Patent Grant
11305565
The present invention relates to a printer case assembly structure, and more particularly, to a printer case assembly structure by which the assembly and disassembly of a printer exterior case can be quickly performed through a simple manual operation without relying on a separate tool.
The contents described in this section merely provide background information on the embodiments of the present invention and do not constitute a prior art. Various types of printers, such as a printer connected to a computer network to print on paper media in an inkjet scheme, a receipt or label printer in a thermal printing scheme, a 3D printer, a semiconductor or circuit fabrication printer, a recent post-it printer proposed for office use, and the like has been released according to print media, printing schemes, and customized usage schemes.
Hereinafter, an assembly structure of a conventional thermal printer case based on a thermal printer structure disclosed in Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1679197 filed by the applicant will be exemplarily described.
In general, a thermal printer, which is a type of non-impact printer that uses heat-sensitive recording paper (hereinafter referred to as ‘printing paper’) and applies heat to the paper with a printer head (thermal head) to print a text or picture thereon through color formation, is relatively simple and compact in structure, and small in volume, so that the thermal printer is suitable for printing in simple receipt or specification, so the thermal printer has been used as a POS printer.
Patent 197' discloses a printer capable of changing the feeding scheme of the printing paper between a front feeding scheme and a top feeding scheme, which is a thermal printer having greatly improved user convenience and merchandise.
That is, as shown in
In terms of assembly structure, the printer 100 of the 197' patent, as shown in the regions (a) and (b) indicated by dashed lines in
Accordingly, the printer 100 has to be provided with a fastening boss for fastening a fastening screw and a reinforcing part for reinforcing the fastening, so that the detailed structure becomes complicated and the fastening space has to be secured. As the overall size of the case became larger, it is necessary to improve the assembly structure in order to implement a compact product.
In more detail, the printer 100 requires the use of an assembly tool such as a screw driver for assembly of the fastening screw during mass production of the product, so that assembly operations of various stages such as gripping of assembly tool, moving, fastening, and the like are required. In addition, as the assembly time increases, productivity decreases. In another aspect, this causes an increase in assembly cost, and the production cost may increase due to the addition of subsidiary materials such as fastening screws, washers, and the like. In addition, the repair time and cost increase of the product is inevitable even during A/S, and the screw fastening scheme may cause wear or coupling loosening due to frequent disassembly/assembly.
Therefore, there is a need to simplify the parts and the process of assembling the printer case, and in detail, it is the motive for inventing a toolless case assembly structure.
(Patent document 0001) Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1679197 (issued on Jan. 18, 2016) entitled ‘Printer capable of changing a feeding scheme’
(Patent document 0002) Japanese Registered Patent Publication No. 5265972 (published on May 10, 2017) entitled ‘Printer having cutter’
(Patent document 0003) Japanese Registered Patent Publication No. 5223854 (published on Mar. 22, 2013) entitled ‘Printer’
To solve the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer case assembly structure in which the disassembly and assembly process can be easily and quickly performed without using a separate assembly and disassembly tool.
To achieve the objects described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer case assembly structure which includes a print main body; a first case installed at a portion of the printer main body; a second case installed to surround the print main body except for an installing area of the first case and a cover installation opening part area; a latching sill part formed in the print main body and the first case to assemble the first case; a separation prevention part formed in the first and second cases to prevent the first case from being separated from the latching sill part; and an assembly hook unit formed in a hook structure in the printer main body and the second case to assemble the second case.
The assembly hook unit may include a support hook member including an elastic support part protruding from the printer main body and a support hook formed on the elastic support part; and a support hook latching part formed in the second case while facing the support hook member to latch with the support hook member. The assembly hook unit may include a support hook member including an elastic support part protruding from the second case and a support hook formed on the elastic support part; and a support hook latching part formed in the print main body while facing the support hook member to latch with the support hook member. The support hook member may be further formed with a disassembly handle part.
The second case may include a bottom plate formed with an opening, side plates placed on both lateral sides of the bottom plate, a rear plate placed on a rear portion of the bottom plate, and a main body receiving plate extending parallel to the bottom plate on the rear plate, the support hook latching part is formed at one side of a plate-shaped body of the main body receiving plate and a main body support protrusion part placed on a bottom portion of the printer main body is formed at a free end of the plate-shaped body, and the support hook latching part includes a hook receiving protrusion part formed with an insertion hole into which the support hook member is inserted, a reinforcing protrusion part extending from the hook receiving protrusion part, and a guide wedge formed on an upper portion of the reinforcing protrusion part to guide a binding with the support hook member.
The separation prevention part may include a separation prevention groove formed in the first case; and a protrusion formed at an end of the second case facing the separation prevention groove and inserted into the separation prevention groove.
The latching sill part may include a sliding protrusion formed at both lateral sides of the first case; and a sliding protrusion moving groove including a horizontal moving groove formed in the printer main body facing the sliding protrusion, and a vertical moving groove communicating with the horizontal moving groove.
The printer case assembly structure may further include a shaking prevention protrusion formed on a contact portion between the printer main body and the first case to prevent the first case coupled to the printer main body from shaking.
