Retention device of barcode printer

Abstract

A roller retention device is provided for a barcode printer and includes a base and at least one peeling board, wherein the base is mounted to an enclosure of the barcode printer. The base has a front portion forming at least one first channel for accommodating a rear portion of a label sheet hold-down roller of the barcode printer. The first channel has a peripheral portion forming at least one connection segment. The peeling board has a rear portion forming a second channel which matches with the first channel in order to accommodate a front portion of the label sheet hold-down roller. The second channel has a peripheral portion forming a coupling segment which corresponds to and is fixed to the connection segment of the base, allowing the label sheet hold-down roller of the barcode printer to be retained and accommodated between the first channel of the base and the second channel of the peeling board. The peeling board features the function of peeling the barcode label stickers off a release paper. Thus, a retention device that features both retention of the roller of a barcode printer and peeling of the barcode label stickers is provided.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a roller retention device for printers, and in particular to a roller retention device that is applicable to a barcode printer and features both retention of a barcode label sheet hold-down roller and peeling barcode label stickers off a release paper.

2. The Related Arts

In the process of barcode printing for conventional barcode printers, a process that a roller holds down the label sheet and peeling and out-feeding of the label stickers is necessary. The conventional barcode printers additionally include bearing means or a retention for retaining the roller inside the barcode printer. Further, a peeling device is additionally required for peeling barcode label stickers off a release paper. These make the components of a conventional barcode printer complicated and inconvenient to manufacture. Further, the roller retention device and the barcode label sheet peeling device of the conventional barcode printer are implemented separately, which consume a large amount of space inside the printer enclosure, making it hard to arrange the volume of the barcode printer and design the enclosure and also increasing the number of parts and raising the costs of materials/parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, in view of the above discussed problems, the present invention is aimed to provide a roller retention device for a barcode printer to overcome the above discussed drawbacks and problems of the label sheet hold-down roller and the label sticker peeling structure of the conventional barcode printer.

To achieve the above goal, in accordance with the present invention, a roller retention device is provided for a barcode printer and comprises a base and at least one peeling board, wherein the base is mounted to an enclosure of the barcode printer. The base has a front portion forming at least one first channel for accommodating a rear portion of a label sheet hold-down roller of the barcode printer. The first channel has a peripheral portion forming at least one connection segment. The peeling board has a rear portion forming a second channel which matches with the first channel in order to accommodate a front portion of the label sheet hold-down roller. The second channel has a peripheral portion forming a coupling segment which corresponds to and is fixed to the connection segment of the base, allowing the label sheet hold-down roller of the barcode printer to be retained and accommodated between the first channel of the base and the second channel of the peeling board. The peeling board features the function of peeling the barcode label stickers off a release paper. Thus, a retention device that features both retention of the roller of a barcode printer and peeling of the barcode label stickers is provided.

The effectiveness of the roller retention device of the present invention is that through a combination of simplified base and peeling board, the installation and mounting of a label sheet hold-down roller in a barcode printer can be simply done and a function of peeling label stickers off a release paper is simultaneously provided to thereby substantially reduce the manufacturing costs of the barcode printer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roller retention device of a barcode printer in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the roller retention device of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a barcode printer incorporating the roller retention device in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the barcode printer incorporating the roller retention device in accordance with the present invention for illustrating the operation thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1-3, a roller retention device constructed in accordance with the present invention, generally designated at 100, is provided for a barcode printer 200 (see FIG. 4). The roller retention device 100 comprises a base 10 having a peripheral portion forming at least one clamping segment 11 and clamping segment 11 forms a threaded hole 111 that receives and engages a bolt 112 for threadingly fixing to an inside wall of an enclosure cover 210 of the barcode printer 200 (as shown in FIG. 4). The base 10 has a front portion in which at least one first channel 12 is defined. The first channel 12 functions to accommodate a rear portion of a label sheet hold-down roller 220 of the barcode printer 200. A front face of the first channel 12 forms at least one connection segment 121, and the connection segment 121 defines at least one threaded hole 122.

A peeling board 20 has a rear portion forming a second channel 21. The second channel 21 matches the first channel 12 and accommodates a front portion of the label sheet hold-down roller 220. The second channel 21 has a peripheral portion forming at least one coupling segment 211. The coupling segment 211 forms at least one threaded hole 212. The threaded hole 212 of the coupling segment 211 is set in alignment with the threaded hole 122 of the connection segment 121 of the base 10 and is secured with threading engagement by a bolt 213 so as to fix the coupling segment 211 and the connection segment 121 together for retaining and accommodating the label sheet hold-down roller 220 in and between the first channel 12 of the base 10 and the second channel 21 of the peeling board 20.

The coupling structure between the base 10 and the peeling board 20 is not limited to the structure embodied with the threading engagement between the bolt 213 and the threaded holes 122, 212 mentioned above. Any other equivalent structure, such as fitting and buckling, can be equally used and is considered within the scope of the present invention.

Also referring to FIG. 4, which shows application and operation of the roller retention device 100 in accordance with the present invention, the first channel 12 of the base 10 and the second channel 21 of the peeling board 20 provide accommodation and retention of the label sheet hold-down roller 220 of the barcode printer 200 so that the label sheet hold-down roller 200 can be easily and efficiently detached, replaced and re-installed by simply removing and/or tightening the bolt 213. Further, the peeling board 20 can also provide the functions of out-feeding and peeling of barcode label stickers 230 of the barcode printer 200 so that the present invention features both retention of the label sheet hold-down roller and out-feeding and peeling of the barcode label stickers 230.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A roller retention device for a barcode printer, comprising:

a base having a peripheral portion adapted to couple to an inside wall of en enclosure of the barcode printer, the base having a front portion forming at least one first channel for accommodating a rear portion of a label sheet hold-down roller of the barcode printer, the first channel having a front face forming at least one connection segment; and

at least one peeling board for peeling barcode label stickers of the barcode printer, the peeling board having a rear portion forming a second channel matching the first channel for accommodating a front portion of the label sheet hold-down roller, the second channel having a peripheral portion forming at least one coupling segment, the coupling segment corresponding to and fixed to the connection segment of the base, allowing the label sheet hold-down roller to be retained and accommodated between the first channel of the base and the second channel of the peeling board.

2. The roller retention device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has a peripheral portion forming a clamping segment.

3. The roller retention device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the clamping segment forms at least one threaded hole.

4. The roller retention device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection segment of the base forms at least one threaded hole.

5. The roller retention device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coupling segment of the peeling board forms at least one threaded hole.