GB1587749A

GB1587749A - Removably attaching mechanism for ink roller assembly of hand labeler

Info

Publication number: GB1587749A
Application number: GB49532/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Sato Kenkyusho KK
Current assignee: Sato Kenkyusho KK
Priority date: 1976-12-11
Filing date: 1977-11-29
Publication date: 1981-04-08
Also published as: AU2990177A; AU516157B2; BE864966A; FR2373398B1; FR2373398A1; SE7713788L; JPS5928195B2; JPS5374917A; DE2749931A1; NL7713752A

Description

(54) REMOVABLY ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR INK ROLLER ASSEMBLY OF HAND LABELER (71) We, KABUSHIKI KAISHA SATO KENKYISHO, a Japanese Company of 21--23, 3-chome, Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- The present invention relates generally to labeling machines, and more particularly to removably attaching mechanisms for ink roller assemblies of hand labelers.

It has been quite difficult for the conventional attaching mechanism of an ink supply device of forced ink-oozing type label printing and applying machines of portable type to accomplish the attachment and removal (or replacement) of an ink roller because it has such a defective construction as follows.

In one of the conventional constructions, the retaining grooves at the both sides of a front ink roller frame, which is attached to an ink roller assembly, are fitted on a pair of holding members, which are made rotatable independently of each other and which are equipped with guide rollers, so that the ink roller assembly may be attached to the hand labeler. As a result, the replacement of the ink roller is quite difficult.

Since, moreover, the guide rollers are attached to the rear ink roller frame, it is practically impossible to fit only the guide roller in advance into the rear guide roller, to attach to the holding member the ink roller assembly, to which the ink roller frame only is attached, and then to attach the rear ink roller frame to the ink roller frame.

According to this invention a removably attaching mechanism for an ink roller assembly of a hand labeler comprises an ink roller assembly comprising a roller holder for holding an ink roller in a rotatable manner, two manually engageable members elastically biased to be removably attached to said roller holder, and a pair of retaining pins respectively formed on said members; and support means for attachment to a link mechanism of a hand labeler for removably holding said ink roller assembly, said support means including a support member formed with a pair of retaining holes for retaining said retaining pins and a pair of actuating members for elastically biasing said support member.

The invention also includes a hand labeler having such a mechanism.

The invention may be performed in various ways and one specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figs. 1 and 2 are partially cut-away side elevations showing the whole construction of a removably attaching mechanism for an ink roller assembly for a hand labeler, with one frame plate of near side being removed, the former showing the stationary condition while the latter showing the printing condition; and Figs. 3 to 5 show the removably attaching mechanism for the ink roller assembly Fig. 3 being an exploded perspective view of the ink roller assembly, Fig. 4 being a perspective view showing the support member group which is attached to the link mechanism for removably holding the ink roller assembly, and Fig. 5 being a side elevation showing the condition, in which the ink roller assembly is fitted in the support member group.

Figs. 1 and 2 shown the overall construction of a hand labeler which is equipped with a removably attaching mechanism 10 for an ink roller assembly 10A according to the present invention. The frame plates 1 and 1 of the hand labeler, which are juxtaposed to each other, are made to have their front, centre, rear and lower portions jointed by means of a number of support shafts, main shafts, spring shafts and stop pins, thus constituting a machine frame 2.

As shown, there are mounted in a lower front portion of the machine frame 2 not only the removably attaching mechanism 10 but also an ink supply device A which is made movable up and down through a link mechanism and coactive with such a printing device B as will be described hereinafter.

Above the ink supply device, there is located the printing device B of the three stage type which is fixed to the machine frame 2 and which is composed of three printing heads 51, 52 and 53. At the back of the printing device .B, there is located a.drive mechanism C which is.composed of a grip 3, a hand lever 4 and associated parts. At the centre portion of the machine frame 2, there is mounted a constant pressure mechanism D equipped .with a platen 55 which is operative to hit the type surfaces 54 of the printing device B for the printing purpose. At a lower centre portion of the -machine frame 2, there is mounted a label feed mechanism E which is intermittently rotated by the squeezing and releasing actions of the hand lever 4 so as to feed a.continuous strip of labels L pitch by pitch.At a position below and before the label feed mechanism E, there is located a separating device, which is made operative to separate the labels La of the continuous label strip L from a tape of backing paper W forming a loop in a narrow space. In the continuous label strip L, incidentally, the labels La are overlaid on the common backing paper W by way of an adhesive. At a position below and before the separating device F, mor.eover, there is mounted an applicating device G which is made operative to apply each of the labels La separated from the backing paper W of the continuous label strip L to a desired commodity. At an upper centre portion of the machine frame 2, on the other hand, there is located a label holder H, on which a roll of the continuous label strip L is held in a rotatable manner.

