WO1996005062A1

WO1996005062A1 - Device for printing on a strip medium from a roll

Info

Publication number: WO1996005062A1
Application number: PCT/FR1995/001055
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernard Patry
Original assignee: Axiohm
Priority date: 1994-08-12
Filing date: 1995-08-04
Publication date: 1996-02-22
Also published as: FR2723548A1; AU3168495A; FR2723548B1

Abstract

Device for printing a medium (34) in the form of a web or strip, comprising a frame (1), a movable carriage (4), driving means (5, 6) for shifting the carriage along the guide (2, 3) in both directions, a printing head (8) carried by the carriage (4), a panel (16) carried by the frame (1) and located opposite the head (8), a mechanism (19, 21) for guiding and driving the strip (34) between the printing head (8) and the panel (17) in an orthogonal direction to that of the carriage guide. The frame (1) has at least two parts capable of being at least partially separated, one part carrying the panel (16), while the other carries the carriage guide (2, 3).

Description

Device for printing a strip support from a roll

The present invention relates to a device for printing a support, for example a strip section to form a ticket justifying a transaction.

. More specifically, the invention relates to printing devices in which the print head is integral with a carriage which moves back and forth along a rectilinear guide, transverse to the ribbon to be printed, this ribbon being to him moved perpendicularly to the guide after the execution of a printing line. Whatever the type of print head used, inkjet, impact, thermal, the carriage is slidably mounted on two parallel rods carried by a frame and constitutes for example the nut of a screw-nut system whose screw rotatably mounted in the frame is coupled to a drive motor. There are other systems for driving the head along the guide such as those implementing an endless loop (wire or strap) on which the head is fixed and which is wound around a driving pulley and d 'a return pulley. Opposite the print head, the frame comprises a desk parallel to the guide and of width equal to the length swept by the print head, which forms the support for the zone of ribbon to be printed. The ribbon is therefore guided and driven between the print head and the guide by means of a mechanism essentially comprising a roller or a friction roller, that is to say made of elastomeric material, and a paper application member. against at least one generator of this friction roller so that the roller or friction roller rolls without sliding relative to the paper and causes the latter to drive. In general, this drive mechanism is located upstream of the print head and the console, the ribbon being pushed between them.

This arrangement common to practically all ticket printers has several disadvantages. nients. One of them is experienced during the introduction of the ribbon initiation. Thus the end of a ribbon is introduced into a slot extended by a guide element to lead this end to the vicinity of the drive roller and in the nip angle formed by the latter with the enforcement body. It is then necessary to control the supply of the drive motor in rotation of the roller so that the end of the ribbon is swallowed and driven into the printer. This operation is a little delicate and constitutes a nuisance for the user.

In addition, there are many risks of incorrect insertion and it is not uncommon for the biased paper, which is often the case when the end of the ribbon is cut obliquely, jams in the machine after a few centimeters of impression. Furthermore, when the printhead is a thermal printhead, that is to say which involves a friction contact between the paper and the head, the whole being pressed against the desk, it is necessary, before introducing the ribbon into the machine, take off the head of the desk. This separation is obtained by a mechanism integrated into the carriage and its drive device, a mechanism which complicates the printer and increases the cost thereof.

Another drawback of this type of paper feeding is a consequence of the applications of this type of device. Indeed, these devices are often set up in self-service stations which are not constantly under the supervision of a qualified operator and therefore can be the object of malicious acts. The most frequent of these consists in blocking the edition of the ticket by opposing the entrainment of the ribbon. This action takes place downstream of the print head and the drive device and results in a winding of the ribbon around the roller or friction roller. A jam then occurs and the machine is put out of service. in service then requires the intervention of a qualified workforce who must proceed with an at least partial disassembly of the device to release the drive roller from the paper which has wound up there. By the invention there is provided a printer with a carriage print head in which it is very simple to install a new print support ribbon and it is easy to intervene when a jam occurs, in particular following of malice. To this end, the subject of the invention is therefore a device for printing a support of the tape or ribbon type comprising a frame, a carriage movable along a straight guide integral with the frame, motor means for moving the carriage the along the guide in both directions, a printhead carried by the carriage, a console carried by the frame and located opposite the printhead, parallel to the carriage guide, the ribbon being moved between the printhead printing and the desk in a direction orthogonal to that of the carriage guide, in which device the frame is in two parts at least partially separable from each other, the desk being carried by one of the parts, l other part carrying the carriage guide.

