Patent Grant
10071574
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. P2016-135884, filed Jul. 8, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printer.
There is a printer for carrying out printing on a continuous paper which is provided with a cutter for cutting a paper in a conventional manner. The cutter is arranged at a paper discharge port for discharging the paper to the outside from a housing of the printer.
The printer using the continuous paper houses a wound part (roll part) of the paper in the housing and draws out a front end of the paper from the paper discharge port to use the paper. Thus, the paper discharge port is arranged between an opening of the housing and a cover for opening and closing the opening. In this case, in a state of opening the cover, a part constituting the paper discharge port is divided into two portions.
The cutter is arranged at either one of the two divided portions. As a result, the cutter is exposed in the open state of the cover of the housing such that the cutter can be touched by a user or another. Thus, conventionally, the cutter is formed by a molding material with primary priority given to safety; however, satisfactory sharpness cannot be obtained according to the primary concern over safety rather than cutting quality.
In accordance with an embodiment, a printer comprises a housing, a storage section, a printing section, a cutter and a support section. The housing is composed of a box-shaped main body section with an opening on one surface thereof and a cover which is cover for opening and closing the opening of the main body section and forms a paper discharge port between the cover and the main body section at the time the cover is located at a position to close the opening. The storage section is arranged in the housing to house a roll paper obtained by winding a belt-like paper. The printing section is arranged in the housing to carry out printing on the paper. The cutter has a cutting edge used to cut the paper. The support section supports the cutter in a manner of freely moving between a use position at the time of cutting the paper by the cutting edge and a non-use position close to an edge of the paper discharge port with respect to the use position.
An embodiment is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The cover 32 is mounted in the main body section 31 with one end 32a thereof rotatable. The cover 32 moves between a position where the opening 31a is closed and a position where the opening 31a is opened by rotating around the one end 32a.
Return to
The dimension of the paper discharge port 2 along a width direction of a paper 401 (described later) is a value obtained by adding 2-3 mm to the maximum value of the width of the paper 401. Further, the dimension of the paper discharge port 2 along a thickness direction of the paper 401 is about 2-3 mm.
The battery 7 is a power supply section that supplies electric power consumed by the printing section 5, a control board (not shown), a sensor and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and the like.
The paper storage section 4 includes a semicylindrical bottom surface 41 and a portion surrounded by the bottom surface 41 and a semicylindrical top surface 42 at the inner side of the cover 32. The paper storage section 4 houses a roll paper 400 obtained by winding a belt-like paper 401 (continuous paper). The roll paper 400 is placed on the bottom surface 41. The paper 401 pulled out from the roll paper 400 stored in the paper storage section 4 is discharged from paper discharge port 2 to the outside of the housing 3.
In a state in which the cover 32 is located at a position to close the opening 31a, a conveyance path 43 through which the paper 401 passes is formed in a section from the paper storage section 4 to the paper discharge port 2.
The printing section 5 has a head 51 and a platen roller 52 to execute printing while conveying the paper 401. The head 51 and the platen roller 52 face each other across the conveyance path 43. The head 51 is, for example, a line thermal head having a plurality of heat generating elements arranged in a row. The platen roller 52 rotates by receiving a driving force of a motor (not shown). The platen roller 52 presses the paper 401 against the head 51 and rotates to convey the paper 401. The head 51 heats a predetermined portion of the conveyed paper 401 by energizing predetermined heat generating elements at a predetermined timing.
Furthermore, the printer 1 includes a controller and an opening and closing sensor that are not shown. The opening and closing sensor detects an opened and closed state of the cover 32. The controller does not enable the printing section 5 to carry out printing at the time the opening of the cover 32 is detected by the opening and closing sensor. The controller executes the printing on condition that the cover 32 is closed.
The cutting section 6 of the present embodiment is mounted in the main body section 31. As shown in
The cutting section 6 is used to manually cut the paper 401. In other words, the user of the printer 1 pinches a discharged part of the paper 401 and presses the paper 401 against the cutting section 6 while pulling the paper 401 towards an oblique direction, and in this way, the paper 401 is cut from the part pressed against the cutting section 6.
Similar to the cutting section 6, a cutter which presses the paper 401 by sharply bending the paper 401 to cut the paper 401 is provided at the paper discharge port 2. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, in the printer 1 with a structure in which the paper discharge port 2 is divided at the time the cover 32 is opened, if the conventional cutter is adopted, there is a risk of damaging a finger of the user at the time of replenishing the roll paper 400. On the other hand, the cutting section 6 of the present embodiment has a structure that is hard to touch by the user even if the cover 32 is opened.
The mounting section 64 is used to mount the cutting section 6 in the main body section 31.
The flat plate section 62 has a substantially rectangular flat plate shape, and the cutting edge 61 is formed at one of long sides (upper side in a state in which the cutting section 6 is mounted) of the flat plate section 62.
The length of the cutting edge 61 is a value obtained by adding 2-3 mm to the maximum value of the width of the paper 401 similarly to the dimension of the paper discharge port 2 along the width direction of the paper 401. The blade 61 in the present embodiment is formed into a saw shape (jagged).
The flat plate section 62 has a plurality of paper guide sections 62a at the lower side thereof. The “lower side” is the long side (lower side in a state in which the cutting section 6 is mounted) opposite to the cutting edge 61. The paper guide section 62a is formed by curving a part projecting over the lower side of the flat plate section 62 from a front surface (a surface contacting the paper 401) side of the flat plate section 62 to a back surface side thereof. The paper guide section 62a guides the paper 401 to the paper discharge port 2 to prevent the paper 401 from accidentally entering the back surface side of the flat plate section 62.
