Ink Roller Cover Device for Portable Label Printer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional portable label printing applicators face issues with ink drying up due to quick-drying inks and ink not penetrating weatherproof papers, leading to illegible prints and staining, especially in outdoor use, and the ink roller surface collecting dirt and dust, causing carelessness in printing.
Innovation Solution
An ink roller cover device with a half-cut tubular casing that stores the ink roller in a closed space using a fixed and movable cover, preventing air exposure and incorporating side blades to form an enclosed space, which includes a biasing member to keep the ink roller closed during standby and open during operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If quick-drying ink is used for outdoor labels, then the ink dries quickly on weatherproof papers, but the ink roller dries up easily in stored or standby states
Solution Approach 1:
The ink roller is extracted from the exposed environment and placed inside a cover structure that separates it from air during standby states. The cover has an opening that allows the ink roller to be exposed only during actual printing operations, thus extracting the harmful air exposure factor during storage while maintaining ink availability during use.
Solution Approach 2:
A cover structure with flexible opening/closing capability is used to protect the ink roller. The cover can be opened when printing is needed and closed during standby, providing flexible protection against air exposure while maintaining accessibility for printing operations.
2Reliability
If penetration-drying type ink is used for indoor labels, then the ink infiltrates into paper materials and dries well, but the ink does not dry properly on weatherproof synthetic papers used for outdoor labels
Solution Approach 1:
The ink drying characteristic parameter is changed from penetration-drying type to quick-drying type to adapt to outdoor weatherproof papers. This parameter change allows the ink to dry quickly on non-porous synthetic materials, though it causes the ink roller to dry up faster during standby states.
3Ease of operation
If the ink roller is exposed to air during stored or standby state, then the ink roller is accessible for printing, but the ink roller surface collects dirt and dust causing staining
Solution Approach 1:
The ink roller is extracted from the contaminated air environment during standby states by placing it inside a cover. The cover structure separates the ink roller surface from dust and dirt in the air, preventing contamination while maintaining accessibility when the cover is opened for printing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover creates a protected environment around the ink roller during standby, effectively creating an inert atmosphere that prevents dirt and dust from settling on the ink roller surface. This protected environment is maintained until printing is needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An ink roller cover device of a portable type label printing applicator so that the ink does not dry-up easily in stored or standby state by closed storage of the ink roller. An ink roller is stored in a cover including a fixed cover part which can cover and store a part of a roller body in a standby state of the ink roller and a complementary movable cover part which covers and stores the other parts of the roller body when the cover parts are closed in a standby state of the ink roller. The movable cover part is capable of exposing the roller body towards a printing device in an operating state of the ink roller. An operating lever moves the ink roller with the movable cover part away from the fixed cover part.