Package paper thermal printer of tablet packing machine

• US 7,028,447 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2004
• Issued: 04/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eodigitek Company Limited, JVM Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Eodigitek Company Limited, JVM Company Limited
• Inventors: Sung, Tae-Hwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Sipos, John
• Application Number:
  US10/979,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20050115200A1
• Time in Patent Office: 531 Days
• Field of Search: 531/315
• US Class Current: 53/131.5
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 25/308 with print gap adjustment mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/407 for marking on special material
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 61/025 for applying, e.g. printing, code or date marks on material prior to packaging

Abstract

A package paper thermal printer of a tablet packing machine for printing information about prescription medicines on package paper by a thermal print head and a ribbon tape, so that the information is very easily printed and the patient can easily recognize the information. The paper package thermal printer includes a supporting frame mounted in the case and formed with a mounting hole, an actuating plate installed at the mounting hole, guide rails installed at the actuating plate, guides installed at the mounting hole, and engaged with the guide rails so as to support the actuating plate, a driving motor installed at the supporting frame and having an eccentric cam coming in contact with an elevating roller so as to raise the actuating plate, wheels mounted at the actuating plate, a ribbon tape wound around the wheels fed by driving force transmitted from the motor, a contact roller installed at the supporting frame, and a thermal print head installed at the actuating plate, wherein the thermal print head and the ribbon tape are raised together so as to closely attach the ribbon tape to a lower surface of the package paper passing under the contact roller, so that information inputted into the thermal print head is transferred to the package paper by heat and characters are printed on the package paper when the actuating plate is raised.

Claims

1. A paper package thermal printer of an automatic tablet packing machine in which when tablets, accommodated in accommodating recesses formed at the upper side of a case enclosing inner components of the automatic tablet packing machine, are fallen into a hopper disposed under the accommodating recesses, and a package paper wound around a reel and folded in two by an idle roller and a folding member is traveled, the tablets are inserted into the folded package paper, the vertical sides and the top side of the folded package paper are sealed by heat, and the sealed vertical sides of the package paper are formed with cutting lines having a plurality of holes penetrated therethrough, while the package paper passes between cylindrical sealing rollers having heaters, so as to complete the packaging of the tablets, the paper package thermal printer comprising:

a supporting frame vertically mounted in the case and formed with a mounting hole;

an actuating plate installed at the front side of the mounting hole;

guide rails installed at sides of the actuating plate;

guides installed at sides of the mounting hole, and engaged with the guide rails so as to support the actuating plate;

a driving motor installed at a rear lower side of the supporting frame and having an eccentric cam coming in contact with an elevating roller mounted at a rear side of the actuating plate so as to raise the actuating plate;

wheels mounted at front sides of the actuating plate;

a ribbon tape wound around the wheels fed by driving force transmitted from a second motor;

a contact roller installed at a front upper portion of the supporting frame; and

a thermal print head installed at a front upper portion of the actuating plate;

wherein

the thermal print head and the ribbon tape disposed at an upper portion thereof are raised together so as to closely attach the ribbon tape to a lower surface of the package paper passing under the contact roller, so that information inputted into the thermal print head is transferred to the package paper by heat and characters are printed on the package paper when the actuating plate is raised.

2. The package paper thermal printer as set forth in claim 1, wherein one of the wheels serves as a driving wheel, and includes a rotating shaft supported by a bearing and protruded rearward of the actuating plate, and a pulley mounted around a protruded portion of the rotation shaft, the second motor installed at the rear side of the actuating plate includes a pulley mounted to the motor, the pulleys are connected to each other by a belt so that the wheels are rotated to feed the ribbon tape in a direction.

3. The package paper thermal printer as set forth in claim 1, wherein the actuating plate is connected to a spring installed at the lower side of the supporting frame to be pulled down.