The printer case assembly structure may further include an opening/closing cover part installed to the cover installation opening part of the printer main body and opened and closed for paper replacement, wherein the opening/closing cover part includes a hinge member formed with a hinge shaft having a latching hook in an arc-shaped hinge guide part, and the printer main body includes a shaft support member formed with a hinge hole into which the hinge shaft is inserted.
According to the printer case assembly structure of the present invention, assembling and disassembling of the case can be performed quickly by simple manual operation without relying on a separate tool, thereby improving the productivity and reducing the production cost and maintenance cost.
In addition, since the protrusion structure such as the fastening boss for assembly of the external case and the subsidiary materials such as the fastening screw are not needed, the detailed structure can be concisely simplified, and the case can be made compact because the fastening space of the fastening screw is not required, thereby improving the product marketability and market competitiveness.
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to
In the drawings, detailed descriptions of configurations and operations and effects thereof easily understood by those skilled in the art from general techniques will be briefly or omitted. In addition, since the present invention is characterized in the printer case assembly structure, the following description will be focused on the printer case assembly structure and the description of the remaining parts will be briefly or omitted.
Referring to
The printer main body 1, which is formed in a substantially hexahedral shape by a plate-shaped member, includes a containing part for containing a printer head unit 2, a printed circuit board (not shown), a driving module (not shown), and the like therein. In this case, the printer head unit 2 is implemented by, for example, a thermal printer head to perform a printing operation on printing paper.
Although an exterior case may be formed in various structures according to a shape of the printer main body 1 without particular limitation on the form, in the present embodiment, the exterior case includes a main case 3, a front case 4, and an opening and closing cover 5 and is implemented to have a substantially hexahedral shape in the assembled state.
The main case 3 is formed to surround the printer main body 1 except for the front case installation area and the upper cover installation opening area, thereby forming the overall basic appearance. The main case 3 includes a bottom plate 31 formed on an installation surface in a bottom direction, a side plate 32 placed on both sides of the bottom plate 31, a rear plate 33 placed behind the bottom plate 31, and a main body receiving plate 34 extending parallel to the bottom plate 31 on the rear plate 33.
The bottom plate 31 of the main case 3 has an opening 312 formed in a plate member. A user may insert his hand through the opening 312 to perform the disassembly and assembly of the exterior case, and can be connected to a power supply unit and a communication module installed on a lower portion of the printer main body 1 by inserting an electric cable. In addition, an auxiliary cover member 35 for sealing the opening 312 is installed on the bottom plate 31. The auxiliary cover member 35 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the opening 312, and has a structure in which a cable withdrawal opening 352 is formed at the rear side so that the cable and the like can be drawn out.
The side plate 32 seals the side surface of the printer main body 1 and is formed with an operating hole 322 for operation an open lever 15 and a speaker hole.
The main body receiving plate 34 is composed of a plate-shaped body supporting the lower portion of the printer main body 1, and the plate-shaped body is formed in a lower portion of the main case 3 to provide a space in which the printer main body 1 is installed. A support hook latching part is formed at one side of the plate-shaped body proximity to the rear plate 33. As shown in
Meanwhile, the front case 4, which is a case for sealing the front of the printer main body 1, has a front plate 41 and an edge portion 42 formed along a periphery the front plate 41 and has a rectangular cylinder shape.
Referring to
In addition, the opening/closing cover 5 is provided with a platen roller unit 55 that is engaged with the printer head unit 2 in the closed state. The platen roller unit 55 is equipped with a platen roller or the like to transfer printing paper between the platen roller and the printer head unit 2 such that the pressing force of the printer head unit 2 is smoothly transmitted to the printing paper.
Referring to
The latching sill part 6 is formed in the printer main body 1 and the front case 4 for the detachment of the front case 4 by a manual operation.
For example, as shown in
The latching sill part 6 may allow the front case 4 to be coupled by vertically moving the front case 4 after horizontally moving the front case 4 toward the main case 3, but the configuration and shape illustrated in
Meanwhile, as shown in
The separation prevention guide member 71 protrudes from the inner surface of the lower edge portion 42 of the front case 1, and is provided in a concave structure in which a separation prevention groove 712 is provided between the lower edge portion 42 and the inner surface of a front end portion.
Correspondingly, the fixing protrusion 72, which is formed on an end portion of the bottom plate 31 facing the separation prevention guide member 71, is formed in a concave structure a protrusion 721 inserted into the separation prevention groove 712 of the separation prevention guide member 71 and a latching sill 721 engaged with the edge portion 42 below the protrusion 721.
In addition, as shown in
The assembly hook unit 8, which is a component provided to perform the assembly and disassembly process in the detachable structure of the hook, includes a support hook member 81, and a support hook latching part 82.
The support hook member 81, which is a configuration for attaching and detaching the main case 3 to the printer main body 1 in pressing scheme without a separate assembly tool, protrudes from a lower portion of the printer main body 1 to be latched to the support hook latching part 82. The support hook member 81 includes an elastic support part 811 protruding downward from the printer main body 1 to allow the support hook member 81 to be elastically fixed to the support hook latching part 82, and a support hook 812 protruding from the elastic support part 811 in a substantially triangular barb shape.
