JP4971103B2 - Printer option unit and printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an option unit that can be mounted on a printer main body, and more particularly to a cutter unit that cuts a print medium after printing sent from a printing unit that performs printing with a cutter.

  One of the conventionally known cutter units of this type is to insert the cutter unit into the printer body side by sliding the thick plate-like cutter unit downward while inserting it into the printer body side. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). That is, guided portions that extend in the insertion direction of the cutter unit are provided at the left and right ends of the cutter unit, respectively, and are formed on the printer main body side in parallel so as to sandwich the guided portions. A guide part comprising a protruding part of the book is provided. When the user attaches or removes the cutter unit to or from the printer main body, the guided portion of the cutter unit slides between the two protrusions of the printer main body. It was.

  The other one of the cutter units is attached to the front of the printer main body, and is rotatable to the front outer side of the printer main body with the lower part of the cutter unit as a fulcrum (see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-79597 (paragraphs 0013, 0016, 0021, FIGS. 3, 6 etc.) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-330419 (paragraph 0017, FIGS. 5, 6, etc.)

  However, in the cutter unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, a portion for sliding the cutter unit on the printer body is long. For this reason, depending on the accuracy of the product, the cutter unit may not be easily attached or detached. For example, when a jam (paper jam) occurs near the printing unit, the user tries to remove the cutter unit. There was a risk of damaging the cutter unit with excessive force. According to the cutter unit of Patent Document 2, the user may not be able to secure a sufficient working space for eliminating jamming, and the work may be difficult.

  The objective of this invention is providing the option unit etc. which can solve the said subject.

The optional unit of the printer according to claim 1 is an optional unit of the printer that can be mounted on the printer main body side after being subjected to processing such as cutting, winding, or peeling from the mount after printing. As the processing is performed, a unit main body portion formed with a main body side wall portion protruding to one side and a base end side wall portion having a side surface that contacts the side surface of the main body side wall portion of the unit main body portion protrudes. A unit base end portion that can be attached to the printer main body side and is detachably fixed by a fixing member that is inserted through the base side wall shape portion and the main body side wall shape portion. It is characterized by having.
The option unit of the printer according to claim 2 is the option unit of the printer according to claim 1, wherein the unit base end is opened in a direction in which the base end side wall-shaped portion protrudes, and is provided in the unit main body. A connector for controlling a motor to be transmitted is transmitted to the unit main body side from the printer main body side, and the unit main body portion has a direction in which the main body side wall-shaped portion protrudes. Another connector is provided which is opened and is connected to the one connector so that the control signal from the printer main body is conducted to the motor.
The option unit of the printer according to claim 3 is the option unit of the printer according to claim 2, wherein the base end side wall-shaped portion is formed in parallel with two lines, and the one connector is the base end side wall. Provided between the two inner side surfaces of the shaped portion, the main body side wall shaped portion is formed so as to be inserted between the two inner side surfaces of the proximal end side wall shaped portion, and the other connector is The main body side wall-shaped portion is provided at an intermittent position.
The option unit of the printer according to claim 4 is the option unit of the printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the unit base end portion is configured such that the unit main body portion can rotate outward. The printer is supported on the printer body side.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a printer includes the option unit of the printer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  According to the present invention, the unit main body portion and the unit base end portion of the optional unit are fixed by the fixing member such as a screw member that passes through them, and there is no need to provide a large sliding portion as in the conventional structure. . For this reason, the user can easily attach and detach the optional unit (unit main unit) to the printer main unit (unit base end) without causing damage, for example, when a jam occurs near the printing unit. it can. The user can easily secure a sufficient work space by removing the option unit from the printer main body side.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Best Embodiment)
A printer including a cutter unit according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1, a cutter unit 10, which is an example of an optional unit, can be attached to a printer main body 2 that is a main part of the printer 1. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the front cover 1a and the side cover 1b are opened. The printer 1 is a thermal transfer printer, and the printer main body 2 includes a label supply shaft 3, a ribbon supply shaft 4, a printing unit 5, and a ribbon take-up shaft 6, as shown in FIGS. Have

  The label supply shaft 3 holds a strip-shaped label sheet L with a seal-like label attached in a wound state, and the ribbon supply shaft 4 has a state in which an ink ribbon (carbon ribbon) R is wound. Is holding in.

