A label cassette and a label printer without wasting the first label

Abstract

The present invention discloses a label cassette with no waste of the first label and a label printer containing the same. The sticker in the label cassette includes a base paper and a plurality of die-cut labels pasted on the base paper, and the spacing between adjacent die-cut labels is the same; the sticker at the outlet of the label cassette is positioned by a sticker positioning mechanism; after the label cassette is loaded into the printer, the printing initial position of the first label corresponds to the position of the heating wire of the print head on the printer. The present invention also provides a label cassette that uses a pressing spring arm for pressing and positioning. The present invention makes the printing initial position of the first label correspond to the position of the heating wire of the print head on the printer, so that it is not necessary to perform intelligent identification and detection on the printing reference before the first printing, realizing no waste of the first label, improving the utilization rate of the sticker, reducing resource waste, and having simple operation and low cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of label printers and their consumables, and particularly to a label cassette and a label printer that do not waste the first label. Background Art

[0002] At present, the label cassettes used in the field of label printers at home and abroad, whether it is a single paper roll cassette with only stickers or a label cassette integrating a ribbon and a paper roll. The stickers are wound into a roll and placed in the label cassette or the housing. One of them is a separately die-cut label paper - die-cut label paper, which is regularly arranged and pasted on the backing paper. Since the stickers are in a free state at the outlet of the label cassette or the housing, during transportation, after printing, or when pulling the stickers outwards, the printing position of the stickers in the label cassette corresponding to the print head cannot be guaranteed to be accurate, affecting the printing accuracy. Therefore, each time printing is required, the label printer needs to perform an intelligent recognition and detection of the printing reference for the stickers, and then each label can be accurately printed. The operation is cumbersome and the cost is high. At the same time, through the recognition and detection, it is inevitable to cause waste of labels before each printing.

[0003] It can be seen that the above-mentioned existing label cassettes and label printers obviously still have inconveniences and defects in terms of structure, method and use, and urgently need to be further improved. How to create a new label cassette and label printer that do not require intelligent recognition and detection of the printer before the first printing and do not waste the first label has become an extremely urgent improvement goal in the current industry. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a label cassette and a label printer that do not require intelligent recognition and detection of the printer before the first printing, do not waste the first label, and have simple operation and low cost.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A label cassette that does not waste the first label, wherein the stickers in the label cassette include a backing paper and a plurality of die-cut labels pasted on the backing paper, and the spacing between adjacent die-cut labels is the same; the stickers at the outlet of the label cassette are positioned by a sticker positioning mechanism; after the label cassette is installed in the printer, the printing initial position of the first label corresponds to the position of the printing hot wire on the printer.

[0007] As a further improvement of the present invention, the distance from the printing initial position of the first label to the outer wall of the label cassette is a mm, the printing margin of the die-cut label is b mm, and the distance from the starting position of the first label to the outer wall of the label cassette is c = a - b.

[0008] Further, a is 7 mm, b is 2 mm, and c is 5 mm.

[0009] Further, the front end of the backing paper at the outlet of the label cassette is flush with the outer wall of the label cassette.

[0010] Further, a sticker channel is provided near one side in the shell of the label cassette, and the sticker positioning mechanism is installed at the shell outside the sticker channel. The sticker positioning mechanism adopts the form of a paper pressing elastic arm; the paper pressing elastic arm includes a paper pressing arm and a driving elastic arm, and the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm are connected so that the paper pressing elastic arm can rotate around the connection center of the two. The paper pressing elastic arm is rotatably connected to the shell through the connection center; at the shell outside the sticker channel, at the position corresponding to the end of the driving elastic arm, a driving elastic arm end positioning part is provided; at the shell inside the sticker channel, at the position corresponding to the end of the paper pressing arm, a rib or a vertical wall is provided; when the driving elastic arm is installed at the driving elastic arm end positioning part, under the action of the driving elastic arm, the end of the paper pressing arm can press the sticker tightly on the rib or the vertical wall; when the driving elastic arm is subjected to the pressure towards the inside of the shell, driven by the driving elastic arm, the paper pressing arm can rotate around the connection center, so that the end of the paper pressing arm is separated from the rib or the vertical wall.

