JP2000272193A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] To provide a printing device with good work efficiency. When a print head is opened by swinging a head frame in a counterclockwise direction from a state in which a print head is closed, a pin abuts on a lower edge of a lever, and a concave portion of the lever pushes the pin. From the pin 104
Pushes up the lever 98 and turns it clockwise. When the print head 72 is opened and the print head 72 is closed by swinging the head frame 76 clockwise, the pin 10
With the lowering of the lever 4, the lever 98 rotates counterclockwise by its own weight, and the recess 98A engages with the pin 102. in this way,
When the print head 72 is opened, the head frame 76 is automatically released from the lower frame 78, and when the print head 72 is closed, the head frame 76 is automatically fixed to the lower frame 78. For this reason, the work of fixing and releasing manually is omitted, and workability is good.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus of a tag printer for printing print data such as a bar code on a single-leaf tag with a thread (hereinafter, referred to as a tag).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, clothing and ornaments are provided with threaded single leaf tags as price tags or fashion tags. The single-leaf tag with a thread is hung on clothing or the like by a thread, and information such as a barcode and a price is printed on a surface of the tag.

[0003] Such tags are printed one by one by a tag printer. The tag printer sequentially feeds out a large number of stacked tags, transports them to a printing device, and prints them with the printing device.

A head frame to which a print head of a printing apparatus is fixed is separated from a platen roller and swingably supported so as to open and close with respect to the platen roller in consideration of workability of replacing a carbon ribbon. I have. When printing, the head frame swings in the closing direction, and when the carbon ribbon is replaced, the head frame swings in the opening direction.

[0005] However, in such a rotatably supported head frame, the print head at the tip of the head frame is lifted from the platen roller during printing, causing print imbalance. For this reason, in the conventional printing apparatus, since the print head cannot be pressed uniformly against the platen roller with a cantilever type head frame, the head frame lowered during printing is fixed to the platen roller side with a lever. An operator manually performed the fixing operation.

[0006]

However, in the conventional printing apparatus, when replacing the carbon ribbon, the lever is manually opened to release the head frame, and when the replacement is completed, the lever is manually closed and the head frame is not fixed. And there is a drawback that work efficiency is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus with high working efficiency.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a base end portion of a head frame having a print head fixed to a front end portion is rotatably supported on a rotation shaft of an upper frame. A printing apparatus that opens and closes the print head with respect to a platen roller disposed below the print head by swinging the head frame about the rotation axis by swing means. A lever having a hook portion at the lower end thereof, which is suspended in a state in which the upper end portion is rotatably supported, and provided on a lower frame rotatably supporting the platen roller,
An engaging pin that engages with a hook of the lever; and an engaging pin that is provided on the head frame and swings the head frame in a direction in which the print head is opened. When the engagement between the engagement pin and the engagement pin is released, and the head frame is swung in the direction to close the print head, the lever is rotated downward by its own weight, and the hook portion of the lever and the engagement pin And a locking pin for engaging the lock pin.

According to the present invention, when replacing the carbon ribbon, the head frame is swung in the direction in which the print head is opened. The rocking pin is pivoted upward while pushing up the lever by the swing of the head frame to release the engagement between the hook portion of the lever and the engaging pin. When the replacement of the carbon ribbon is completed, the head frame is swung in the direction to close the print head. The rocking pin pivots the lever downward by its own weight due to the swing of the head frame, thereby engaging the hook portion of the lever with the engaging pin. As described above, according to the present invention, when the print head is opened, the head frame is automatically released from the lower frame, and when the print head is closed, the head frame is automatically fixed to the lower frame. For this reason, the work of fixing and releasing manually is omitted, and workability is good.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a tag printer 10 to which the printing device of the present invention is applied. In the drawing, the width direction of the tag 30 is defined as an X-axis direction, and the pitch (length) direction is defined as a Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tag printer 10 comprises:
It mainly comprises a hopper device 12, a gate member 14, a tag feeding device 16, a first transfer device 18, a printing device 22, and a control device 24.

Are stacked between the gate member 14 and the hopper device 12, and the hopper device 12 holds the tags 30 with their postures accurately aligned.

The hopper device 12 includes a hopper body 32 and a pair of tag guides 34 and 36. The hopper body 32 is slidably supported by the printer body 10A and slidable in the X-axis direction. Tag guide 34
Is fixed to the hopper main body 32, and the tag guide 36
Is slidably supported by the hopper body 32, and FIG.
In the Y-axis direction. The tag guides 34 and 36 are each formed in an L shape, and are configured to engage with two corner portions of the stacked tags 30. As a result, the hopper body 32 is slid toward the gate member 14 in the X-axis direction,
If the tag 6 is slid in the Y-axis direction to narrow the gap between the tag guides 34 and 36, the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction of the stacked tags 30 can be accurately aligned.

The tags 30 thus held are fed out by the tag feeding device 16 in order from the lowermost tag 30 and are transferred to the first transfer device 18.

The tag feeding device 16 includes three suction pads 38A, 38B, 38C for sucking the lower surface of the tag 30.
And a bracket (not shown) for supporting the suction pads 38A to 38C. Three suction pads 38
A to 38C are arranged side by side in the Y-axis direction, and two suction pads 38A and 38B on the near side are fixed to the bracket. The rear suction pad 38C is supported by a bracket so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction. The position of the suction pad 38C is adjusted according to the length (pitch) of the tag 30 in the Y-axis direction, and the suction pad 38C is set so as to suck the end of the tag 30. Thereby, the suction pads 38A to 38C
Can surely adsorb the tag 30. The bracket is configured to slide in the X-axis direction toward the first transfer device 18 while descending. Thus, when the tag feeding device 16 is driven, the lowermost tag 30 is sucked by the suction pads 38A to 38C, and is transferred to the first transfer device 18 through the lower portion of the gate member 14 by sliding the bracket. . The gate member 14 prevents a plurality of tags 30 from being fed out, whereby only one tag 30 is transferred to the first transfer device 18. Then, the first transfer device 18
Are transferred to the suction pads 38A to 38A.
By releasing the adsorption force of C, the first transfer device 18
Received by

The first transfer device 18 includes a belt conveyor (not shown), and transfers the received tag 30 to the printing device 22 on the belt conveyor.

