JP2000335534A - Label guide for label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure a guide function for preventing a label sheet from meandering so as to stabilize supply of the label sheet and improve printing accuracy by providing a pressing means for regulating movement of the label sheet to be positioned on a supply path. SOLUTION: A guide plate 2 for guiding a label sheet for a predetermined section and a pressing piece 4 whose tip is engaged with the label sheet are provided in proximity on a supply path 60 which leads the label sheet 13 drawn from a label roll 11 to a printing part 20. The pressing piece 4 elastically presses the label sheet 13 against the guide plate 2 while the sheet 13 is not being carried, while it displaces due to force of transport of the sheet 13 while the sheet 13 is being carried so as to release pressing to the label sheet, thereby applying tension to the label sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label guide device for a label printer, and more particularly, to a label guide device provided upstream of a printing section of a label printer, for supplying a label sheet drawn from a label roll paper to a printing section. The present invention relates to a label guide device to be arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a label printer, in order to always realize a good and stable printing state irrespective of the use environment, the remaining amount of label roll paper, etc., supply of label paper to a printing section is always performed stably. It is very important.
For this reason, various label guide devices have been conventionally considered and put to practical use. For example, as a label guide device that is arranged on the upstream side of the printing unit and is arranged in a supply path that guides the label paper extracted from the label roll paper to the printing unit,
5 and 1 of JP-A-10-147014 are known. FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 5 of the above-mentioned publication, in which the label paper 13 is supplied to the supply path 160 of the label paper 13.
A width guide 108 is provided together with a guide plate 102 that guides 3 through a predetermined section, and the width guide 108 prevents the label paper 13 supplied to the printing unit 120 from meandering. FIG. 9 corresponds to FIG. 1 of the above-mentioned publication, and the label paper 13 and the winding path of the supply path 160 are replaced with the width guide 108.
A dual-purpose guide 108 'is provided to guide both the mount 13a and the 170 in the width direction, and the dual-purpose guide prevents the label paper from meandering. It is also known to provide a member for applying tension to the label paper in a label paper supply path.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned conventional guide device is not suitable for the label paper 1 located in the supply path 160.
Since there is no means for restricting the movement of the label roll 3, the label paper 13 fed out by the inertial force of the label roll paper 11, especially at the time of printing stop, has the width guide 108 or dual-purpose guide 108 '.
In some cases, the paper may be loosened or loosened from the width guide 108 or the like at the upstream side of the printer, and may be displaced from the width guide 108 or the like.
In addition, there is a case where the printing state changes depending on the diameter of the label roll paper. In view of such a conventional situation, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems by providing a pressing means for restricting the movement of the label paper located in the supply path, and ensures the label paper meandering prevention guide function to improve the label paper. The purpose is to stabilize the supply and increase the printing accuracy. Further, the present invention provides a method in which a tension member provided for stabilizing label supply is integrated with the pressing means of the label paper, and furthermore, a width guide member is formed integrally with the pressing means, whereby Is to greatly simplify the configuration and to reduce the production cost as compared with the case where they are separately arranged. Still another object of the present invention is to make it possible to more reliably prevent the label paper from meandering by integrating the tension member and the width guide member.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a label guide device which guides a label sheet in a predetermined section in a supply path for guiding a label sheet drawn from a label roll sheet to a printing section, and a leading end. Arranges a pressing piece that engages with the label paper in close proximity, and the pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate when the label paper is not being transported, while the label paper is being transported. In this case, the apparatus is configured to be displaced by the transfer force to release the pressing of the label sheet (claim 1). The pressing piece needs to have elasticity in order to perform its elastic pressing function. To that end, the pressing piece itself is provided with elasticity by an elastic member, that is, material, shape and mounting structure. Not limited to the member (claim 2), the pressing piece itself is not an elastic member, but may be configured to be urged by an elastic member such as a spring to provide elasticity (claim 3).

The leading end of the pressing piece engages with the label paper. Preferably, a projection is formed on both sides of the leading end to restrict the meandering of the label paper in the width direction. Specifically, a pair of width guide members are attached to the upper end of the pressing piece and formed, and the width of the width guide members may be adjustable so as to be able to cope with a change in the width of the label paper. ). A preferred specific configuration of the present invention includes a long plate-shaped guide plate disposed in a supply path for guiding a label sheet drawn from a label roll sheet to a printing unit, and an elastic plate disposed near the downstream side of the guide plate. A pressing piece made of a member, and the pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate at an intermediate portion thereof,
The leading end is configured to engage with the label paper separated from the guide plate (claim 6). The pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate at the intermediate portion to apply a predetermined back tension to the label paper, and the upper portion from the intermediate portion is displaced by the transfer force of the label paper. Further, when the transfer force of the label paper exceeds a predetermined value, the pressing piece is displaced as a whole and the intermediate portion displaces the label paper by the intermediate portion. The configuration is such that the pressing is released (claim 8).

