Thermal printer and locking mechanism
AssigneeNippon Printer Engineering Inc.
InventorKouki EMORI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal printer includes a housing, a head cover, and a locking mechanism, wherein the locking mechanism includes a lever member and a lock member which are configured so that i) as an operation part is pressed down, the lock member rotates in a direction to move a claw away from the lock pin, and a lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin and ii) as the operation part of the lever member is pulled up, a portion of the lever member presses the lock member, whereby the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the lock pin, and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin.
Claims13
A thermal printer comprising:
- a thermal head that performs printing on a long sheet drawn from a roll;
- a platen roller that i) is located at an opposing side with respect to the thermal head with the sheet interposed between the platen roller and the thermal head and ii) feeds the sheet;
- a housing that holds the platen roller so that the platen roller can rotate;
- a cover that i) holds the thermal head, ii) is coupled to the housing so that the cover can be opened and closed about a pivot point at one side along the sheet in a width direction, and iii) is provided so as to move between a closed position where the thermal head contacts the platen roller and an opened position where the thermal head is separated from the platen roller;
- and
- a locking mechanism that locks the cover to the housing;
- wherein
- the locking mechanism includes:
- a lever member that is rotatably supported by the cover and is formed with an operation part operated by an operator, and
- a lock member, rotatably supported by the housing and formed with a claw engaging a lock pin of the cover, that maintains the cover in the closed position with the claw engaging the lock pin, and
- the lever member and the lock member are configured so that i) as the operation part is pressed down, the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the lock pin, and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin and ii) as the operation part of the lever member is pulled up, a first contact part which is a portion of the lever member presses the lock member, whereby the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the lock pin, and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin.
A locking mechanism for locking a cover to a housing in a printing device, the printing device comprising i) the housing that holds one of a thermal head and a platen roller for printing on a sheet and ii) a cover that holds another of the thermal head and the platen roller, and is coupled to the housing so that the cover can be opened and closed about a pivot point at one side along a sheet in a width direction, the locking mechanism comprising:
- a lever member that is rotatably supported by the cover and is formed with an operation part operated by an operator;
- and
- a lock member that is rotatably supported by the housing, is formed with a claw engaging a lock pin of the cover, and maintains the cover in a closed position with the claw engaging the lock pin, wherein
- the lever member and the lock member are configured so that i) as the operation part is pressed down, the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the lock pin, and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin and ii) as the operation part of the lever member is pulled up, a portion of the lever member presses the lock member, whereby the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the lock pin, and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the lock pin.
A locking mechanism for locking a second member to a first member, comprising:
- a lever member that is rotatably supported by the second member and is formed with an operation part operated by an operator;
- and
- a lock member that is rotatably supported by the first member and is formed with a claw engaging with a first shaft of the second member, and maintains the second member in a closed position with the claw engaging the first shaft, wherein
- the lever member and the lock member are configured so that
- (i) from the locked state in which the claw engages the first shaft, as the operation part of the lever member moves in a first direction, the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the first shaft and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the first shaft, and
- (ii) as the operation part of the lever member moves in a second direction opposite to the first direction, a portion of the lever member presses the lock member, whereby the lock member rotates in a direction to move the claw away from the first shaft and the lock is released by the claw being disengaged from the first shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.