Now, the removably attaching mechanism 10 of the ink roller assembly 1 0A is mounted in the ink supply device A and is composed in combination of the ink roller assembly 10A, as -shown in Fig. 3, and of a group of support members 10B, as shown in Fig. 4, which is attached to the link mechanism mounting the assembly 1 0A thereon.

The ink roller assembly 10A is assembled of the parts including a smaller roller a, which is made of a spongy material impregnated with ink, a smaller roller holder 11, on which the smaller roller a is rotatably supported, a larger roller b, which is made similarly to the smaller roller a, a larger roller holder 15, on which the larger roller b is rotatably supported, an attaching holder 19, a pair of knobs 23, and a coil spring 28.

The smaller roller holder 11 is composed of a pair of side plates, the leading ends of which support the smaller roller a in a rotatable manner. A pair of roller shafts 12 and 12 are made to project outwardly from the side plates. These side plates are formed at their base portions with a pair of attaching holes 13 and 13 and with a pair of slots 14 and 14.

The larger roller holder 15 has its paired side plates supporting at their leading ends the larger roller b in a rotatable manner and formed at their outer surfaces with a pair of support projections 16 and 16 and with a pair of guide projections 17 and 17. The roller holder 15 is formed into a shape of letter C and is fitted in the smaller roller holder 1.1 such that its paired support projections 16 and 16 are fitted in the attaching holes 13 and 13 of the smaller roller holder 11 and that its paired guide projections 17 and 17 are inserted into the slots 14 and 14 of the smaller roller holder 11. As a result, the guide projections 17 and 17 are allowed to swing in the ranges of the slots 14 and 14 about the support projections 16 and 16.In case the roller holders 11 and 15 equipped with the smaller and larger rollers a and b are assembled to form a unitary structure, these two ink rollers a and b are juxtaposed along the turning loci of the respective type surfaces 54 of the printing heads 51, 52 and 53.

The larger roller holder 15 is formed at its bridge portion with an engaging groove 18.

The attaching holder 19 is formed into a shape of letter C and is formed at its front bridge portion with an engaging projection 20 which is sized and shaped to correspond to the engaging groove 18 of the larger roller holder 15. Thus, the attaching holder 19 and the larger roller holder 15 are made removably engageable with each other by bringing the engaging projection 20 into engagement with the engaging groove 18. The attaching holder 19 is formed at both its arm portions with a pair of substantially triangular through holes 21 and 21 and with a pair of round through holes 22 and 22.

The paired knobs 23 and 23 to be assembled into the attaching holder 19 are formed on their outer sides with substantially triangular push surfaces 24 and 24, respectively.

The knobs 23 and 23 have their bases 25 and 25 formed at their one side with a cylinder 27a and at their other side with a rod portion 27b such that the cylinder 27a and the rod portion 27b are made to extend inwardly. A coil spring 28 is fitted in the cylinder 27a, and the rod portion 27b is further fitted thereinto so that the paired knobs 23 and 23 may be elastically biased outwardly of each other.

Moreover, a pair of retaining pins 26 and 26 are formed to project outwardly from the leading ends of the bases 25 and 25 of the knobs 23 and 23. Thus, these retaining pins 26 and 26 are fitted in the through holes 22 and 22 of the attaching holder 19, and the push surfaces 24 and 24 are fitted in the through holes 21 and 21 of the holder 19.

As seen mainly from Fig. 4, the support member group 1 0B at the side of the link mechanism is composed of a C-shaped support member 29, a pair of actuating members 32 and 32, and a pair of actuating levers 37 and 37. Further inclusive in the link mechanism are a link 41 and a drive lever 44 which is made coactive with the drive mechanism C, as shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 4, the ink roller assembly 10A is mounted and retained in the support member group 10B. The support member 29 has both its arm plates 29a and 29a formed with retaining holes 30 and 30, in which the paired retaining pins 26 and 26 of the ink roller assembly 1 0A are elastically retained from their inner sides. Both arm plates 29a and 29a are further formed with guide pins 31 and 31 which are made to project outwardly therefrom.