It is understood that this arrangement which makes it possible to move the print head away from the desk offers a clear space for placing the support between them. Putting the printer into service then simply involves bringing the parts previously separated or spaced apart from each other. In practice, it is therefore sufficient, after opening the frame, to put the paper tape in place, for example on the frame part which carries the carriage guide and to bring back the other part, which leads to its correct application between the print head and music stand. In certain embodiments, the frame may be in two completely separable parts which are kept coupled to one another by snap-fastening or any equivalent device. Elastic tabs provided on these frame parts can ensure this snap-fastening and, by elastic deformation, can be disengaged to allow the separation of the two frame parts.

In other embodiments, the two parts are not completely separable, but connected to one another by an articulation. They can thus pivot one relative to the other.

In a particular embodiment, the articulation has an axis parallel to the guide of the carriage.

In addition, the frame may include an internal volume intended to contain a roll of ribbon to be printed, the frame part equipped with the console forming a wall, for example a hinged cover for discovering or covering an access opening to this volume.

Furthermore, in such an embodiment, the mechanism for guiding and driving the ribbon between the print head and the console comprises at least one friction roller carried by one of the parts of the frame (for example the cover) and at at least one member for applying the tape against the roller carried by the other part of the frame.

Thus, the applicator member may be constituted by a leaf spring shaped to partially match the friction roller (s) when the cover is closed and to rest thereon elastically. This embodiment is advantageous since the leaf spring can comprise a cam-shaped zone projecting in the path traveled by the drive roller (s) during the pivoting of the cover, thus constituting a nose for locking the cover in its closed position. of the volume in which the roll of ribbon is located The member for applying the ribbon against the drive roller also constitutes a cover closing latch which can be sufficient that no other snap or locking device is required.

Finally, the invention is particularly advantageous when it comes to a thermal printing head, the desk then being mounted oscillating on the cover around an axis parallel to the guide of the carriage. In this case, there is indeed no longer any need to provide the device for lifting the head relative to the desk during the introduction of the paper. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description of an embodiment and of a variant given below by way of example.

Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a simplified sectional view, along a plane perpendicular to the displacement of the print head of a first embodiment of a printer according to the invention, comprising a reserve for the paper and part of which of frame form cover for closing this reserve,

FIG. 2 is a simplified view in the direction F of FIG. 1, of this printer,

FIG. 3 illustrates the installation of a printing support ribbon in the printer illustrated by the preceding figures,

- Figure 4 illustrates in a view similar to that of Figure 1, an alternative embodiment of the printer according to the invention. - Figures 5 and 6 are two diagrams illustrating two other embodiments of the invention.

The printer frame is shown in the figures in the form of a box 1 in which two rods 2 and 3 form a guide for a carriage 4 which can slide there in directions A and B (Figure 2). This carriage 4 constitutes in known manner, the nut of a screw / nut system don the screw 5, parallel to the rods 2 and 3, is coupled to a drive motor 6 carried by the frame 1 (here outside its side walls). The carriage 4 comprises a support 7 for a print head 8, this support 7 here being represented in the form of an arm articulated to the carriage 4 around an axis 9 parallel to the guides 2 and 3, and biased in the direction opposite clockwise around this axis 9 by a spring 10.

