LABEL PRINTER

Abstract

The invention relates to a label printer for printing self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels, said label printer comprising a printhead and a driven print roller, wherein the endless tape labels can be led along a label track between the printhead and the print roller; and a stripping element for stripping off the labels from the print roller, said stripping element being connected downstream of the print roller in a transport direction of the endless tape labels, wherein the print roller is replaceably inserted into a print roller receiver of the label printer and is captively held in the print roller receiver by the stripping element.

Claims

1. A label printer for printing self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels, said label printer comprising a printhead and a driven print roller, wherein the endless tape labels can be led along a label track between the printhead and the print roller; and a stripping element for stripping off the labels from the print roller, said stripping element being connected downstream of the print roller in a transport direction of the endless tape labels, wherein the print roller is inserted into a print roller receiver of the label printer and is captively held in the print roller receiver by the stripping element.

2. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the label printer comprises a cutter for separating the endless tape labels, said cutter being connected downstream of the stripping element in the transport direction of the endless tape labels and comprising a transport roller and a blade unit travelable in a linear manner in parallel with an axis of rotation of the transport roller, with the endless tape labels being able to be led between the transport roller and the blade unit, and with the transport roller of the cutter being supported at the stripping element.

3. The label printer in accordance with claim 2, wherein the stripping element comprises an elongated stripping section whose longitudinal extent extends in parallel with the axis of rotation of the print roller and which, at its two ends disposed in the direction of the axis of rotation of the print roller, has a respective reception section, in particular having a respective edge-side recess, for the two axial ends of the transport roller of the cutter.

4. The label printer in accordance with claim 3, wherein the respective axial end of the transport roller is secured in the respective recess of the respective reception section of the stripping element by a respective axially inserted bearing sleeve.

5. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the label printer comprises a housing casing; and a housing element, in particular a door, that is attached to an open side of the housing casing and that can be folded about a pivot axis between a closed position and an open position, with the printhead being attached in the housing casing and the print roller and the stripping element being attached to the foldable housing element.

6. The label printer in accordance with claim 5, wherein the foldable housing element comprises two mutually oppositely disposed side cheeks which, with their respective first ends, are connected in an articulated manner to a respective side wall of the housing casing, which extend into the housing casing in the closed position of the foldable housing element, and at which, in particular at their respective second ends, the print roller receiver is formed, in particular in the form of a respective edge-side recess for the two axial ends of the print roller.

7. The label printer in accordance with claim 6, wherein the print roller is supported indirectly via a bearing element, in particular a bearing sleeve, at each of its two axial ends in the print roller receiver.

8. The label printer in accordance with claim 6, wherein the two side cheeks are connected to one another via a transverse strut, with the stripping element being attached to the transverse strut of the foldable housing element.

9. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the print roller can be removed from the print roller receiver and inserted into the print roller receiver at an angle in the range from 60° to 120° with respect to the label track.

10. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the stripping element and the print roller have an overlap in the range from 0.3 mm to 3 mm, preferably from 0.3 mm to 2 mm, in a projection onto the label track.

11. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the print roller is produced from an elastically deformable material, in particular silicone, and can be forced in a non-destructive manner past the stripping element out of the print roller receiver and into the print roller receiver while forming an elastic deformation.

12. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the print roller is displaceably supported, in particular by means of an elongate hole arrangement and/or transversely to a removal direction of the print roller, between an operating position, in which the print roller is captively held in the print roller receiver by the stripping element and into which the print roller is preloaded by means of a spring device, and a removal position in which the print roller can be removed from the print roller receiver without resistance by the stripping element.

13. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the stripping element is releasably fastened in the label printer, with the print roller being removable from the print roller receiver without resistance by the stripping element after the release, in particular the unscrewing, of the stripping element.

14. The label printer in accordance with claim 1, wherein the print roller can be removed from the print roller receiver and inserted into the print roller receiver without tools.

15. A scale, in particular a store scale, comprising the label printer in accordance with claim 1.

Description

[0023] The invention will be described in the following by way of example with reference to the drawing. There are shown

[0024] FIG. 1 a scale in accordance with the invention, in particular a store scale, comprising a label printer in accordance with the invention having a housing casing that is closed by a foldable housing element;

[0025] FIG. 2 the label printer in accordance with FIG. 1 in a front view in the region of a label output, wherein a front-side cover plate of the foldable housing element and a front-side cover section of the housing casing are omitted;

[0026] FIG. 3 a perspective view of a frame design of the foldable housing element having two side cheeks and a transverse strut in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0027] FIG. 4 the frame design in accordance with FIG. 3 with a print roller;

[0028] FIG. 5 the frame design in accordance with FIG. 4 with the print roller, a stripping element, and a transport roller of a cutter;

[0029] FIG. 6 the frame design in accordance with FIG. 5 with the print roller, the stripping element, and the transport roller in a view from the direction A in accordance with FIG. 5, wherein one of the two side cheeks is omitted;

[0030] FIG. 7 the stripping element and the transport roller of FIG. 6 in an individual representation;

[0031] FIG. 8 the stripping element of FIG. 7 in an individual representation;

[0032] FIG. 9 a representation of the support of the print roller in accordance with FIG. 4 in one of the two side cheeks; and

[0033] FIG. 10 a further embodiment of the invention.