In addition, the support hook member 81 further includes a disassembly knob 813 to more easily disassemble the main case 3 from the printer main body 1. The disassembly knob 813 is formed in the support hook 812 with a handle piece which extends integrally downward.
Meanwhile, the printer main body 1 is formed with a fixing piece 17 for more stably combining the printer main body 1 to the main case 3. The fixing piece 17 protrudes downward in contact with the support hook member 81 and is formed of a rod member having an ‘E’ shaped cross-sectional structure. The fixing piece is placed on the rear plate 33 during the assembly of the main case 3. In addition, the fixing surface 17 performs the function of a stopper for preventing damage by the user handling of the support hook member 81.
The support hook latching part 82 is configured to face the main case 3 to be latched to the support hook member 81. As shown in
Hereinafter, the operation of the printer case assembly structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to
Referring to
In more detail, as shown in
As shown in
According to the assembling process of the main case 3, first both side plates 32 are arranged at both sides of the printer main body 1, as shown in
In this state, when the lower plate 31 and the rear plate 33 are pushed upward toward the printer main body 1, the support hook latching part 82 is installed while being fitted to the support hook member 81, and the latching sill 722 of the fixing protrusion 72 is engaged with the edge portion 42 of the front case 4, thereby being assembled easily without a separate assembly tool.
In addition, when the main case 3 is moved toward the printer main body 1, as shown in
When the assembly of the main case 3 is completed as described above, the overall assembly of the exterior case is completed in a scheme of pushing and installing the auxiliary cover member 35 that seals the opening 312 of the lower plate 31.
Meanwhile, according to the printer case assembly structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, the main case 3, the front case 4 and the opening/closing cover 5 are disassembled easily and quickly in the reverse order with respect to the above-described assembly sequence without any separate disassembling tools during maintenance and repair.
For example, since the disassembling handle 813 is provided on the support hook member 81 when disassembling the main case 3, when the user moves the disassembling handle 813 in the opening direction while grasping the disassembling handle 813 after removing the auxiliary cover member 35, while the combining between the support hook 812 and the support hook latching part 82 is released, the main case 3 is separated to be in a state similar to that shown in
According to the disassembly process of the front case 4, when the front case 4 is lifted up in the state of
In addition, the disassembly process of the opening and closing cover part 5 is easily performed without a separate assembly tool by a simple manual operation of detaching the hinge shaft 522 of the hinge member 52 from the hinge hole 532 of the shaft support member 53.
As described above, the printer case according to an embodiment of the present invention can be quickly assembled and disassembly by a simple manual operation, thereby improving productivity and reducing production costs and maintenance costs.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the assembly hook unit 8 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
Referring to
The support hook member 83 includes an elastic support part 831 protruding from an extension part 834 extending inwardly from the rear plate 33, a support hook 832 protruding from the elastic support part 831 in a substantially triangular barb shape, and a disassembly handle part 833 extending from the support hook 832. The elastic support part 831 is formed in a curved structure to secure an elastic force for stable fixing. In this embodiment, the elastic support part 831 is formed substantially in an “n” shape, but the elastic support part 831 of the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be modified in various shapes according to the shapes of the printer main body 1 and the main case 3.
The support hook latching part 84, which is formed at a position opposite to the lower portion of the printer main body 1 to be latched to the support hook member 83, as shown in
Referring to
The support hook member 85 includes an elastic support part 851 protruding upward from the main body receiving plate 34, a support hook 852 protruding from the elastic support part 851 in a substantially triangular barb shape, and a disassembly handle part 853 extending downward from the support hook 832. In this case, the elastic support part 851 is formed substantially in a curved structure of an “n” shape to have an elastic force for stable fixing.
The support hook latching part 86 includes a hook latching hole formed on the fixing piece 17 of the printer main body 1 to be latched to the support hook member 85. In addition, an inclined surface 171 is formed on a lower end of the fixing piece 17 to guide the combining with the support hook member 83.
Since the assembling and disassembling process based on the assembling hook unit 8 according to the second and third embodiments of the present invention is almost the same as the assembling and disassembling process of the assembling hook unit according to the first embodiment, the duplicate description will be omitted for clarity.
As understood through the above description, although the configuration and assembly/disassembly of the printer according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but those skilled in the art can understand that it is possible to substitute and modify some of the above-described embodiment in the range without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.
Therefore, it will be understood that all the technical spirits within the equivalent range fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2019-0016852 | Feb 2019 | KR | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20020056354 | Morita | May 2002 | A1 |
| 20160185140 | Ishida | Jun 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1101993 | Apr 1995 | CN |
| 1315253 | Oct 2001 | CN |
| 2923321 | Jul 2007 | CN |
| 5223854 | Jun 2013 | JP |
| 5265972 | Aug 2013 | JP |
| 10-2001-0093651 | Oct 2001 | KR |
| 20160091608 | Aug 2016 | KR |
| 20160091608 | Aug 2016 | KR |
| 10-1679197 | Nov 2016 | KR |
| 20-2017-0003549 | Oct 2017 | KR |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200254795 A1 | Aug 2020 | US |
