JP2007130967A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer capable of eliminating various disadvantages due to a slack generated in a board when backfeeding a sheet of paper with a label by using a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: The label printer is provided in which when printing is performed on a label 7 by a printing unit 13, the printed label 7 is peeled off from a board 15, issued and rewound on a board rewinding spindle 51, and a sheet of paper with a label 8 is backfed in order to position a succeeding label 7 at the print position in a process for transferring the sheet of paper with the label 8, a contacting member 52 is brought into contact with the board 15 being the outermost layer of the boards rewound on the board rewinding spindle 51 at a rewind starting position of the board 15 using a friction force smaller than the friction force between the boards 15 rewound and laminated on the board rewinding spindle 51 so that a slack is not generated in the board 15 rewound on the board rewinding spindle 51 while permitting a slack to be generated in the board 15, whereby the board 15 can be clearly rewound on the board rewinding spindle 51 also after backfeeding. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a label printer that performs printing on a label attached to a mount.

  In a label printer that prints on a label affixed to a mount, while winding the mount with the mount take-up shaft, bend the guide path of the paper with the label peeling unit and peel off the printed label from the mount and issue it I have to.

  A problem with such a label printer is the looseness of the mount that occurs when the labeled paper is conveyed in the backward direction. That is, in order to peel off and issue a label that has already been printed, it is necessary to transport the labeled paper until the subsequent label passes the printing position. For this reason, if printing is continued for the subsequent label as it is, a portion that cannot be printed is generated at the leading end portion of the subsequent label. Therefore, in order to prevent a portion that cannot be printed from occurring, when printing is performed on a subsequent label, a so-called back feed is required in which the labeled paper is conveyed in the backward direction. The back feed is performed, for example, by rotating the platen and the mount winding shaft in opposite directions. In this case, when transporting the labeled paper in the forward direction, it is necessary to make the paper take-up amount by the mount take-up shaft larger than the paper carry amount by the platen. Will be more. This is the reason why slack occurs in the backing sheet when the paper with the label is back-fed. If the mount becomes slack, the mount cannot be wound up afterwards, and the mount becomes skewed, resulting in a decrease in print quality and a loss of the mount in the worst case.

  FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the state of a labeled sheet when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the forward direction (FIG. 9A) and when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the reverse direction (FIG. 9B). In FIG. 9, reference numeral 101 denotes a platen, and 102 denotes a line-type thermal printer head. A contact portion of the thermal printer head 102 with respect to the platen 101 is a printing position. The labeled paper 103 that has passed through the printing position is bent at an acute angle by the label peeling unit 104, and only the mount 103 a is wound on the mount winding shaft 105. The label 103b is peeled off from the mount 103a by the bending of the labeled paper 103 at the label peeling portion 104. As illustrated in FIG. 9B, when the platen 101 and the backing paper winding shaft 105 are rotated in the reverse direction to back feed the labeled paper 103, the backing paper 103 a is loosened. In particular, the backing paper 103 is wound around the backing paper winding shaft 105. Looseness also occurs in the mount 103a.

  Patent Document 1 describes an invention in which a one-way clutch is built in a mount winding shaft so that the mount is not loosened during backfeeding of labeled paper.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-016337

  In order to prevent the mount from being loosened during the backfeed of the labeled paper, a complicated structure such as a one-way clutch built into the mount winding shaft is required as described in Patent Document 1. The Such a structure has not only a complicated structure, but also a number of disadvantages such as a decrease in assembling ability, an increase in the number of parts, an increase in parts cost and manufacturing cost.

  An object of the present invention is to eliminate various inconveniences caused by slack in a backing sheet during backfeed of a labeled sheet with a simple structure.

  The present invention provides a mechanism for conveying a label-attached sheet having a plurality of labels attached to a mount in a forward direction and a backward direction along a predetermined guide path, and the label in the process of guiding and conveying the label-attached sheet. A printing part for printing on the sheet, a label peeling part for bending the guide path of the label-attached paper that has passed through a printing position in order to peel off the label after printing from the mount, and a mount winding for winding the mount An outermost layer wound around the mount winding shaft at a winding start position of the mount with a friction force weaker than a friction force between the mounts wound around the mount and the mount winding shaft A contact member that contacts the mount.

