JPH0440260B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is applicable to various labelers, label printers,
For example, the present invention relates to a label tape guide device used in an electronic labeler.

<Prior art> As is well known, equipment having a label printing means such as a hand labeler or a label printer has a transport path for transporting a label tape, and the label of the label tape follows this transport path. and is guided to the printing position.

Label tapes are constructed by sequentially temporarily attaching labels onto a series of transfer tapes, and after printing, the labels are peeled off from the single transfer tape and attached to the product.

In printing label issuing equipment such as labelers, a label tape guide is provided in order to accurately guide the label tape to the printing head position, that is, the printing position. It consists of a pair of opposing guide walls.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Since the conventional label tape guide uses a pair of guide walls to restrict the deflection of the label tape in the width direction, when the width of the label tape changes in the narrow direction, the guide There was a problem in that the wall no longer had a restricting effect and that it became impossible to load label tapes when the wall changed to a wider direction, and therefore label tapes with different label widths could not be used interchangeably. .

<Means for Solving the Problems> In the device of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, a pair of outer stoppers 582, 582' and a pair of inner stoppers 583, 583' are arranged alternately. used for
This allows the width W of the transfer path to be changed.
The above one pair of two sets of stop pieces 582, 582', 583,
583' is a pair of rotors 581, 581' with one set for each set.
This pair of rotors 58 are individually distributed and arranged.
1,581' are installed inside the bottom frame 50 facing each other via the transfer path, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11.

Each rotor 581 (or 581') has one outer stopper 582 (or 582') as described above.
and one inner stopper 583 (or 583') are arranged at a predetermined distance in the axial direction of the rotor, and when the outer stoppers 582, 582' stand upright facing each other, the inner stoppers 583, 583' The inner stopper pieces 583, 583' are arranged to protrude perpendicularly to the outer stopper pieces 582, 582' so as to face each other horizontally.

The rotors 581, 581' further include engagement means, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, cutouts 581a provided at 90 degree intervals in each rotor, elastic engagement pieces 581b engaged with the notches 581a, 581b' is provided, and this locking means allows the rotors 581, 581'
are locked and fixed at two points: when the outer stop pieces 582, 582' are upright, and when the inner stop pieces 583, 583' are upright.

<Function> Since the device of the present invention is formed in this manner, as shown in FIG.
When 2' is placed upright, the inner retaining pieces 583, 58
3' is laid down and moved out of the transfer path, and both sides of the label tapes 80 and 81 in the transfer path are covered with outer stoppers 58.
2,582' respectively.

Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the outer stopper 5
Inner stop pieces 583, 58 instead of 82, 582'
3' upright, this causes the outer stopper 5 to
82, 582' are laid down horizontally and the inner retaining pieces 583, 58
3' stand upright on both sides of the transfer path and regulate the width W of the transfer path.

Therefore, in this case, the outer stoppers 582, 582'
A narrower transfer path is formed compared to when it is upright.

<Example> A labeler using the device of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
As shown in the figure, it has an operating section 10, a grip section 20, and a mechanism section 30.
0 constitutes a housing.

The operation unit 10 includes an input keyboard unit 11,
A display section 12, for example, a liquid crystal panel, is provided to display input signals from the keyboard section 11, and the keyboard section 11 and the display section 12 are arranged on the surface side of a rectangular operation section exterior body 13. There is.
The grip portion 20 is provided on the back side of the operation unit exterior body 13 so as to extend rearward from one end of the exterior body 13, for example, in a right angle direction, and a power source 21 such as a dry battery is installed inside. It is accommodated.

The mechanism section 30 extends parallel to the grip section 20 on the back side of the operation section 10, and its extended end side is removably connected to the extended end of the grip section 20, for example. As a result, a finger holding window 22 is formed below the grip portion 20 by the grip portion, the operating portion 10, and the mechanism portion 30.

