JP2001253143A - Cover opening and closing device for portable printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a portable device capable of easily opening and closing the opening / closing cover 3 with one hand by an operation easy to understand for the operator even in a state where the portable printer 1 is lowered to the waist W or the like. To provide a cover opening / closing device 6 of the printer 1 for use in a computer. Attention is paid to pivotally mounting an opening lever (12) to a printer main body (2) and providing an engagement pin that is actuated by rotation of the opening lever (12) to release an engagement state with an opening / closing cover (3). Printer body 2
An opening lever 12 rotatably attached to the lever rotating shaft 14 of the first embodiment, and a connecting portion 16 provided at a position different from the lever rotating shaft 14 and connected to the opening lever 12 by the rotation of the opening lever 12. And an engagement pin 13 for releasing the engagement with the opening / closing cover 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cover opening / closing device for a portable printer, and more particularly to a cover opening / closing device for a portable printer which can be easily operated with one touch and one touch operation. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional portable printers allow the user to open and close an openable cover with one hand, but it is not very easy to open and close the cover with the portable printer lowered on the waist of an operator. There is a problem. In particular, in a portable printer, since the user uses the printer while performing various operations, it is required to easily open and close the openable cover with one hand so that label exchange can be performed.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and allows the user to easily open and close the openable cover with one hand even with the portable printer lowered on the waist or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a cover opening and closing device for a portable printer that can be used.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover opening / closing device for a portable printer which can be opened / closed by an operation which is easy for an operator to understand.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cover opening / closing device for a portable printer which can be easily closed as compared with the opening operation of the opening / closing cover.

[0006]

That is, the present invention relates to a mechanism for pivotally attaching an opening lever to a printer main body and releasing the engaged state with the opening / closing cover by operating the opening lever. A cover opening / closing device for a portable printer including a printer main body and an opening / closing cover that opens and closes with respect to the printer main body. A release lever movably attached to the release lever at a connection portion provided at a position different from the lever rotation axis, and the engagement with the opening / closing cover is released by the rotation of the release lever. And a cover opening / closing device for a portable printer.

The engagement pin may include a spring member that constantly urges the printer body and the open / close cover into an engaged state.

The engagement pins can be engaged with each other at both ends of the printer body and the open / close cover.

The engagement pin may have a tapered portion in a direction in which the opening / closing cover closes.

The cover opening / closing device of the portable printer has a structure in which the cover opening / closing axis is in the horizontal direction and the opening / closing cover is opened / closed in the vertical direction, or the cover opening / closing axis is in the vertical direction and the opening / closing cover is in the horizontal direction. Any configuration of opening and closing may be used.

In the cover opening / closing device for a portable printer according to the present invention, an opening lever is rotatably mounted on the printer body side, and the printer body and the opening / closing cover are disengaged in accordance with the rotation of the opening lever. When the opening / closing cover is opened, if the opening lever is turned by hooking it with a finger, the engaging pin is moved between the opening / closing cover and the printer body accordingly. Since the engaged state is released, the opening / closing cover can be easily opened. Further, when closing the cover, if the cover itself is pressed against the printer body in the closing direction, the engaging pin brings both members into the engaged state again, so that the cover can be easily closed.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a portable printer 1 equipped with a cover opening / closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a portable printer 1 (portable thermal printer). The portable printer 1 includes a printer main body 2, an opening / closing cover 3, a label loading mechanism 4, a label printing unit 5,
And a cover opening / closing device 6.

The printer body 2 includes a printer operation unit 7
On its upper surface, and can be mounted on the waist W of the operator.

The opening / closing cover 3 opens and closes around the cover opening / closing shaft 8 with respect to the printer main body 2 by operating the cover opening / closing device 6, and a label loading mechanism 4 is provided between the cover 3 and the printer main body 2. ing.

The label loading mechanism 4 includes a roll-shaped label L.
In addition to defining a space (label loading section 9) for loading the label L, the label L can be held according to the width size of the label L.

The label printing section 5 has a thermal head 10 and a platen roller 11. The label L loaded in the label loading mechanism 4 and fed out in a belt shape is sandwiched between the label printing section 5 and the platen roller 11. 10 prints predetermined information.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part of the portable printer 1 particularly showing the cover opening / closing device 6, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the portable printer 1 with the opening / closing cover 3 opened. 3 is a front view of a partially omitted main part in a state where the opening / closing cover 3 can be opened.
It has an opening lever 12 and an engagement pin 13.

The release lever 12 is attached so as to be rotatable around a lever rotation shaft 14 provided in a horizontal direction substantially at the center of the upper end of the printer body 2. The release lever 12 has a mounting portion 15 formed on the bottom surface thereof at a position shifted from the lever rotation shaft 14 toward the distal end hooking portion 12A (particularly, see FIGS. 1 and 3). The connecting portion 16 of the engaging pin 13 is loosely fitted to the mounting portion 15,
By rotating the release lever 12 about the lever rotation shaft 14, the entire engagement pin 13 is integrated so as to be separated and approached (moves up and down in the drawing) with respect to the opening / closing cover 3.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the engaging pin 13 is composed of a pair of horizontal bar portions 17 extending horizontally about the connecting portion 16 in the horizontal direction, and opening and closing from the left and right ends of the horizontal bar portion 17. Vertical bar 18 extending in the cover 3 direction (vertical direction)
And a pair of leaf springs 19 (spring members) uniformly provided on the upper surface side (opening lever 12 side) of the connecting portion 16 on the left and right sides of the horizontal bar portion 17.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the distal end of the vertical rod portion 18 can be engaged with a pair of engagement grooves 20 formed on the distal end surface side of the open / close cover 3. Are formed in a tapered shape portion 21 toward the closing direction. The pair of engagement grooves 20 are provided at both ends of the opening / closing cover 3, and include the printer body 2 and the opening / closing cover 3.
Can be stably engaged with each other at both ends.