[0011] Further, the driving elastic arm end positioning part is a protruding post on the shell, and after the driving elastic arm is toggled to generate elastic force, it is caught on the protruding post of the shell.

[0012] Further, protruding positioning posts are provided at both the upper and lower ends of the connection center of the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm. The paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm can rotate around the upper and lower two positioning posts as the centers, and the corresponding positions on the shell are provided with positioning holes corresponding to the upper and lower two positioning posts; or, a positioning through hole is provided at the connection center of the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm, and a positioning shaft is provided at the position on the shell corresponding to the positioning through hole; the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm can rotate around the positioning shaft as the center.

[0013] Further, the end of the paper pressing arm and the rib or the vertical wall adopt a concave-convex matching structure; the end of the driving elastic arm is in a hook shape, the hook faces the inside of the shell, and the hook is caught on the protruding post of the shell; the paper pressing arm is in a plate-like structure, the end of the plate-like structure is bent towards the inside of the shell, and the bent end is the pressing end; the plate-like structure is an intermediate open plate or a non-open plate; the width of the paper pressing arm is smaller than the width of the sticker in the shell and larger than the width of the driving elastic arm.

[0014] Further, the driving elastic arm of the paper pressing elastic arm adopts a metal elastic sheet, the paper pressing arm adopts a plastic material, and the paper pressing elastic arm is an integrally formed structure.

[0015] The present invention also provides a label printer, which is internally provided with the above-mentioned label cassette that does not waste the first label. When the label cassette is loaded into the printer, the printing initial position of the first label corresponds to the position of the printing head heating wire on the printer.

[0016] By adopting the above technical solution, the present invention has at least the following advantages:

[0017] 1. In the present invention, the position of the first label in the label cassette is fixed, and the initial printing position of the first label corresponds to the position of the heating wire of the print head on the printer, so that it is not necessary to perform intelligent identification and detection on the printer before the first printing, realizing that the first label is not wasted, improving the sticker utilization rate, reducing resource waste, and having simple operation and low cost.

[0018] 2. The present invention adopts a paper pressing spring arm with a paper pressing arm and a driving spring arm. When the driving spring arm is installed at the end positioning part of the driving spring arm, under the action of the driving spring arm, the end of the paper pressing arm can press and position the sticker at the designated position in the label cassette. At this time, it has a two-way function of preventing the sticker from retracting and preventing the sticker from being pulled outwards, ensuring the accurate and stable position of the sticker, avoiding unnecessary sticker waste, and improving the sticker utilization rate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The above is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to be able to more clearly understand the technical means of the present invention, the following further detailed description of the present invention will be given in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the sticker structure;

[0021] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the label printer loaded with the label cassette;

[0022] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the label cassette with a sticker positioning function.

[0023] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the split structure of the label cassette with a sticker positioning function;

[0024] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the paper pressing spring arm. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0025] The exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the present invention can be more thoroughly understood and the scope of the present invention can be completely conveyed to those skilled in the art.

[0026] This embodiment provides a label cassette in which the first label is not wasted. In such a label cassette, the initial printing position of the first label at the label cassette outlet has been restricted and fixed, as Figure 1As shown, the sticker 11 in the label box includes a backing paper 111 and a plurality of die-cut labels 112 pasted on the backing paper 111. According to the sizes of different specifications of the die-cut labels 112, a sticker 11 contains dozens to hundreds of die-cut labels 112 with different quantities, and the spacing between adjacent die-cut labels 112 is the same; as Figure 2 As shown, the sticker 11 at the label box outlet is positioned by a sticker positioning mechanism; after the label box is loaded into the printer 5, the printing initial position A of the first label corresponds to the position B of the printing hot wire of the print head on the printer 5. When the machine starts printing, the printing start position is the initial position where the first label needs to be printed.

