JP2012158043A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To prevent a fall from an installation location even when a person or an object collides or an earthquake occurs, and it is not necessary to make a hole in a workbench or desk for fixing, and a printer that can be easily changed is installed. provide.
A printing medium driven by rotation of the platen roller while pressing and holding the printing medium by a casing having at least a bottom surface and a side surface, a printing medium supply unit for supplying the printing medium, a platen roller and a thermal head. And a printing unit for recording information, and a suction cup with a suction surface facing the outside of the casing is attached to one or a plurality of locations of the casing.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that prints and issues information on a printing medium such as a label, tag, or ticket.

  Printers are installed in many places including offices, factories, and workplaces, and are used for printing and issuing printing media such as labels, slips, tags, statement slips, tickets, membership cards, wristbands, and medical records. In many cases, it is used when printing and issuing variable information whose contents are different one by one. As printers, there are a thermal transfer method using a thermal transfer ribbon, a direct thermal method for coloring thermal paper, an ink jet method, a toner method, and the like.

  Here, an example will be described in which different information is printed for each label on a continuous label body in which labels are temporarily attached to a long belt-like mount at regular intervals as a printing medium using the printer 90 shown in FIG. . FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the main part of the printer 90 as a symbol.

  The printer 90 has a printing medium supply unit 51 and a printing unit 61 provided in a housing 52. The label roll 12 is rotatably supported on the supply shaft 55 of the print medium supply unit 51. The label roll is obtained by winding a continuous body of the label 10 around a branch pipe. A guide bar 56, a paper sensor 57 that detects the presence or absence of a continuous body of the label 10, and a pitch sensor 58 that detects a label interval are attached along the travel path of the label 10. The downstream printing unit 61 includes a platen roller 62 and a thermal head 63 that presses and holds the continuous body of the label 10 together with the platen roller 62. The housing 52 is provided with an issue port 65 at a position adjacent to the printing unit 61. A rubber or synthetic resin foot 53 is attached to the bottom of the housing 52 to support the weight of the printer 90. The bottom of the foot 53 is often slippery.

  When the platen roller 62 rotates, the continuous body of the label 10 unwound from the label roll 12 reaches the printing unit 61 through the guide bar 56, the paper sensor 57, and the pitch sensor 58, and the thermal head 63 generates heat on each label 10. Images such as characters and barcodes are printed by scanning. The printed label 10 reaches the outside from the issuing port 65.

  There are various installation locations of the printer 90. It is not always on a large work table. For example, it may be installed in the corner of a workbench in a factory, or beside a stainless steel food processing table in a food factory. Characters such as labels, tags, tickets, etc. are often placed at the desk edge in offices. In addition, the installation location of the printer 90 is not necessarily a stand placed on a floor such as a work table or a desk. There are many cases where the floor surface is placed on a caster with wheels that can be moved freely and moved according to a labeling operation.

  When the printer is placed at the end of a workbench or desk, there may be a passage used for moving people or objects next to the installation position. As long as the person or object is adjacent to the movement line, the hand or elbow of the pedestrian may be touched or hit by an object. When the impact is small, it is sufficient to change the orientation of the printer 90. However, when the impact is received, the printer 90 falls from the table or desk. There are other natural disasters. When a large earthquake occurs, the printer 90 slides on a table or desk and falls to the floor. Moreover, when moving on a caster, the floor is not always flat. The printer falls due to the impact of moving up and down when climbing over unevenness and steps on the floor.

  The printer 90 that has fallen to the floor needs to be repaired, resulting in loss of the user. As an effective measure for preventing the fall, there is a fixing method such as screwing the printer to a table or desk, but it is necessary to make a hole in the work table or desk, which is troublesome. In addition, every time the printer 90 is updated to a new model, the position of the holes changes, and there is a problem that unnecessary holes increase on the table or the desk and the aesthetic appearance is impaired. Further, once the printer 90 is fixed, there is an inconvenience that it is difficult to change the layout on the work table or the desk.

  Therefore, there has been a demand for a printer that can be easily fixed to a workbench or a desk to prevent falling, can be easily moved, and can easily cope with changes in the layout of a factory or office.

JP-A-10-139026

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can be easily fixed to a work table or a desk, can be prevented from falling even when subjected to shaking, vibration, or impact, and can be easily changed in installation location. The purpose is to provide.

