JP2001018937A - Label release device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label release device in which the loading of label papers is easy and dust and the like are hard to adhere on a release roller. SOLUTION: In a label release device, a follower release roller 203 is supported rotatably on a holder 220 and the follower release roller 203 is stored integrally with the holder 220 in a hollow section 215 of a frame. The follower roller 203 is brought into contact with a driving and releasing roller 202 in the hollow section 215 through a mounting paper 2. The holder 220 is supported rotatably and can be drawn out of the interior of the hollow section 215 through a window 211a of the frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label peeling device mounted on a printer having a printing function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, various configurations of a label peeling device for peeling a printed label from a mount have been proposed. However, the conventional label peeling device has a structure in which a peeling roller for pulling the backing paper is stored in the device, and it takes time to load the label paper. In addition, a structure in which the peeling roller is exposed to the outside of the apparatus has been proposed. In a label peeling apparatus having such a structure, although the loading of the label paper is easy, dust and the like adhere to the peeling roller. As a result, there is a possibility that the mounting sheet holding force becomes non-uniform and an operation failure occurs. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a label peeling apparatus that allows easy loading of label paper and that makes it difficult for dust and the like to adhere to a peeling roller.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a label peeling apparatus which is mounted on a printer body having a printing function and peels a label from a mount of label paper conveyed from the printer body. And is characterized by having the following configuration. (A) A frame having a hollow portion with an open front surface and having an opening at the back portion for introducing a label sheet conveyed from the printer body into the hollow portion. (B) The frame is supported by the frame. In the hollow portion, the mount of the label paper introduced from the introduction port is bent, and the label is peeled off from the mount. (C) The mount is held on the downstream side of the release member in the hollow portion of the frame. A pair of a driving peeling roller and a driven peeling roller that pulls the backing sheet by a rotating operation, and (d) rotatably supporting the driven peeling roller,
A holder that is rotatably supported by the frame and that can be inserted into and removed from the hollow portion through the opening of the frame.

In the present invention having the above-described structure, since the driving peeling roller and the driven peeling roller are housed in the hollow portion of the frame, dust hardly adheres to these peeling rollers. Therefore, the mount is stably held and pulled out. be able to.

In addition, the driven peeling roller is separated from the driving peeling roller by rotating the holder,
Since the opening on the front surface of the frame can be opened, loading of label paper can be easily performed from the opening.

In addition, if the holder is inserted into the hollow portion of the frame and the surface of the holder is arranged on substantially the same plane as the front surface of the frame, excellent appearance quality without protrusions can be obtained. .

The holder may be slidable in the axial direction with respect to the frame so as to always urge the holder in one of the sliding directions, and may be provided with locking means for locking the holder inserted into the hollow portion to the frame. Here, in order to maintain the pressed contact state between the driven peeling roller and the driving peeling roller, it is necessary to apply a large resistance to the external force acting in the direction in which the holder is pulled out. Therefore, when trying to pull out the holder from the hollow portion by a rotation operation around the axis, a large force is needed to resist the resistance. for that purpose,
A sufficiently large operation recess and a handle must be formed in the holder. Therefore, if the locking means releases the locked state when the holder is slid in the other sliding direction (that is, the direction opposite to the urging direction), the holder can be easily pulled out by a simple operation. be able to. As a result, the operation concave portion and the handle can be made small, and the holder and, consequently, the device can be downsized.

Further, between the holder and the driven peeling roller,
By providing an urging means for urging the driven peeling roller in a direction in which the driven peeling roller comes into contact with the driven peeling roller, the mounting paper can be reliably held between the peeling rollers.

Further, when the peeling member is formed of a small-diameter roller member and is rotatably supported, the frictional resistance between the peeling member and the backing sheet curved there is reduced, and the power loss is reduced. Can be reduced.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Overall Configuration FIG 1 of the label printer is a cross-sectional side view showing an outline of a label printer label peeling apparatus is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.
First, the overall configuration of the label printer will be described with reference to FIG. The label printer includes a printer main body 100 having a printing function, a paper supply reel (not shown), and a label peeling device 200.

