Rolled sheet support mechanism and printer

A rolled sheet support mechanism for pivotally supporting a rolled sheet obtained by winding a recording sheet around a cylindrical core tube, comprising:

• a pair of guide plates arranged in parallel to each other with the rolled sheet disposed therebetween, and opposed to side surfaces of the rolled sheet;
• a pair of support members arranged between the rolled sheet and the pair of guide plates, and having, at ends thereof, insertion portions partially inserted into opening portions of the core tube, which are exposed to the side surfaces of the rolled sheet;
• a displacement member displaceable between an attachment position and an accommodation position for the rolled sheet while supporting the pair of support members movably in an axial direction of the core tube, with the pair of support members being slidable along the guide plates when the displacement member undergoes displacement between the attachment and accommodation positions;
• and
• a biasing member arranged between each of the guide plates and each of the support members, for biasing the support member with an elastic force in such a direction that the support member is spaced apart from the guide plate and pressing the insertion portion so that it is partially inserted into the opening portion of the core tube to allow the rolled sheet to be pivotally supported,
• wherein the pair of guide plates have a distance therebetween, which becomes smaller from the attachment position toward the accommodation position.

A rolled sheet support mechanism for rotatably supporting a rolled sheet wound on a core tube, comprising:

• a pair of guide plates disposed in opposed spaced-apart relation to each other, the guide plates having opposed first portions and opposed second portions, the opposed first portions being spaced farther apart than the opposed second portions;
• a displacement member having a pair of opposed spaced-apart wall portions and being displaceable between an attachment position in which the wall portions are disposed between the opposed first portions of the guide plates and an accommodation position in which the wall portions are disposed between the opposed second portions of the guide plates;
• a pair of support members axially slidably mounted to respective ones of the wall portions of the displacement member and partially insertable in an axial direction into opposite ends of a core tube of a rolled sheet when the displacement member is in the attachment position;
• and
• a pair of biasing members interposed between the guide plates and the support members for applying an elastic pressing force to the support members to press them to the core tube, the biasing members being in contact with the guide plates and slidable therealong from the opposed first portions to the opposed second portions to increase the pressing force of the support members when the displacement member is displaced from the attachment position to the accommodation position.