To the outer sides of the support member 29, there are attached a pair of the attaching members 32 and 32 which are formed with slots 35 engaging with the afore-mentioned guide pins 31 and 31. The support member 29 as a whole is biased in the upward directions, as shown in arrows X and X, by the elastic forces of springs 34 and 34, which are mounted on pins 33 and 33 fixed to the outer sides of the respective actuating members 32 and 32.

At the other ends of the inner sides of the paired actuating members 32 and 32, on the other hand, a pair of actuating levers 37 and 37 are elastically biased in the upward directions, as shown in arrows Y and Y.

More specifically, these actuating levers 37 and 37 are swingably supported on support pins 38 and formed with a pair of guide pins 39, which are made engageable with other slots 36 formed in the actuating members 32.

A pair of coil springs 40 are interposed, respectively, between the guide pins 39 and the arms 32a of the actuating members 32 so that both actuating levers 37 and 37 as a whole may be elastically biased in the upward directions about the support pins 38.

Incidentally, the guide pins 31 and 31 of the support member 29 are made to protrude to the outside from the slots 35 and 35 of the actuating members 32 until they are brought into engagement with a pair of guide grooves 56 and 56, which are formed in the inner sides of the frame plates 1 and 1, thus allowing the swinging motions of the whole mechanism. It should be noted that these guide grooves 56 are sized so slightly larger than the diameter of the guide pins 31 as to ensure the spring forces.

The operations of the mechanism will now be described in the following.

In case it is intended to. retrain in the support member group 10B of Fig. 4 the ink roller assembly 10A, in which the two ink rollers a and b shown in Fig. 3 are juxtaposed to each other, the paired knobs 23 and 23, which are outwardly biased by the elastic action of the coil spring 28 of the assembly 10A, are inserted into the space between the support member 29 and the actuating members 32 while being held between two fingers of an operator. On one hand, moreover, the retaining pins 26 and 26 of the respective knobs 23 and 23 are brought, as shown in Fig. 5, into engagement with the paired retaining holes 30 and 30 of the support member 29. As shown in Figs. 5 and 3 (in chain lines), on the other hand, the roller shafts 12 and 12 of the smaller roller a are urged onto the actuating levers 37 and 37 at their one side by the actions of the springs 40.

In the ink roller assembly 10A as a whole, therefore, the larger and smaller rollers b and a are biased through the slots 35 and the guide pins 31 toward the type surfaces 54 of the printing device B by the actions of the springs 34. The smaller roller a itself is further biased independently through the slots 14 and the guide projections 17 toward the type surfaces 54 by the action of the coil springs 40.

The ink supply operations by the removably attaching mechanism will now be cursorily reviewed in the following. When the grip 3 and the hand lever 4 are squeezed, the parts are shifted to the stationary condition of Fig.

1 to the condition of Fig. 2. The paired drive levers 44 and 44 are swung downwardly about a pivot shaft 5, and the paired links 41 and 41, which are connected to the drive levers 44 by means of connecting pins 43 and 43, are swung upwardly about the connecting pins 43 and 43. Then, the arms 32a and 32a of the respective actuating members 32 and 32, which are connected to the links 41 and 41 by means of connecting pins 42 and 42, are swung upwardly about the pivot pins 32b and 32b which are pivotally supported in frame plates 1 and 1.

The ink supply device A accomplishes its operation while the actuating members 32 are being shifted upward. More specifically, the ink roller assembly 10A, which is retained in the support member group 10B, is moved forward by having its guide pins 31 and 31 guided in the guide grooves 56 and 56 which are formed in the frame plates 1 and 1.

In this meanwhile, the two ink rollers a and b of the ink roller assembly 10A are so biased by the actions of the springs 34 and 40 that the ink is applied to the type surfaces 54 of the respective printing heads 51, 52 and 53.

After that, the assembly 10A takes a position apart from the front of the hand labeler, as shown in Fig. 2.

When the hand lever 4 is further squeezed, the constant pressure mechanism D is so actuated that the platen 55 at its leading end is brought under a preset pressure into abutment against those type surfaces 54.