A paper supply reel (not shown) is mounted on the back side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the printer body 100. FIG. 11 shows an example of label paper continuously supplied from a paper supply reel. In a label sheet 1 shown in FIG. 1, labels 3 are attached at regular intervals on the surface of a backing sheet 2 which is continuous in a band shape. The label paper 1 is wound around a paper supply reel, pulled out from the leading end, and continuously supplied to the printer main body 100.

Inside the printer body 100, there is provided a print head 101 of a thermal printing type, a platen 102, a ribbon supply shaft 103, and a ribbon take-up shaft 104, and a ribbon supply reel 105 is mounted on the ribbon supply shaft 103. On the other hand, the ribbon take-up reel 106 is mounted on the ribbon take-up shaft 104.

The print head 101 and the platen 102 are provided to face each other, and the print head 101 is pressed against or separated from the platen 102 by manual operation of a head lever (not shown).

A ribbon supply reel 105 is wound with an ink ribbon 107 continuous in a belt shape. The ink ribbon 107 pulled out from the ribbon supply reel 105 is
The paper is wound on a ribbon take-up reel 106 via the space between the print head 101 and the platen 102.

The label paper 1 pulled out from the paper supply reel is supplied between the print head 101 and the platen 102 together with the ink ribbon 107, and the ink ribbon 107 and the label paper 1 overlap each other. Here, the work of sandwiching the ink ribbon 107 and the label paper 1 between the print head 101 and the platen 102 is performed in a state where the print head 101 is separated from the platen 102 by manual operation of the head lever (not shown). .

The print head 101 generates heat based on a control signal from a control unit (not shown) to melt the ink applied to the ink ribbon 107. And the melted ink is
The image is transferred to the label 3 on the label paper 1.

The platen 102 has a function of a pedestal for supporting the ink ribbon 107 and the label paper 1 during the printing operation. In addition, the platen 102 is driven to rotate as described later, and functions as a paper transport unit that pulls out the label paper 1 from the paper supply reel and transports the label paper 1 to the label peeling unit 200 side. The ink ribbon 107 is pulled out by rotating the ribbon winding shaft 104.

The label peeling device 200 includes the peeling member 20.
1. Drive release roller 202 and driven release roller 20
3 has a function of automatically peeling off the label 3 from the backing paper 2 of the label paper 1 conveyed from the printer body 100.

The driven peeling roller 203 is in pressure contact with the driving peeling roller 202, and pulls the backing sheet 2 of the label sheet 1 in cooperation with each other. That is, the backing sheet 2 of the label sheet 1 conveyed from the printer body 100 is
1 and a driven peeling roller 202 and a driven peeling roller 2
03, and is pulled by the rotational drive of the drive peeling roller 202. In this process, the mount 2 is separated from the release member 20.
1 to change the transport direction to a steep angle. On the other hand, the label 3 is not curved and
Go straight ahead and pass. As a result, the release member 20
The label 3 is peeled off from the backing paper 2 at the boundary of 1. The detailed structure of the label peeling device 200 will be described later.

Driving Mechanism in Printer Main Body FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a driving mechanism in the printer main body. A drive motor 108 is provided inside the printer body 100.
The platen 102 and the ribbon take-up shaft 104 are rotationally driven by using this as a drive source. That is, a drive-side pulley 109 is mounted on the rotation shaft of the drive motor 108, while a platen-side driven pulley 110 is mounted on the rotation shaft of the platen 102. A power transmission belt 111 is wound around these pulleys 109 and 110, and the rotational driving force of the drive motor 108 is transmitted to the platen 102 via the power transmission belt 111.

A first power transmission gear 112 is mounted on the rotating shaft 102a of the platen 102. further,
The printer body 100 is provided with a rotating shaft 113 for power transmission.
4 is attached. This second power transmission gear 114 is
It is in mesh with the first power transmission gear 112.

