JPH0225640Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] - Industrial Application Field - The present invention relates to a printer equipped with a mechanism for adjusting the distance between the print head tip and the platen.

-Prior art- In printers equipped with an inserter, etc., when inserting paper between the tip of the print head and the platen,
To facilitate its insertion, the distance between the tip of the print head and the platen (hereinafter referred to as the print head gap) has been changed from about 0.5 mm, which is suitable for normal printing, to 3 mm.
It is necessary to widen the print head gap to approximately 4 mm, so conventionally, the entire paper feed unit including the platen was separated from the base unit including the print head, and the paper feed unit was moved in the direction in which the print head gap widened. Ta.

-Problems to be solved by the invention- However, in such a conventional configuration, a dedicated frame structure for making the paper feed unit independent, a cam mechanism for retracting the paper feed unit in parallel to the left and right, etc. As a result, the number of parts increases and the configuration becomes complicated.

The present invention aims to solve such problems.

[Structure of the idea]

-Means for Solving the Problems- In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a print head whose tip end faces the platen, and a print head mounted on the print head so as to be movable along the platen. A printer comprising a carriage supported by a guide shaft, and a flexible member for transmitting power partially coupled to the carriage and stretched by a plurality of pulleys, wherein at least one of the rollers is The carriage is provided so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis, and the carriage is engaged with the guide shaft so as to be movable in the direction perpendicular to the platen axis.

-Operation- According to the present invention having the above-mentioned means, at least one pulley and carriage are movable in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis.
The printing head gap can be widened or narrowed simply by moving the carriage in the aforementioned directions using simple drive means.

-Example- Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the first embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the platen and the print head, and FIG.
It is a partially enlarged view of the space belt in the figure.

In the figure, 1 is the print head, 2 is the carriage on which the print head 1 is mounted, 3 is the platen, and 4 is the platen shaft. Both ends of the platen shaft 4 are rotatably supported by the side frames 5 and 6 of the base unit. has been done.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a main guide shaft that penetrates and engages the front part of the carriage 2, and 8 indicates a sub guide shaft that engages with a U-shaped guide 9 provided at the rear of the carriage 2. Both ends of the shaft 7 are slidably fitted into elongated holes 10 provided in the side frames 5 and 6, and both ends of the sub-guide shaft 8 are fixed to the side frames 5 and 6. The carriage 2 is supported so that it can move parallel to the platen 3 and can also move in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis 4 together with the main guide shaft 7. That is, the carriage 2 is supported by the main guide shaft 7 and the sub-guide shaft 8 so that it can move in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1 and can also move in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a space motor attached to the side frame 6, and a motor pulley 1 is attached to its rotating shaft.
2 is fixed.

13 is a bracket fixed to the side frame 5, and the platen shaft 4 is attached to this bracket 13.
A shaft 14 is provided in a direction orthogonal to the shaft 14, and an idler pulley 15, which forms a pair with the motor pulley 12, is rotatably and slidably movable in the same direction as the opening and closing direction of the printing head gap. It is installed.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a space belt stretched around the motor pulley 12 and idler pulley 15, which is a flexible member for moving the carriage 2 in the direction of arrow A. That is, a part of this space belt 16 is connected to the bottom of the carriage 2 as shown in FIG. It is becoming more and more like this. Therefore, when the space motor 11 is rotated forward or backward, the carriage 2 performs a spacing movement to the right or left, and at this time, the print head 1 mounted on the carriage 2 is moved by the rotation of the space motor 11. They are synchronized and driven by a power (not shown), and function as a printer by recording characters, figures, etc. on printing paper 17 inserted between the platen 3 and the printing paper 17.

18 is a sheet feeder, and this sheet feeder 18 moves the printing paper 17 in a direction perpendicular to the spacing direction of the carriage 2.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment with the above-described configuration will be explained.

The rotational force of the space motor 11 is applied to the motor pulley 1
2. As described above, the printing head 1 is transmitted to the carriage 2 via the space belt 16, thereby causing the print head 1 to perform the spacing movement left and right together with the carriage 2.

By the way, since the space belt 16 used as a flexible member is generally used by being wrapped around a pulley, the thickness h is thin as shown in FIG. 3, but the width l is small in order to transmit power. Usually, the length is several times to 20 times the thickness h, and as a result, it has a relatively rigid structure with only a little flexibility except in the direction of arrow C. Therefore, when inserting the printing paper 17 between the printing head 1 and the platen 3, the carriage 2 is moved by a driving means (not shown).
If the space belt 16 is forcibly moved in the direction of retreating from the platen 3, the space belt 16 will be subjected to extreme deformation, which may cause the space belt 16 to stretch or the core material buried inside the space belt 16 to be damaged. There is a risk of it breaking.

