printer

Abstract

To provide a printer that can be maintained at a low cost.SOLUTION: A printer 1 includes: a printer main body 2; a printing head 5 that performs printing on paper PA pulled out from roll paper RP; a movable blade unit 6 that is attached to the printer main body 2; and a paper sensor 9 that is mounted on the movable blade unit 6, and detects presence or absence of the paper PA passing through the printing head 5. The paper sensor 9 can be attached to and detached from the movable blade unit 6 in a mounted tate where the movable blade unit 6 is mounted on the printer main body 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printer that prints on paper. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a known printer that pulls out paper from a roll of long paper, prints on the paper, and ejects it. The paper pulled out from the roll is printed on by a print head, and is cut by a cutter near the paper ejection port. The printer is provided with a paper sensor that detects the presence or absence of paper that has passed the print head (see, for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). The printer in Patent Document 1 attempts to reduce the size of the printer by placing the paper sensor inside the housing of the cutter unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-116777 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the printer configuration described in Patent Document 1, if the paper sensor breaks down, the entire cutter unit must be replaced, resulting in high maintenance costs.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a printer with low maintenance costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The printer of the present invention which achieves the above object comprises: The printer body, A print head that prints on paper; a movable blade unit attached to the printer body; a paper sensor attached to the movable blade unit to detect the presence or absence of the paper that has passed the print head, The paper sensor is detachable from the movable blade unit when the movable blade unit is attached to the printer body.

[0007] According to this printer, maintenance work for the printer is easy, and in addition, if the paper sensor breaks down, only the paper sensor can be replaced, so that maintenance costs are low.

[0008] Here, the printer body may have a roll paper storage section for storing roll paper. The print head may print on paper pulled out from the roll paper. The paper sensor may have an attachment section that is attached to the movable blade unit, and the attachment section may be exposed in the attached state. The paper sensor may detect that the paper has been removed from the printer body. The paper sensor may be disposed downstream of the print head in the paper transport path. The printer body may include a cover that is attached so as to be freely opened and closed and covers the movable blade unit, and the attachment section of the paper sensor may be exposed when the cover is moved to an open position. The cover may be attached so as to be freely attached and detached to the printer body.

[0009] In this printer, The movable blade unit has a unit housing having an opening formed therein, the paper sensor has a detection element for detecting the paper, The detection element may be disposed within the unit housing through the opening.

[0010] According to this printer, since the detection element is disposed inside the unit housing, the printer can be made compact.

[0011] Here, the paper sensor may have a mounting portion that holds the detection element and is attached to the movable blade unit, and the mounting portion may be attached to the outside of the unit housing.

[0012] In addition, in this printer, a one-side guide that faces one side of the paper and guides the paper downstream of the print head in a paper transport path; an other-side guide that faces the other side of the paper and guides the paper downstream of the print head in the paper transport path; the one-side guide has an extending portion that extends downstream of the other-side guide in the paper transport path, The paper sensor may detect the paper when it is positioned facing the extension portion.

[0013] This allows the paper sensor to reliably detect the presence or absence of the paper.

[0014] Here, the extension portion may be a portion formed by the movable blade unit. Also, the extension portion may be a portion formed by the unit housing. The paper sensor may be a reflective sensor. Furthermore, the movable blade unit has a movable blade that can advance and retreat toward the paper transport path, and the extension portion may be a portion that is disposed downstream of the movable blade in the paper transport path. The one-side guide and the other-side guide may be disposed downstream of the movable blade in the paper transport path. Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, a printer with low maintenance costs can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above; [Diagram 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a side view showing a state in which the front cover is being removed from the printer shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the printer with the front cover removed. [Figure 6] 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a movable blade unit and a paper sensor included in the printer shown in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of this embodiment, a thermal printer is used as an example, which pulls out paper from a roll of paper formed by winding up long paper that changes color when heated, selectively heats the pulled-out paper to perform printing, and then ejects the printed paper.

[0018] Fig. 1 is a plan view of a printer 1 corresponding to one embodiment of the present invention, viewed from above. In the following description, the front side of the paper in Fig. 1 will be referred to as the upper side, the back side of the paper in Fig. 1 will be referred to as the lower side, the upper side in Fig. 1 will be referred to as the rear side, and the lower side in Fig. 1 will be referred to as the front side. In addition, the left-right direction in Fig. 1 will be referred to as the width direction.

[0019] The printer 1 comprises a printer body 2 (see FIG. 2), a front cover 3, and a rear cover 4. The front cover 3 can be removed from the printer body 2. FIG. 1 shows the front cover 3 attached. This front cover 3 corresponds to an example of a cover. How the front cover 3 is attached and removed will be described later.