A power transmission pulley 115 is mounted on the power transmission rotary shaft 113 together with a second power transmission gear 114, while a driven pulley 116 is mounted on the ribbon winding shaft 104. And each of these pulleys 11
The power transmission belt 117 is wound between the first and second power transmission belts 117 and 116, and the rotational driving force of the drive motor 108 transmitted to the second power transmission gear 114 is transmitted to the ribbon winding shaft 104 via the power transmission belt 117. Can be

When the label paper 1 is fed, the drive motor 108 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2, and the platen 102 also rotates counterclockwise via the power transmission belt 111. By this rotation, the platen 102 cooperates with the print head 101 to convey the label paper 1 in the sending-out direction (left direction in FIG. 2).

The first power transmission gear 112 is connected to the platen 10
The second power transmission gear 114 rotates counterclockwise integrally with the second gear 2, and rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. This rotation is performed by the ribbon winding shaft 1 via the power transmission belt 117.
04, the ribbon take-up shaft 104 also rotates clockwise. Due to this rotation, the ink ribbon 107 on which the thermal transfer has been completed is taken up on the ribbon take-up reel 106.

[0026] The power transmission mechanism Figure 3 to label peeling device is a cross-sectional side view showing an enlarged power transmission mechanism to the label peeling unit and the unit, Figure 4 configuration illustrating only the power transmission mechanism of the unit FIG. The power transmission mechanism to the label peeling device 200 will be described with reference to these drawings.

The label peeling apparatus 200 according to this embodiment
Has a configuration in which a driving peeling roller 202 rotates by receiving a rotational driving force from a driving motor 108 provided in the printer main body 100. That is, the drive peeling roller 202
The peeling roller drive gear 204 is mounted on the rotating shaft 202a. When the label peeling device 200 is mounted on the printer main body 100, the peeling roller driving gear 204 meshes with the second power transmission gear 114 on the printer main body 100 side.

As described above, the rotational driving force of the drive motor 108 is transmitted to the second power transmission gear 114 via the power transmission belt 111 and the first power transmission gear 112 (see FIG. 2). Therefore, the second power transmission gear 114
The drive motor 1 is
08 is transmitted, and the drive peeling roller 202 is rotationally driven.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the platen 102 rotates in the direction in which the label paper 1 is fed (counterclockwise in FIG. 3), the second power transmission gear 114 rotates clockwise in FIG. The roller drive gear 204 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and the drive peeling roller 202 also rotates in the same direction. With this rotation, the mount 2 is pulled out via the peeling member 201. Gears like this
The transmission of the rotational driving force of the driving motor 108 to the driving peeling roller 202 can be reliably achieved without slippage.

The peripheral speed v of the member is obtained by the product of the angular velocity ω and the member radius r (v = rω). The angular speed ratio between the platen 102 and the drive separation roller 202 is determined by the gear ratio of the first power transmission gear 112, the second power transmission gear 114, and the separation roller drive gear 204. Therefore, the printer body 100 and the label peeling device 2
When the radii of the platen 102 and the drive separation roller 202 are determined from the design specifications of the first power transmission gear 112 and the second power transmission gear 11 according to the radii.
4 and the gear ratio of the separation roller drive gear 204, the platen 102 and the drive separation roller 202
And the peripheral speed ratio can be determined.

In this embodiment, the first power transmission gear 112 and the second power transmission gear 11 are arranged such that the peripheral speed of the drive peeling roller 202 is higher than the peripheral speed of the platen 102.
4, and the gear ratio of the peeling roller drive gear 204 are set. With this setting, the speed of the driving peeling roller 2 can be compared with the speed at which the label paper 1 is conveyed by the platen 102.
02 and the driven peeling roller 203 increase the pulling speed of the backing paper 2, so that the backing paper 2 can always be given tension to prevent loosening, and the label 3
Can be surely separated. The difference between the transport speed and the pulling speed causes a slip between the drive release roller 202 and the driven release roller 203 and the backing sheet 2.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, a one-way clutch 205 (clutch means) is interposed between the rotation shaft of the platen 102 and the first power transmission gear 112, and 1 direction (Fig. 4
Only the rotational driving force (counterclockwise in (a)) is transmitted to the first power transmission gear 112. Platen 10
When a rotational driving force in the opposite direction (clockwise in FIG. 4A) is transmitted to the rotation shaft 2, the one-way clutch 205
Slips, and the rotational driving force is not transmitted to the first power transmission gear 112.