The leaf spring 19 abuts against a spring stopper 22 formed on the printer main body 2 and constantly urges the printer main body 2 and the open / close cover 3 with a predetermined elastic force in the engaging direction (the closed state of the open / close cover 3). ing. As the spring member in the present invention, other than the leaf spring 19, for example, a coil spring or any other member can be adopted, but by forming the leaf spring 19 integrally with the engagement pin 13, the number of parts can be reduced. In addition, assemblability can be improved.

In the portable printer 1 and the cover opening / closing device 6 having such a configuration, when the opening / closing cover 3 is closed as shown in FIGS.
2 is in a state parallel to the upper surface of the printer main body 2, the tip (tapered portion 21) of the vertical bar portion 18 engages with the engagement groove 20 of the opening / closing cover 3, and the leaf spring 19 engages with the engagement pin. 1
Since the cover 3 is urged in the direction of the cover 3, the cover 3 maintains (locks) the printer body 2 in a closed state.

When the cover 3 is opened, the tip hook 12A of the opening lever 12 is hooked by a finger, and the opening lever 12 is turned around the lever rotation shaft 14 clockwise in FIG. When moved, as shown in FIG.
Opening lever 1 at mounting portion 15 and connecting portion 16
The engaging pin 13 integrated with the second member 2 is lifted upward in FIG. 3, and the vertical bar portion 18 is engaged (locked) with the engaging groove 20.
Is released, and the opening / closing cover 3 can be opened around the cover opening / closing axis 8. Since the length between the distal end hooking portion 12A and the lever rotation shaft 14 is larger than the length between the mounting portion 15 or the connecting portion 16 and the lever rotation shaft 14, the lever 12 for opening is formed by the principle of leverage. The operating force is small. When the release lever 12 is released, the engagement pin 13 returns to a state in which the tapered portion 21 of the vertical bar portion 18 slightly protrudes from the printer body 2 by the urging force of the leaf spring 19 of the engagement pin 13. I do.

Thus, the operator can easily open the opening / closing cover 3 and load the label L into the label loading section 9 by simply rotating the opening lever 12 with one hand so as to incline upward. Can be.

When the cover 3 is closed, if the cover 3 is rotated about the cover opening / closing shaft 8 in the closing direction, the tapered portion 21 of the vertical bar portion 18 comes into contact with the cover 3, and The engaging pin 13 is pushed upward against the urging force of the leaf spring 19 of the mating pin 13, and the cover 3 is opened.
When is closed, the vertical bar portion 18 engages with the engagement groove 20 of the printer main body 2, and the closed state of the open / close cover 3 can be secured.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the engagement with the opening / closing cover can be released by simply moving the release lever to slightly incline and moving the engagement pin. Also, the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing cover can be easily performed with one hand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a portable printer 1 (portable thermal printer) equipped with a cover opening / closing device 6 according to an embodiment of the present invention in a closed state of an opening / closing cover 3;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part of the portable printer 1 particularly showing the cover opening / closing device 6;

FIG. 3 shows an opening / closing cover 3 of the portable printer 1.
It is a schematic sectional drawing of the opened state of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a partially omitted main part in a state where the opening / closing cover 3 can be opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable printer (portable thermal printer) 2 Printer main body 3 Opening / closing cover 4 Label loading mechanism 5 Label printing section 6 Cover opening / closing device of portable printer 1 (Embodiment) 7 Printer operating section 8 Cover opening / closing axis 9 Label loading section DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Thermal head 11 Platen roller 12 Release lever 12A Hook part of tip of release lever 12 Engagement pin 14 Lever rotation axis 15 Mounting part of release lever 12 16 Connection part of engagement pin 13 17 Engagement pin 13 A pair of horizontal bar portions 18 a pair of vertical bar portions of the engaging pin 13 19 a pair of leaf springs (spring members) of the engaging pin 13 20 an engaging groove of the opening / closing cover 3 21 a tapered portion of the vertical bar portion 22 spring Stopper L Label W Operator's waist

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cover opening / closing device for a portable printer, comprising: a printer main body; and an opening / closing cover that opens and closes with respect to the printer main body, wherein the opening is rotatably attached to a lever rotation shaft of the printer main body. And an engagement pin which is connected to the opening lever at a connection portion provided at a position different from the lever rotation shaft, and which releases the engagement with the opening / closing cover by rotation of the opening lever. A cover opening / closing device for a portable printer, comprising: 2. The cover opening / closing device for a portable printer according to claim 1, wherein the engagement pin has a spring member that constantly urges the engagement state between the printer main body and the opening / closing cover. 3. The cover opening and closing device for a portable printer according to claim 1, wherein the engagement pins are engaged with each other at both ends of the printer body and the opening and closing cover. 4. The cover opening / closing device for a portable printer according to claim 1, wherein the engagement pin has a tapered portion in a closing direction of the opening / closing cover.