Abstract: A point of sale printer includes a housing, a cover, a first biasing member communicating with the housing and the cover, a thermal print head including a cover detent feature, the cover detent feature secures the cover to the housing, a platen and a platen drive roller which co-rotate with each other attached to the cover, a drive motor including a drive roller attached to the housing, a link member rotatably attached to the drive motor, the link member configured to rotate about a rotational axis of the drive motor and an idler roller rotatably connected to a second end of the link member, the idler roller configured to contact the platen drive roller and the drive roller, wherein a rotational direction of the drive motor corresponds to a rotational direction of the link member and also corresponds to an elevation of the idler roller which releases the cover.