[0006]

According to the present invention, the label paper pulled out from the label roll paper is elastically pressed against the guide plate by the pressing piece, so that a pressing force (back tension) is applied. For this reason, when printing is stopped, movement of the label paper located in the supply path is restricted. Also, during label printing, a transfer force corresponding to the remaining amount of the label roll paper (the size of the roll diameter) is applied to the pressing piece, but if the diameter of the label roll paper is small (near the end of the label), the label The pressing force is hardly displaced because the transfer force of the pressing member is small.
When the transfer force of the label is greater than a predetermined value, the pressing piece is displaced by the transfer force, thereby releasing the pressing of the label paper. And this operation is repeated thereafter. Thus, a stable and appropriate tension can be applied regardless of the remaining amount of the label roll paper.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of a label printer having a label guide device of the present invention. The illustrated label printer A is integrally incorporated in a packaging machine, for example, as in diaper packaging, exemplifies a system in which a label to be issued is affixed to the bottom surface of the diaper packaging and simultaneously sealed with the label. Is placed in an inverted state. That is, the label printer A includes a label supply unit 10, a printing unit 20, a peeling unit 30, a label sticking unit 40, a mount winding unit 50, and the like on the substrate 1;
This is a configuration in which a label issuing port 32 following 30 is arranged immediately above the label attaching section 40.

The label supply unit 10 includes a label roll paper
The label roll 11 is rotatably set by a label set 12, and the label roll paper 11 is obtained by winding a label paper 13 having a label 13b affixed to a mount 13a at a constant pitch. The label paper 13 pulled out from the label roll paper 11 is guided to the printing unit 20 via a supply path 60, and in the printing unit 20, the type, price, and validity of the product are controlled by the thermal head 21 and the platen roller 22 and the like. Product data such as a time limit is printed on a label 13b on the mount 13a. Thereafter, when the label paper 13 passes through the peeling section 30 constituted by the dispenser 31, the label 13b is automatically peeled from the backing 13a and transferred to the label issuing port 32, and only the backing 13a is taken up by the winding path. The winding shaft 51 is guided to the mount winding unit 50 via 70.
It is wound up. Note that the label paper 13 is driven by a driving roller 71a and a driven roller 71b disposed on the winding path 70.
Is drawn out of the label roll paper 11 with the feed roller 71 composed of

In the supply path 60, a guide plate 2 for guiding the label paper 13 from the label supply unit 10 to the printing unit 20 is provided, and a pressing piece 4 is provided near the downstream side of the guide plate 2. . The guide plate 2 is made of metal or synthetic resin, and is formed by bending a long plate having at least the width of the label paper 13 into a curved shape, more specifically, an arc-shaped curved portion 2a along a predetermined section of the outer peripheral portion of the winding portion 50. With straight sections 2 on each side
b and 2c are formed in a continuous curved shape. The guide plate 2 has a configuration in which a linear portion 2b on one side is positioned substantially horizontally at the lower end of the substrate 1 and a linear portion 2c on the other side is inclined and extends toward the center of the substrate 1. And fixedly attached to the substrate 1. The guide plate 2 has bent portions 3a and 3b formed by bending a part of both ends inward. The bent portion 3a is for smoothly introducing the label paper 13 into the guide plate 2, and the bent portion 3b is This is for securing a contact surface with the pressing piece 4.

The pressing piece 4 is a rectangular thin plate having a width substantially equal to that of the guide plate 2, and is provided with a pressing surface 5 in which an intermediate portion of the main body plate 4a is formed in a convex shape. A guide mounting surface 4c provided with a formed shaft mounting surface 4b and a large number of grooves 6 arranged at a fine pitch in the width direction at the upper end.
(See FIGS. 2 to 4). This pressing piece 4
Is mounted so as to be disposed in the vicinity of the bent portion 3b of the guide plate 2. More specifically, the shaft mounting surface 4b is screwed to a support shaft 7 projecting from the substrate 1, and in this state, The pressing surface 5 is attached so as to press the bent portion 3b of the guide plate 2 with an appropriate elastic force. When a force exceeding the elastic force acts on the pressing piece 4 in a direction opposite to the pressing direction, the pressing surface 5 separates from the bent portion 3b. That is, the pressing piece 4 is an elastic member that is elastically displaced in a direction orthogonal to the width direction due to its thin plate shape and the mounting structure. The pressing piece 4 may be made of a metal or a synthetic resin, but the drawing illustrates a case where the pressing piece 4 is made of a synthetic resin, specifically, a polyethylene material.

