Printer core and printer

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of printers, and particularly discloses a printer core and a printer.The printer core comprises a rack, a printing head module, a cam, a first elastic part and a pushing mechanism, the printing head module is movably arranged on the rack, the cam is rotationally arranged on the rack, and the first elastic part is connected with the rack and the printing head module; the printing head module abuts against the outer edge face of the cam, the pushing mechanism is connected with the cam, and the pushing mechanism is configured to push the cam to rotate, so that a printing head in the printing head module is close to or away from the printing roller; according to the scheme, the cam is pushed to rotate through the pushing mechanism, the printing head can be made to be close to the printing roller, the pressure between the printing head and the printing roller is increased, the contact between the printing medium and the thermal transfer ribbon is more sufficient through the large pressure, and the surface of the printing medium can be more evenly covered with powdered ink; and the problem of blurred printing or infirm adhesion of powdered ink caused by insufficient pressure is avoided, so that the printing quality is ensured.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of printers, in particular to a printer core and a printer. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the field of thermal transfer printing technology, thermal transfer printers are widely used in logistics label printing, product identification printing, bill printing and many other scenarios due to their clear and durable printing advantages. The core principle of thermal transfer printing is to accurately transfer carbon powder on a carbon ribbon to a printing medium through a print head, thereby forming clear and durable text or images.

[0003] As the core component of a printing device, the print head is responsible for accurately transferring carbon powder to the printing medium. The print roller plays an important role in ensuring the stability of the printing process by cooperating with the print head. The pressure condition between the print head and the print roller is a key factor in determining the printing quality. When the pressure between the print head and the print roller is insufficient, the carbon ribbon and the printing medium do not fit tightly, and the carbon powder cannot be completely transferred, resulting in light and pale printing content, partial information loss, reduced printing integrity and readability, and serious impact on printing quality. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application discloses a printer core and a printer to solve or at least partially solve the above technical problems in the related art.

[0005] To solve the above problems, the present application adopts the following technical solutions: In a first aspect, the present application provides a printer core, which includes a frame, a print head module, a cam, a first elastic member and a push mechanism. Wherein: The print head module is arranged on the frame, the cam is rotatably arranged on the frame, and the first elastic member connects the frame and the print head module, so that the print head module abuts against the outer edge surface of the cam. The push mechanism is connected with the cam, and the push mechanism is configured to push the cam to rotate, so that the print head in the print head module moves closer to or further away from the print roller.

[0006] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a printer, which includes the aforementioned printer core.

[0007] The technical solutions adopted by the present application can achieve the following beneficial effects: The printer core and the printer of the present application can push the print head module to make the print head close to the print roller to increase the pressure between the print head and the print roller when the pushing mechanism pushes the cam to rotate, the larger pressure makes the contact between the print medium and the carbon ribbon more sufficient, the toner can be more evenly covered on the surface of the print medium, avoids the problems of printing blur or toner not firmly attached due to insufficient pressure, thereby ensuring the printing quality; At the same time, with the pivot of the rotating shaft of the cam as the fulcrum, the pushing force of the pushing mechanism as the power, the pressure between the print head and the print roller as the resistance, by reasonably designing the profile curve of the cam, for example, the distance from the rotating shaft of the cam to the outer edge surface is always less than the distance between the rotating shaft of the cam and the pushing direction, so that the power arm is always greater than the resistance arm, the pushing mechanism only needs to exert a relatively small force, and a larger force can be generated at the contact point between the print head and the print roller, the conversion and amplification process of the force utilizes the principle of lever, thereby achieving the purpose of saving labor, and significantly improving the pressure upper limit of the extrusion force that the cam can exert on the print head module. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or the prior art description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description only constitute some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative labor.

[0009] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the printer core of the present application; Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the printer core of the present application; Figure 3 is Figure 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram at A plane in Figure 4 is Figure 1 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram at B plane in Figure 5 is an exploded schematic diagram of the print head module and the cam of the present application; Figure 6 is an exploded schematic diagram of the cam and the pushing mechanism of the present application.