The mechanism section 30 is the exterior body 13 of the operation section 10.
The case 31 has an opening/closing means for opening and closing the bottom frame, such as a push button 32, a main switch piece 33, a cutout 311 for checking the remaining amount of labels, and a window for pasting labels. A pressing roll 34 is provided below the proximal end of the case 31 in contact with the exterior body 13.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the operation section 10 has an electric circuit 14 built in behind the front panel 131 of the exterior body 13, which is composed of printed circuit boards 141, 142, etc. An input signal is given to the electric circuit 14 by operating a key, and a printed symbol obtained by this input signal,
For example, numbers indicating the barcode to be printed are displayed on the display section 12, and a start switch 15 provided on the operation section 10 causes printing to be performed on the label as described later.

The grip part 20 is configured such that the internal battery can be charged.
Or, so that the internal battery can be replaced, for example, as shown by the chain line in FIG. It is composed of

In the embodiment, the grip portion 20 is configured to be replaceable as a whole, and therefore the locking portion 23 formed at the extending end is made detachable from the support shaft 312.

For this purpose, a start switch 15 is provided in the operating section 10 along the grip section 20, and the starting switch 15 is combined with a terminal holder 151 and fixed to the operating section 10.
The electric circuit 14 is configured to be operated via the electric circuit 51.

On the other hand, the grip part 20 has a connector 2
4 is provided, which allows the grip part 20 to be connected to the operating part 1.
0, the connector 24 and the terminal holder 151 are combined, and the power source 21 connects to the electric circuit 1.
It is configured to be connected to 4.

In the above, the power source 21 may be an external power source that the user carries by attaching it to his or her waist,
In this case, the electric circuit 14 is connected to the grip portion 2, for example.
0 is connected to an external power source via a cord.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the grip portion 20 is provided with a locking mechanism 25, and a locking piece 251 of this locking mechanism 25 is provided on an engaging portion of the exterior body 13, such as the terminal holder 151. engaging hole 152
The grip portion 20 is fixed using the support shaft 312 as a fulcrum.

The mechanism section 30 includes a printing section 40 and a bottom frame 5.
0, a label tape holder 60 and a drive mechanism 70 are built-in, and the label tape holder 60 has a transfer tape 80 with a large number of labels 81 sequentially attached thereto.
The printing unit 40, in which the main switch piece 3 is wound, is provided in the case 31 near the pressing roll 34, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7.
3, a support frame 42 that is released by the cam piece 41 during printing, and is rotated in a direction away from the label 81 when printing is stopped, that is, upward in FIG. 5;
A spring 43 that constantly presses the label 81 toward the label 81.
When the supporting frame 42 is rotated toward the label 81, that is, when the supporting frame 42 is released from the cam piece 41, the supporting frame 42 is operated to close the electric circuit 14 into an operating state. On the other hand, when the supporting frame 42 is rotated by the cam piece 41 against the spring 43, that is, when the supporting frame 42 is separated from the label 81, the supporting frame 42 is operated and the electric circuit 14 is interrupted. A micro switch 44 that opens to the operating state, and a thermal device that prints a bar code on the label 81 that corresponds to the input signal from the keyboard switch 11 by operating the start switch 15 when the electric circuit 14 is closed. A head 45 and a support mechanism 46 for supporting the support frame 42 are provided.

As mentioned above, the cam piece 41 is made to interlock with the main switch piece 33, and when the main switch piece 33 is in the operating position as shown by the chain line in FIG. 5, it releases the support frame 42 as shown. , when the main switch piece 33 rotates in the direction of the arrow and moves to the non-operating position, it rotates counterclockwise in the figure and closes the support frame 4.
2 is rotated against the spring 43.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the thermal head 45 of the support frame 42 comes into pressure contact with the platen roller 51 on the 50 side only during printing, so that the surface of the platen roller 51 does not always deform due to the pressure received. It can be prevented.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the supporting frame 42 includes an outer frame 421 and a frame plate 4 fitted into the outer frame 421.
22, the thermal head 45 is attached to the surface of the frame plate 422 facing the label, and the frame plate 422 and the outer frame 421 are perpendicular to the axis L of the platen roller 51. The pair of screws 423, 42 are connected by a pair of connecting screws 423, 423 screwed into the
By adjusting the degree of screw engagement of 3, it is possible to adjust the heat generating portion of the thermahed 45 to be located on the axis of the platen roller 51.