As described above, when the peripheral speed of the drive peeling roller 202 is higher than the peripheral speed of the platen 102, the rotational driving force in the return direction (clockwise direction in FIG. When transmitted to the roller 202, the platen 102
The mount 2 is moved at a faster speed than the return
Side, so the backing sheet 2 is loosened (and eventually clogged)

Therefore, by interposing the one-way clutch 205, the rotational driving force in the returning direction is not transmitted to the drive peeling roller 202, and the returning operation of the label sheet 1 is enabled without loosening the backing sheet 2. .
With the return operation of the backing sheet 2, the drive peeling roller 202 rotates and its rotation is transmitted from the second power transmission gear 114 to the first power transmission gear 112, but the rotation is caused by the one-way clutch 205 idling. Absorb.

The returning operation of the label paper 1 is performed, for example, when a predetermined printing / transporting operation is completed. That is, the print head 101 stops the printing operation when the predetermined number of labels 3 have been printed, but the platen 102 continues the transport operation until the last printed label 3 is sent to the label peeling device 200. For this reason, some blank labels 3 pass through the print head 101. If the next printing operation is started in this state, the blank label that has passed through the print head 101 is wasted. Therefore, after the printing / transporting operation is completed, a return operation is executed to move the blank label to the upstream side of the print head 101.

It should be noted that the one-way clutch 205 is
It may be interposed between the power transmission gear 114 and the rotating shaft 113 or between the peeling roller driving gear 204 and the rotating shaft 202a.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing another example of the structure relating to the clutch means. In the configuration shown in the figure, a pair of intermediate gears 300 and 301 are interposed between the second power transmission gear 114 and the separation roller driving gear 204, and one of the intermediate gears 300 and the separation roller driving gear 204 are disengaged. There is freely. When the drive motor 108 rotates in the direction in which the label paper 1 is sent out, the intermediate gear 300 meshes with the peeling roller drive gear 204, and the rotational driving force is transmitted to the drive peeling roller 202. On the other hand, when the drive motor 108 rotates in the direction to return the label paper 1, the intermediate gear 300 is separated from the peeling roller drive gear 204 so that the rotation driving force is not transmitted to the drive peeling roller 202.

Next, the detailed structure of the label peeling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the label peeling device, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the label peeling device in a partially omitted assembly state. The label peeling device 200 includes a frame, a peeling member 201, a holder 220, a driving peeling roller 202, and a driven peeling roller 203 as main component parts.

The frame includes a front frame 211, side frames 212 and 213, and a rear frame 214 (see FIG. 5).
a is formed. Then, each frame 211, 21
2, 213, 214 surrounds the window 211
A hollow portion 215 having an opening a is formed (see FIG. 3). The upper part of the rear frame 214 has a flat guide surface 2
A guide plate 216 is mounted on the guide surface 214a, and an inlet 217 for the label paper 1 is formed between the guide surface 214a and the guide plate 216 (see FIG. 3). The label paper 1 conveyed from the printer main body 100 is sent into the hollow portion 215 from the introduction port 217.

The peeling member 201 is formed of a roller member having a round bar shape having a small diameter, and is rotatably supported by the side frames 212 and 213 near the opening of the introduction port 217 in the hollow portion 215.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, of the label paper 1 conveyed from the printer main body 100, only the backing paper 2 is curved by the peeling member 201, and the conveyance direction is changed to a steep angle. Thereby, the label 3 is peeled off from the backing paper 2. Here, since the peeling member 201 guides the mount 2 while rotating, the frictional resistance between the peeling member 201 and the mount 2 is reduced, and the power loss is small.