[0010] In the drawings: 100, Frame; 200, Printhead Module; 210, Support; 211, Shaft Hole; 212, Hanging Hole; 220, Substrate; 221, Substrate Shaft; 222, Hanging Ear; 230, Printhead; 240, Second Elastic Element; 300, Cam; 310, Cam Base; 320, Handle; 321, Opening Slot; 400, First Elastic Element; 500, Pushing Mechanism; 510, Drive Element; 520, Push Block; 521, Shaft; 522, Bushing; 530, Linear Movement Assembly; 531, Screw; 532, Nut; 533, Guide Rod; 600, Printing Roller; 710, First Detection Sensor; 720, Second Detection Sensor; 800, Reinforcing Shaft. Detailed Implementation

[0011] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the technical solutions of this invention will be described in detail below. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some embodiments of this invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this invention, all other implementation methods obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0012] This application provides a printer mechanism and a printer, which are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figures 1-6 The printer mechanism and printing provided in this application will be described in detail through specific embodiments and application scenarios.

[0013] Please see Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 This application discloses a printer mechanism. The disclosed printer mechanism is applied to a printer. Specifically, the disclosed printer mechanism includes a frame 100, a printhead module 200, a cam 300, a first elastic element 400, and a pushing mechanism 500. The frame 100 is the basic component of the printer mechanism, which can provide an installation base for the printhead module 200, the cam 300, the first elastic element 400, and the pushing mechanism 500, and can also provide an installation base for the printer's print roller 600.

[0014] Specifically, the printhead module 200 is movably mounted on the frame 100. For example, the printhead module 200 is rotatably mounted on the frame 100, and the cam 300 is rotatably mounted on the frame 100. The first elastic element 400 connects the frame 100 and the printhead module 200. For example, the first elastic element 400 can be a coil spring or a torsion spring. One end of the first elastic element 400 is connected to the frame 100, and the other end of the first elastic element 400 is connected to the printhead module 200. The first elastic element 400 is configured to apply an elastic force to the printhead module 200 so that the outer edge of the printhead module 200 and the cam 300 are always in abutting state.

[0015] The printhead module 200 has a printhead 230. When the cam 300 is driven to rotate, the contact point between the cam 300 and the printhead module 200 continuously changes, thereby pushing the printhead module 200 to oscillate around its axis. This oscillation allows the printhead 230 to move closer to or further away from the print roller 600. It is understood that when the printhead 230 approaches the print roller 600, the pressure between the printhead 230 and the print roller 600 increases; when the printhead 230 moves away from the print roller 600, the pressure between the printhead 230 and the print roller 600 decreases.

[0016] In this embodiment, the push mechanism 500 is connected to the cam 300. The push mechanism 500 is configured to push the cam 300 to rotate, so that the print head 230 in the print head module 200 moves closer to or further away from the print roller 600. When the print head 230 moves closer to the print roller 600, the pressure between the print head 230 and the print roller 600 is increased. The greater pressure makes the contact between the printing medium and the ribbon more sufficient, and the toner can cover the surface of the printing medium more evenly. This avoids problems such as blurry printing or poor toner adhesion due to insufficient pressure, thereby ensuring print quality.

[0017] The reason why this application adopts the form of pushing mechanism 500 to drive cam 300 to rotate is that, compared with the method of directly driving cam 300 to rotate by motor, the cam 300's rotation axis is used as the fulcrum, the pushing force of the pushing mechanism 500 is used as the power, and the pressure between print head 230 and print roller 600 is used as the resistance. By reasonably designing the profile curve of the cam, for example, the distance from the rotation axis of cam 300 to its outer edge is always less than the distance between the rotation axis of cam 300 and the direction of the pushing force, so that the power arm is always greater than the resistance arm, the pushing mechanism 500 only needs to apply a relatively small force to generate a large force at the contact point between print head 230 and print roller 600. This force conversion and amplification process utilizes the lever principle, thereby achieving the purpose of saving effort and significantly increasing the upper limit of the pressure that cam 300 can apply to print head module 200.

[0018] The push mechanism 500 only needs to apply a relatively small force. Through the contour design of the cam 300, a large force can be generated at the contact point between the print head 230 and the print roller 600. This force conversion and amplification process utilizes the lever principle. Specifically, the cam 300's rotation axis is used as the fulcrum, the push force of the push mechanism 500 is used as the power, and the pressure between the print head 230 and the print roller 600 is used as the resistance. By rationally designing the cam's contour curve, the power arm can be made greater than the resistance arm, thereby achieving the purpose of saving effort and significantly increasing the upper limit of the pressure that the cam 300 can apply to the print head module 200.