Thus, the printing operation is exerted (under the condition of Fig. 2) upon the label La which is placed on the platen 55. Then, the platen 55 is returned to the stationary position (or the lowered position) of Fig. 1 by the action of a return spring 61.

When the hand lever 4 is subsequently released, the ink supply device A in the position away from the front of the hand labe-ler is returned thereinto until it takes the position df Fig. 1 after its ink rollers a and b àre turifed ågàin on the - type surfaces 54.

Du-iig this returning operation, the còntinu- ous label strip L is advanced a predetermined pitch while the bridkiiig paper W is moved backward by the action of the label feed mechanism E which is composed of a branch lever 97 cif the drive lever 44, a hook 58, a rotatable drum 59 a-nd a feed pin 60.

The removing operations of.the ink roller assembly 10A of the mechanism will now be described in the fdllowing. In the case the prints upon the labels La become dim after the ink in the two ink rollers a and b is cdnsurned to the last droplet as a result of the repeated use of a number of the labels La, the ink roller assembly 10A is taken out as a whole from the support member group 10B.

More specifically? the paired knobs 23 and 23 of the ink roller assembly A are digitally pushed against the biasing action of the spring 28 until its retaining pins 26 are disengaged from the retaining holes 30 and 30 of the support member 29, thus allowing the removal of the assembly A from the support member group B.

Then, the attaching holder 19 is taken out of the larger roller holder 15, and the two ink rollers a and b are disposed of together with their two holders 11 and 15.

After that, fresh roller holders 11 and 15, which have their ink rollers a and b impregnated sufficiently with fresh ink, are fitted in the att8chirig holaei 19, thus preparing a renewed ink roller assembly 10A. Then, this assembly 10A is attached to the support rneinber group 10B so that the replacement of the ink rollers may be finished.

It should be noted here that the attached ïneiit and removal of thé ink roller assembly 10A can boë suitably accomplished under the printing condition of Fig. 2, in which the support member group 10B of the ink supply device A is positioned in front of the hand labeler.

As has been described hereinbefore, the attachment and removal of the ink roller assembly, in which the roller holders rotata- bly supporting the ink rollers are attached to the attaching holder -formed with a pair of knobs and a pair engaging projections, to and from the support niember group, which is attached to the link mechanism of the hand labeler, can be accomplished reliably and easily by fitting the engaging projections into the engaging holes of the support member while digitally holding the knobs, thus preventing the fingers of the operator frown being stained with ink.

Since, moreover, the roller holders for the smaller and larger ink rollers are elastically biased toward the type surfaces of the printing device independently of each other, and since the two ink rollers are juxtaposed to each other along the turning loci on the type surfaces, the ink can be uniformly applied with high precision especially for a hand labeler having a printing device which is composed of three or more printing heads.

There has been described a removably attaching mechanism for use with an ink supply device of forced ink-ooiing type of a hand labeler, in which an ink roller asse'mbly is removably attached in a simplified manner by the fingers of an operator to a support member attached to the link mechanism of the hand labelier and in which the fingers during the attaching operation can be free from being stained with the ink.

The retention between the ink roller as-- sembly and the support member is so en-' sured as to be free from any breakage while the assembly is swinging.

Two ink rollers are made independent of each other and forced so elastically onto the widened type surfaces of a three-stage printing device having three printing heads as to accomplish completely the ink application even for such wide type surfaces.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A removably attaching mechanismzfor an ink roller assembly of a hand labeler, the mechanism comprising: an ink roller assembly comprising a roller holder for holding an ink roller in a rotatable manner, two manually engageable members elastically biased to be removably attached to said roller holder, and a pair of retaining pins respectively formed on said members, and support means for attachment to a link mechanism of a hand labeler for removably holding said ink roller assembly, said support means including a support nremhey formed with a pair of retaining holes for retaining said retaining pins and a pair of actuating members for elastically biasing said support member.

2. A removably attaching mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of guide pins respectively fixed to the actuating members of said support means.

3. A removably attaching mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: an ink roller having a diameter different from that of the first-named ink roller; a roller holder for holding the second-named ink roller in a rotatable manner; and a pair of actuating levers supported elastically upon said actuating members for elastically biasing the roller holder for the ink roller having the smaller diameter.

