Label printer

A label printer comprising:

• a body housing;
• a platen roller rotatably supported to said body housing, for carrying a label sheet including an elongated base sheet and a plurality of labels separably attached to the base sheet;
• a line head pivotably supported to said body housing for separably contacting said platen roller through the label sheet, for printing an image on the labels;
• a label separating member for bending the base sheet at an acute angle after printing of said image to separate the labels from the base sheet;
• a pinch roller adapted to separably contact said platen roller through the base sheet after separating of the labels;
• a slide frame including at least one support shaft slidably supported by said body housing for movement in a longitudinal direction of said body housing for supporting said pinch roller so that said pinch roller is movable between a contact position and a separated position with respect to said platen roller;
• and
• a frame positioning mechanism projecting from a front surface portion of the base housing for releasably holding said slide frame in the contact position where said pinch roller is in contact with said platen roller.

A label sheet setting method in a label printer comprising a body housing;

• a platen roller rotatably supported to said body housing, for carrying a label sheet which includes an elongated base sheet and a plurality of labels separably attached to the base sheet;
• a line head for separably contacting said platen roller through the label sheet, for printing an image on the labels;
• a label separating member for bending the base sheet at an acute angle after printing of the image to separate the labels from the base sheet;
• a pinch roller adapted to separably contact said platen roller through the base sheet after separating of the labels;
• a slide frame including at least one support shaft slidably supported on said body housing in a longitudinal direction of said body housing for supporting said pinch roller so that said pinch roller is movable between a contact position and a separated position with respect to said platen roller;
• and a frame positioning mechanism for releasably holding said slide frame in the contact position where said pinch roller is in contact with said platen roller;
• said method comprising steps of:
• separating said line head from said platen roller and then inserting a leading portion of the label sheet through a space defined between said platen roller and said line head separated from said platen roller and said line head separated from said platen roller;
• sliding said at least one support shaft of said slide frame in the longitudinal direction of the housing to separate said pinch roller from said platen roller and then inserting a leading portion of the base sheet separated from a foremost one of the labels through a space defined between said platen roller and said pinch roller separated from said platen roller;
• bringing said line head into contact with said platen roller through the label sheet and then sliding said at least one support shaft of said slide frame in the longitudinal direction of the housing to bring said pinch roller into contact with said platen roller;
• and
• releasably holding said slide frame at a front surface portion of said base housing by said frame positioning mechanism.