[0019] In the embodiments of this application, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 The printhead module 200 includes a support 210, a substrate 220, a printhead 230, and a second elastic member 240. The support 210 is the basic component of the printhead module 200, providing a mounting base for the substrate 220, printhead 230, and second elastic member 240. Specifically, the support 210 is disposed on the frame 100. For example, the support 210 can be fixedly disposed on the frame 100. The substrate 220 is rotatably connected to the support 210. For example, one end of the substrate 220 is provided with a substrate pivot 221, and the support 210 is provided with a shaft hole 211. The substrate pivot 221 cooperates with the shaft hole 211 to achieve a rotatable connection between the substrate 220 and the support 210. The printhead 230 is movably mounted on the support 210. For example, the printhead 230 is movably mounted on the support 210. The second elastic member 240 is disposed between the substrate 220 and the printhead 230, so that the printhead 230 floats relative to the substrate 220. For example, the second elastic member 240 can be a helical spring. Multiple helical springs are distributed between the substrate 220 and the printhead 230 along the axial direction of the substrate rotation axis 221. One end of the helical spring abuts against the substrate 220, and the other end of the helical spring abuts against the printhead 230. The first elastic member 400 connects the substrate 220 and the frame 100, so that the substrate 220 abuts against the outer edge surface of the cam 300.

[0020] It should be noted that the movable arrangement of the printhead module 200 relative to the frame 100 as referred to in this article means that the main functional components of the printhead module 200, such as the substrate 220 and the printhead 230, are movably arranged relative to the frame 100, and does not necessarily include the support 210. Since the printhead 230 is floating relative to the substrate 220 via the second elastic member 240, the aforementioned rotatable arrangement of the printhead module 200 on the frame 100 means that the substrate 220 can rotate with the frame 100 via the substrate pivot 221. Of course, when the printhead 230 is fixedly mounted on the support 210, the support 210 can also be rotatably arranged relative to the frame 100. In this case, the two ends of the second elastic member 240 abut against the support 210 and the substrate 220 respectively. In this situation, the pivot of the support 210 is parallel to or coincides with the pivot of the substrate 221.

[0021] In this configuration, when the cam 300 is pushed to rotate, the substrate 220 and the print head 230 do not directly and rigidly contact each other. Instead, the pressure is transmitted through the second elastic element 240. The elastic properties of the second elastic element 240 allow it to deform elastically when the pressure is too high, thus buffering the pressure and preventing the print head 230 from directly bearing excessive pressure, effectively protecting the print head 230. Simultaneously, different printing media (such as paper, film, and fabric) have different thicknesses, hardness, and surface characteristics. When the push mechanism 500 pushes the cam 300 to rotate, increasing the pressure between the print head 230 and the printing roller 600, the elasticity of the second elastic element 240 can automatically adjust the contact pressure between the print head 230 and the printing media according to the characteristics of the printing media. This ensures good printing quality on different printing media and improves the adaptability of the equipment.

[0022] For some embodiments of this application, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 One end of the substrate 220 is rotatably connected to the support 210, and the other end of the substrate 220 is hooked and engaged with the corresponding end of the support 210. For example, the other end of the substrate 220 is bent to form a hook 222, and the corresponding end of the support 210 is provided with a hook hole 212. The substrate 220 is hooked in the hook hole 212 through the hook 222. It is understood that a certain amount of movement gap is reserved between the hook 222 and the hook hole 212. When the cam 300 pushes the substrate 220 to rotate relative to the frame 100, it can ensure the smoothness of the substrate 220 rotating and lifting, thereby applying pressure to the print head 230.

[0023] In other words, the form in which one end of the substrate 220 is rotatably engaged with the bracket 210 and the other end is hooked to the bracket 210 allows the printhead module 200 to be a relatively independent integral structure, thereby improving the ease of assembly of the printhead module 200 itself and the ease of assembly with the frame 100. When assembling this integral structure with the frame 100, the bracket 210 is connected and fixed to the frame 100, and the substrate 220 is rotatably engaged with the frame 100 through the substrate pivot 221. At the same time, the substrate 220 in the printhead module 200 has a certain margin of movement relative to the bracket 210. Through the intervention of the second elastic element 240, the rigid pushing force applied to the substrate 220 by the cam 300 is converted into the elastic force applied to the printhead 230 by the second elastic element 240 to avoid the printhead 230 directly bearing excessive pressure.