Furthermore, the frame plate 422 is made of a material with good heat conductivity and has a heat radiating plate 424, which is designed to radiate the heat generated from the thermal head 45.

The support mechanism 46 is provided so as to constitute a pivot point for the support frame 42, and in the embodiment, the support mechanism 46 is inserted into a bearing hole 461 formed at the rear of the support frame 42 and inserted into the hole 461. A pivot shaft 462, and a swing fulcrum provided on either the support shaft 462 or the inner wall of the hole 461, for example, an annular protrusion 463 provided on the inner wall of the hole as shown in FIG. , the bearing hole 4 is rotated by the swing fulcrum.
61, therefore, the support frame 42 is configured to be able to swing in the direction of the arrow with respect to the support shaft 462.

Therefore, in this embodiment, since the supporting frame 42 can accurately bring the thermal head 45 thereof into close contact with the platen roller 51, printing with uniform density can be performed accurately. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the bottom frame 50 is provided with a platen roller 51 on the rotating end side that presses against the thermal head 45 via the label 81, and a transfer tape on the tip side of the platen roller 51. A peeling member, for example, a pin 52 with a small diameter, is provided to fold back the transfer tape 80, and an insertion space 501 for the transfer tape 80 is provided in front of the pin 52.
01 is provided with a protruding piece 53 for a label guide forming a bottom frame rotating end, and the rotating end having the protruding piece 53 is provided by pivoting the rear end side to the case 31 with a pivot 54. is rotated as shown by the chain line in FIG. 3 to open the bottom surface of the case 31, or returned to close the bottom surface of the case 31 as shown by the solid line.

The bottom frame 50 is configured to be locked and unlocked by the push button 32. For this purpose, the bottom frame 50 is provided with an engaging piece 502, which engages the push button 32. The piece 321 is designed to be engaged or detached by pressing a button.

In the embodiment, the locking piece 321 is fixed to the push button 32, and when the bottom frame 50 is closed, the locking piece 321 retreats along the slope of the engaging piece 502, and is moved back to the engaging piece 502 by a spring (not shown). The bottom frame 5 is made so that it is biased to the side and engaged, so by pressing the push button and sliding it in the direction that resists the spring.
It is designed to release 0.

The bottom frame 50 is further provided with sensor means for detecting the position of the label, such as a position sensor 55 using a photoelectric conversion element, which is supported by a support plate 551, and the position of the label 81 is determined by this sensor 55. The operation of the drive mechanism 70 is controlled so as to accurately contact the thermal head 45.

For this purpose, detection marks 82 are printed at regular intervals on the back side of the transfer tape 80 as shown in FIG. 8, and when the sensor 55 detects the marks 82, it sends a drive control signal to the electric circuit 14. It is designed like this.

After the pin 52 is folded back, the transfer tape 80 is caused to run along the outer surface of the bottom frame 50,
Next, it is fed into the frame through a cut window 503 formed in the bottom frame 50 and is intermittently transferred by the drive mechanism 70 .

Furthermore, the bottom frame 50 has an appropriate number of guide rollers 56 that can adjust the width of the guide surface according to the label width, a guide roller 561 provided near the cut window 503 of the bottom frame, and a guide roller 561 provided on the top side of the bottom frame. Guide means such as a tape presser 562 are provided, and a detection switch 57 for checking the closed state of the bottom frame 50 is provided on the case 31 side.

The detection switch 57 is connected, for example, in series with the microswitch 44, and is designed so that the electric circuit 14 does not operate when the bottom frame 50 is not completely closed.

4, 9 to 11 are shown on the bottom frame 50.
As shown in the figure, label tape guides 58 are provided, and as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the guides 58 are arranged inside both sides of the bottom frame 50 so as to face each other via the label tape transport path. , each rotor 58
1,581' and each rotor 581,
851' has two stop pieces 582 extending in orthogonal directions,
583 are provided so that these stop pieces are positioned at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the rotor, and the outer stop pieces 582
When the 582 and 5 stand upright facing each other, the inner stoppers 583 lie down facing each other and the outer stoppers 582 and 5
The width W between 82′ is increased, and the inner stopper 58
When the stop pieces 583, 583' stand upright facing each other, the width W of the stop pieces 583, 583' becomes smaller, as shown in Fig. 11, and in order to secure the position of the stop pieces, the bottom Each frame rotor 581, 581' is attached to the outer stopper piece 582, 5.
82' when standing upright, and the inner retaining pieces 583, 58
A locking means is provided for locking at two points, 3' and 3' when standing upright.

