Patent Application
20120031944
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-176483, filed on Aug. 5, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a conveying device, a printer, and an abutting member.
In the related art, a device (e.g., a printer) including an abutting member which abuts against a backing sheet (or a mount) to separate a label (on which information is printed) from the backing sheet is known.
In such a device, a mechanism is needed to easily separate a label from a flexible backing sheet (or a mount).
According to one embodiment, a conveying device includes a conveying mechanism configured to convey a mount with a web material provided thereon in a conveying direction; and an abutting member including an edge portion extending in a widthwise direction intersecting with the conveying direction and configured to allow the edge portion to abut against the mount.
Embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements, and thus a description thereof will be omitted to avoid duplication herein.
As shown in
As shown in
The roll holding shaft 3 may rotatably support a roll (e.g., a paper roll) 11, around which the web material 2 is wound, in a state perpendicular to the plane of
The conveying roller 4 and the platen roller 5 may be rotary-driven by means of, for example, a motor. The conveying roller 4 is located upstream of the platen roller 5 and a print unit 12 in the paper feeding direction TD. The pinch roller block 10 may include a pinch roller (not shown) which is horizontally placed adjacent to the conveying roller 4 along the paper feeding direction TD. The pinch roller is biased toward the conveying roller 4 with predetermined pressure. The web material 2, interposed between the conveying roller 4 and the pinch roller, is conveyed in the paper feeding direction TD in conjunction with the rotation of the conveying roller 4. In this embodiment, the conveying roller 4, the platen roller 5, the motor, a motor controller and the pinch roller block 10 may constitute a conveying mechanism.
A ribbon roll 13, around which a web material (e.g., the ink ribbon 6) is wound, is held by the supply shaft 7 of the ink ribbon 6. A take-up shaft 8 may be rotary-driven by means of, for example, a motor. With the rotation of the take-up shaft 8, the ink ribbon 6 is wound around the take-up shaft 8 while being discharged from the ribbon roll 13. Both the ink ribbon 6 and the web material 2 are interposed between a thermal head 9a contained in the print head block 9 and the platen roller 5. The thermal head 9a generates heat, which allows ink on the ink ribbon 6 to melt or sublimate. Through such operation of the thermal head 9a, a predetermined pattern such as a character, numeric character, bar code, or graphic, is transferred onto a label which is provided on (e.g., attached to) a surface of the web material 2, e.g., the inner surface 2a. Specifically, in this embodiment, a print mechanism may include the ink ribbon 6, the supply shaft 7, the take-up shaft 8, the print head block 9, the thermal head 9a, the motor, and the motor controller. The print unit 12 includes the thermal head 9a and the platen roller 5.
The label 14, which is printed with information by the print unit 12, is separated from the web material 2. In such a separation, an abutting member 15 is used to abut against a reverse side (i.e., an outer side) of the web material 2. The abutting member 15 is disposed downstream of the print unit 12 and the platen roller 5 in the paper feeding direction TD. Further, as shown in
As shown in
In one embodiment, the abutting member 15 further includes a plurality of through-holes 15d, each of which makes a concave portion and are formed on a tip section of the edge portion 15c. In this embodiment, the plurality of through-holes 15d are spaced apart by a predetermined distance while extending from one end of the tip section of the edge portion 15c to the other end thereof along the widthwise direction WD. In one embodiment, the plurality of through-holes 15d may be of the same shape. In an alternative embodiment, respective gaps (e.g., pitches) between the plurality of through-holes 15d may be substantially equal to a width of the through-hole 15d (i.e., a length thereof along the widthwise direction WD). Further, in one embodiment, each of the plurality of through-holes 15d may be formed by cutting out a portion of the joint area between the top plate 15a and the inclined plate 15b around the edge portion 15c. In the above embodiment, the respective gaps (e.g., pitches) between the plurality of through-holes 15d has been explained to be substantially equal to the width of the through-hole 15d (i.e., the length along the widthwise direction WD), but may not be limited thereto. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the respective gaps (e.g., pitches) between the plurality of through-holes 15d may be shorter or longer than the width of the through-hole 15d (i.e., the length along the widthwise direction WD).
As shown in
As described above, the device (e.g., the printer 1) according to the above embodiment includes the abutting member 15 having the edge portion 15c which longitudinally extends along the widthwise direction WD and abuts against the reverse side 2b of the web material 2. In addition, the plurality of through-holes 15d are formed on the tip section of the edge portion 15c. In this arrangement, a portion of the web material 2 to be abutted by the edge portion 15c is bended along the widthwise direction WD so that the label 14 is easily separated from the web material 2.
In the embodiments as described above, the through-holes (i.e., the concave portions) 15d or the plurality of protrusions (i.e., the convex portions) 15f are formed on the tip section of the edge portion 15c. Therefore, the abutting member 15 (or 15A) with the plurality of through-holes 15d (or the plurality of protrusions 150 may have applicability to numerous sizes of the web material 2 or the label 14 in the widthwise direction WD, thereby facilitating the separation of the label 14 from the web material 2.
Further, in the above embodiments, the abutting member 15 is formed by bending a plate-shaped material. This simplifies the procedures for manufacturing the abutting member 15 (or 15A) compared to the case the abutting member 15 (or 15A) is produced by, for example, a molding, which reduces the production cost of the abutting member 15 (or 15A). Since an edge portion of an abutting member is formed by bending a plate-shaped material, it may be difficult to sharpen the edge portion. Accordingly, in the related art where the separation of the label 14 from the strip-shaped material 2 is performed by using the sharpness of the tip section of the edge portion, it may be difficult to configure a desired abutting member merely by employing a process of bending the plate-shaped material. In view of the foregoing, according to this embodiment, the separation of the label 14 from the web material 2 is facilitated by employing the concave portions or the convex portions formed on the tip section of the edge portion 15c, which makes it easier to produce the abutting member by bending the plate-shaped material. Furthermore, it will be apparent that, even when an abutting member with concave portions or convex portions is produced through the use of various techniques (e.g., a molding, etc.) other than the bending process, similar results can be obtained.
Moreover, in the above embodiment, the concave portions are made by the plurality of through-holes 15d formed on the plate-shaped material, which allows the abutting member to be produced with reduced size. Likewise, this makes the production of the concave portions easier. In addition, using a technique of forming the plurality of through-holes 15d and followed by bending the abutting member 15, allows the abutting member 15 to be easily bended.
While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described above, various modifications and alterations may be made without being limited to the disclosed embodiments. For example, the present disclosure is applicable to a printing device other than the label printer, including a label issuing device, a conveying device, electronic equipment, office machinery, or the like. Alternatively, the concave portions may be formed by bottomed grooves instead of the through-holes, thereby producing similar effects. In addition, chamfering may be performed on the concave or the convex portions if necessary, thereby minimizing damage to the web material or the printing medium (e.g., label). Further, no necessity arises for forming the edge portion perpendicular to the paper feeding direction TD, but the edge portion may be formed along a direction obliquely intersecting the paper feeding direction TD. Furthermore, the edge portion may include both concave and convex portions. Still furthermore, the edge portion may include a plurality of arrays which are formed by the concave portions, the convex portions, or a combination thereof in various directions (e.g., an intersecting direction, etc.). In addition, specifications (form, structure, shape, size, length, width, height, thickness, section, weight, number, material, arrangement, position, etc.) of various elements (device, printer, an article to be pasted, a strip-shaped body, pasting material, printing medium, conveying mechanism, abutting member, edge portion, concave portion, convex portion, plate-shaped member, through-holes, protrusions, print unit, etc.) may be appropriately changed for practice.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-176483 | Aug 2010 | JP | national |
