Thermal head supporting means in thermal recording apparatus

Claim 1

In a thermal recording apparatus in which a plurality of thermal heads provided with thermal element arrays aligned at lower surfaces of said thermal heads are made to be slidably in contact with a recording medium transported on a platen to thereby perform recording on said recording medium, means for supporting said plurality of thermal heads, said means comprising: (A) a thermal head supporting mechanism including a plurality of single supporting units provided for correspondingly respectively supporting said thermal heads and aligned in a direction perpendicular to a direction of movement of said recording medium, each of said single supporting unit including: (i) a pair of hook-shaped members fixed to each of said thermal heads at two places on a rear surface of said thermal head, and (ii) a thermal head supporting member having a pair of side end portions corresponding to said pair of hook-shaped members and a plane portion between said pair of side end portions, said thermal head supporting member being engaged with said side end portions at predetermined positions thereof so as to be movable in at least two directions including a vertical direction and a rotational direction relative to the respective hook-shaped members, said plane portion having a cutaway portion formed at a predetermined position thereof and a backward edge fixedly attached to a rotatable member having a rotary shaft; and (B) a thermal head pressing mechanism including a pair of movable members each for keeping at least one head-urging compression spring at a symmetrical position on corresponding one of said thermal heads of said head supporting mechanism so as to press the rear surface of said corresponding thermal head, and further including a common movable member for keeping said pair of movable members arranged on one straight line and at symmetrical positions, said common movable member being engaged with a fixation beam member at a symmetric position.