[0027] Generally, after the die-cut labels 112 are installed in the label box, they are cut. At this time, it is necessary to determine the distance c from the starting position of the first label to the outer wall of the label box. The present invention adopts the following method. First, determine that the distance from the printing initial position of the first label to the outer wall of the label box is amm, and a is equivalent to the distance between the position B of the printing hot wire of the print head on the printer 5 and the outer wall of the label box. In this embodiment, it is 7mm. When printing, the printing margin (reserved margin) of the die-cut label is bmm, and in this embodiment, it is 2mm. At this time, the distance from the starting position of the first label to the outer wall of the label box can be calculated as c = a - b = 7 - 2 = 5mm. For example, after the die-cut labels 112 are installed in the label box, the paper outlet is cut. The cutting position method is to pull out 4mm of the 9mm label spacing from the outer wall of the label box and cut it off, so that the front end of the backing paper 111 at the label box outlet is flush with the outer wall of the label box. Leaving 5mm plus 2mm of the margin equals 7mm, and the distance from the printing hot wire of the print head in the printer to the outer wall of the label box is also designed to be 7mm. Therefore, after the label box is first placed in the machine, the printing initial position A of the first label is the position where the machine starts printing, realizing no waste of the first label.

[0028] Those skilled in the art know that in order to achieve no waste of the first label, any label box with a sticker positioning function can be adopted, such as the existing anti-retraction sticker positioning mechanism on the market, etc. The present invention provides a preferred label box with a simple structure, accurate positioning and an unlockable feature.

[0029] Reference Figures 3-4As shown, a label box with a sticker positioning function includes a housing 2, and a sticker roll 1 is placed inside the housing 2. In this embodiment, the housing is in the form of an upper and lower housing snapped together, where the housing 2 is the lower housing in this embodiment. Of course, this method is for convenient assembly. In fact, it is not limited to the above-mentioned form of the upper and lower housing snapped together. Those skilled in the art can choose the form of the housing according to actual needs. A fixed sticker channel is provided near one side inside the housing 2, and the sticker 11 extends through this sticker channel to the paper outlet of the label box. The upper housing 4 and the housing 2 (lower housing) need to protect a certain width of the upper and lower edges of the sticker 11 inside the sticker channel to prevent the sticker 11 from slipping out of the sticker channel.

[0030] A paper pressing spring arm 3 is installed at the housing 2 outside the sticker channel; at the same time, it is coordinated with Figure 5 As shown, the paper pressing spring arm 3 includes a paper pressing arm 31 and a driving spring arm 32, and the paper pressing arm 31 and the driving spring arm 32 are connected so that the paper pressing spring arm 3 can rotate around the connection center of the two. The paper pressing spring arm 3 is rotatably connected to the housing at the connection center; at the position corresponding to the end of the driving spring arm 32 outside the sticker channel on the housing, a driving spring arm end positioning part 21 is provided; at the position corresponding to the end of the paper pressing arm 31 inside the sticker channel on the housing, a rib or a vertical wall 22 is provided; when the label box is in a normal state, the driving spring arm 32 is toggled a certain stroke, and after generating a certain elastic force, it is caught on the driving spring arm end positioning part 21. Under the action of the driving spring arm 32, the end of the paper pressing arm 31 can press the sticker 11 tightly against the rib or the vertical wall 22; at this time, due to the action of the pressing binding force, the label box has a two-way function of preventing the sticker from retracting and preventing the sticker from being pulled outwards, ensuring the accurate and stable position of the sticker, avoiding unnecessary sticker waste caused by the sticker being pulled out, and improving the sticker utilization rate. For the above-mentioned label box, when in use for printing, since the driving spring arm 32 has a certain elastic force, it can drive the paper pressing arm 31 to rotate around the connection center when receiving a pressure towards the inside of the housing, so that the end of the paper pressing arm 31 is separated from the rib or the vertical wall 22, releasing the binding force for pressing the sticker, and having the characteristic of being unlockable. Therefore, it does not prevent normal printing from proceeding.

[0031] The above-mentioned driving spring arm end positioning part 21 is preferably a protruding structure on the housing, such as but not limited to a protruding column. The driving spring arm 32 is toggled outwards a certain stroke, and after generating a certain elastic force, it is caught on the protruding column of the housing (it should be noted here that Figure 3 、 4 The driving spring arms 32 in are in an uncaught state). By this method, it can be ensured that the end of the paper pressing arm 31 can generate sufficient pressing binding force.