[0020] The rear cover 4 is rotatable around its rear end portion as a rotation center, and is opened and closed by rotation. An open lever 41 is provided at the right end of the rear cover 4. By moving the open lever 41 rearward, the rear cover 4 is rotated and opened. When the rear cover 4 is closed, the rear cover 4 is locked by a lock mechanism (not shown) linked to the open lever 41, and the rear cover 4 is kept closed. FIG. 1 shows the printer 1 with the rear cover 4 closed. In FIG. 1, the top surface of the printer body 2 (see FIG. 2) is covered by the front cover 3 and the rear cover 4. A paper outlet 1a is formed between the front cover 3 and the rear cover 4 and in the center in the width direction, through which the paper PA pulled out from the roll paper is discharged. FIG. 1 also shows the leading end of the paper PA. The paper PA is, for example, linerless label paper.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

[0022] The printer body 2 is the main body of the printer 1. As shown in Figure 2, the printer body 2 has a roll paper storage section 21 and an electrical component storage section 22. In the printer body 2, the roll paper storage section 21 forms a roll paper storage space SP1 that stores roll paper RP. Figure 2 shows the roll paper RP stored in the roll paper storage space SP1. The electrical component storage section 22 also forms an electrical component storage space SP2 that stores electrical components such as a power supply unit and a board unit. The electrical components stored in this electrical component storage space SP2 are not shown.

[0023] A print head 5 and a movable blade unit 6 are attached to the printer body 2. A platen roller 7 and a fixed blade 8 are attached to the rear cover 4. The print head 5 and the platen roller 7 form a printing mechanism. The movable blade unit 6 and the fixed blade 8 form a cutting mechanism. The print head 5 and the platen roller 7 face each other and are pressed against each other when the rear cover 4 is closed as shown in FIG. 2. The movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8 of the movable blade unit 6 face each other across the paper transport path when the rear cover 4 is closed.

[0024] The rear cover 4 is opened by rotating it clockwise in Figure 2. When the rear cover 4 is opened, the platen roller 7 moves away from the print head 5 and the fixed blade 8 moves away from the movable blade 61. Opening the rear cover 4 exposes the roll paper storage space SP1. Roll paper RP is inserted into the roll paper storage space SP1 and a small amount of paper PA is pulled out from the roll paper RP. When the rear cover 4 is closed, the pulled-out portion of paper PA is sandwiched between the print head 5 and the platen roller 7.

[0025] The paper PA pulled out from the roll paper RP passes between the print head 5 and the platen roller 7 and is transported downstream in the transport direction. During this process, the print head 5 prints on the paper PA, which is then ejected upward from the paper ejection opening 1a. The path that connects the roll paper storage section 21 to the paper ejection opening 1a, passing between the print head 5 and the platen roller 7 and between the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8, forms the paper transport path. The direction from the roll paper storage section 21 toward the paper ejection opening 1a forms the paper transport direction. In Figure 2, the paper PA is shown by a dashed line after being pulled out of the roll paper storage section 21, with its leading edge slightly beyond the paper ejection opening 1a.

[0026] The print head 5 is a so-called thermal print head having multiple heating elements arranged in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2). These multiple heating elements are selectively turned on while the paper PA is transported, thereby printing is performed on the portion of the paper PA that passes between the print head 5 and the platen roller 7. The platen roller 7 is a roller that extends in the width direction facing the heating elements of the print head 5. This platen roller 7 is rotated by a transport motor (not shown), and as it rotates, it transports the paper PA sandwiched between it and the print head 5 in the transport direction.

[0027] The movable blade unit 6 has the movable blade 61, the cutting motor 62, the pressing mechanism 63, the unit base 64, and the unit cover 65. The movable blade 61 is attached to the unit base 64 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The movable blade 61 moves forward and backward in the front-rear direction by driving the cutting motor 62. Most of the lower sides of the movable blade 61, the cutting motor 62, and the pressing mechanism 63 are covered by the unit base 64, and most of the upper and side sides are covered by the unit cover 65. However, the movable blade 61 has an advancing end exposed from an advancing opening formed between the unit base 64 and the unit cover 65. The movable blade 61 is elastically pressed downward by the pressing mechanism 63.

[0028] The movable blade 61 advances rearward by driving the cutting motor 62 after the printed portion of the paper PA is transported downstream from between the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8. The movable blade 61 advances while climbing onto the upper surface of the fixed blade 8 against the pressure applied by the pressure contact mechanism 63. As a result, the paper PA is cut off at the cutting position, which is the contact position between the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8. The advancement operation of the movable blade 61 can be selected between a so-called full cut, which completely separates the printed portion of the paper PA from the unprinted portion, and a so-called partial cut, which cuts the paper PA while leaving an uncut portion between the printed portion and the unprinted portion. Immediately after completing the advancement operation, the movable blade 61 retreats forward and retreats to the original position spaced from the fixed blade 8 as shown in FIG. 2.