[0034] The exemplary store scale 11 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a load plate 13 that determines the weight of an item disposed on it and that is displayed both on a display 15 for the customer and on a display 17 for the salesperson. The display 17 is configured as a touch screen such that the store scale 11 can also be operated via it. An identification number (PLU) associated with the respective item can be input via the touch screen 17 such that a price for the item can be calculated by adding the weight and the price is then likewise displayed on the two displays 15, 17. Furthermore, the store scale comprises a label printer 19 to print a label with the weight, the name of the item, and the calculated price.

[0035] The label printer 19 has a housing casing 21 that is open to the front, wherein this open side of the housing casing 21 can be closed by a housing element 23 that is attached to the housing casing 21 and that is foldable about a pivot axis D, with the closed position and thus the operating position of the foldable housing element 23 being shown in FIG. 1. The label printer 19 is operated with self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels. For this purpose, a receiver, not shown in the Figures, for a corresponding label roll on which the endless tape labels are wound is present in the interior of the label printer 19, wherein the label roll can be inserted into the receiver in the open position of the foldable housing element 23. The endless tape labels are fed along a predefined transport path in the label printer 19. After the printing of a respective label, said label is separated from the endless tape and is output at a label output 25 of the label printer 19.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows the label printer 19 in the region of the label output 25, wherein a front-side cover plate 27 of the foldable housing element 23 and a front-side cover section 29 of the housing casing 21 (cf. FIG. 1) are omitted such that the interior of the label printer 19 can be viewed in this region. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the label printer 19 has a cutter 31 by which the labels can be cut off from the endless tape. Viewed in the transport direction of the endless tape labels, the cutter 32 is connected downstream of a printhead 41, which is only shown in FIG. 6 and is only shown schematically there, and of a print roller 43 (cf. FIGS. 4-6, 9 and 10) of the label printer 19, which is driven about an axis of rotation T, between which printhead 41 and print roller 43 the endless tape labels are led. The printhead 41 and the print roller 43 are arranged behind or below the cutter 31 in FIG. 2 and are thus not visible in FIG. 2.

[0037] In accordance with FIG. 2, the cutter 31 comprises a driven transport roller 33, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation R, for the endless tape labels. Furthermore, a blade unit 35 is provided that is travelable in a linear manner in parallel with an axis of rotation R of the transport roller 33. For this purpose, the blade unit 35 is configured as a spindle nut that is driven via a threaded rod 37, with which it forms a threaded spindle, in a travelable manner in both axial directions of the threaded rod 37 by an electric motor 39. The self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels are led between the transport roller 33 and the blade unit 35, wherein the transport roller 33 acts as a counter holder for the blade unit 35. In FIG. 6, the blade unit 35 is only schematically shown.

[0038] In this respect, the label printer 19 is designed such that the printhead 41 and the blade unit 35 are attached in the housing casing 21 and such that the print roller 43 and the transport roller 33 are attached to the foldable housing element 23, as can in particular be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, in which a frame design 45 of the foldable housing element 23 (cf. FIG. 3) is shown together with the print roller 43 and the transport roller 33 that are each held at the frame design 45. The print roller 43 and the transport roller 33 are thus pivoted into the housing casing 21 on the closing of the foldable housing element 23 (cf. the closing direction S in FIG. 3) and thus only adopt their operating position in the closed position of the foldable housing element 23.

[0039] In accordance with FIG. 3, the frame design 45 of the foldable housing element 23 comprises two mutually oppositely disposed side cheeks 47 that, with their one end, are each connected in an articulated manner to a side wall of the housing casing 21, wherein the two pivot points 49 form the pivot axis D of the foldable housing element 23. The two side cheeks 47 extend into the housing casing 21 in the closed position of the housing element 23. Furthermore, the frame design 45 comprises a transverse strut 51 that connects the two side cheeks 47.

[0040] At their second ends, the two side cheeks 47 have a respective edge-side recess 53 into which the two axial ends of the print roller 43 are inserted, as in particular shown in FIG. 4. The two edge-side recesses 53 thus together form a receiver 55 for the print roller 43. The two axial ends of the print roller 43 are in this respect inserted into the two edge-side recesses 53 in an indirect manner via a respective bearing element 57 in the form of a bearing sleeve, as can be seen from FIG. 9. Furthermore, deflection rollers, not shown, for the transport path of the endless tape labels are present between the two side cheeks 47.