Beyond the rods 2 and 3, to the left of Figure 1, the housing 1 is extended by a base 11 which, by its end furthest from the carriage 4, provides a bearing 12 for the articulation of a wall mobile 13 of the frame forming a cover. The articulation axis 14 defined by the bearing 12 (more exactly two bearings 12 formed at each of the transverse ends of this extension 11 of the housing 1) is parallel to the guide of the carriage formed by the two rods 2 and 3. The cover 13 has two side walls, only one of which 15 is visible in FIG. 1, between which extends a desk 16 which offers a flat surface 16a opposite the print head 8 on which this head 8 rests elastically when the cover 13 is in its closed position as shown in FIG. 1. This console is actually mounted oscillating between the two side walls such as 15 of the cover 13 around an axis 17 and within relatively small angular limits defined by stops not shown. ¬ tees. Between these two side walls, the cover also comprises a transverse axis 18 which carries one or more rollers 19, integral in rotation with the axis 18, these rollers being made of a material of the elastomer type, that is to say coefficient high friction when cooperating with paper. Beyond the wall 15, the axis 18 is provided a pinion 20 by which, as described below, this axis 18 therefore the rollers 19 can be driven in a rotational movement in the direction C. It will have been noted that the axis 18 is located under the desk 16 of so that, when the cover is folded down, the rollers 19 are the transverse members of the cover which penetrate first inside the frame.

The housing 1 has under the print head 8 a member 21 for applying the paper tape against the drive roller (s) 19. In the variant shown in Figures 1 and 2, this applicator member 21 is secured to the non-opening part of the frame and is conformed to a spring plate against which the corresponding roller 19 bears. Assuming that the paper drive member comprises two rollers 19 cooperating with the paper margins close to its lateral edges, the applicator member 21 comprises, as shown in FIG. 2, two spring plates 22, 23 which will be located opposite the rollers 19 when the cover 13 is closed, the member 21 may also include between the two plates 22 and 23 a deflecting portion 24 which helps guide the paper. Each of the spring plates 22, 23 is formed so that it has a nose 25 which projects on the path of each roller 19 so that when the cover is closed, each roller 19 pushes the nose 25 to 1 ' against the elastic return force of the member 21 to pass under the nose, the latter then being resiliently recalled in overhang C of each roller 19 thus forming a lock for closing the cover 13. It should be noted in this in view that the direction of rotation of each roller 13 is such that the reaction of the friction of these rollers against the member 21 tends to press the cover 13 downwards, therefore to reinforce the locking force of this cover. Finally, it will be noted in these figures 1 and 2 that the pinion 20, when the cover is closed, meshes with the last pinion 26 of a train of toothed wheels which transmits the output movement of a drive motor 27 to the roller 19 when the meshing between the pinion 20 and the toothed wheel 26 is produced. In the case of figure, the gear train coupling the motor 27 to the pinion 20 is located outside a side wall of the housing 1 while the motor 27 is located inside this housing.

FIG. 3 illustrates without ambiguity the advantage of the printer according to the invention. We find there most of the elements already described with the same references. In fact, when the cover 13 is tilted around the axis 14, there is a wide access 30 by which it is possible to place a roll of paper 31 in the interior volume defined by the part 11 of the housing 1 and the cover 13 when the latter is closed. Placing the paper simply involves manually holding the end of the ribbon while closing the cover as indicated by arrow D. The paper is then correctly positioned between the rollers 19 and the applicator member 21 on the one hand and between the print head 8 and the desk 16 on the other hand. The ease with which the paper can be set up is very advantageous. In fact, any operator is able to reload a printer according to the invention in this way. In addition, the maintenance of such a machine is considerably reduced because if an incident occurs relating to the circulation of the paper, any operator, even an unqualified operator, can open the cover or the cover 13 to have direct access. to paper and quickly remedy the incident.

Of course, the cover 13 has, for example laterally, imprints which allow it to be easily maneuvered manually.

It will be noted with reference to FIG. 1 that, when the cover is in its closed position, it defines with the part 32 integral with the frame and overhanging the printing head 8, a slot 33 for the passage of the printed ribbon 34 coming from the roller 31. This part 32 can be equipped with any cutting device making it possible to detach the strip section from the printer to form a ticket (cutting blade with or without saw teeth ...).