[0029] A paper sensor 9 is attached to the movable blade unit 6. The paper sensor 9 has a detection element 91 and an attachment portion 92. The detection element 91 is a reflective photointerrupter equipped with a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element. This detection element 91 is mainly for detecting whether or not the paper PA has been removed from the printer 1. The attachment portion 92 holds the detection element 91 and is for attaching the paper sensor 9 to the movable blade unit 6. The attachment portion 92 is formed by punching and bending a metal plate.

[0030] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 3, a sensor window 651 is formed in the rear wall of the unit cover 65, penetrating in the front-rear direction. The detection element 91 detects the presence or absence of the paper PA that has passed the print head 5 by irradiating the paper transport path with light from the light emitting element through the sensor window 651. The rear side surface of the unit cover 65 faces the printed surface of the paper PA on which printing has been performed, and functions as a printed surface side guide 65a that guides the printed surface between the cutting position by the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8 and the paper discharge outlet 1a (see FIG. 2). This printed surface corresponds to an example of one side of the paper PA, and the printed surface side guide 65a corresponds to an example of a one-side guide. The front end surface of the rear cover 4 faces the non-printed surface of the paper PA on which printing has been performed, and functions as a non-printed surface side guide 4a that guides the non-printed surface between the cutting position by the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 8 and the paper discharge outlet 1a (see FIG. 2). This non-printing surface corresponds to an example of the other surface of the paper PA, and the non-printing surface side guide 4a corresponds to an example of the other side guide.

[0032] The print surface side guide 65a extends downstream in the paper transport path beyond the downstream end of the non-print surface side guide 4a. Hereinafter, this extended portion is referred to as the extended portion 65a1. As shown by the two-dot chain arrow in FIG. 3, the detection element 91 detects whether or not the paper PA is present at a position facing the extended portion 65a1. In other words, the detection element 91 detects the presence or absence of the paper PA guided by the extended portion 65a1. The printed portion cut off by the advancing operation of the movable blade 61 may fall or sag backward. For this reason, if the detection position of the detection element 91 is too far away from the non-print surface side guide 4a downstream in the paper transport direction, there may be cases where the paper sensor 9 cannot detect the paper PA. As in this embodiment, the presence or absence of the paper PA at a position facing the extended portion 65a1 is detected by the detection element 91, so that the presence or absence of the paper PA can be reliably detected.

[0033] Next, the configuration of the paper sensor 9 and the procedure for attaching and detaching the paper sensor 9 to and from the movable blade unit 6 will be described.

[0034] Fig. 4 is a side view showing a state in which the front cover 3 is being removed from the printer 1 shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the printer 1 with the front cover 3 removed.

[0035] As shown by the white arrow in FIG. 4, the front cover 3 can be removed from the printer body 2 by sliding it forward relative to the printer body 2. However, the front cover 3 does not have to be completely removable from the printer body 2 as long as it can be moved from a covering position that covers the front upper surface of the printer body 2 to an open position where the covered portion is exposed. In other words, the front cover 3 may be freely opened and closed by moving it, not limited to being detached. In addition, the front cover 3 may be moved from the covering position to the open position by rotating it in the same way as the rear cover 4. The mounting portion 92 of the paper sensor 9 is exposed by removing the front cover 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the paper sensor 9 is attached to the unit cover 65 of the movable blade unit 6 by two sensor fixing screws MS1. These sensor fixing screws MS1 correspond to an example of a mounting member for the paper sensor 9. By removing the front cover 3 from the printer body 2, these two sensor fixing screws MS1 are also exposed. After removing the front cover 3, the two exposed sensor fixing screws MS1 can be removed with a screwdriver or the like to remove the paper sensor 9 from the movable blade unit 6 in the mounted state in which the movable blade unit 6 is attached to the printer body 2. Also, by reversing the procedure, the paper sensor 9 can be attached to the movable blade unit 6 in the mounted state described above. Note that by removing the front cover 3, the two unit fixing screws MS2 that fix the movable blade unit 6 to the printer body 2 are also exposed. The movable blade unit 6 can also be removed from the printer body 2 by removing these unit fixing screws MS2 with a screwdriver or the like.