In this embodiment, the engaging means includes engagement notches 58 at 90 degree intervals on the rotors 581, 581'.
1a, to which elastic locking pieces 581b and 581b' extending from the bottom frame 50 side are engaged, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the label tape guide 5 is used for two types of labels with different widths.
8 can be adjusted to fit.

Furthermore, the bottom frame 50 is provided with a label tape holder 60 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 12 to 15.
A transfer tape 80 to which labels 81 are successively attached is wound around the holder, and this transfer tape 80 passes through the label guide 58, is folded back by the pin 52, is stretched along the outer surface of the bottom frame 50, and is extended through the cut window 503.
It is sent into the case from

This label tape holder 60, like the label guide 58 described above, is designed so that the holder width can be changed to accommodate two types of labels having different widths. For this purpose, the label tape holder 60 is attached to the bottom frame 50.
a support frame 61 that is fixed to the support frame 61 and has a receiver 611 projecting in a direction transverse to the bottom frame 50; an outer sleeve 62 that is fitted on the outside of the receiver of the support frame 61; The receiving cylinder 611 has two locking holes 612 and 613 arranged in parallel in the axial direction thereof.

Further, the outer sleeve 62 has an outer tape presser 62.
1 is provided, and the above-mentioned locking hole 61 is provided on the inner surface.
2, 613, and a tape presser 631 is provided on the outside of the inner sleeve 63, and a tape retainer 631 is provided on the outer surface of the inner sleeve 63. A protrusion 632 is provided that engages with.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the protrusion 622 of the outer sleeve 62 is engaged with the outer locking hole 612, and the protrusion 622 of the inner sleeve 63 is engaged with the outer locking hole 612.
32 is locked in the inner locking hole 613, the width W between the pair of label press plates 621 and 631
14 and 15, the protrusion 622 of the outer sleeve 62 becomes wider than the inner locking hole 6.
13 and when the protrusion 632 of the inner sleeve 63 is engaged with the outer locking hole 612, the width W between the pair of label holders 621 and 631 becomes narrower.

Therefore, in this embodiment, both the inner and outer sleeves 6
2 and 63 move in the cross direction to the same size, the width W between the label pressers changes, so the position of the center line C of this width W remains unchanged, and therefore the printing center for the label 81 is always constant. There is an effect called.

Since the label tape holder 60 has a label transfer tape 80 wrapped around its outer sleeve 62, normally the label presser 631 of the inner sleeve 63 is rotated outward as shown by the chain line in FIG. The transfer tape 80 wound into a roll is fitted.

Inside the case 31 of the mechanism section 30, a motor 71 driven by the electric circuit 14 and a feed roll 72 rotated by the motor 71 are provided. A drive mechanism 70 is built in, which is composed of a roll 72 and a pressure roll 73 that is provided to be in pressure contact with each other.
The transfer tape 80 inserted from the transfer tape 80 is transferred.

In the embodiment, the feed roll 72 of this drive mechanism 70
A reduction gear 74 is provided between the motor 71 and the motor 71.
This gear 74 is arranged to be interposed between the gear 721 of the feed roll 72 and the drive gear 711 of the motor 71, and the support shaft 722 of the feed roll 72 is connected to an external attachment through a connecting hole formed in the case 31. It is made so that it can be connected.

Furthermore, the pressing roll 73 is applied with pressing force by a spring 75 provided on the bottom frame 50.
This spring 75 is also used to urge the bottom frame 50 in the opening direction, and is therefore used to push the bottom frame 50 into the button 3.
When released by the operation 2, the bottom frame 50 projects out of the case 31 by the springs 75.