The printing device 22 prints on the transported tag 30, and is mainly composed of a print head 72 and a platen roller 74.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the printing device 22, and FIG. 3 is a top view. As shown in these figures,
The platen roller 74 is rotatably supported by the upper end of the lower frame 78. The print head 72 is a head frame 7
6, the head frame 76 is swingably supported by the side frame 82 and the gate member 14 that mainly constitute the upper frame with the head shaft 80 as a fulcrum.

A plurality of guide rollers 92 are rotatably supported by the side frame 82 and the gate member 14, and a guide roller 94 is rotatably provided near the print head 72 of the head frame 76. Supported. The carbon ribbon 96 is guided by a guide roller 92 from a supply reel (not shown) and conveyed between the print head 72 and the platen roller 74.
2 and is conveyed to a take-up reel (not shown).

The head shaft 80 has a head shaft pulley 84
Are provided coaxially in the gate member 14, and the head shaft pulley 84 is connected to a motor pulley 88 via a belt 86. A stepping motor (not shown) is connected to the motor pulley 88, and the belt 86 runs in both directions indicated by arrows in the figure by driving the stepping motor. Belt 86
The tension is applied by engaging a tension pulley 90, the head frame 76 swings due to the traveling of the belt 86, and the print head 72 opens and closes with respect to the platen roller 74. That is, when the belt 86 runs in the right direction of the arrow, the print head 72 closes to perform printing, and when the belt 86 runs in the left direction of the arrow, the print head 72 opens.

A lever 98 is rotatably supported on the side frame 82 with a pin 100 as a fulcrum.
8, a hook portion 98A having a concave shape is formed at the distal end portion. An engagement pin 102 is supported on the lower frame 78, and the hook portion 98A is engaged with the engagement pin 102 to fix the head frame 76.

A locking pin 104 is supported at the center of the head frame 76.

Next, the operation of the printing device 22 in the tag printer 10 configured as described above will be described.

When replacing the carbon ribbon 96, the print head 72 is opened by swinging the head frame 76 counterclockwise while the print head 72 shown in FIG. 4 is closed. Locking pin 1 by swinging of head frame 76
04 contacts the lower edge of the lever 98. As a result, the hook 98A of the lever 98 comes off the engagement pin 102,
As shown in FIG. 5, the locking pin 104 pushes up the lever 98 and rotates it clockwise. The carbon ribbon 96 is replaced while the print head 72 is open.

When the replacement of the carbon ribbon 96 is completed,
The head frame 76 is swung clockwise to rotate the print head 7.
Close 2. The swing of the head frame 76 causes the lever 98 to rotate counterclockwise by its own weight with the lowering of the locking pin 104, and the hook 98A engages with the post 102 as shown in FIG. Thus, in the present invention, when the print head 72 is opened, the head frame 76 is automatically released from the lower frame 78, and when the print head 72 is closed, the head frame 76 is automatically fixed to the lower frame 78. For this reason, the work of fixing and releasing manually is omitted, and workability is good.

When the tag 30 is transferred between the print head 72 and the platen roller 74, the head frame 76 is locked as shown in FIG. 6 from the state where the print head 72 is closed as shown in FIG. The print head 72 is raised to a position where it does not contact the tag 30 by pivoting the pin 104 counterclockwise so that the pin 104 does not contact the lower edge of the lever 98. When the tag 30 is transferred between the print head 72 and the platen roller 74, the head frame 76 is swung clockwise to close the print head 72 and perform printing.

In the present embodiment, an example is described in which the printing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a tag printer. However, a printer that prints a band-shaped backing label or the like can also be applied.

[0029]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the print head is opened, the hook portion of the lever is disengaged from the engagement pin, and the head frame is automatically released from the lower frame. When is closed, the hook portion of the lever engages with the engagement pin, and the head frame is automatically fixed to the lower frame. For this reason, the work of fixing and releasing manually is omitted, and workability is good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a tag printer to which a printing device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a print head is closed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a print head is opened.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the print head has risen to a position where it does not contact the tag.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Tag printer 12 ... Hopper device 16 ... Tag feeding device 30 ... Tag 72 ... Print head 74 ... Platen roller 76 ... Head frame 78 ... Lower frame 98 ... Lever 98A ... Hook part 102 ... Engagement pin 104 ... Locking pin

Claims (1)

[Claims] A base end of a head frame having a print head fixed to a front end thereof is rotatably supported on a rotation axis of an upper frame, and the head frame is pivoted about the rotation axis. In a printing apparatus that opens and closes the print head with respect to a platen roller that is disposed below and below the print head by swinging the print head, the print apparatus is suspended with its upper end pivotally supported by the upper frame. A lever having a hook portion at the lower end thereof, an engaging pin provided on a lower frame rotatably supporting the platen roller, and engaging with a hook portion of the lever; When the head frame is swung in a direction to open the print head, the lever is pivoted upward to release the engagement between the hook portion of the lever and the engagement pin. And a locking pin that, when the head frame is swung in a direction to close the print head, rotates the lever downward by its own weight to engage the hook portion of the lever with the engagement pin. A printing device characterized by the above-mentioned.