The variant embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 differs from that previously described by the kinematic inversion between the roller 19 for driving the paper and the leaf spring 21 for applying this paper to the roller (s) 19. In Indeed in this alternative embodiment, it is the leaf spring 21A which is integral with the cover 13 while the roller or rollers 19A belong to the stationary part of the frame. Given the direction of rotation of the roller which tends to push the paper between the print head and the desk, the friction forces also tend to lift the cover in the direction of its opening. In such an alternative embodiment, it will therefore be preferable to provide means for snap-fastening the cover onto the stationary part of the additional frame with which, for example, the side walls can be provided corresponding to the frame and the cover.

In the diagram of Figure 5, there is shown a frame 100 having two separable parts 101 and 102. The part 101 is internally equipped with the same device as that already described with reference to the previous figures, namely two rods 2 and 3 forming a guide for a carriage 4 cooperating with a screw 5 to be moved. The carriage is also provided with a support 7 for a printing head 8. Part 102, for its part, carries the console 16 which is placed facing the head 8 when the frame is "closed". When the parts 101 and 102 are separated, the printing head 8 is discovered. It is then easy to place a ribbon of sensitive paper 34 on this part of the frame, this paper coming from a roll 31 stored in any additional support adapted. The paper drive can be obtained by two pinch rollers 103 and 104, one of them being motor (coupled in a known manner to an electric motor) and carried by the part 101 of the frame 100, the other carried mad by part 102.

In FIG. 6, the two parts 105 and 106 of the frame 100 are articulated to one another around an articulation 107 not parallel to the guide of the printing head 8, the paper 34 moving in the direction A. The feeding and guiding of the paper in direction A are obtained by means of a mechanism (not shown) which can be separated from the printer.

These two diagrams illustrate two possible embodiments of the invention other than that described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 to emphasize the fact that the characteristic arrangements of the invention can be associated with any device providing a paper tape thanks to the ease of paper placement or intervention in the event of an incident.

Claims

1. Printing device for a support (34) of the strip or ribbon type comprising a frame (1), a movable carriage (4) along a straight guide (2, 3) secured to the frame (1), motor means (5, 6) for moving the carriage along the guide (2, 3) in both directions, a print head (8) carried by the carriage (4), a console (16) carried by the frame (1) and located opposite the print head (8) parallel to the guide (2, 3) of the carriage, the ribbon (34) being moved between the print head (8) and the console (16) in a direction orthogonal to that of the carriage guide, characterized in that the frame (1) is in two parts at least partially separable from each other, the console (16) being carried by one of the parts, the other part carrying the guide (2, 3) of the carriage (4).

2. Device according to claim 1, caracté¬ ized in that the frame part comprising the desk is articulated to the other part.

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the articulation of the two parts to each other is of axis parallel to the guide of the carriage.

4. Device according to any one of the preceding revendi¬ cations, characterized in that the frame has an internal volume intended to contain a roll of ribbon to be printed and in that the frame part equipped with the desk forms a removable wall for discovering or cover an access opening to this volume.

5. Device according to any one of the preceding revendi¬ cations, characterized in that it comprises a mechanism for guiding and driving the ribbon between the head and the console which comprises at least one friction roller carried by one parts of the frame and provided with means for its coupling to a drive motor and at least one tape application member, at least one of the generators of the roller carried by the other part of the built.

6. Device according to claim 5, caracté¬ ized in that the roller is carried by the frame part carrying the desk, -

7. Device according to claim 6, caracté¬ ized in that the applicator member is constituted by at least one leaf spring carried by the frame part equipped with the carriage guide and shaped to bear at least elastically on at least one of the generators of the friction roller when the two frame parts are joined.

8. Device according to claim 3 and claim 7, characterized in that the leaf spring comprises a zone (25) in the form of a cam, projecting in the path traveled by the roller (19) during the relative pivoting of the frame parts and constituting mutual locking noses of the two frame parts in an assembled state.

9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the print head (8) is a thermal print head applied elastically against the desk (16) when the frame is in its assembled state, the desk ( 16) being mounted oscillating on the corresponding frame part (13) around an axis (17) parallel to the guide (2, 3) of the carriage (4).