[0036] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the movable blade unit 6 and the paper sensor 9 provided in the printer 1 shown in FIG.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 6, the housing of the movable blade unit 6 is composed of a unit base 64 and a unit cover 65. The unit base 64 and the unit cover 65 correspond to an example of a unit housing. The unit base 64 and the unit cover 65 are connected by two cover mounting screws MS3. The unit cover 65 can be removed from the unit base 64 by removing the cover mounting screws MS3 with a driver or the like. The upper surface of the unit cover 65 is formed with an opening 652 for passing the detection element 91 therethrough, two cylindrical protrusions 653 for positioning, and two screw holes 654.

[0038] The detection element 91 has a light emitting element and a light receiving element on the rear surface, and a claw 911 is formed on the front surface, which is the opposite surface. The mounting portion 92 has a bent portion bent 90 degrees from the base. The detection element 91 is attached to the mounting portion 92 by snap-fitting the claw 911 into a mounting hole 921 formed in the bent portion. The base of the mounting portion 92 is formed with a round hole 922 having approximately the same diameter as the protrusion 653 formed in the unit cover 65, and an elongated hole 923 having a short-side length approximately the same as the diameter of the protrusion 653 and a long-side length longer than the diameter of the protrusion 653. These round holes 922 and elongated holes 923 are configured to determine the mounting position and mounting angle of the paper sensor 9 with respect to the movable blade unit 6. The protrusion 653 is inserted into these round holes 922 and elongated holes 923, so that positioning is performed before the sensor fixing screw MS1 is tightened. The base of the mounting portion 92 is also formed with two holes 924 for passing the sensor fixing screws MS1 therethrough.

[0039] The paper sensor 9 assembled by attaching the detection element 91 to the mounting portion 92 is attached to the movable blade unit 6 in an assembled state. When attaching the paper sensor 9 to the movable blade unit 6, the detection element 91 is placed inside the housing of the movable blade unit 6 through the opening 652 on the top surface of the unit cover 65, and the two protrusions 653 are inserted into the round hole 922 and the long hole 923 of the mounting portion 92. Then, the sensor fixing screw MS1 is tightened to fix the paper sensor 9 to the movable blade unit 6, so that the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the detection element 91 face the sensor window 651. This makes it possible to detect whether or not a paper sheet PA (see FIG. 2) is present at a position facing the extension portion 65a1 (see FIG. 3) through the sensor window 651.

[0040] According to the printer 1 of this embodiment, the paper sensor 9 is configured to be detachable from the movable blade unit 6 while the movable blade unit 6 is attached to the printer body 2, so that only the paper sensor 9 can be replaced without replacing the entire movable blade unit 6. This eliminates the need to replace the movable blade unit 6 when the paper sensor 9 breaks down, making maintenance costs cheaper. In addition, the mounting portion 92 of the paper sensor 9 is exposed by removing the front cover 3, so maintenance work on the paper sensor 9 is easy and maintenance costs are cheaper. In addition, compared to when the detection element 91 is attached to the movable blade unit 6 protruding outside the movable blade unit 6 or when the detection element 91 is provided separately from the movable blade unit 6, the configuration of this embodiment has the detection element 91 disposed inside the housing of the movable blade unit 6, shortening the paper transport path and allowing the printer 1 to be made smaller.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, in the present embodiment, a thermal print head 5 is used, but a print head of another type, such as an impact dot type, may be used. Also, a platen of another shape, such as a plate-like shape, may be used instead of the platen roller 7. Furthermore, as the detection element 91, a transmissive photointerrupter may be used, or a contact switch or other device other than a photointerrupter may be used. Also, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which a roll paper RP made of linerless label paper wound in a roll is used, but a roll paper RP made of other types of paper PA, such as a label paper with a mount, wound in a roll may be used, or a long sheet of paper may be used, or fanfold paper or die-cut label paper may be used.

[0042] In addition, even if a constituent element is included only in the description of each of the modified examples described above, that constituent element may be applied to other modified examples. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1. Printer 2 Printer body 5 Print Head 6 Movable blade unit 9 Paper Sensor PA Paper

Claims

1. The printer body, A print head that prints on paper; a movable blade unit attached to the printer body; a paper sensor attached to the movable blade unit to detect the presence or absence of the paper that has passed the print head, The printer is characterized in that the paper sensor is detachable from the movable blade unit when the movable blade unit is attached to the printer body.

2. The movable blade unit has a unit housing having an opening formed therein, the paper sensor has a detection element for detecting the paper, 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the detection element is disposed in the unit housing through the opening.

3. a one-side guide that faces one side of the paper and guides the paper downstream of the print head in a paper transport path; an other-side guide that faces the other side of the paper and guides the paper downstream of the print head in the paper transport path; the one-side guide has an extending portion that extends downstream of the other-side guide in the paper transport path, 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the paper sensor detects the paper at a position facing the extension.

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