Printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9682581-B2
Application number	US-201615019174-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2016
Priority date	Apr 2, 2012
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a printer includes a housing that has an outlet, a drawer unit, first, second and third print medium support units and a printing unit. The drawer unit slides in the outlet between an open position and a closed position. The first supporting unit is disposed in the drawer unit and supports a roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the open position so that an outer surface of the roll of printable media does not extend above the height of the outlet. The second supporting unit is disposed in the housing and rotatably supports the roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the closed position so that a portion of the outer surface of the roll of printable media extends above the height of the outlet. The printing unit prints on printable media fed from the roll of printable media.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A printing apparatus comprising:
a housing with an outlet having a height h;
a drawer unit slidable in the outlet between an open position and a closed position;
a first supporting unit disposed in the drawer unit and configured to support a roll of printable media having a diameter D which is equal to or less than the height h, the first supporting unit supporting the roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the open position so that an outer surface of the roll of printable media does not extend above the height h of the outlet;
a second supporting unit disposed in the housing and configured to rotatably support the roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the closed position so that a portion of the outer surface of the roll of printable media extends above the height h of the outlet; and
a printing unit configured to print on printable media fed from the roll of printable media.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the printing unit further comprises:
a first printing unit configured to print on a front surface of the printable media; and
a second printing unit configured to print on a back surface of the print media.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the second supporting unit is spaced from a position of the roll of printable media with the drawer unit when the drawer unit is in an open position.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the first supporting unit includes a roller adapted to support the roll of printable media at the outer circumference of the roll of printable media disposed in the drawer unit when the drawer unit is in the closed position.

5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a third supporting unit, wherein the second supporting unit is located between the first supporting unit and the third supporting unit when the drawer unit is in the closed position.

6. A method for printing on a roll of printable media in a printer, the method comprising:
loading the roll of printable media having a diameter D into a drawer unit extending from an outlet of a housing of the printer in an open position so that the roll of printable media is supported at least on a first supporting unit so that an outer surface of the roll of printable media does not extend above a height h of the outlet, wherein the diameter D is equal to or less than the height h; and
moving the drawer unit into the outlet to a closed position within the housing, wherein a second supporting unit supports the roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the closed position so that a portion of the outer surface of the roll of printable media extends above the height h of the outlet.

7. The method of claim 6 , further including:
feeding the roll of printable media supported on the first supporting unit and the second supporting unit to a printing unit; and
printing on a print medium fed from the rolled print medium supported by the first supporting unit and the second supporting unit.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein, when the roll of printable media is further supported on a third supporting unit when the drawer unit is in the open position.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein, when the roll of printable media does not contact the third supporting unit when the drawer unit is in the closed position.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein feeding the roll of printable media supported on the first supporting unit and the third supporting unit to the printing unit comprises:
rolling the roll of printable media on the first supporting unit and second support unit while the roll of printable media is not in contact with the third supporting unit.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein printing further comprises:
printing on a front surface and a back surface of a portion of the roll of printable media extending from the roll of printable media.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein printing on the front surface is performed by an inkjet head and the printing on the back surface is performed thermally.

13. A printer comprising:
a housing provided with an outlet having a height h;
a drawer unit disposed inside the housing and configured to be slid into the outlet from an open position to a closed position;
a first supporting unit and a second supporting unit disposed on the drawer unit and spaced apart from each other, wherein the first supporting unit and the second supporting unit support a roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the open position so that an outer surface of the roll of printable media does not extend above the height h of the outlet, the roll of printable media having a diameter D which is equal to or less than the height h;
a third supporting unit disposed within the housing and arranged between the first supporting unit and the second supporting unit when the drawer unit is in a closed position, wherein the third supporting unit supports the roll of printable media when the drawer unit is in the closed position so that a portion of the outer surface of the roll of printable media extends above the height h of the outlet; and
a printing unit configured to print on a printable media pulled out from a roll of printable media that is rotatably supported by at least the first supporting unit.

14. The printer according to claim 13 , wherein the third supporting unit extends into an internal portion of the drawer unit when the drawer unit is in the closed position.

15. The printer according to claim 14 wherein the roll of printable media is rotatably supported by the first supporting unit and the third supporting unit when the drawer unit is in the closed position, and the roll of printable media is supported by the first supporting unit and the second supporting unit when the drawer unit is in the open position.

16. The printer according to claim 13 , wherein the third supporting unit further comprises:
a support roller, wherein the outer circumference of the roll of printable media is rotatably supported on the support roller when the drawer unit is in the closed position.

17. The printer according to claim 13 , wherein the printing unit further comprises:
a first printing unit configured to print on a front surface of the printable media; and
a second printing unit configured to print on a back surface of the printable media.

18. The printer according to claim 17 , wherein the second printing unit comprises a thermal print head, and the first printing unit comprises an inkjet head.

19. The printer according to claim 18 , wherein the second printing unit and the first printing unit are provided between the first supporting unit and the outlet of the housing.

20. The printer according to claim 19 , wherein a cutting portion is provided between the first printing unit and the outlet of the housing and configured to cut the print medium.

Assignees

• Toshiba Tec Kk

Inventors

• Sekino Toshiharu
• Taki Hiroyuki

Classifications

• B41J15/042 Primary

  for loading rolled-up continuous copy material into printers, e.g. for replacing a used-up paper roll; Point-of-sale printers with openable casings allowing access to the rolled-up continuous copy material · CPC title

• B41J29/02 Primary

  Framework · CPC title

• B41J11/04

  Roller platens · CPC title

• B41J2/01

  Ink jet · CPC title

• B41J3/60

  for printing on both faces of the printing material · CPC title