[0032] The paper pressing spring arm 3 is rotatably connected to the housing at the connection center, preferably but not limited to the following two methods. One method is as shown in Figures 3-5As shown in the figure, protruding positioning posts 33 are provided at both the upper and lower ends of the connection center of the paper pressing arm 31 and the driving elastic arm 32. The paper pressing arm 31 and the driving elastic arm 32 can rotate around the upper and lower two positioning posts 33 as the center of the circle. Corresponding positioning holes are provided at the corresponding positions of the housing. When the housing is assembled by upper and lower housings, corresponding positioning round holes are provided at the corresponding positions of the upper and lower housings. Alternatively, in the second method, a positioning through hole is provided at the connection center of the paper pressing arm 31 and the driving elastic arm 32, and a positioning shaft is provided at the corresponding position on the housing; the paper pressing arm 31 and the driving elastic arm 32 can rotate around the positioning shaft as the center of the circle. Through the above structure, the paper pressing elastic arm 3 can rotate around the connection center. The above paper pressing elastic arm 3 is buckled between the upper housing 4 and the lower housing, and openings are provided at the corresponding positions of the housing corresponding to the middle section of the driving elastic arm 32 of the paper pressing elastic arm 3 and the paper pressing arm 31. Through the above openings, it is convenient to apply pressure to the driving elastic arm from the outside to the inside of the housing, thereby driving the rotation of the paper pressing arm 31.

[0033] The end of the paper pressing arm 31 and the vertical rib or vertical wall 22 adopt a concave-convex matching structure. For example, the end of the paper pressing arm 31 adopts a groove structure (as Figure 5 shown), and the vertical rib or vertical wall 22 adopts a convex structure matching the groove structure; or, the end of the paper pressing arm 31 adopts a convex structure, and the vertical rib or vertical wall 22 adopts a groove structure matching the convex structure. The groove and the convex cooperate with each other to press the sticker more reliably and stably, so as to realize the accurate and stable positioning of the sticker position.

[0034] cooperate Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the end of the driving elastic arm 32 is in a hook shape, the hook 321 faces the inside of the housing, the hook 321 is caught on the protruding column of the housing, and there is an activity space between the hook 321 and the sticker in the sticker channel; the activity space between the two can make the driving elastic arm 32 move relatively with the protruding column when receiving an inward pressure, so that the middle section of the driving elastic arm 32 is slightly bent towards the inside of the housing, and then drives the end of the paper pressing arm 31 to disengage from the vertical rib or vertical wall 22.

[0035] cooperate Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the paper pressing arm 31 is preferably but not limited to a plate-like structure. The end of the plate-like structure is bent towards the inside of the housing, and the bent end is the pressing end, and the above-mentioned concave-convex structure is arranged at the pressing end; the above-mentioned plate-like structure can be a middle-opening plate or a non-opening plate.

[0036] The width of the paper pressing arm 31 is smaller than the width of the sticker 11 in the housing and larger than the width of the driving elastic arm 32, so that the paper pressing arm 31 can perform effective pressing restraint.

[0037] In the above embodiment, the driving spring arm 32 of the paper pressing spring arm 3 is preferably made of a metal spring sheet, which can generate a certain elastic deformation under the action of an external force, while the paper pressing arm 31 is preferably made of a plastic material, and the paper pressing spring arm 3 is preferably but not limited to an integrally formed structure.

[0038] Of course, the above-mentioned label box with a positioning function can be a paper roll box with only a sticker paper roll or a label box integrating a ribbon and a sticker paper roll.

[0039] In summary, in the present invention, the position of the first label in the label box is fixed, and the initial printing position of the first label corresponds to the position of the heating wire of the print head on the printer, so that it is not necessary to perform intelligent identification and detection on the printer before the first printing, achieving no waste of the first label, improving the utilization rate of the sticker, reducing resource waste, and having simple operation and low cost. In addition, by adopting a paper pressing spring arm with a paper pressing arm and a driving spring arm, when the driving spring arm is installed at the end positioning part of the driving spring arm, under the action of the driving spring arm, the end of the paper pressing arm can press and position the sticker at the designated position of the label box. At this time, it has a two-way effect of preventing the sticker from retracting and preventing the sticker from being pulled outwards, ensuring the accurate and stable position of the sticker, avoiding unnecessary sticker waste, and improving the utilization rate of the sticker.

