Sato Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha

Kabushiki Kaisha Sato

Sato Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Sato Chishiki Zaisan Kenkyusyo

Tamotsu Katayama

Taichi Ozawa

Keita Kuramochi

Kenji Hirose

Takashi Shioya

Miki Ota

An embodiment of the present invention is a printer including: a feed roller configured to feed a print medium; a print head configured to pinch the print medium with the feed roller and to print on the print medium; at least a biasing member configured to bias the print head in a first direction toward the feed roller; and an abutting part that abuts on the print head. The print head comprises: a first side biased by the biasing member, and a second side that is an opposite of the first side, the second side facing the feed roller. When seen from a side view of the printer, a point of applying a biasing force of the biasing member to the print head is between a position at which the print head receives a reaction force from the feed roller and a position at which the abutting part supports the second side of the print head. The print head is swingable around a fulcrum at the abutting part in a clockwise swinging direction and a counterclockwise swinging direction in a side view of the printer.

Printer

A printer includes a body case that includes a placement surface for the printer and an accommodating chamber for accommodating a roll body into which a belt-shaped print medium are wound; a printer cover configured to open and close the accommodating chamber; a platen roller that is attached to the printer cover and configured to convey the belt-shaped print medium drawn out of the roll body; and a hinge that includes a hinge shaft and is configured to couple the printer cover with the body case so that the printer cover is swingable about the hinge shaft relative to the body case. The printer cover includes an upper surface portion and an inclined surface portion, the inclined surface portion being provided between the hinge shaft and the upper surface portion and inclined relative to the placement surface.

A printer capable of separating a print medium from a mount and ejecting the print medium includes: a platen roller configured to feed, along a feeding path, a mount to which a print medium temporarily adheres; a print head configured to print on the print medium, the print head being opposed to the platen roller; a driven roller that is movable between a first position and a second position different from the first position; a separation member configured to separate a feeding path of the mount and a feeding path of the print medium; and a looseness prevention mechanism configured to prevent the mount from being loose while the driven roller moves from the second feed position to the first feed position. The first position is a position where the driven roller is opposed to the platen roller. The driven roller is configured to be driven by the platen roller while coming in contact with the mount.

A communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention is performed between a communication device and an electrical apparatus by use of non-contact short-range wireless communication method. The electrical apparatus includes a built-in antenna in the vicinity of a first region of a surface exposed to the outside of the electrical apparatus. The antenna is provided for non-contact short-range wireless communication with the communication device. The communication method includes the steps of: preparing a storage box to which information is provided at a predetermined position on an exterior surface of the storage box, the information indicating where the antenna is placed; storing the electrical apparatus in power-off state, into the storage box, and thereby placing the electrical apparatus in the storage box such that the first region of the electrical apparatus is close to the predetermined position of the storage box; and moving the communication device close to the predetermined position of the storage box to initiate communication between the communication device and the electrical apparatus.

Communication method and packing box

The printer in the exemplary embodiment includes a functional unit Y. The functional unit Y includes: an opening and closing cover; a platen roller; a thermal head, a control board unitand a battery container. The functional unit Y is accommodated in a body case. A front coveris fixed to a body case. The front coverenables the opening and closing coverto be opened and closed, and protects the functional unit Y.

A printer has a separation unit attached to a support board. The separation unit includes a guide rail hole to engage with a shaft so as to slide and swing with respect to the support board. The separation unit moves to a continuous ejection position in which one end of the guide rail hole comes in contact with the shaft, swings in a first rotation direction about the shaft in contact with the other end side of the guide rail hole so as to move away from a thermal head to a swing end position in which the separation unit on the forward end side is within a swing trajectory of the opening and closing cover, and swings from the swing end position in a second rotation direction while engaging on the forward end side with the opening and closing cover moving to the closed position so as to be located at a separation ejection position where the separation roller is adjacent to the feed roller when the opening and closing cover is located at the closed position.

A printer cover locking mechanism has a reduced number of parts and may be assembled in a small space, by simplification of a print head (thermal head ()) mechanism, a cover lock () mechanism relating to opening and closing of an opening and closing cover (), and a heat dissipation mechanism for a print head (). The cover lock () also serves as a heat dissipation plate. A printer cover locking mechanism includes the opening and closing cover () that opens and closes with respect to a printer housing (). A print head () for printing on print paper (continuous label body ()), a platen roller () for feeding a print paper () by sandwiching the print paper () between the platen roller () and the print head (), and a cover lock () for causing the print head () to contact with and separate from the platen roller () by engaging with and disengaging from the platen roller (), respectively. The print head () is attached on the cover lock (), and the cover lock () is capable of dissipating heat generated from the print head ().

Printer cover locking mechanism

Portable printer

A linerless label roll-up preventing device for a thermal printer that prevents roll-up of the linerless labelon the platen roller. A roll-up preventing plateis applied to a slit () formed in the outer surface of the platen roller (), and protrudes to form a roll-up preventing edge () at a portion of the roll-up prevention plate (). A roll-up preventing platebeing fixed to a slit (), formed in the radial surface of the platen roller (), relatively to the platen roller (), and formed with a roll-up preventing projection edge, at a portion of the roll-up preventing plate (), projecting out slightly from the outer circumferential surface of the platen roller () and capable of contacting the back surface of the linerless label ().

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Tamotsu Katayama