JPH0243635B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a terminal device, and particularly to the structure of a terminal device including a display device and a printer.

[Background of the invention]

2. Description of the Related Art Devices such as display devices and printers are used as data output devices for terminal devices such as office computers or personal computers.

In known systems of this type, a CRT display is usually used as a display device, and a wire dot printer is often used as a printer. These devices are each housed in a separate housing and are installed near each other. Data from a computer is output to these devices, or data input from a keyboard is
displayed on a CRT display or even a CRT
The content displayed on the display is printed on the printer as a hard copy.

Recently, these display devices and printers have become more compact. For example, desk-top printers have already been put into practical use, and systems are becoming smaller and simpler.

However, even in such conventional systems, the display device and printer remain in separate housings, and still occupy a large portion of the installation space.

An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device that facilitates operations such as maintenance and inspection of a printer.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention is configured to facilitate maintenance and inspection of a horizontally inserted printer. In order to print on a print medium, a printer usually has so-called mechanical parts such as a print head, its driving mechanism, and a paper feed mechanism, and an electronic circuit part that controls these mechanical parts.

The present invention focuses on the fact that the jamming phenomenon of printing paper, especially in impact printers, maintenance and inspection such as replacing the ink ribbon is mostly caused by the above-mentioned mechanical part, and separates this mechanical part from the electronic circuit. The structure is such that this mechanical part can be pulled out. That is, when maintenance or inspection is required, this mechanical part can be pulled out and predetermined work can be performed on the relevant part. Note that the present invention refers to the structure of a printer, so when it is configured as a terminal device, the display device and printer do not need to have an integrated structure, and the display device may not be provided. good. Of course, since a printer and a display device are usually used as a pair, it is preferable to configure these devices as separate casings and use the display device on top of the printer.

[Explanation of Examples]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This terminal device consists of a horizontally inserted printer (hereinafter simply referred to as printer) 1 and a CRT display 2 disposed below the printer. These two devices have an integral housing structure.

Here, the printer 1 is a serial printer equipped with a wire matrix type print head, and this configuration will be described in detail later.

The CRT display 2 has a known function and displays data transferred from an external device such as a computer or a keyboard. The printer 1 prints, for example, the content displayed on the CRT display 2 as a hard copy. Here, the printer 1 is mounted under the CRT display 2, but this is due to the ease of inserting printing paper into the printer 1, the workability of maintenance and inspection of the printer 1, and the ease of printing. vibration as much as possible
This is because consideration has been given to not transmitting the information to the CRT display 2.

Normally, this type of terminal device is installed and used on a table, but since it has the above-described configuration, the installation space is also saved compared to conventional devices.

Next, the structure of the printer 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the main parts of the printer 1. As shown in FIG.

Normally, this type of printer 1 comprises mechanical parts such as a printing head, an ink ribbon cassette, a driving mechanism thereof, a printing paper guiding mechanism, and an electronic circuit part for controlling these mechanical parts. However, jamming of printing paper, replacement of ink ribbon cassettes, and failures of various parts are often caused by the above-mentioned mechanical parts, and maintenance and inspection work for this purpose also targets these parts. This embodiment focuses on this point and has a structure in which the mechanism section is separated from the electronic circuit section to improve workability in maintenance and inspection of the mechanism section. As shown in FIG. 2, these mechanical parts are mounted on a common rack 3, and this rack 3 is configured to be able to be pulled out.

On the other hand, the electronic circuit section 9 is mounted on a printer board 11, and this printer board 11 is attached to the rear of the printer 1 with screws 20. A cable 19 such as an interface cable or a power cable is led out from this electronic circuit section 9 and is connected to, for example, a computer. Furthermore, the electronic circuit section 9
Inspection etc. can be carried out by removing the rear door (not shown). Here, the electronic circuit section 9 is
The reason why we decided to mount and fix it at the rear instead of mounting it on the cable 1 is because the electronic circuit section 9 is connected to quite heavy cables 19 such as interface cables and power cables.
This is because we believe that making it possible to pull out the electronic circuit section 9 by dragging the cable is undesirable from the viewpoint of operability and malfunction due to poor cable contact.

A housing plate 12 is provided to separate the printer 1 and the CRT display 2 from each other.

Now, the mechanical parts of the printer will be explained in detail.

The mechanical parts are mounted on a common rack 3. The rack 3 includes a lower plate 31, a side plate 32, and a back plate 33. Further, a paper insertion table 4 is fixed in front of this 3, and a roller 18 is provided at the lower front side. The roller 18 is in contact with the tabletop surface when the printer 1 is placed on the tabletop, and rotates when loading and unloading the rack 3 to facilitate movement of the rack 3.