The printer according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a casing having at least a bottom surface and a side surface, a print medium supply unit for supplying a print medium, a platen roller, and a thermal head while pressing and holding the print medium. And a printing unit that records information by conveying a printing medium by rotation of a platen roller, and a suction cup is attached to one or a plurality of locations of the casing with the suction surface facing the outside of the casing It is characterized by that.
It is desirable that the distance between the housing and the suction cup be variable and adjustable.
The suction cup is attached to the tip of a bolt protruding from the housing, and the bolt is screwed into a screw hole provided in the housing. The distance between the housing and the suction cup can be adjusted by rotating the bolt.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fixing method for a printer, wherein a casing having at least a bottom surface and a side surface, a printing medium supply unit for supplying a printing medium, a platen roller, and a thermal head are used to press and hold the printing medium. In addition, a suction cup is attached to one or a plurality of locations of the housing with the suction surface facing outward from the printer, including a printing unit that records information by conveying a printing medium by rotating the platen roller. The suction cup is sucked and fixed to one or both of a mounting surface at a place where the printer is installed and a surface close to the printer.

According to the printer and the printer fixing method of the present invention, the suction cups provided on the bottom and side surfaces of the printer are pressed against a work table, a desk, and a wall surface and can be fixed.
Since the distance between the suction cup and the housing can be adjusted, the suction cup provided on the bottom surface can be used as an adjuster for adjusting the height of the printer and installing it horizontally. Furthermore, since the suction cup provided on the side surface can also adjust the distance from the side surface of the housing, the distance can be adjusted according to the distance from the printer to the nearby wall surface, and the suction can be fixed.
By fixing in this way, it is possible to prevent the printer from falling even when a person or object collides and receives an impact, or when it is shaken by an earthquake. Moreover, when moving on a caster, it can be fixed to the upper surface of the caster, and a fall accident due to vibration during movement is prevented in advance.
Further, it is not necessary to make a hole in the work table or desk for fixing, and it is possible to avoid deteriorating the aesthetic appearance due to the hole. When moving the printer, it is only necessary to remove the suction cup.

1 is a schematic side view illustrating a printer of the present invention and a method for using the printer. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a conventional printer.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the printer of the present invention will be described in detail. 1 and 2 show a printer 50 of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of the printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the printer.

  The printer 50 of the present invention has a printing medium supply unit 51 and a printing unit 61 provided in a housing 52. The housing 52 includes a lid body 52a that can be opened and closed by swinging in the direction of an arrow via a hinge, a bottom surface 53, side surfaces 54 in three directions, and a front panel 59. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the lid 52a is opened. A label roll 12 in which a continuous body of the label 10 is wound around a branch pipe as a print medium is rotatably supported on a supply shaft 55 of the print medium supply unit 51 and is fastened with a stopper. A guide bar 56, a paper sensor 57 for detecting the presence or absence of a continuous body of the label 10, and a pitch sensor 58 for detecting a label interval are arranged along the travel path of the label 10.

  The printing unit 61 on the downstream side includes a platen roller 62 and a thermal head 63 that presses and holds the continuous body of the label 10 together with the platen roller 62. The thermal head 63 is a mechanism that opens and closes by the operation of the lever 64, that is, a mechanism that presses against and separates from the platen roller 62. An issue port 65 is provided at a position adjacent to the printing unit 61 of the housing 52.

  A suction cup 71 with the suction surface facing downward is attached to the bottom surface 53 of the housing 52. The suction cup 71 is connected to the tip of a bolt 73 screwed with a screw hole 72 provided in the bottom surface 53 via a connecting member 74, and the distance from the bottom surface 53, that is, the protruding length can be changed by turning the bolt 73. Yes.

  A suction cup 81 with the suction surface facing in the horizontal direction is attached to the side surface 54 (back surface) of the housing. This suction cup 81 is also connected to the tip of a bolt 83 screwed with a screw hole 82 provided in the side face 54 in the same manner as the suction cup 71 of the bottom face 53 described above, and the protrusion length from the side face 54 is increased by turning the bolt 83. It can be changed.

  The printer 50 operates as follows. When the platen roller 62 rotates, the continuous body of the label 10 unwound from the label roll 12 reaches the printing unit 61 through the guide bar 56, the paper sensor 57, and the pitch sensor 58, and heat-sensitive color development by the heat scanning of the thermal head 63. The agent develops color, and images such as characters and barcodes are printed on the label 10. The printed label 10 reaches the outside from the issuing port 65.

  Next, a method for installing this printer will be described. As an example of a printer installation location, a work table 20 on which a stainless steel plate is laid is taken as an example.