[0024] Please see Figure 3 and Figure 4 A receiving space is formed between the support 210 and the substrate 220. The second elastic member 240 is housed within this receiving space, and its two ends abut against the support 210 and the substrate 220, respectively. It should be noted that, to improve the assembly stability of the second elastic member 240, in some optional embodiments, at least one of the support 210 and the substrate 220 may be provided with a positioning part. The second elastic member 240 can be positioned and engaged with this positioning part, thereby preventing the second elastic member 240 from shifting within the receiving space. For example, the positioning part may be a positioning post or a positioning recess.

[0025] For some embodiments of this application, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 The pushing mechanism 500 includes a drive member 510 and a push block 520 connected to the drive member 510. The cam 300 is connected to the push block 520. The drive member 510 is configured to drive the push block 520 to move linearly, thereby causing the cam 300 to rotate relative to the frame 100. For example, the drive member 510 can be a motor, a linear motor or an electric push rod.

[0026] Please continue reading Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 In some embodiments of this application, the pushing mechanism 500 may further include a linear movement component 530, through which the driving component 510 is connected to the push block 520, thereby ensuring the smoothness and accuracy of the movement of the push block 520.

[0027] Specifically, the linear movement component 530 may include a screw 531, a nut 532, and a guide rod 533. The screw 531 is connected to the drive component 510, the nut 532 is sleeved on the screw 531 and fixedly connected to the push block 520, and the guide rod 533 is fixedly mounted on the frame 100 and extends along the moving direction of the push block 520. For example, there may be two parallel guide rods, and the push block 520 slides with the guide rod 533. With this configuration, the cooperation of the screw 531 and the nut 532 can convert rotational motion into precise linear motion. The guide rod 533 guides and supports the push block 520, effectively reducing the shaking and deviation during the movement of the push block 520, and ensuring the smoothness and accuracy of the push block 520's movement.

[0028] In the embodiments of this application, please continue to refer to Figure 6 The printer mechanism may also include a first detection sensor 710 and a second detection sensor 720, which can be simultaneously mounted on the frame 100. When the first detection sensor 710 detects that the pusher 520 has moved to the first position, the printer's control module receives the detection signal and controls the drive unit 510 to stop driving. At this time, the base plate 220 is lifted to the upper limit position by the cam 300, at which point the distance between the print head 230 and the print roller 600 is the smallest and the pressure is the largest. When the second detection sensor 720 detects that the pusher 520 has moved to the second position, the printer's control module receives the detection signal and controls the drive unit 510 to stop driving. At this time, the base plate 220 is lifted to the upper limit position by the cam 300, at which point the distance between the print head 230 and the print roller 600 is the smallest and the pressure is the largest. When the print head 230 swings down to its lower limit position (while still in contact with the outer edge of the cam 300), the distance and pressure between the print head 230 and the print roller 600 are at their minimum. By setting the first detection sensor 710 and the second detection sensor 720, the movement stroke and range of the push block 520 can be strictly limited, thereby avoiding excessive movement of the push block 520 that could cause a large rigid collision between the print head 230 and the print roller 600, damaging key components such as the print head 230 and the print roller 600. This provides a reliable safety guarantee for the normal operation of the printer.

[0029] In the embodiments of this application, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 6 The cam 300 includes a cam base 310 and a shank 320 connected to the cam base 310. The outer edge surface of the cam base 310 is an arc-shaped surface and is used to abut against the substrate 220. The shank 320 has an opening groove 321, and the push block 520 has a shaft 521, which is fitted into the opening groove 321.

[0030] When the push block 520 is driven to move, the shaft 521 slides in the opening slot 321, directly and accurately transmitting the thrust to the handle 320, causing the handle 320 to swing around the axis of the cam 300, which in turn causes the cam base 310 to swing and push the base plate 220. The open design of the opening slot 321 of the handle 320 allows the shaft 521 to be easily placed in it without complicated positioning and fixing operations. During the assembly of the printer mechanism, the operator can quickly put the shaft 521 of the push block 520 into the opening slot 321 of the handle 320, which greatly shortens the assembly time and improves production efficiency.

[0031] In a further technical solution, the minimum distance between the rotating shaft of cam 300 and the shaft portion 521 is greater than the maximum distance from the rotating shaft of cam 300 to its outer edge surface. With this setting, during the movement of push block 520, although the distance between the shaft portion 521 and the rotating shaft of cam 300 and the contact point between substrate 220 and the outer edge surface of cam 300 are constantly changing, in the lever structure formed by push block 520, cam 300 and substrate 220, the power arm is always greater than the resistance arm. Push block 520 only needs to apply a relatively small force, which can be amplified into a larger pressure by the lever effect of cam 300 and applied to printhead module 200. This significantly increases the upper limit of the squeezing force that cam 300 can apply to printhead module 200. After increasing the upper limit of the squeezing force, the printer mechanism can adapt to different types of printing media without frequently adjusting equipment parameters or replacing the printhead due to changes in printing media, thus improving the printer's versatility and adaptability.