4. A removably attaching mechanism for an ink roller assembly of a hand labelei substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figs. 3 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

5. A hand labeler capable of accomplishing a plurality of operatioal cycles, each cycle having the steps of printing, dispensing and

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. labe-ler is returned thereinto until it takes the position df Fig. 1 after its ink rollers a and b àre turifed ågàin on the - type surfaces 54. Du-iig this returning operation, the còntinu- ous label strip L is advanced a predetermined pitch while the bridkiiig paper W is moved backward by the action of the label feed mechanism E which is composed of a branch lever 97 cif the drive lever 44, a hook 58, a rotatable drum 59 a-nd a feed pin 60. The removing operations of.the ink roller assembly 10A of the mechanism will now be described in the fdllowing. In the case the prints upon the labels La become dim after the ink in the two ink rollers a and b is cdnsurned to the last droplet as a result of the repeated use of a number of the labels La, the ink roller assembly 10A is taken out as a whole from the support member group 10B. More specifically? the paired knobs 23 and 23 of the ink roller assembly A are digitally pushed against the biasing action of the spring 28 until its retaining pins 26 are disengaged from the retaining holes 30 and 30 of the support member 29, thus allowing the removal of the assembly A from the support member group B. Then, the attaching holder 19 is taken out of the larger roller holder 15, and the two ink rollers a and b are disposed of together with their two holders 11 and 15. After that, fresh roller holders 11 and 15, which have their ink rollers a and b impregnated sufficiently with fresh ink, are fitted in the att8chirig holaei 19, thus preparing a renewed ink roller assembly 10A. Then, this assembly 10A is attached to the support rneinber group 10B so that the replacement of the ink rollers may be finished. It should be noted here that the attached ïneiit and removal of thé ink roller assembly 10A can boë suitably accomplished under the printing condition of Fig. 2, in which the support member group 10B of the ink supply device A is positioned in front of the hand labeler. As has been described hereinbefore, the attachment and removal of the ink roller assembly, in which the roller holders rotata- bly supporting the ink rollers are attached to the attaching holder -formed with a pair of knobs and a pair engaging projections, to and from the support niember group, which is attached to the link mechanism of the hand labeler, can be accomplished reliably and easily by fitting the engaging projections into the engaging holes of the support member while digitally holding the knobs, thus preventing the fingers of the operator frown being stained with ink. Since, moreover, the roller holders for the smaller and larger ink rollers are elastically biased toward the type surfaces of the printing device independently of each other, and since the two ink rollers are juxtaposed to each other along the turning loci on the type surfaces, the ink can be uniformly applied with high precision especially for a hand labeler having a printing device which is composed of three or more printing heads. There has been described a removably attaching mechanism for use with an ink supply device of forced ink-ooiing type of a hand labeler, in which an ink roller asse'mbly is removably attached in a simplified manner by the fingers of an operator to a support member attached to the link mechanism of the hand labelier and in which the fingers during the attaching operation can be free from being stained with the ink. The retention between the ink roller as-- sembly and the support member is so en-' sured as to be free from any breakage while the assembly is swinging. Two ink rollers are made independent of each other and forced so elastically onto the widened type surfaces of a three-stage printing device having three printing heads as to accomplish completely the ink application even for such wide type surfaces. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A removably attaching mechanismzfor an ink roller assembly of a hand labeler, the mechanism comprising: an ink roller assembly comprising a roller holder for holding an ink roller in a rotatable manner, two manually engageable members elastically biased to be removably attached to said roller holder, and a pair of retaining pins respectively formed on said members, and support means for attachment to a link mechanism of a hand labeler for removably holding said ink roller assembly, said support means including a support nremhey formed with a pair of retaining holes for retaining said retaining pins and a pair of actuating members for elastically biasing said support member.

applying a label from a continuous label strip to an article, said ink supply device being made responsive through a link mechanism to the squeezing and releasing actions of a hand lever and provided with an ink roller which is adapted to turn on the type surface of the printing device of said hand labeler so as to apply the ink thereto, including a removably attaching mechanism as claimed in any preceding claim for said ink roller.

6. A hand labeler as claimed in claim 5 when dependent on claim 2, including two guide grooves respectively formed in frame plates and respectively receiving the guide pins.

7. A hand labeler as claimed in claim 5 when dependent; on claim 3, in which the two ink rollers are juxtaposed along their turning loci on said type face.

8. A hand labeler as claimed in claim 5 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.