  The printing unit 5 performs printing by thermally transferring the ink applied to the ink ribbon R to the label on the label paper L. The printing unit 5 includes a print head (thermal head) 5a, Platen roller 5b.

  In the state where the platen roller 5b has the label paper L rewound from the label supply shaft 3 and the ribbon R rewound from the ribbon supply shaft 4 stacked on the label paper L, the printer body The print head 5a performs printing based on a predetermined print signal while being fed from the inside 2 toward the front outside (the left side in FIG. 2). This print signal is supplied to the print head 5 a from a control unit (not shown) housed inside the inner cover 7. The printed label paper L ′ is fed to the cutter unit 10, and the ink ribbon R ′ that has passed through the print head 5 a is taken up by the ribbon take-up shaft 6.

  The cutter unit 10 cuts the label paper L ′ after printing, and includes a unit main body 11 that cuts the label paper L ′ and a unit base end 12 that detachably holds the unit main body 11. Contains.

  The unit main body 11 has a fixed blade 11a, a movable blade 11b, and a motor 11c. When the movable blade (cutter) 11b driven by the motor 11c moves to the fixed blade 11a side, The label paper L ′ sandwiched between them is cut. The cut label paper L ′ is discharged from the paper discharge port M. (Furthermore, the sheet L ′ is discharged from the discharge port provided in the front cover 1a.) The motor 11c is connected to the motor 11c from the control unit in the inner cover 7 via the terminal 7a (FIG. 1). A control signal for controlling the driving of the motor 11c is transmitted (described later).

  The main features of the cutter unit 10 are as follows: (1) The unit main body 11 is screwed to the printer main body 2 side, and when the jam occurs in the printer 1, the screw is removed. The point that the cutter unit 10 can be rotated outward, and (2) the unit body 11 is screwed to the unit base end 12, and the unit body 11 is The point is that it is detachable from the unit base end portion 12. Hereinafter, these features will be described in order.

  (1) The cutter unit 10 is supported by the printer main body 2 so as to be rotatable forward and outward as shown in FIG. That is, the unit base end portion 12 of the cutter unit 10 is formed with a through-hole 12a penetrating in the left-right direction of the printer main body 2 (the direction from the upper left to the lower right in FIG. 4) as shown in FIG. The support shaft 12b is inserted into the through hole 12a. The support shaft 12b is rotatably supported by attachment portions 13a and 13b attached to the left and right ends of the front lower end of the printer body 2. That is, one end of the mounting portions 13a and 13b is fixed to the left and right ends of the front lower end of the printer body 2 with screws or the like, and the other end protruding forward is the support shaft 12b. Is held rotatably.

  When the cutter unit 10 is operated, the unit main body 11 is fixed to the printer main body 2 side by the screw member 14. That is, the unit main body 11 is formed with an insertion hole 11d, and the screw member 14 is inserted into the insertion hole 11d to form a screw hole 7b formed in the inner cover 7 of the printer main body 2 (FIG. 3). It is designed to be screwed inside. (The screw member 14 is an example of a fixing member that fixes the unit main body 11 and the printer main body 2 side.)

  When the operation of the cutter unit 10 is stopped, the user removes the screw member 14 from the screw hole 7b so that the vicinity of the upper center of the unit main body 11 moves from a position close to the printing unit 5 to the front (separated from the printing unit 5). The cutter unit 10 (unit main body 11) can be rotated so as to fall down (to the position where it has been moved). The unit main body 11 is provided with a handle 11e, which makes it easier for the user to pull down the cutter unit 10 and rotate the cutter unit 10 forward.

  By rotating the cutter unit 10 forward, the front portion of the print unit 5 in which the label paper L and the ink ribbon R are sandwiched between the print head 5a and the platen roller 5b is exposed forward. . In this state, for example, when a jam occurs between the printing unit 5 and the cutter unit 10, the user can eliminate the jam. Further, for example, when the printing issue by the printing unit 5 is tested, the user can visually confirm the progress of the test.