Furthermore, a discharge guide 76 for the transfer tape 80 is provided inside the bottom frame case 31, and the transfer tape 80 is discharged to the outside from the discharge window 313 of the case 31 through the discharge guide 76 while being sent out by the feed roll 72 and the pressure roll 73. At the same time, it is cut at any time by a cutter 314 provided in the discharge window 313.

As described above, the transfer tape 80 has a detection mark 82 printed on its back surface, and a large number of labels 81 made of heat-sensitive paper, for example, are successively pasted on its front surface. By driving the motor 71 with a control signal, the thermal head 45 prints a bar code selected by, for example, the keyboard 11 while being sent to a predetermined length.

An example of an external attachment connected to the support shaft 722 of the feed roll 72 in the drive mechanism 70 is a printer attachment 90 as shown in FIGS. 16 to 20, for example.

This attachment 90 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in Figure 0, the feed roll 72 support shaft 722
A receiving shaft 91 coupled to the receiving shaft 91, a toothed pulley 92 coupled to this receiving shaft 91, a toothed belt 93 rotated by this pulley 92, and a toothed pulley 94 on the receiving side rotated by this belt 93. and a feed roll 95 rotated by the rotation of the pulley 94.
In addition to incorporating each of the above parts, a feed roll 95 is also provided.
The mounting case 96 includes a support piece 97 that is inserted into the case 31 of the mechanism section 30 and is locked by the bottom frame 50, for example. , and is configured to be fixed to the case 31.

Therefore, when attaching the attachment 90, it is sufficient to rotate the bottom frame 50 to receive the support piece 97 of the mounting case 96 into the case 31, as shown by the chain line in FIG.

This attachment 90 is the feed roll 9
5 is in pressure contact with the pressing roll 34, and the label 81 can be sent out together with the transfer tape 80 as shown in FIG. When inserted between the pressing rolls 34, a printed label having the transfer tape 80 as a mount can be obtained.In other words, by using this attachment 90, the labeler of the present invention can be advantageously used as a printer.

It is preferable that the cover 96 of the attachment 90 is provided with a locking portion 961, which is configured to lock into the connecting hole 315 of the case 31, as shown in FIG.

<Effects of the Invention> The device of the present invention has the outer retaining pieces 582, 58 as described above.
2' and the inner retaining pieces 583, 583' can be used alternately to change the width W of the transfer path between wide and narrow, thereby making it possible to use two types of label tapes with different label widths. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a labeler using the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same, Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing the main parts of the labeler, and Fig. 4 shows parts of the labeler of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view showing the printing section of the labeler, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the support frame of the printing section, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the support mechanism of the printing section. , Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the back side of the transfer tape used in the labeler of the present invention, and Fig. 9 is a cutaway front view of the main part of the bottom frame used in the same labeler, showing the label tape guide provided in the bottom frame. , FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9, showing the essential parts of the upper bottom frame, FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a deformed state of the label tape guide shown in FIG. 9, and FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional plan view showing the label tape holder of the bottom frame labeler, FIG. 13 is a front view of the same, FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the state of the label tape holder when it is deformed, and FIG. 15 is a front view of the same. FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing another usage example of the above labeler, FIG. 17 is a side view of the labeler shown in FIG. 16, FIG. 18 is a longitudinal sectional view showing main parts of the labeler shown in FIG. 16, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view of an attachment used in the labeler of FIG. 16, and FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of the same attachment. In the figure, 50 is a bottom frame, 581 and 581' are rotors,
Reference numerals 582 and 582' indicate outer stop pieces, 583 and 583' inner stop pieces, 581a an engagement notch as a means for engagement, and 581b and 581b' elastic engagement pieces as means for engagement.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of rotors are provided inside both sides of the bottom frame so as to face each other via the transfer path of the transfer tape to which the labels are sequentially pasted, and each of the rotors has 2 rotors extending in the orthogonal direction.
The stop pieces of the pair of rotors are provided at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the rotor, and when the outer stop pieces face each other upright, the inner stop pieces The rotors are arranged so as to face each other sideways, and the rotor is provided with a locking means for locking the rotor at two points: when the outer stopper is upright and when the inner stopper is upright. A label tape guide device for hand labelers, etc., characterized by: