Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
390 words
A desk top label printer comprising a casing provided with a laterally openable cover 16 and having a tape holder 18 for holding a roll of label tape in an internal cavity of the casing, a thermal printing head unit 50 provided inside said casing 10 and having a thermal printing head 51, a tape depressing mechanism 30 which is arranged to oppose said thermal printing head unit 50 and has a platen roller 34 which comes in contact under pressure with said thermal printing head 51 as required, a driving means 73 which feeds a label tape inserted between said thermal printing head 51 and said platen roller, an electric circuit 20 which drives and controls said thermal printing head 51 and said driving means 74, and an input means for entering data to be printed by said thermal printing head unit 50 via said electric circuit, characterised in that the thermal printing head unit 50 is carried by a shaft 54 having one end supported by an internal wall of the casing and a free end extending toward said openable cover 16, said tape depressing mechanism 30 being provided with a support frame 32 pivotally carried by a fixed shaft 31 which extends in parallel with the shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 and which also has one end supported by an internal wall of the casing 10 and a free end, the platen roller 34 being carried by a displaceable part of the support frame 32, and said thermal printing head unit 50 and said tape depressing mechanism 30 are respectively provided with engaging means 33, 33′ 55 and 55′ for selectively interengaging said tape depressing mechanism 30 with the shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 in operation of the printer, wherein a space for laterally inserting said label tape, which space is open towards said cover, is defined between said thermal printing head 51 and said platen roller 34 by displacing said tape depressing mechanism 30 away from said thermal printing head unit 50, and wherein the tape depressing mechanism 30 is engaged with and fixed with respect to the support shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 by said engaging means when said platen roller 34 depresses a label against said thermal printing head 51 in use.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
390 words
A desk top label printer comprising a casing provided with a laterally openable cover 16 and having a tape holder 18 for holding a roll of label tape in an internal cavity of the casing, a thermal printing head unit 50 provided inside said casing 10 and having a thermal printing head 51, a tape depressing mechanism 30 which is arranged to oppose said thermal printing head unit 50 and has a platen roller 34 which comes in contact under pressure with said thermal printing head 51 as required, a driving means 73 which feeds a label tape inserted between said thermal printing head 51 and said platen roller, an electric circuit 20 which drives and controls said thermal printing head 51 and said driving means 74, and an input means for entering data to be printed by said thermal printing head unit 50 via said electric circuit, characterised in that the thermal printing head unit 50 is carried by a shaft 54 having one end supported by an internal wall of the casing and a free end extending toward said openable cover 16, said tape depressing mechanism 30 being provided with a support frame 32 pivotally carried by a fixed shaft 31 which extends in parallel with the shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 and which also has one end supported by an internal wall of the casing 10 and a free end, the platen roller 34 being carried by a displaceable part of the support frame 32, and said thermal printing head unit 50 and said tape depressing mechanism 30 are respectively provided with engaging means 33, 33′ 55 and 55′ for selectively interengaging said tape depressing mechanism 30 with the shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 in operation of the printer, wherein a space for laterally inserting said label tape, which space is open towards said cover, is defined between said thermal printing head 51 and said platen roller 34 by displacing said tape depressing mechanism 30 away from said thermal printing head unit 50, and wherein the tape depressing mechanism 30 is engaged with and fixed with respect to the support shaft 54 of said thermal printing head unit 50 by said engaging means when said platen roller 34 depresses a label against said thermal printing head 51 in use.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
224 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with Claim 1, wherein said engaging means comprises a pair of engaging parts 55 and 55′ provided on the shaft 54 of said thermal printing head 51 which are respectively positioned on both sides of said thermal printing head 51, and a pair of complementary engaging cutaway parts 33 and 33′ provided on the support frame 32 of said tape depressing mechanism 30 which respectively oppose said engaging parts 55 and 55′, each of said engaging parts 55 and 55′ being formed to have a cross-section substantially of a partly flattened circle and said engaging cutaway parts 33 and 33′ are each formed by a recess 331 which is open at a side facing said engaging parts 55 and 55′ and a rounded hole 332 which is enlarged with respect to the recess 331, the width of said recess 331 being greater than the flattened thickness (t), of the engaging parts 55 and 55′, and the diameter of said rounded hole 332 being substantially the same as the maximum diameter (d) of said engaging parts 55 and 55′, wherein each of said engaging parts can be simultaneously turned in the rounded holes 332 of said engaging cutaway parts 33 and 33′ by a knob 56 provided on said shaft 54 to allow operation from outside the casing.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
87 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein a cassette storing space 16 is formed in an internal space of said casing 10 and a cassette 40 containing a thermal printing carbon ribbon 41 can be inserted from a lateral side to be remountable inside said space 17, said cassette being adapted so that said carbon ribbon 41 is inserted between the thermal printing head 51 and the platen roller 34 with said thermal printing head 51 being accommodated in the cassette.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
86 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with claim 3, wherein the carbon ribbon 41 of said cassette 40 is wound into a roll, mounted on a winding reel 42 in the cassette 40 and taken up by a takeup reel 43 in the cassette after having passed through said thermal printing head 51, and said label tape 60 is fed by rotation of the platen roller 34, and said takeup reel 43 and said platen roller 34 are driven by the same driving mechanism 70.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with any preceding claim wherein an input means for said electric circuit 20 comprises a set of keyboard switches 14 and said electric circuit includes a microprocessor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with claim 5 wherein a ROM card 22 which is detachably mounted within the casing 10 is used to control said electric circuit 20.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with claim 5, wherein a RAM card which is detachably mounted within the casing 10 is used to control said electric circuit 20.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with any preceding claim wherein said tape depressing mechanism 30 is provided with a turn back pin 36, which turns back the carrier strip 6 of the label tape 60, at a label tape ejection side of said platen roller 34.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
86 words
A desk top label printer in accordance with claim 8, wherein, when said label tape 60 is used in a mode where its carrier strip 60 is turned back by the turn back pin 36, said electric circuit 20 is changed over to a labelling mode and, after a label 62 of said label tape 60 has been adhered onto an article of goods, said platen roller 34 is reversed by a specified angle to reversely feed the label tape 60 by a small predetermined distance.