A convex portion is provided on the lower side plate 31 of the rack 3, and this convex portion engages with a rail 17 provided on the lower side plate 23 of the casing of the printer 1, and guides the rack 3 so as to smoothly move it in and out. ing. Further, a lever 15 rotatably supported on a shaft is provided at the lower front side of the rack 3.
A claw at the tip thereof can be connected to a stopper 16 provided on the lower side plate 23 of the casing. That is, when pulling out the rack 3, the lever 15 is pushed down, the claw and the stopper 16 are disengaged, and then the rack 3 is pulled out toward the operator. In addition, a cable 10 for electrical connection with the electronic circuit section 9
has a sufficient length even when the rack 3 is pulled out. A form set on the paper insertion table 4,
When so-called cut sheets such as tickets are pressed by an operator, these print sheets are fed into the printing mechanism section through the insertion slot 41.

In this embodiment, in order to reduce the height of the printer 1 as much as possible, the structure of the paper guide path 5 and the arrangement of the platen 14, print head 7, etc. are devised.

That is, a paper conveyance roller 13 is provided near the insertion opening 41 of the paper guide path 5, and a belt 6 is wrapped around the shaft of this roller 13, which is connected to a roller drive section (not shown). Paper guide path 5 is roller 1
In an effort to make the guide path 5 as long as possible, it is bent downward in the vicinity of the guide path 3 and further bent by 90 degrees in the vicinity of the lower side plate 31.

A printing mechanism section is provided in a vertical portion of the paper guide path 5. In the printing mechanism section, a wire matrix type printing head 7 and an ink ribbon cassette 18 are mounted on a carrier 22. The carrier 22 is supported by a support rail 21 fixed to the side plate 21 and is driven by a driving means (not shown) to perform a sliding movement. A platen 14 is provided in the guide path 5 opposite the print head 7.

With this structure, the printing paper inserted through the normal insertion slot 41 is fed into the paper guide path 5 by the roller 13 as shown by the broken line in FIG. The feeding operation stops at the position where there is no. Thereafter, the printing operation is performed line by line by the print head 7. In this case, each time one line is printed, the roller 13 rotates in the reverse direction, and the printing paper is sequentially sent out in the direction of the insertion slot 41.

On the other hand, if the printing paper jams in the middle of the paper guide path 5 or if the ink ribbon cassette 8 needs to be replaced, the operator presses the lever 15 to remove the claw of the lever 15 and the stopper 16. After disengaging from the frame 3, pull it out toward you. The rack 3 is guided by the rails 17 while the rollers 18 rotate and move toward the operator. In this state, measures corresponding to the above-mentioned situation are taken, and then the operation is reversed to the above-mentioned operation to return to the original state.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above,
The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications.

For example, as in this embodiment, the printer and display device do not need to be in an integrated housing; instead, they may be made into separate housings, and the display device housing may be mounted on top of the printer housing. Good too. Even if configured like this,
The installation space for the terminal device can be saved.

Further, the printing means is not limited to printing using a wire matrix type printing head, and various known printing means can be applied.

It is understood that the object of the present invention can be achieved at least depending on the configuration of the printer. Furthermore, the roller 18 may not necessarily be provided in order to pull out the rack 3, or a known means such as a protrusion may be provided in place of the roller 18, although the operability may be slightly reduced.

According to the present invention, the electronic circuit section of the printer and at least the mechanism section are separated and the mechanism section is configured to be able to be pulled out, so that maintenance and inspection work for the mechanism section can be easily performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of main parts of the horizontal insertion type printer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the horizontal insertion type printer. be. 1 is a printer, 2 is a display device, 3 is a rack, 4 is a paper insertion section, 7 is a print head, 9 is an electronic circuit section, 1
0 is the signal cable, 12 is the housing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A mechanism section including at least a mechanism for feeding and guiding a print medium and a mechanism for printing on the print medium, and an electronic circuit section for controlling the mechanism section, the mechanism section and the electronic circuit section The electronic circuit section is mounted in a predetermined part within the housing, and the mechanical section is mounted on a frame that can be pulled out from the housing, and the mechanical section and the electronic circuit section are mounted on a frame that can be pulled out from the housing. In a terminal device connected by an electrical connection cable having a sufficient length even when the body is pulled out from the casing, there is a lever installed on the pedestal, and a lever installed on the casing. A terminal having an engageable stopper, wherein the frame is pulled out by disengaging the lever from the stopper and moving the frame relative to the housing. Device.