Star Micronics Company Limited

Tadashi Nonaka

Kanji Suzuki

Hideo Kanbe

Yasufumi Mochizuki

Ryotaro Sugimoto

Kazuyasu Ono

Takeshi Ogawa

Osamu Mizuno

A printer provided with a paper cutter apparatus having improved durability and preventing an increase in size of the whole printer is provided. The printer is provided with the paper cutter apparatus having a fixed blade and a drivable movable blade. The printer comprises a body and a swing door openably attached to the body. The fixed blade is provided in the body and the movable blade is provided in the swing door. A driving link is provided in the swing door and coupled to the movable blade. A driving motor as a driving source is provided in the body. A slider is provided in the body. Driving force of the driving motor is conveyed to the driving link via the slider and the movable blade is moved toward the fixed blade by the driving link.

Printer

In a printer, when a cover is closed, a paper issuing path, and a paper setting path are formed downstream from a cutter mechanism in a paper transport path. The paths are switched over by a movable guide. During a normal printing process, the movable guide is swung by its own weight to close the paper setting path, and guides a paper to the paper issuing path. By contrast, during a process of setting paper, the movable guide is swung by the rigidity of the paper itself toward the paper issuing path, whereby the paper is prevented from being deformed with respect to the cutter mechanism.

In a force cutting type paper cutter, a movable blade includes a pair of right and left edges having a V shape. These right and left edges are intersected and brought into pressure contact with a linear cutting edge of a fixed blade. The movable blade also includes a pair of right and left elastic pieces formed by a lateral slit and a division slit provided in the movable blade. These elastic pieces are held in an inclined state to the side of the fixed blade and such that the edges overlap with each other. During a cutting stroke, the elastic pieces are held a state in which the edges of the movable blade always make point contact with the edge of the fixed blade and uneven abutment is prevented.

Paper cutter

In a printer, a body cover is reclosably attached to a printer body ( ). A fixed blade ( ) and a movable blade ( ) are attached to the printer body ( ) and the body cover ( ), respectively. The movable blade ( ) is superposed on the fixed blade ( ) when moved toward the fixed blade. Thus, a paper jam can quickly be cleared. Moreover, paper can be cut well.

Disclosed are printers capable of easy and precise head gap adjustment. In the printer, a cam mechanism,consisting of a fixed cam,and a rotatable cam,put between each end of a platen,and a swing frame,. The platen,is normally biased to the swing frame,by a torsion coil spring,. A driving gear,rotatably supported on the swing frame,is engaged with a driven gear,formed on the rotatable cam,. The driving gear,is rotated by an operating tool,inserted from above, whereby the rotatable cam,is rotated by gear drive. In accordance with the rotation of the rotatable cam,, the platen,vertically moves with the fixed cam,, whereby head gap with respect to a printing head is adjusted. The driving gear,can be unrotatable by securing a screw,as a rotatable axis thereof by operation from above, whereby the platen,is secured.

Head gap adjusting device for printer

Recording apparatus with a recording paper mounted in an open/close cover

A paper discharge apparatus ensures guiding of paper to be discharged to smoothly perform a paper discharging operation. The paper discharge apparatus ensures guiding of the paper toward paper discharge means when the paper to be discharged to a discharge port is delivered. The paper discharge apparatus provided in a paper discharge portion of a printer for discharging paper comprises discharge means for receiving the paper to be discharged and discharging the paper toward a discharge port, storage means for looping the paper to be discharged and storing the looped paper before when the paper is discharged, and guide means for guiding a leading end of the paper introduced into the storage means to the discharge means, and for promoting the looping of the paper which is looped as the paper is introduced into the storage means.

Paper discharge apparatus

The present invention relates to a paper discharge apparatus provided together with a printer for discharging printed matter such as a receipt or a ticket. The paper discharge apparatus stores paper then feeds it during printing, and discharges the paper upon completion of printing. It is possible to perform stable printing and discharge operations because a recipient does not touch the paper during printing. The paper discharge apparatus stops the discharge of the paper when an obstruction occurs, and it quickly restarts the discharge when the obstruction is removed.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Tadashi Nonaka