The printer 50 is placed on the installation position of the work table 20, and the upper part of the printer 50 is directed to the work table 20,
That is, press downward. Then, the air inside the suction cup escapes and sucks onto the work table 20, and the printer 50 is fixed to the work table 20. In order to adjust the printer 50 to be horizontal, the bolt connected to the suction cup may be turned to increase or decrease the protruding length.

  Even if an object collides with the printer 50 in this state, since the suction cup 71 on the bottom surface 53 is strongly adsorbed to the surface of the work table 20, the printer 50 does not fall from the work table 20, and damage is prevented. The Further, the printer 50 does not fall from the work table 20 even when it receives a large shake due to an earthquake.

  For example, when there is a smooth wall surface 30 on the back side, which is one of the side surfaces 54 of the printer 50 (for example, a wall on which a stainless steel plate is struck, a tile with a smooth surface, etc.), it protrudes from the side surface 54 corresponding to the back surface of the housing 52. The suction cup 81 can also be used for fixing. The rear side surface 54 is brought close to the wall surface 30 and parallel to the wall surface 30, and the printer 50 is placed on the work table 20 and pressed downward while maintaining the positional relationship. Then, air in the suction cup 71 on the bottom surface 53 is released, and the suction cup 71 is attracted to the work table 20 and fixed. Subsequently, the bolt 83 on the back surface of the printer 50 is turned to increase the protruding length and press the suction cup 81 against the wall surface 30. When the air in the suction cup 81 is released, the suction cup 81 is fixed to the wall surface 30 by suction.

  In this state, even when a person or object collides with the printer 50 or receives a large shake due to an earthquake, the suction cup 71 on the bottom surface 53 and the suction cup 81 on the side surface are strongly adsorbed to the surface of the work table 20 and the wall surface 30. The printer 50 does not fall from the work table 20, and damage due to the drop is prevented in advance.

  When moving the printer 50, it is only necessary to remove the suction cups 71 and 81 by introducing air into the suction cups 71 and 81 to reduce the suction force. Even if the suction cups 71 and 81 are removed and the printer 50 is moved, since the work table 20 and the wall surface 30 are not perforated, the beauty is maintained.

  In the embodiment of the present invention described above, a label printer dedicated to thermal paper that prints on the thermal paper label 10 has been described as an example. However, a thermal transfer printer that prints on a paper or film label or the like with a thermal transfer ribbon. It doesn't matter.

  The type and material of the label 10 printed by the printer are not limited to thermal paper, paper, synthetic resin film, and the like, and those generally used as adhesive paper can be used. For example, a paper substrate such as fine paper, coated paper, art paper, synthetic resin film made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), or the above synthetic resin A composite sheet obtained by combining a plurality of types and a synthetic resin film and paper can be used.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that each embodiment can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, arrangement, and the like of the above-described constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to a suitable number, position, shape, and the like for carrying out the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Label 12 Label roll 20 Work table 30 Wall surface 50 Printer 51 Print medium supply part 52 Case 52a Cover body 53 Bottom face 54 Side surface 55 Supply shaft 56 Guide bar 57 Paper sensor 58 Pitch sensor 59 Operation panel 61 Print part 62 Platen roller 63 Thermal Head 64 Lever 65 Issuing port 71 Suction cup 72 Screw hole 73 Bolt 74 Connecting member 81 Suction cup 82 Screw hole 83 Bolt 84 Connecting member

Claims (4)

A printing medium is conveyed by rotational driving of the platen roller while pressing and holding the printing medium by a casing having at least a bottom surface and a side surface, a printing medium supply unit for supplying the printing medium, and a platen roller and a thermal head. A printer including a printing unit for recording information,
A printer, wherein a suction cup is attached to one or a plurality of locations of the casing with the suction surface facing outward of the casing. The printer according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the housing and the suction cup is variable. The suction cup is attached to a tip of a bolt protruding from the casing, the bolt is screwed into a screw hole provided in the casing, and the distance between the casing and the suction cup can be adjusted by rotating the bolt. The printer according to claim 1. A printing medium is conveyed by rotational driving of the platen roller while pressing and holding the printing medium by a casing having at least a bottom surface and a side surface, a printing medium supply unit for supplying the printing medium, and a platen roller and a thermal head. A printer including a printing unit for recording information;
A suction cup is attached to one or a plurality of locations of the casing with the suction surface facing the outside of the casing,
A method of fixing a printer, comprising sucking and fixing the suction cup to one or both of a placement surface of a printer installation location and a surface close to the printer.

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