[0040] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not impose any form of limitation on the present invention. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes or decorations made by those skilled in the art using the disclosed technical content all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A label box that does not waste the first label, characterized in that, The sticker in the label box includes a base paper and a plurality of die-cut labels pasted on the base paper, and the spacing between adjacent die-cut labels is the same; The sticker at the outlet of the label box is positioned by a sticker positioning mechanism, so that after the label box is loaded into the printer, the initial printing position of the first label corresponds to the position of the heating line of the print head on the printer; a sticker channel is provided near one side edge in the shell of the label box, and the sticker positioning mechanism is installed on the shell outside the sticker channel, and the sticker positioning mechanism is in the form of a paper pressing spring arm; The distance from the initial printing position of the first label to the outer wall of the label box is a mm, the print margin of the die-cut label is b mm, and the distance from the starting position of the first label to the outer wall of the label box is c = ab; The distance between the heating line of the print head on the printer and the outer wall of the label box is also a mm; The front end of the bottom paper at the outlet of the label box is flush with the outer wall of the label box.

2. The label cassette without wasting the first label according to claim 1, characterized in that a is 7mm, b is 2mm, and c is 5mm.

3. The label cassette without wasting the first label according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that The paper pressing elastic arm comprises a paper pressing arm and a driving elastic arm, and the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm are connected so that the paper pressing elastic arm can rotate around the connection center between the two, and the paper pressing elastic arm can be rotatably connected to the housing through the connection center; A driving elastic arm end positioning portion is provided at a position of the housing outside the sticker channel corresponding to the end of the driving elastic arm; A vertical rib or vertical wall is provided at the housing inside the sticker passage, at a position corresponding to the end of the paper pressing arm; When the paper pressing spring arm is installed at the housing outside the sticker passage, the driving spring arm is caught on the positioning portion at the end of the driving spring arm. Under the action of the driving spring arm, the end of the paper pressing arm can press the sticker tightly against the vertical rib or vertical wall. When the driving elastic arm is subjected to pressure toward the inner side of the shell, the paper pressing arm can rotate around the connection center under the drive of the driving elastic arm, so that the end of the paper pressing arm is separated from the vertical rib or the vertical wall.

4. The label cassette without waste of the first label according to claim 3, characterized in that The positioning part at the end of the driving elastic arm is a protruding column on the shell, and the driving elastic arm is tripped on the protruding column of the shell after being moved to generate elastic force.

5. The label cassette without wasting the first label according to claim 3, characterized in that The connection center of the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm is provided with protruding positioning posts at the upper and lower ends, and the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm can rotate with the upper and lower positioning posts as the center of the circle, and the corresponding positions of the shell are provided with positioning holes corresponding to the upper and lower positioning posts; Alternatively, a positioning through hole is provided at the connection center of the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm, and a positioning shaft is provided at a position on the shell corresponding to the positioning through hole; the paper pressing arm and the driving elastic arm can rotate around the positioning shaft as the center of the circle.

6. The label cassette without waste of the first label according to claim 4, characterized in that, The end of the paper pressing arm and the vertical rib or wall adopt a concave-convex matching structure; The end of the driving elastic arm is hook-shaped, the end of the driving elastic arm with a hook shape faces the inner side of the shell, and the end of the driving elastic arm is caught on the protruding column of the shell; The paper pressing arm is a plate-like structure, and the end of the plate-like structure is The inner side of the shell is bent, and the bent end is a pressing end; the plate-like structure is a plate with a middle opening or a plate without an opening; The width of the paper pressing arm is smaller than the width of the sticker in the shell, and larger than the width of the driving elastic arm.

7. The label cassette without wasting the first label according to claim 3, characterized in that, The driving spring arm of the paper pressing spring arm is made of a metal spring sheet, the paper pressing arm is made of a plastic material, and the paper pressing spring arm is an integrally formed structure.

8. A label printer, characterized in that, The label cassette with no waste of the first label as described in any one of claims 1-7 is built-in. When the label cassette is loaded into the printer, the printing initial position of the first label corresponds to the position of the printing head heating wire on the printer.

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