[0041] Furthermore, a stripping element 61 is provided that, viewed in the transport direction of the endless tape labels, is connected directly downstream of the print roller 43 and is connected directly upstream of the cutter 31, i.e. is arranged between the print roller 43 and the transport roller 33 of the cutter 31, as in particular shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The stripping element 61 serves to strip off the self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels from the print roller 43 or to prevent an adhesion of the endless tape start to the print roller 43, in particular after a cutting off of a label and, if applicable, after a possible reversing of the endless tape labels.

[0042] The stripping element 61 is likewise attached to the foldable housing element 23 and is pivoted into the housing casing 21 on the closing of the foldable housing element 23. Specifically, the stripping element 61 is attached to the outside of the transverse strut 51 of the frame design 45 of the foldable housing element 23 via two screws 59, viewed in the closing direction S of the foldable housing element 23 (cf. FIGS. 2 and 6).

[0043] The stripping element 61 in this respect also serves as a holder and support of the transport roller 33 of the cutter 31 (cf. FIG. 7). For this purpose, the stripping element 61 also has two reception sections 65 for the transport roller 33 of the cutter 31 in addition to an elongated stripping section 63 whose longitudinal extent is oriented in parallel with the axis of rotation T of the print roller 43 and which satisfies the aforementioned stripping function. The two reception sections 65 have a respective edge-side recess 67 into which the two axial ends of the transport roller 33 are inserted (cf. FIG. 8). The two recesses 67 are bounded by two respective limbs 69 into which the two axial ends of the transport roller 33 are inserted. Subsequently, the axial ends of the transport roller 33 inserted into the two recesses 67 are secured in the reception sections 65 by a respective axially insertable bearing sleeve, not shown.

[0044] Furthermore, the stripping element 61 is arranged so close to the print roller 43 and the direction of removal of the print roller 43 from the print roller receiver 55 is oriented such that the print roller 43 is captively held in the print roller receiver 55 by the stripping element 61. In this respect, many variants that geometrically differ from one another are conceivable. The stripping element 61—viewed in a projection onto the label track 73—by way of example and preferably has an overlap d of 0.3 mm to 3 mm with the print roller 43 (cf. FIG. 6) and the removal direction of the print roller 43 from the print roller receiver 55 is oriented at approximately 70° with respect to the label track 73.

[0045] Despite the captive holding, the print roller 43 can nevertheless be easily removed from the print roller receiver 55 and replaced. For this purpose, the print roller 43 is produced from an elastically deformable material such as silicone and can therefore be forced past the stripping element 61 out of the print roller receiver 55. In this respect, the print roller 43 is deformed in an elastic and thus non-destructive manner. Analogously, the new print roller 43 can be forced into the print roller receiver 55. The replacement of the print roller 43 can therefore take place without tools.

[0046] Naturally, it is also possible that first the stripping element 61 is unscrewed from the transverse strut 51 and then the print roller 43—without still being held by the stripping element 61—is removed from the print roller receiver 55.

[0047] In FIG. 10, a further embodiment of the invention is shown in which the print roller 43 is supported via bearing elements 57, in particular bearing sleeves, in a print roller receiver 55, in particular in edge-side recesses 53, of the side cheeks 47 of the foldable housing element 23. In the two bearing elements 57, a respective elongate hole 71 extending perpendicular to the removal direction of the print roller 43 is provided, in which elongate holes 71 the two axial ends of the print roller 43 are displaceable between the operating position shown and a removal position. In the operating position, into which the print roller 43 is preloaded by means of a spring device that is not shown, the print roller 43 is captively held in the print roller receiver 55 by the stripping element 61 that is not shown in FIG. 10. In the removal position, the print roller 43 can be removed from the print roller receiver 55 past the stripping element 61 without contacting the stripping element 61.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0048] 11 store scale

[0049] 13 load plate

[0050] 15 customer display

[0051] 17 operator touch screen

[0052] 19 label printer

[0053] 21 housing casing

[0054] 23 foldable housing element

[0055] 25 label output

[0056] 27 front-side cover plate

[0057] 29 front-side cover section

[0058] 31 cutter

[0059] 33 transport roller

[0060] 35 blade unit

[0061] 37 threaded rod

[0062] 39 electric motor

[0063] 41 printhead

[0064] 43′ print roller

[0065] 45 frame design

[0066] 47 side cheek

[0067] 49 articulation point

[0068] 51 transverse strut

[0069] 53 edge-side recess

[0070] 55 print roller receiver

[0071] 57 bearing element

[0072] 59 screw

[0073] 61 stripping element

[0074] 63 stripping section

[0075] 65 reception section

[0076] 67 edge-side recess

[0077] 69 limb

[0078] 71 elongate hole

[0079] 73 label track

[0080] A direction

[0081] D pivot axis

[0082] d overlap

[0083] R axis of rotation

[0084] S closing direction

[0085] T axis of rotation