  Here, the cutter unit 10 is fixed to the printer main body 2 side by screwing with a screw member 14, and the user easily pulls the cutter unit 10 away from the printer main body 2 side so that the front surface of the printing unit 5 is moved forward. Can be exposed. Therefore, when the user performs operations such as jam clearance and print issuance test, the user can quickly start these operations. In addition, since the cutter unit 10 can be easily attached to the printer main body 2 side, the user can easily return the cutter unit 10 to a state in which the cutter unit 10 can be cut after the completion of these operations. .

  (2) The unit main body 11 of the cutter unit 10 is fixed to the unit base end 12 so as to be detachable from the unit base end 12. This will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 4, two base end side wall portions 12 c and d are formed in parallel on the unit base end portion 12. These base end side wall-shaped portions 12c, d protrude upward from the upper surface of the unit base end portion 12, and extend in the left-right direction of the printer 1 (the direction in which the support shaft 12b extends). Further, the unit main body 11 is formed with a main body side wall 11f. The main body side wall-shaped portion 11f protrudes downward from the lower surface of the unit main body portion 11 and extends so as to be inserted between the two inner side surfaces S1, S2 of the base end side wall-shaped portions 12c, d. .

  In the inserted state, the inner side surface S1 of the base end side wall portion 12c and the one side surface facing the inner side surface S1 of the main body side wall portion 11f contact each other, and the inner side surface S2 of the base end side wall portion 12d The other side surface facing the inner side surface S2 of the main body side wall-shaped portion 11f comes into contact.

  The proximal end sidewall portion 12c is provided with a screw hole 12e, and the proximal end sidewall portion 12d is provided with a screw hole 12f. A screw hole 11g is provided in the main body side wall portion 11f. In a state where the main body side wall portion 11f is inserted between the base end side wall portions 12c and d, the screw member 15 includes a screw hole 12e of the base end side wall portion 12c, a screw hole 11g of the main body side wall portion 11f, and The screw hole 12f of the proximal end side wall-shaped portion 12d is inserted in order and screwed into the screw hole 12f (and the screw hole 11g). (The screw member 15 is an example of a fixing member that fixes the unit main body 11 and the unit base end 12 to each other.)

  As described above, the unit main body 11 is fixed to the unit base end 12 by screwing with the screw member 15, so that, for example, in the case of a jam clearance test or a print issuance test, the user may have a problem due to the work space. However, when it is desired to remove the cutter unit 10, it is possible to remove it easily and simply. It is also easy for the user to return the printer 1 from the state in which the cutter unit 10 is removed to the state in which the normal cutting operation is possible.

  Compared with a conventional printer, the sliding portion between the cutter unit and the printer main body is very small, and therefore, when the cutter unit is removed from the printer main body, the inconvenience that the cutter unit is damaged near the sliding portion is less likely to occur. It has become.

  In addition, the unit main body 11 and the unit base end 12 are electrically connected simultaneously with the insertion of the unit main body 11 into the unit base end 12. That is, the unit base end portion 12 has a male connector 16 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (a) and 5 (b), and the unit main body portion 11 is formed as shown in FIGS. A female connector 18 is provided. (FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view of the unit base end portion 12, and FIG. 5B is a side view of the unit base end portion 12.)

  The male connector 16 (FIG. 5B, etc.) is provided between the two inner side surfaces S1, S2 (valleys) of the base end side wall portions 12c, d, and the base end side wall portions 12c, d protrude. Open in the direction you want. The male connector 16 is electrically connected to the terminal 17b by the cable 17a. The terminal 17b is fitted and connected to a terminal 7a (FIG. 1) from the control unit of the printer main body 2.

  On the other hand, the female connector 18 (FIG. 6 etc.) is opened in the direction where the main body side wall-shaped part 11f protrudes in the position where the main body side wall-shaped part 11f was interrupted. The female connector 18 can be fitted to the male connector 16 of the unit base end portion 12, and the main body side wall-like portion 11 f of the unit main body portion 11 is connected to the base end side wall-like portions 12 c and d of the unit base end portion 12. The male connector 16 and the female connector 18 are fitted together as it is inserted therebetween.

