown in FIG. 1, but not limited thereto. When the warning unit 22 is a light-emitting unit, the warning message is the light emitted by the light-emitting unit. Thereby, the user can know through the warning message that the paper roll 3 is about to be used up, and the paper roll 3 is replaced at the same time. It should be noted that the warning unit 22 may also be a display panel exposed to the housing 10 or a speaker disposed in the housing 10, depending on the actual application.

In summary, the present invention divides the space between the seat body and the cover body into a larger first accommodating space and a smaller second accommodating space by using the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion. When the diameter of the paper roll is greater than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, the paper roll is located in the first accommodating space, indicating that the paper roll has a sufficient amount for printing. When the diameter of the paper roll is reduced to be smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, it indicates that the paper roll is about to be used up. At this time, the paper roll will fall into the second capacity from the first receiving space. Set the space to trigger the sensor. The processor of the printer can judge that the paper roll is about to run out based on the sensing signal sent by the sensor. The present invention is not only simple in structure but also effective in avoiding misjudgment. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

1‧‧‧Printer
3‧‧‧ paper rolls
10‧‧‧shell
12‧‧‧ body
14‧‧‧ Cover
16‧‧‧First Limitation
18‧‧‧Second Limitation
20‧‧‧ sensor
22‧‧‧Warning unit
24‧‧‧ Processor
26‧‧‧Drive Module
28‧‧‧Feeding roller
30‧‧‧Print head
120‧‧‧Bevel
260‧‧‧ motor
262‧‧‧ Gears
D1‧‧‧ diameter
D2‧‧‧ distance
S1‧‧‧First accommodation space
S2‧‧‧Second accommodating space
XX‧‧‧ hatching

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the printer in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a schematic view of the interior of the printer in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a schematic view of the printer in Figure 3 from another perspective. Figure 5 is a partial exploded view of the printer in Figure 3. Figure 6 is a schematic view of the printer of Figure 5 in another perspective. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the printer of Figure 3 taken along the line X-X, wherein the diameter of the paper roll is greater than the distance between the first limit portion and the second limit portion. Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the diameter of the paper roll in Fig. 7 being reduced to be smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion.

1‧‧‧Printer

3‧‧‧ paper rolls

12‧‧‧ body

14‧‧‧ Cover

16‧‧‧First Limitation

18‧‧‧Second Limitation

20‧‧‧ sensor

28‧‧‧Feeding roller

30‧‧‧Printer head

120‧‧‧Bevel

D1‧‧‧ diameter

D2‧‧‧ distance

S1‧‧‧First accommodation space

S2‧‧‧Second accommodating space

Claims (8)

A printer includes: a body; a cover body pivotally connected to the base body; a first limiting portion disposed on the base body; a second limiting portion selectively disposed on the base body The first limiting portion and the second limiting portion divide the space between the base and the cover into a first receiving space and a second receiving space. The first accommodating space is larger than the second accommodating space; and a sensor is disposed in the second accommodating space; wherein, when a diameter of the paper roll is larger than the first limiting portion and the second limit The paper roll may be disposed in the first accommodating space when the distance between the portions is different; when the diameter of the paper roll is reduced to be smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, The paper roll is triggered by the first accommodating space falling into the second accommodating space. The printer of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion is a roller. The printer of claim 1, wherein the base has a slope and the slope is located in the first accommodation space. The printer of claim 3, wherein the inclined surface is disposed toward the second accommodating space, and the inclined surface abuts the paper roll when the paper roll is disposed in the first accommodating space. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a warning unit and a processor, the processor being electrically connected to the sensor and the warning unit, when the paper roll triggers the sensor, the processor is The sensor sends an alert signal to control the alert unit to send a warning message. The printer of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a contact sensor or an optical sensor. The printer of claim 1, further comprising a driving module and a paper feeding roller, wherein the driving module is disposed on the base, and the paper feeding roller is disposed on the cover and received by the driving module Driving and rotating, the paper of the paper roll is rolled out of the printer by the rotation of the paper feed roller, and when the diameter of the paper roll is smaller than the distance between the first limiting portion and the second limiting portion, When the paper roll is rotated by the paper feed roller, a pulling force is generated, and the first receiving space falls into the second receiving space. The printer of claim 7, wherein the driving module comprises a motor and a plurality of intermeshing gears, one of the plurality of gears is coupled to the motor, and the other of the plurality of gears is coupled to the paper feeding roller The paper feed roller is rotated by the motor to drive the plurality of gears to rotate.