  According to the present invention, even if the mount becomes slack due to a simple structure in which the contact member is only brought into contact with the outermost layer mount wound around the mount winding shaft, the mount is wound after that. The winding shaft can be wound up neatly.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the label printer 1. The label printer 1 according to the present embodiment includes a printer mechanism 3 inside a housing 2, and includes a liquid crystal display 4 with a touch panel on the top of the housing 2 and a keyboard 5 on the top surface of the housing 2. Further, in appearance, the housing 2 is provided with a label issuing port 6 on the front surface thereof.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire state in which the front panel and the upper panel are opened. The front and upper surfaces of the housing 2 are open. A front panel 2a is attached to the front of the housing so as to be opened and closed, and an upper panel 2b is attached to the opened upper surface so as to be opened and closed. By opening these front panel 2a and upper panel 2b, the internal structure of the housing 2 is exposed.

  FIG. 3 is an overall side view virtually showing the internal structure. Here, the printer mechanism 3 built in the housing 2 will be described. First, inside the housing 2, there is provided a paper holding portion 9 for storing and holding a paper 8 with a label on which a plurality of labels 7 are regularly affixed at predetermined intervals in a roll shape. A guide path 10 is provided for guiding the labeled paper 8 held and pulled out by the holding unit 9 to a predetermined path. In the middle of the guide path 10, a printing unit 13 composed of a platen 11 and a line thermal head 12 that are opposed to each other with the guide path 10 interposed therebetween, and a label peeling located on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path from the printing unit 13. A peeling plate 14 as a part is arranged. Further, at the end of the guide path 10, a mount winding mechanism 16 that winds the mount 15, which is the label-attached sheet 8 after the label 7 is peeled, onto the mount winding shaft 51 is disposed. The mount winding mechanism 16 has a contact member 52.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical side view showing the printing unit 13, the peeling plate 14, the mount winding shaft 51, and the contact member 52. The printing unit 13 has a unit structure in which the platen 11 and the line thermal head 12 are attached to the head frame 17. That is, the platen 11 is rotatably attached to the head frame 17 so as to be driven to rotate by a drive unit (not shown). The line thermal head 12 is attached to a head bracket 18 that is rotatably attached to the head frame 17. The head bracket 18 holds the line thermal head 12 so that the line thermal head 12 can abut a heating element (not shown) against the platen 11. A plate spring 19 is flexibly attached to the head bracket 18, and the plate spring 19 is pressed by a cam mechanism 20, whereby a heating element (not shown) of the line thermal head 12 is pressed against the platen 11. The head frame 17 includes an elastic body 21 that guides the sheet with label 8 while removing slack, and guide pins 22 for smoothly guiding the label with sheet 8 between the platen 11 and the line thermal head 12. Is attached. The labeled paper 8 is guided to the guide path 10 by the elastic body 21, the guide pins 22, and the printing unit 13, and is conveyed by the rotation of the platen 11 and the mount winding shaft 51. The platen 11 and the mount winding shaft 51 are rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown) so as to be rotatable forward and backward. Therefore, the elastic body 21, the guide pin 22, the printing unit 13, and the mount winding shaft 51 constitute a paper transport mechanism. The paper transport function is a mechanism for transporting the labeled paper 8 with the label 7 attached to the mount 15 along the guide path 10 in the forward direction and the backward direction.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mounting state of the mount winding shaft 51 with respect to the winding shaft holder. The mount winding mechanism 16 includes a winding shaft holder 25. The take-up shaft holder 25 is formed by bending a sheet metal into a U-shape, and has a pair of U-shaped take-up shaft holding grooves 26 at the upper portions of two opposed pieces. A shaft member 51a of the mount winding shaft 51 is detachably mounted in the winding shaft holding grooves 26. The take-up shaft holder 25 includes a pair of take-up shaft holders 27 at the position of the take-up shaft holding groove 26.

  The take-up shaft holder 25 has a gear train 28 located in the vicinity of one take-up shaft holding groove 26. The gear train 28 includes a drive gear 28a and an idler gear 28b. The drive gear 28a is rotated by receiving power from a drive source (not shown) such as a motor. In this case, the drive gear 28a is rotationally driven in the forward direction and the reverse direction, thereby rotating forward and reverse. The idler gear 28 b is positioned at a position where the driven gear 51 b provided on the mount winding shaft 51 mounted on the winding shaft holder 25 is engaged.