The driving peeling roller 202 has a rotating shaft 202a.
And has a surface layer having a large friction coefficient such as synthetic rubber on the surface. The rotation shaft 202a of the drive peeling roller 202 is rotatably supported by the side frames 212 and 213. The center axis of the driving peeling roller 202 is disposed behind the rear frame 214, and a part of the surface layer thereof enters the hollow portion 215 through a notch (not shown) formed in the rear frame 214, Hollow part 2
Within 15, it comes into contact with a driven peeling roller 203 described later (see FIG. 3). The contact portion is located obliquely below and behind the peeling member 201, and at this position, the peeling rollers 202 and 203 are pulled out with the mount 2 interposed therebetween.

The holder 220 has support shafts 220a on both side surfaces, and the support shafts 220a are rotatably supported by the side frames 212 and 213.
1a can be freely inserted into and removed from the hollow portion 215. As shown in FIG. 3, when the holder 220 is housed in the hollow portion 215, the surface thereof is arranged on substantially the same plane as the front surface of the front frame 211. By making the surface of the front frame 211 and the surface of the holder 220 substantially flush with each other, the appearance quality is improved.

The driven peeling roller 203 is rotatably fitted to the shaft 203a as shown in FIG. Shaft 203 rotatably supporting driven peeling roller 203
a is supported by inserting both ends into a notch groove 221 formed in the holder 220. The opening edge of the notch groove 221 is caulked after the shaft 203a is inserted to prevent the shaft 203a from coming off. Shaft 203a
Is slightly slidable in the notch groove 221.

Further, at the center of the shaft 203a,
Notch surface 2 flat so as to face the inner surface of holder 220
A coil spring 222 (biasing means) is formed between the notch surface 203b and the inner surface of the holder 220.
Is incorporated. The coil spring 222 is connected to the shaft 2
03a is pushed in the pushing direction.

The driven peeling roller 203 mounted on the holder 220 can be inserted into and removed from the hollow portion 215 through the window 211a of the front frame 211 integrally with the holder 220. Then, in the hollow portion 215, the driving peeling roller 202
Is arranged at a position where it comes into contact with the surface layer, and the mount 2 is pinched in this position in cooperation with the drive peeling roller 202 (see FIGS. 3 and 6). At this time, the driven peeling roller 203 is pressed against the driving peeling roller 202 via the backing sheet 2 by the urging force of the coil spring 222, so that the backing sheet 2 can be reliably held.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the label peeling apparatus. As shown by the arrow in FIG.
20a), and is urged toward the other side frame 213 by a spring member 218 (see FIG. 5) attached to one side frame 212. On the other side frame 213, a locking groove 219 is formed as shown in FIG. Further, a locking claw 223 that engages with the locking groove 219 is formed on a side surface of the holder 220. When the holder 220 is inserted into the hollow portion 215, the locking claw 223 is fixed to the locking groove 219.
To hold the inserted state.

At the center of the upper edge of the holder 220, a concave groove 224 for operation is formed as shown in FIG.
The user places his / her finger on the concave groove 224 and holds the holder 22 toward the side frame 212 to which the spring member 218 is attached.
By sliding 0, the engagement state between the locking claw 223 and the locking groove 219 can be easily released, and the holder 220 can be pulled out from the hollow portion 215. Holder 220
For example, the user can slide the tip of the user's finger
It can be easily done simply by hooking it on 4. Therefore, even if the concave groove 224 is formed shallow (low in height), there is no problem in the slide operation. As a result, the dimensions of the holder 220 are not restricted by the concave groove 224 for operation, and the holder 220 and thus the label peeling apparatus 200 can be downsized.