However, in this first embodiment, since the idle pulley 15 is slidably mounted on the shaft 14 so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the platen shaft 4,
When widening the printing head gap, first move the carriage 2 to the idle pulley 15 side, then
If the carriage 2 is moved backward by a drive means (not shown), the space belt 16 will also move back together with the idle pulley 15.
The printing head gap can be easily expanded to a sufficient width without extreme deformation, and the printing paper 17 can be easily inserted.

Note that after inserting the printing paper 17, the carriage 2
When the space belt 16 and the idle pulley 15 are moved forward, the space belt 16 and the idle pulley 15 also return to their original positions, and the main guide shaft 7 abuts against the front end of the elongated hole 10, making the printing head gap suitable for printing.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the carriage section showing the second embodiment. In the first embodiment described above, both ends of the main guide shaft 7, which the carriage 2 passes through, are slidably fitted into elongated holes 10 provided in the side frames 5 and 6, so that the carriage 2 is orthogonal to the platen shaft 4. However, in this second embodiment, both ends of the main guide shaft 7 are fixed to the side frames 5 and 6 similarly to the sub guide shaft 8, and grooves are formed in the carriage 2 as shown in the figure. 19 is provided, and the carriage 2 is slidably fitted to the main guide shaft 7 through this groove 19, and the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Even in this case, the carriage 2 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the platen shaft 4, so that the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. In this second embodiment, a platen gap suitable for printing is obtained by causing the end surface of the groove 19 to abut against the main guide shaft 7 when the carriage 2 is advanced.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the idle pulley section showing the third embodiment, in which figure a is a plan view, figure b is a front view,
Figure c is the right side of b.

In this embodiment, instead of the bracket 13 in the first embodiment, a side frame 5 is attached via a pin 21 so that the bracket 20 can be rotated in the direction of arrow D.
The idler pulley 15 is rotatably supported by the bracket 20 via the shaft 22, and the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In this third embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the idler pulley 15 is not slidably supported in the direction orthogonal to the platen shaft 4, but the bracket 20 rotates around the pin 21. The idler pulley 15 supported by the bracket 20 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis 4, and therefore the carriage 2 is moved toward the idler pulley 15 as in the first embodiment. After that, if you move this carriage 2 backward, idle pulley 1
5, the space belt 16 is also retracted, and the print head gap can be widened without excessively deforming the space belt 16.

Although not shown here, as another embodiment, all the pulleys for tensioning the space belt 16 may be supported so that they can move in a direction perpendicular to the platen shaft 4. It is clear that whatever position the carriage is in, it can be retracted without deforming the space belt.

Furthermore, although each of the above-described embodiments uses a space belt as a flexible member for transmitting the power for spacing the carriage, similar results can be obtained when a wire is used as the flexible member.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention is capable of moving at least one of the pulleys that tension and support the flexible member that transmits the power for the spacing operation to the carriage carrying the print head in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis. By supporting the carriage in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. Since the carriage is moved in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis without unreasonable deformation, it is possible to create a printer that can change the platen gap with a simple configuration without increasing the number of parts. There is an effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the first embodiment of the printer according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the platen and the print head, Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the space belt, and Fig. 4. 5 is a side view of the carriage section showing the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing details of the idle pulley section showing the third embodiment. Figure c is an enlarged view of figure b. 1... Print head, 2... Carriage, 3... Platen, 4... Platen shaft, 5, 6... Side frame,
7... Main guide shaft, 8... Sub guide shaft, 9... Guide, 10... Oblong hole, 11... Space motor, 12... Motor pulley, 13... Bracket, 14... Shaft, 15... Idle pulley, 19...
Groove, 20...bracket, 21...pin, 22...shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The printing head consists of a platen, a printing head with its tip facing the platen, a carriage on which the printing head is mounted and supported by a guide shaft so as to be able to move parallel to the platen, and a carriage stretched by a plurality of pulleys. A printer comprising a flexible member provided and partially coupled to the carriage, and a drive source for causing a spacing operation of the carriage via a pulley and the flexible member, wherein at least one of the pulleys is The cartridge is provided so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis, and the carriage is also engaged with the guide shaft so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the platen axis, thereby reducing the distance between the print head tip and the platen. A printer characterized by being able to change.