  The voltage signal conducted between the male connector 16 and the female connector 18 includes a control signal for controlling the motor 11c. In addition, an error signal indicating that the motor 11c is in an error state may be included. Furthermore, a sensor for detecting the position of the movable blade 11b on the upper end side or the lower end side is provided in the cutter unit 10 so as to be electrically connected between the male connector 16 and the female connector 18. The signal may include a power supply to these sensors and a detection signal from the sensors.

  Positioning protrusions 19a and 19b (FIG. 4) are provided at positions close to the left and right ends of the male connector 16, respectively. Positioning protrusions 19a and 19b are located at positions close to the left and right ends of the female connector 18, respectively. Insertion gaps 20a and 20b are provided. With these positioning protrusions 19a, b and insertion gaps 20a, b, the user can easily position the unit main body 11 in the left-right direction with respect to the unit base end portion 12, and the male connector 16 and the female connector 18 are connected. It becomes possible to make it fit smoothly.

  A taper is formed near the distal end of the left end of the positioning projection 19a and the right end of the positioning projection 19b toward the cutter unit 10 so that the distal end side of the positioning projections 19a, b is thinner than the proximal end side. Also good. If it does in this way, since positioning in the left-right direction of the unit main-body part 11 with respect to the unit base end part 12 will be guided, a user will insert the unit main-body part 11 into the unit base end part 12 more smoothly. It becomes possible to do. The positioning protrusions 19a and 19b also have a function of protecting the male connector 16 when the unit main body 11 is removed from the unit base end 12.

  According to the male connector 16 and the female connector 18, the user does not need to be aware of the attachment / detachment of the unit main body portion 11 when attaching / detaching the unit main body portion 11 to / from the unit base end portion 12.

  In other words, in the conventional printer disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-1000049, the cable connecting the cutter unit and the printer main body side is directly connected to the printer main body side ( It was designed to be connected to the terminal 7a) in FIG. Therefore, when removing the cutter unit, the user first performs an operation of pulling out the cable from the printer main body side. When the cable was pulled out, there was a risk of damaging the cable. In the cutter unit 10 according to the present invention, the user does not have to worry about handling the cable when attaching to or detaching from the printer main body 2 side, and the cable is hardly damaged.

  Further, according to the arrangement of the male connector 16 and the female connector 18, even if the user operates the printer 1 with the front cover 1a (FIG. 1) opened, the voltage signal that is conducted between the connectors is not corrected by the user's erroneous operation or label. It is possible to prevent being affected by erroneous conveyance of the paper.

(Other embodiments, etc.)
Although the present invention has been described above with specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the present invention.
a. For example, in the above embodiment, the unit main body 11 is detachably fixed to the printer main body 2 side by the screw member 14 (FIG. 4). Instead, as shown in FIG. 7, a hook 21 is provided at the center of the back surface of the unit main body 11 and the hook 21 is locked to a locking protrusion 22 provided on the printer main body 2 side. Also good. In this case, the unit main body 11 is fixed to the printer main body 2 more easily than by the screw member 14 or the like.

b. Further, the unit main body 11 is detachably fixed to the unit base end 12 by the screw member 15, the screw holes 12e and 12f, and the screw hole 11g. Unlike this, the unit main body uses a pin or the like having a head at one end and a locking portion that locks to the edge of a pin hole formed at the other end in the same manner as the screw hole 11g. The portion 11 and the unit base end portion 12 may be fixed. The pin may be formed so as to be folded at the other end side, and the locking portion referred to here may be a part of the pin after the folding, and the pin can be contracted in the diameter direction. Such a pin may be used in place of the screw member 14.

c. The unit base end portion 12 is rotatably supported on the printer main body 2 side by a through hole 12a, a support shaft 12b, and attachment portions 13a and 13b. Instead, the unit base end portion 12 can be rotatably supported on the printer body 2 side by using one hinge or a plurality of hinges arranged in the left-right direction of the printer body 2.

d. Although label paper is used as the print medium, the print medium may be paper such as a lower tag or a tag, or may be one in which an IC tag is embedded.

e. It was assumed that the cutters of the fixed blade 11a and the movable blade 11b have cutting edges that extend linearly. The cutter has a cutting edge on the circumference and a circle cutter that cuts the paper by running on a predetermined rail. Alternatively, the cutter has a cutting edge that extends along the axis on the side of the cylinder and a fixed blade. A rotary cutter or the like that cuts paper may be used.

f. One wall-shaped portion protrudes from the unit main body 11 and two wall-shaped portions protrude from the unit base end 12 so as to sandwich the wall-shaped portion. The number of wall-like portions protruding from the unit base end portion 12 may be one. Alternatively, one wall-like portion may be protruded from the unit base end portion 12, and two wall-like portions may be protruded from the unit main body portion 11 so as to sandwich this. However, in order to protect the connector of the unit base end portion 12 that is fixedly held (particularly when the connector is a male connector), it is more preferable to provide a connector between the two wall-shaped portions.

g. The cutter unit 10 is taken as an example of the option unit, and the processing for the printing medium after printing by the cutter unit 10 is cutting of the label paper L ′ after printing. Unlike this, inside the printer (inside the closed front cover 1a), an internal take-up unit that automatically winds the strip-shaped label paper before cutting, and the label automatically from above the label paper (mounting paper) The present invention can also be applied to an optional unit such as a peeling unit that peels off.

h. Of course, the printer may print by other methods such as a thermal method, an ink jet method, and a laser method instead of the thermal transfer method. The printer may be one that can perform printing and write data to an IC tag embedded in paper.

1 is a perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the printer Diagram for explaining opening and closing of cutter unit Exploded perspective view of cutter unit The figure which shows the male connector of the unit base end side Diagram showing the female connector on the unit body side Cross-sectional view of a cutter unit according to another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 1a Front cover 1b Side cover 2 Printer main body 3 Label supply shaft 4 Ribbon supply shaft 5 Print part 5a Print head 5b Platen roller 6 Ribbon take-up shaft 7 Internal cover 7a Terminal 7b from control part Screw provided in internal cover Hole 10 Cutter unit 11 Unit main body 11a Fixed blade 11b Movable blade 11c Motor 11d Insertion hole 11e Handle 11f Main body side wall 11g Screw hole 12 on main body side wall 12 Unit base end 12a Through hole 12b Support shaft 12c, 12d Base end Side wall-like parts 12e, 12f Screw holes 13a, 13b in the base-side side wall-like parts Mounting part 14 Screw member 15 for fixing the cutter unit to the printer main body side Screw member 16 for fixing the unit main body part to the unit base end part Unit base end part Male connector 17a Cable 17b Conductive with female connector That the terminal 18 unit body of the female connector 19a, 19b positioning projections 20a, 20b inserted gap 21 hook 22 engaging protrusions

Claims (5)

An optional unit of the printer that can be mounted on the printer body side after being subjected to processing such as cutting, winding or peeling from the mount after printing.
A unit main body portion in which a main body side wall-shaped portion protruding to one side is formed while the processing is performed,
A base end side wall-shaped portion having a side surface that contacts the side surface of the main body side wall-shaped portion of the unit main body portion is formed so as to protrude, and by a fixing member inserted through the base end side wall-shaped portion and the main body side wall-shaped portion. An optional unit for a printer, comprising: a unit base end portion that can be attached to the printer main body side to which the unit main body portion is detachably fixed. In the unit base end,
There is one connector through which the control signal from the printer main body side is transmitted to the unit main body side for controlling the motor provided in the unit main body portion. Provided,
In the unit main body,
The main body side wall-shaped portion is opened in a protruding direction, and another connector is provided that allows the control signal from the printer main body to be conducted to the motor in a fitted state with the one connector. The optional unit of the printer according to claim 1. The proximal end side wall-shaped portion is formed in parallel with two strips, and the one connector is provided between two inner side surfaces of the proximal end side wall-shaped portion,
The main body side wall-shaped portion is formed so as to be inserted between two inner side surfaces of the proximal end side wall-shaped portion, and the other connector is provided at a position where the main body side wall-shaped portion is intermittently provided. The optional unit of the printer according to claim 2.   4. The printer option according to claim 1, wherein the unit base end portion is supported on the printer main body side so that the unit main body portion can rotate outward. 5. unit.   A printer comprising the option unit of the printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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