As shown in FIG. 8, a label discharge port 230 is formed above the holder 220.
A mount outlet 231 is formed below 20.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a method of loading the label paper into the label peeling device. First, as shown in FIG. 9A, the backing sheet 2 of the label sheet 1 sent out from the printer main body 100 through the introduction port 217 with the holder 220 pulled out from the hollow portion 215 is separated from the separation member 201.
And guide it to the mount discharge port 231. When the holder 220 is pulled out of the hollow portion 215, the window 211a is opened, so that the mount 2 can be easily handled through the window 211a.

Next, when the holder 220 is inserted into the hollow portion 215, the driven peeling roller 203 comes into pressure contact with the driving peeling roller 202 with the mount 2 interposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. When the printer main body 100 is driven in this state, the mount 2 is pulled out by each of the peeling rollers 202 and 203, and the label 3 is peeled from the mount 2 at a curved portion by the peeling member 201 and is discharged to the label discharge port 230. . In this state, since the driven peeling roller 203 and the driving peeling roller 202 are housed in the hollow portion 215 of the frame, there is an opportunity for dust and the like floating outside to enter and adhere to the respective peeling rollers 203 and 202. Is less.

The printer body 100 can be equipped with a paper cutting unit (cutter) instead of the label peeling device 200 described above. The printer body 1
00 and the label peeling apparatus 200 may be formed as an integral structure.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the driving peeling roller and the driven peeling roller are housed in the hollow portion of the frame, dust hardly adheres to these peeling rollers, so that the mount can be stably nipped and pulled out. In addition, by rotating the holder, the driven peeling roller is separated from the driving peeling roller and the opening on the front surface of the frame can be opened, so that the label paper can be easily loaded from the opening.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view schematically showing a label printer equipped with a label peeling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a driving mechanism in a printer main body.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional side view showing a label peeling device and a power transmission mechanism to the unit.

FIG. 4A is a configuration diagram illustrating a power transmission mechanism of a label peeling device extracted therefrom, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of a clutch unit included in the power transmission mechanism. .

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the label peeling device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a partially omitted assembly state of the label peeling device.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure for mounting a driven peeling roller on a holder.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the label peeling device.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing locking means of the holder to the frame.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of loading a label sheet into a label peeling device.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a label sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100: Printer body 101: Print head 102: Platen 108: Drive motor 112: First power transmission gear 114: Second power transmission gear 200: Label peeling device 201: Peeling member 203: Driven peeling roller 203a: Shaft 204: Peeling roller Drive gear 205: one-way clutch (clutch means) 211: front frame 211a: windows 212, 213: side frame 214: rear frame 215: hollow part 217: introduction port 218: spring member 219: locking groove (locking means) 220: holder 203a: shaft 222: coil spring (biasing means) 223: locking claw (locking means) 224: concave groove 230: label discharge port 231: mount discharge port 301, 302: intermediate gear (clutch means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A label peeling device which is mounted on a printer main body having a printing function and peels a label from a backing of label paper conveyed from the printer main body. A frame formed with an introduction port for introducing the label paper conveyed from the printer body into the hollow portion; and a base for the label paper introduced from the introduction port, supported by the frame, and inside the hollow portion of the frame. A peeling member that peels the label from the backing sheet by bending the backing sheet; A roller, and the driven peeling roller is rotatably supported, and is rotatably supported by the frame. Label peeling apparatus characterized by comprising a, and removably holder in the hollow portion from the opening of. 2. The label peeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the holder is arranged substantially flush with a front surface of the frame when the holder is inserted into a hollow portion of the frame. 3. The holder is slidable in the axial direction with respect to the frame, is always urged in one sliding direction, and locks the holder inserted into the hollow portion to the frame. 3. The label peeling device according to claim 1, further comprising a locking means for releasing the locked state when the holder is slid in the other sliding direction. 4. A biasing means for biasing the driven peeling roller in a direction in which the driven peeling roller comes into contact with the driven peeling roller is provided between the holder and the driven peeling roller. The label peeling device according to any one of the above. 5. The label peeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the peeling member is formed of a small-diameter roller member and is rotatably supported.