  The winding shaft holding body 27 is formed by a pair of sandwiching bodies 30 attached to a fulcrum 29. These clamping bodies 30 are urged by a ring-shaped spring 31 and are positioned in a direction in which the tip portions thereof are close to each other. Therefore, the take-up shaft holder 27 can push open the tip portions close to each other against the force of the spring 31.

  FIG. 6 is a side view showing a holding structure of the mount winding shaft 51 in the winding shaft holder 25. Nipping pieces 32 each having an upper inclined surface 32 a and a lower inclined surface 32 b are formed at the distal ends of the pair of holding members 30 constituting the winding shaft holder 27. These clamping pieces 32 are arranged with their tip portions that are intersections of the upper inclined surface 32a and the lower inclined surface 32b facing each other. The upper inclined surface 32 a is inclined toward the mounting direction of the mount winding shaft 51 with respect to the take-up shaft holding groove 26, and the lower inclined surface 32 b is formed in the pulling direction of the mount winding shaft 51 from the take-up shaft holding groove 26. It is inclined towards it. Accordingly, the take-up shaft holding body 27 has an operation of mounting the shaft member 51 a of the mount winding shaft 51 on the take-up shaft holding groove 26 and the shaft member of the mount take-up shaft 51 from the take-up shaft holding groove 26. Along with the operation of pulling out 51a, the pair of sandwiching bodies 30 rotate in a direction to open the tip portion against the force of the spring 31. When the shaft member 51a of the mount winding shaft 51 is mounted in the winding shaft holding groove 26, the shaft member 51a is held in a state of being placed on the bottom of the winding shaft holding groove 26. The lower inclined surface 32b of the winding shaft holder 27 prevents the shaft member 51a from coming off.

  FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing the contact member 52. The abutting member 52 is configured by a flat plate-like member in which both side portions below the center portion protrude sideways, and both side portions protruding sideways are slightly bent. This bent portion is called a bent portion 52a. The bent portions 52 a form both end sides along the axial direction of the mount winding shaft 51. The bending direction is a direction toward the mount winding shaft 51. The abutting member 52 further has a pair of attachment pieces 52b protruding from both sides on the upper edge. Such a contact member 52 is formed, for example, by punching and pressing a sheet metal.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the contact member 52 is swingably attached to a frame structure 53 (only a part thereof is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) built in the housing 2. . That is, the frame structure 53 has a pair of holding portions 54 that hook and hold a pair of mounting pieces 52 b provided on the contact member 52, and the pair of mounting pieces 52 b hook and hold on these holding portions 54. Thus, the contact member 52 is swingably attached to the frame structure 53.

  The contact member 52 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the contact member 52 is positioned in the vicinity of the winding start position P of the mount 15 so as to contact the outermost mount 15 wound on the mount winding shaft 51. . In this case, the abutting member 52 can swing freely under its own weight. In this state, due to the presence of the mount winding shaft 51, the contact member 52 is positioned slightly inclined from the vertical direction. This “slightly inclined” means that the mount 15 is not wound on the mount winding shaft 51. As the amount of the mount 15 wound around the mount winding shaft 51 increases, the outer peripheral surface of the wound outermost mount 15 increases the radius. In accordance with this, the inclination angle of the contact member 52 also increases. For this reason, as the amount of the mount 15 wound around the mount winding shaft 51 increases, the contact force of the contact member 52 against the mount 15 also increases. However, the abutment member 52 is wound on the mount take-up shaft 51 with a friction force weaker than the friction force between the mounts 15 wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 and stacked. It is comprised so that it may contact | abut.

  The label printer 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above is supplied with power from a commercial power source and is driven and controlled by a microcomputer (not shown) built in the housing 2 to execute a printing operation.