The support section 63 supports the flat plate section 62 in a manner of freely moving between a non-use position where the cutting edge 61 contacts the edge of the paper discharge port 2 and a use position where the cutting edge 61 separates from the edge of the paper discharge port 2.
The support sections 63 are located between the both ends of the flat plate section 62 and the mounting section 64 to connect the flat plate section 62 with the mounting section 64. The support section 63 has an elastic force to function as a leaf spring.
Further, the support section 63 has a lever 63a which projects obliquely downward from the front surface side of the flat plate section 62. The lever 63a is included in each support section 63 and is arranged at both lateral parts of the cutting section 6.
The lever 63a is pressed downwards by the front end 32b of the cover 32 at the time the cover 32 is located at a position to close the opening 31a. In response to a pressing down force, the supporting section 63 is curved downward. In this way, the flat plate section 62 becomes a state (use state) of adopting a gesture in which the surface thereof faces obliquely downward (refer to
The operation in such a constitution is described below with reference to
First, as shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
In a state in which the cover 32 is closed, the cutting edge 61 can be seen from the paper discharge port 2; however, since the paper discharge port 2 is sufficiently narrow as described above (the size thereof in the thickness direction of the paper 401 is 2-3 mm), there is no worry that the user of the printer 1 is injured by touching the cutting edge 61.
In this way, the cutting edge 61 is moved in the direction of entering and leaving the edge of the opening 31a along with the movement of the cover 32.
At the time the opening 31a is opened, the cutting edge 61 is housed in the recess 31b, and in this way, inconvenience such as injury of the user caused by accidentally touching the cutting edge 61 at the time of replenishing the roll paper 400 is difficult to occur. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the printer with high safety. Due to adoption of such a structure, it is possible to form the cutting edge 61 by a material and a shape with good sharpness.
At the time the cover 32 closes the opening 31a, the cutting edge 61 leaves the edge of the opening 31a and reaches the middle of the paper discharging port 2, and in this way, the paper 401 can be bent at a sufficient angle at the time of pressing the paper 401 against the cutting edge 61 when the paper 401 is cut. Thus, the paper 401 can be easily cut and a beautiful cut end can be easily obtained.
As described above, in the present embodiment, since the flat plate section 62 is freely movable between the non-use position and the use position, the flat plate section 62 is placed at the non-use position and is difficult to touch at the time of replenishing the roll paper 400. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the printer with high safety, which easily cuts the paper 401.
As in the present embodiment, if the printer 1 has a constitution in which the flat plate section 62 moves in conjunction with the opening and closing of the cover 32, since there is no need for the user to consciously move the flat plate section 62, convenience is high and the safety is also high.
Further, as in the present embodiment, if the movement of the flat plate section 62 is rotation, the angle of the flat plate section 62 at the use position can be an angle at which the paper 401 is easily cut as compared with a case of parallel movement from the non-use position.
In the present embodiment, an application to the printer 1 which is small and usable by being carried is described an example; however, it may be applied to a printer of a size that cannot be carried in practice.
In the present embodiment, the cutting edge 61 enters and leaves the edge of the opening 31a; however, the recess 31b may be not provided in practice. In other words, the cutting edge 61 may contact the edge of the opening 31a or may be sufficiently close to the edge of the opening 31a (Here, sufficiently close means a state in which there is a predetermined gap between the cutting edge 61 and the edge of the opening 31a. The gap is too small to catch the skin of the finger in, and is, for example, 1 mm or less) even if the cutting edge 61 does not enter deeply with respect to the edge of the opening 31a in the state in which the cover 32 is not opened. With such a structure, even if the finger touches the flat plate section 62, since it is difficult for the finger to be damaged by the cutting edge 61, sufficient safety can be obtained as in the present embodiment.
Further, in the present embodiment, the cutting section 6 is mounted in the main body section 31; however, the cutting section 6 may be mounted in either the main body section 31 or the cover 32 as long as the cutting edge 61 can move between a position close to the edge of the opening and a position separated from the edge of the opening.
In the present embodiment, the elasticity for moving the cutting section 6 is realized by the support section 63 in the form of a leaf spring. However, in practice, the elasticity may be realized by other kinds of spring such as a torsion spring.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, by providing the support section 63 of the cutting section 6 with elasticity, the movement of the cutting edge 61 along with the opening and closing of the cover 32 is realized; however, in practice, the movement of the cutting edge 61 may be realized with other methods. Examples of the method (Examples 1 to 3) are shown below.
A gear for transmitting the rotation of the cover 32 to the cutting section 6 is provided in the printer 1 to rotate the flat plate section 62 by a predetermined angle along with the opening and closing operation of the cover 32. Thereby, the flat plate section 62 is housed in (or is close to) the edge of the opening 31a if the cover 32 is opened, and the flat plate section 62 is separated from the edge of the opening 31a if the cover 32 is closed.
A moving mechanism for moving the flat plate section 62 from the non-use position (position shown in
Since the printer 1 is provided with the opening and closing sensor for detecting the opened and closed state of the cover 32 conventionally, it is possible to control the moving mechanism to operate on condition that the opening and closing sensor detects that the cover 32 is closed.
A mechanism for slidably moving the flat plate section 62 along a rail between the non-use position and the use position and locking the flat plate section 62 in a non-movable manner at each position is provided in the cutting section 6. The slide movement and locking and unlocking at each position are executed manually by the user.
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 invention. 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 invention. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-135884 | Jul 2016 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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| 6325558 | Robinson | Dec 2001 | B1 |
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| 20050123336 | Oshida | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20070022858 | Shirotori | Feb 2007 | A1 |
| 20130051892 | Yokoe | Feb 2013 | A1 |
| 20130164071 | Matsuya | Jun 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 09-216436 | Aug 1997 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180009243 A1 | Jan 2018 | US |