On the guide mounting surface 4c of the pressing piece 4,
A pair of width guides 8, 8 'are detachably attached. The width guides 8, 8 'have a metal clip structure that is inserted and fixed from both ends to the front and back surfaces of the guide mounting surface 4c.
A guide plate 2 is provided on the outer edge of each width guide 8, 8 '.
Guide surfaces 8a, 8a 'projecting in the direction are integrally formed,
By moving the label paper 13 between the guide surfaces 8a and 8a ', meandering of the label paper 13 is prevented. Each of the width guides 8, 8 'forms a supporting tongue 8b, 8b' formed by bending a part of its surface, and a ridge formed at its lower end is engaged with the groove 6 of the guide mounting surface 4c. This allows the width guides 8, 8 'to be positioned in the width direction. Therefore, each of these width guides 8, 8 '
Can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between the guide surfaces 8a and 8a 'of the two width guides 8 and 8', so that the label paper 13 having a different width can be exchanged. In addition, the depth of the groove 6 is reduced, or
If the height of the ridge of b, 8b 'is reduced, each width guide 8,
8 'by slide adjustment without removing and inserting 8'
It is also possible to change the interval between a and 8a '.

In the label printer A,
The label paper 13 pulled out from the label roll paper 11 is arranged such that the back surface of the backing paper 13a is along the guide plate 2 and is distributed so as to engage with the width guides 8, 8 'of the pressing piece 4, and the printing section 20 is formed. And, as described above,
Set up to 50 (see Fig. 1). In the set state or the printing stopped state, that is, when the label paper 13 is not transferred, the label paper 13 in the supply path 60 is
Since the pressing surface 5 elastically presses the bent portion 3b of the guide plate 2, its movement is restricted (see FIG. 2). Then, during printing, that is, when the label paper 13 is being transferred, the transfer force of the label paper is applied by the pressing piece 4 as a deformation force. In this case, the total “transfer force” applied to the pressing piece 4 is “the weight of feeding out the label roll paper” +
This is “pressing force (back tension)” and changes according to the remaining amount of the label roll paper 11. For this reason, when the remaining amount of the label roll paper 11 is small (when the roll diameter is small), the transfer force of the label is weak, and only the pressing force (back tension) of the pressing surface 5 is obtained. The label is not displaced (the state shown in FIG. 2) and the transfer of the label when the transfer force exceeds the pressing surface force is performed as a slip.

On the other hand, when the remaining amount of the label roll paper 11 is large (the roll diameter is large), a large deformation force is applied to the pressing piece 4. As a result, first, the portion above the pressing surface 5 is deformed (see FIG. 5), and when the transfer force is equal to or larger than a predetermined magnitude, the entire pressing piece 4 is displaced and the label paper 13 by the label pressing surface 5 is displaced. Is released (see FIG. 6),
At the time when the pressing is released, the "transfer force" of the label paper 13 is reduced to only the "weight of feeding out the label roll paper", so that the pressing piece 4 immediately returns to the pressing state (see FIG. 5).
Thereafter, this operation is repeated.

Thus, the pressing piece 4 is not affected by the remaining amount of the label roll paper 11 (the roll diameter is large or small),
While supplying the appropriate tension to the label paper 13,
It acts to give an appropriate back tension to the label paper 13. For this reason, problems such as deformation of characters at the start of printing and deformation of characters due to meandering of label paper are eliminated.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the pressing piece 4 is formed of an elastic member and its elasticity is used has been described. However, the pressing piece 4 may be provided with a separate urging means for pressing the pressing piece against the guide plate. For example, the pressing piece may not be an elastic member. For example, as shown in FIG.
A pressing piece 4 ′ provided with a pressing surface 5 ′ that comes into contact with and separates from the base plate 1 has a lower end rotatably attached to the substrate 1, and a shaft 61 is provided on the substrate 1 inside the bent portion 3 b of the guide plate 2. The spring 9 attached to the shaft 61 is hung on the pressing piece 4 'to urge the pressing surface' in the guide plate 2 direction. The springs 9 are arranged on both sides of the guide plate 2, and the width guides 8, 8 'are attached to the pressing pieces 4', as in the previous embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the label roll paper is used.
11 is an externally attached type, that is, a label 13
Although the configuration in which b is affixed has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use an internally affixed type label roll paper in which a label is affixed to the inner surface of the mount. In that case, the label paper may be led out to the guide plate 2 via the guide roller 62 in FIG. In addition, in the present invention, the width guide member is provided integrally with the pressing piece in the supply path 60, but in order to further enhance the guide function, the winding path 70 has a width guide function such as a roller 72. It is not prohibited to provide members.