  In such a configuration, when the platen 11 is rotationally driven, the labeled paper 8 is guided and conveyed along the guide path 10 and is affixed to the labeled paper 8 by the line thermal head 12 that contacts the platen 11 via the guide path 10. Predetermined items are printed on the printed label 7. At the same time, power is transmitted from a drive source (not shown) such as a motor to the driven gear 103 of the mount winding shaft 51 via the gear train 28, and the mount 15 forming a part of the labeled paper 8 is transferred to the mount winding shaft 51. Rolled up. At this time, the take-up speed of the mount 15 by the mount take-up shaft 51 is set to be faster than the conveyance speed of the label-attached paper 8 in the printing unit 13 so that no slip occurs at the print position. The labeled paper 8 is in a stretched state. Therefore, tension is applied to the labeled paper 8 bent at an acute angle by the peeling plate 14, and the printed label 7 is peeled from the labeled paper 8, and the peeled label 7 is issued from the label issuing port 6.

  If there is a next print command after issuing one label 7 from the label issuing port 6, the platen 11 and the mount take-up shaft 51 are driven in reverse rotation, and the labeled paper 8 is back-fed. This is because the subsequent label 7 is aligned with the printing position. At this time, the take-up speed of the mount 15 by the mount take-up shaft 51 is set to be faster than the conveyance speed of the label-attached paper 8 in the printing unit 13 to the extent that no slip occurs at the print position. Due to this configuration, the mount 15 inevitably becomes slack.

  FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the state of the labeled paper 8 when the labeled paper 8 is transported in the forward direction (FIG. 8A) and when transported in the backward direction (FIG. 8B). is there. In FIG. 8B, it can be seen that the mount 15 is slack. Here, attention is paid to the degree of looseness generated in the mount 15 while comparing with the conventional example shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9B, in the conventional example, when the platen 101 and the backing paper winding shaft 105 are reversely rotated to back-feed the labeled paper 103, the backing paper 103a is loosened. Also, the mount 103a that has been wound around is slack. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, in the case of the present embodiment, the contact member 52 is provided, so that the portion between the peeling plate 14 and the mount winding shaft 51 is provided. While allowing the mount 15 to be slack, the mount 15 wound around the mount winding shaft 51 does not sag.

  That is, when the mount winding shaft 51 rotates in the reverse direction, the mount 15 wound around the mount winding shaft 51 tends to be back-fed by the presence of the contact member 52. Without the contact member 52, the mount 15 can only be unwound from the mount take-up shaft 51, whereas the contact member 52 prevents the mount 15 from being unwound from the mount take-up shaft 51. Because it does. At this time, the frictional force between the mounts 15 wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 and the friction between the outermost mount 15 wound on the mount take-up shaft 51 and the contact member 52. If the friction force between the mounts 15 is weak, the upper mount 15 slides relative to the lower mount 15 and is wound on the mount take-up shaft 51 despite the presence of the contact member 52. Looseness occurs in the mounted mount 15. On the other hand, as in the present embodiment, if the friction force between the outermost mount 15 and the contact member 52 is weaker than the friction between the mounts 15, the reverse of the mount take-up shaft 51. With rotation, the outermost layer mount 15 to be back-fed by the presence of the contact member 52 is actually back-fed while sliding between the contact member 52. For this reason, the mount 15 is not unwound from the mount take-up shaft 51, and therefore, the mount 15 wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 is not slackened. For this reason, when the mount 15 is wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 again after the back feed, the slack of the mount 15 generated at the portion between the peeling plate 14 and the mount take-up shaft 51 is gradually removed. The mount 15 can be neatly wound around the mount winding shaft 51. As a result, skew does not occur in the mount 15, and it is possible to reliably prevent a decrease in print quality and a loss of mount in the worst case.

  Here, the contact member 52 of the present embodiment has a bent portion 52a. The bent portions 52 a are bent in both directions along the axial direction of the mount winding shaft 51 in a direction toward the mount winding shaft 51. For this reason, when the labeled paper 8 is transported in either the forward direction or the reverse direction, there is an effect that the mount 15 is directed toward the center of the mount take-up shaft 51. Thereby, the skew of the mount 15 is further less likely to occur.

  As another embodiment, an elastic body (not shown) such as PET or the like is provided on a portion of the contact member 52 that is in contact with the outermost mount 15, and the bent shape of the contact member 52 is formed by the elastic body. You may make it do.

