JPH0630916B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for automatically supplying, printing, and discharging a sheet-shaped recording sheet housed inside a printing section.

[Prior Art] FIG. 4 shows a conventional printer. The printer 1 is a thermal transfer type full-color printer used as a hard copy device for making a hard copy of an image on a display such as a television, 2 is an ink ribbon cassette, 3 is a paper feed case for accommodating sheet-like recording papers in a stack, and 4 is The recording paper discharge port 5 indicates a recording paper. Ink ribbon cassette 2
Is an ink ribbon coated with yellow, magenta, cyan, and black dyes and wound in a roll shape.

As shown in the figure, in the conventional printer 1 of this type, the inlet / outlet 6 of the paper feed case 3 and the outlet 4 of the recording paper after printing are provided on the front surface 1a of the printer main body. In relation to the recording paper feed path that is supplied from the printer and discharged to the front, the ink ribbon cassette loading position where printing is performed is the inner part of the printer main body, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 is inserted in the cassette provided on the side surface 1b of the printer main body. It was designed to be inserted from the mouth 7.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-described conventional structure, since the ink ribbon cassette 2 is inserted and removed from the side surface of the printer body, an extra space is required in the width direction of the printer body and the ink ribbon cassette is inserted. The removal operation itself is not always easy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a printer that does not require an extra space in the width direction of the printer body and is easy to operate.

[Means for Solving Problems] In the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a cassette insertion port for inserting an ink ribbon cassette, a recording paper insertion port for inserting a sheet-shaped recording paper, and recording after printing. All of the recording paper discharge ports for discharging paper are provided on the front surface of the printer body, and in order to discharge the recording paper after printing from the recording paper discharge port, the running direction of the recording paper after printing is set in the width direction of the printer body. A direction changing mechanism for changing the direction of 90 ° to the front side with respect to the recording paper feeding direction at the time of printing is provided.

[Operation] In the above configuration, the recording paper is sent to the ink ribbon cassette position, printed, and sent out by traveling in the width direction of the printer main body, and thereafter, the direction is changed by 90 ° to the front side by the direction changing mechanism, and the printer main body is changed. It is ejected from the recording paper ejection port on the front side.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Similarly to the conventional printer 10 shown in FIG. 4, the printer 10 of the embodiment is a thermal transfer full-color printer used as a hard copy device for making a hard copy of a printed image on a display such as a television.

In the present invention, a cassette insertion port 11 into which the ink ribbon cassette 2 is inserted, a paper feed case insertion / removal port (that is, recording paper insertion port) 12 into and out of which the paper feed case 3 is inserted and removed,
Each of the recording paper discharge ports 13 is provided on the front surface of the printer body. Although not described in detail, the paper feed case 3
A plurality of recording papers stacked and accommodated in the inside travels to the right side (arrow (a) direction) in the width direction of the printer main body and is fed to the printing portion having the ink ribbon cassette 2. In the printing section in which the ink ribbon cassette 2 is loaded,
As shown in FIG. 2, the thermal head 14 and the receiving roller 15 are arranged so as to sandwich the ink ribbon 2a, and the recording paper 5 and the ink ribbon 2a are moved leftward in the printer main body width direction (arrow (b) direction). ), The thermal head 14 is pressed to transfer. Then, in order to discharge the recording paper after printing from the recording paper discharge port 13, the running direction of the recording paper after printing is with respect to the recording paper feeding direction (arrow (b)) at the time of printing, which is the width direction of the printer body. A direction changing mechanism that changes the direction by 90 ° to the front side is provided.

FIG. 3 shows the details of the direction changing mechanism 16. Reference numeral 17 denotes the printed recording paper 5 to the left of the printer body (arrow (b)).
And 18 is a recording paper table, 19 is a discharge roller provided in parallel with the width direction of the printer body, and the discharge roller 19 is rotatably supported by an arm 20.
The motor 21 is rotationally driven via belts 22 and 23, and is vertically movable by a solenoid 25 that rotates the arm 20 about a shaft 24.

In the printer 10 configured as described above, the recording paper in the paper feed case 3 travels to the right of the printer main body, is sent to the position of the ink ribbon cassette 2, and is printed in the state of FIG. As shown in the figure, the paper is fed by the feed roller 17 in the opposite left direction of the printer body (arrow (b)), and the discharge roller 19 is placed on the recording paper table 18 in a raised state.
Subsequently, driven by the solenoid 25, the arm 20 rotates about the shaft 24 and the discharge roller 19 descends to press the recording paper 5 against the recording paper base 18 and then the motor 21.
Is activated and the discharge roller 19 is passed through the belts 22 and 23.
Is rotated to feed the recording paper 5 forward (in the direction of arrow (c)) and eject it from the recording paper ejection port 13.

In the printer 10 having the above-described configuration, since the feeding and withdrawing of the paper feed case 3 for inserting the recording paper, the insertion / removal of the ink ribbon cassette 2, and the ejection of the printed recording paper are all performed on the front surface, the operation is easy. .

The configuration of the direction changing mechanism is not limited to that of the embodiment, and various other mechanisms can be adopted.

As described above, according to the present invention, the cassette insertion port,
The recording paper insertion port and the recording paper discharge port are both provided on the front surface of the printer body, and the direction of the printing paper after printing is changed by 90 ° to the front side with respect to the recording paper feeding direction during printing. Since the mechanism is provided, all the operations can be performed on the front surface, which facilitates the operation and eliminates the need for an extra space in the printer body width direction for inserting the ink ribbon cassette.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a printer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a printing unit, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a direction changing mechanism, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional printer. . 2 ... Ink ribbon cassette, 3 ... Paper feed case, 5 ...
... Recording paper, 10 ... Printer, 10a ... Front, 11 ...
... cassette insertion port, 12 ... paper feed case loading / unloading port (recording paper insertion port), 13 ... recording paper ejection port, 16 ... direction changing mechanism, 17 ... feed roller, 19 ... ejection roller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cassette insertion opening for inserting an ink ribbon cassette, a recording paper insertion opening for inserting a sheet of recording paper, and a recording paper ejection opening for ejecting recording paper after printing are provided on the front surface of the printer body. At the same time, in order to discharge the recording paper after printing from the recording paper discharge port, the traveling direction of the recording paper after printing is changed by 90 ° to the front side with respect to the recording paper feeding direction which is the width direction of the printer main body. A printer, which is provided with a direction changing mechanism.