In the above-described embodiment, a label printer in which a label to be issued is attached to the bottom surface of a package and sealed simultaneously with the label has been described. Similarly to the above, the configuration may be such that the issued label is attached from the upper side to the lower side. Furthermore, the case where labeling is performed manually may be used. Further, in the embodiment, the peeling type label printer that peels off the label from the mount and issues the label is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be.

[0018]

According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, when the label sheet is not transferred, the label sheet is pressed against the guide plate, so that the movement of the label sheet is restricted and the label sheet is loosened. This prevents the label paper from being loosened. In addition, while the label paper is being transported, an appropriate tension can always be applied to the label paper, and a predetermined back tension can be applied regardless of the remaining amount of the label roll paper. For this reason, problems such as character shrinkage due to a change in tension at the start of printing and character deformation due to meandering label paper can be solved, and a better printing state can be secured as compared with the related art. . In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the pressing piece is formed of an elastic member and the elastic force is used, so that there is no need to separately provide an urging means, and the structure can be simplified and manufactured at low cost. .
According to the fourth aspect, the effect of preventing the label sheet from meandering in the width direction can be further ensured without providing a separate guide for preventing the label sheet from meandering in the width direction.
According to the fifth aspect, since the width of the width guide member can be adjusted to be wider or narrower, it is possible to cope with a case where the width of the label to be used is changed.

According to the sixth aspect, the label paper is conveyed by elastically pressing the label paper against the guide plate at the intermediate portion of the pressing piece engaged with the label paper whose leading end is separated from the guide plate. If not, the movement of the label paper is restricted to prevent the label paper from loosening, and the slack of the label paper is absorbed. Therefore, the problem of character deformation at the start of printing is eliminated. According to the seventh aspect, the label paper is elastically pressed against the guide plate at the intermediate portion,
At the time of printing, a predetermined back tension is applied to the label paper, and an upper portion from the middle portion of the pressing piece is displaced by the transfer force of the label paper to apply an appropriate tension to the label paper. Therefore, the transfer of the label paper is performed in a stable state, and a good printing state is obtained.

According to the present invention, when the transfer force of the label paper exceeds a predetermined value, the entire pressing piece is displaced to release the pressing of the label paper by the intermediate portion. The tension and the back tension can be applied without being affected by the remaining amount, and an extremely excellent printing state can be obtained as compared with the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of a label printer having a label guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a label guide device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line (3)-(3) in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pressing piece.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the operation of the pressing piece during printing (at the time of transfer of the label paper), and shows a state in which an upper portion of an intermediate portion of the pressing piece is displaced.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the operation of the pressing piece during printing (at the time of transporting the label paper), and shows a state in which the entire pressing piece is displaced.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment of the pressing piece.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a label printer showing a conventional label guide device.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a label printer showing still another conventional apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

A: Label printer 1: Board
2: Guide plate 4: Pressing piece 8: Width guide
8 ': Width guide 8a: Guide surface 8a': Guide surface 11: Label roll paper 13: Label paper
20: Printing unit 60: Supply path

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A guide plate for guiding a label sheet in a predetermined section and a pressing piece whose leading end engages with the label sheet are disposed in proximity to each other in a supply path for guiding the label sheet drawn from the label roll sheet to a printing section. The pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate when the label paper is not being transferred, and when the label paper is being transferred, it is displaced by the transfer force to press the label paper. A label guide device of a label printer configured to release a label. 2. The label guide device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing piece is an elastic member. 3. The label guide device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing piece is urged toward the guide plate by an elastic member, and the urging force elastically presses the label sheet against the guide plate. 4. The pressing member according to claim 1, wherein said pressing member engages with said label sheet, and has projections for restricting meandering in the width direction of said label sheet. 2. The label guide device according to claim 1. 5. The label guide device according to claim 4, wherein the protrusion is constituted by a pair of width guide members attached to an upper end of the pressing piece, and a distance between the width guide members is adjustable. Characterized label guide device. 6. A pressing device comprising a long plate-like guide plate disposed in a supply path for guiding a label sheet pulled out from a label roll sheet to a printing section, and an elastic member disposed near the downstream side of the guide plate. The pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate at an intermediate portion thereof, and the leading end thereof is engaged with the label paper separated from the guide plate. Label guide device. 7. The pressing piece elastically presses the label paper against the guide plate at an intermediate portion thereof to apply a predetermined back tension to the label paper, and the upper portion from the intermediate portion applies the transfer force of the label paper. 7. The label guide device according to claim 6, wherein the tension is applied to the label paper by displacing the label paper. 8. The pressure piece according to claim 7, wherein when the transfer force of the label paper exceeds a predetermined value, the entire pressure piece is displaced to release the pressing of the label paper by the intermediate portion. Label guide device.