[0032] For further technical solutions, please refer to Figure 6 A bushing 522 is also fitted on the shaft portion 521. The shaft portion 521 makes frictional contact with the groove wall of the opening groove 321 through the bushing 522. The bushing 522 acts as an intermediate medium and bears most of the frictional force, so that the shaft portion 521 does not directly contact the opening groove 321, thereby protecting the shaft portion 521 and the opening groove 321 and reducing their wear.

[0033] For further technical solutions, please refer to Figure 6 The printer mechanism may also include a reinforcing shaft 800. The reinforcing shaft 800 is connected to the frame 100 to improve the stability of the entire frame 100. Furthermore, the aforementioned first elastic element 400 may be a torsion spring. The torsion spring may be sleeved on the reinforcing shaft 800, with one end connected to the base plate 220 and the other end connected to the frame 100, thus avoiding problems such as twisting and displacement that may occur when the torsion spring is without a fixed shaft.

[0034] This application also discloses a printer, which includes the aforementioned printer mechanism.

[0035] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0036] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A printer mechanism, characterized in that, It includes a frame (100), a printhead module (200), a cam (300), a first elastic element (400), and a pushing mechanism (500); wherein: The printhead module (200) is movably mounted on the frame (100), the cam (300) is rotatably mounted on the frame (100), and the first elastic element (400) connects the frame (100) and the printhead module (200) so that the printhead module (200) abuts against the outer edge of the cam (300); The push mechanism (500) is connected to the cam (300) and is configured to push the cam (300) to rotate, so that the print head (230) in the print head module (200) moves closer to or further away from the print roller (600).

2. The printer mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The printhead module (200) includes a support (210), a substrate (220), a printhead (230), and a second elastic member (240); wherein: The bracket (210) is disposed on the frame (100), the substrate (220) is rotatably connected to the bracket (210), the print head (230) is movably disposed on the bracket (210), the second elastic member (240) is disposed between the substrate (220) and the print head (230), so that the print head (230) is floating relative to the substrate (220), and the first elastic member (400) connects the substrate (220) and the frame (100), so that the substrate (220) abuts against the outer edge of the cam (300).

3. The printer mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that, One end of the substrate (220) is rotatably connected to the bracket (210), and the other end of the substrate (220) is engaged with the corresponding end of the bracket (210). The substrate (220) and the bracket (210) define the accommodating space of the second elastic member (240).

4. The printer mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The push mechanism (500) includes a drive member (510) and a push block (520) connected to the drive member (510). The cam (300) is connected to the push block (520). The drive member (510) is configured to drive the push block (520) to move linearly, thereby causing the cam (300) to rotate relative to the frame (100).

5. The printer mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, The cam (300) includes a cam base (310) and a shank (320) connected to the cam base (310). The shank (320) has an opening groove (321). The push block (520) has a shaft (521) that fits into the opening groove (321).

6. The printer mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that, The minimum distance between the pivot of the cam (300) and the shaft (521) is greater than the maximum distance from the pivot of the cam (300) to its outer edge.

7. The printer mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, It also includes a first detection sensor (710) and a second detection sensor (720), which are disposed on the frame (100). The first detection sensor (710) is used to detect a first position of the push block (520). At the first position, the distance between the print head (230) and the print roller (600) is the smallest. The second detection sensor (720) is used to detect a second position of the push block (520). At the second position, the distance between the print head (230) and the print roller (600) is the largest.

8. The printer mechanism according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that, The pushing mechanism (500) further includes a linear moving component (530), which includes a screw (531), a nut (532), and a guide rod (533); wherein: The screw (531) is connected to the drive (510), the nut (532) is sleeved on the screw (531), and the nut (532) is connected and fixed to the push block (520). The guide rod (533) is fixedly mounted on the frame (100), and the push block (520) and the guide rod (533) are in sliding cooperation.

9. The printer mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a reinforcing shaft (800) connected to the frame (100), and the first elastic element (400) is sleeved on the reinforcing shaft (800).

10. A printer, characterized in that, Includes the printer mechanism described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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