  Further, as is apparent from FIG. 2, the mount winding shaft 51 is detachably attached to a position where the front panel 2a can be opened and detached, and the contact member 52 is a position where the front panel 2a is opened. From the rear side of the mount take-up shaft 51 as viewed from the top, it is positioned at a position in contact with the outermost mount 15. By adopting such an arrangement of each part, the contact member 52 does not interfere with the mounting and dismounting operation of the mount winding shaft 51, and smooth workability is ensured.

  In the present embodiment, the contact member 52 is positioned in the vicinity of the winding start position P of the mount 15 so as to contact the outermost mount 15 wound on the mount winding shaft 51. Thus, even if the mount 15 is back-fed, the mount 15 is not unwound from the mount take-up shaft 51, and therefore, the mount 15 wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 does not sag. This is the reason why the mount 15 can be neatly wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 when the mount 15 is taken up around the mount take-up shaft 51 again after the back feed. On the other hand, when the mount 15 is again wound around the mount take-up shaft 51 after the back feed, it is required to be able to wind the mount 15 neatly around the mount take-up shaft 51. It is sufficient that the contact member 52 is positioned so as to be in contact with the outermost mount 15 wound around the mount take-up shaft 51, and is not necessarily near the winding start position P of the mount 15. It is not necessary to be positioned so as to abut on the outermost mount 15. That is, when the contact member 52 is not positioned so as to contact the outermost layer mount 15 in the vicinity of the winding start position P of the mount 15, even the outermost mount 15 is associated with the back feed operation. Unwinding is possible up to the position where the contact member 52 is disposed. On the other hand, as long as the contact member 52 is positioned so as to contact the outermost layer mount 15 wound around the mount winding shaft 51, almost all of the outermost mount 15 is wound. Even if the paper is unwound, the paper 15 wound around the paper take-up shaft 51 is not unwound as a whole, and after back-feeding, the paper 15 is again taken up onto the paper take-up shaft 51. The mount 15 can be neatly wound around the mount winding shaft 51.

1 is an overall perspective view of a label printer showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the whole state of the state which opened the front panel and the upper panel. It is the whole side view which shows an internal structure virtually. It is a vertical side view which expands and shows a printing part, a peeling board, a mount winding shaft, and a contact member. It is a perspective view which shows the mounting state of the mount winding shaft with respect to a winding shaft holder. It is a side view which shows the holding structure of the mount winding shaft in a winding shaft holder. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a contact plate. (A) is a side view illustrating the state of a labeled sheet when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the forward direction, and (b) is a state of the labeled sheet when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the backward direction. In a conventional example, (a) is a side view illustrating the state of a labeled sheet when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the forward direction, and (b) is a state of the labeled sheet when the labeled sheet is conveyed in the backward direction.

Explanation of symbols

2 Housing, 2a Front panel, 6 Label issuing port, 7 Label, 8 Labeled paper, 10 Guide path, 13 Printing section, 14 Release plate (label peeling section), 15 Mount, 51 Mount take-up shaft, 52 Contact member

Claims (6)

A mechanism for transporting the labeled paper with a plurality of labels attached to the mount in the forward direction and the reverse direction;
A printing unit for printing on the label in the process of transporting the labeled paper;
A label peeling portion for bending the label-attached paper that has passed through a printing position in order to peel the label after printing from the mount;
A mount winding shaft for winding the mount from which the label has been peeled off at the label peeling portion;
A contact member that comes into contact with the mount on the outermost layer wound around the mount take-up shaft with a friction force weaker than the friction force between the mounts wound around the mount take-up shaft;
Label printer with.   The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the abutting member is disposed at a position where the abutting member abuts on the mount on the outermost layer at a winding start position of the mount.   The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the contact member has a shape in which both end sides along the axial direction of the mount winding shaft are bent toward the mount winding shaft.   The label printer according to claim 3, wherein the bent shape of the contact member is formed by an elastic body provided on the contact member. A housing having a front panel that is openable and closable on a front surface having a label issuing port from which the label released from the mount is issued;
The mount winding shaft is detachably attached at a position where the front panel can be opened and detached,
The contact member is positioned at a position where it comes into contact with the outermost mount from the rear side of the mount winding shaft as viewed from the position where the front panel is opened.
The label printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the mount winding shaft is selectively rotated in a winding direction of the mount and a direction opposite to the winding direction.

Images