Patent ID: 7878724
Filing Date: 2011-02-01
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A printer comprising: a body; a cover movably attached to the body of the printer for movement into an open or closed position; a lock mechanism for locking the cover in the closed position or for unlocking the cover; and a positioning and urging mechanism for directing the cover to move in an opening/closing direction relative to the open or closed position of the cover so as to minimize play when the cover is locked in the closed position; wherein the lock mechanism comprises: a body-side engaging unit disposed to the body of the printer, a cover-side engaging unit disposed to the cover, and a control lever for moving the body-side engaging unit and cover-side engaging unit relative to each other for either engaging the cover-side engaging unit to the body-side engaging unit when the cover is moved into a locked position or for disengaging the cover-side engaging unit from the body-side engaging unit when the cover is moved into an unlocked position; and wherein the positioning and urging mechanism comprises: a cover-side contact part disposed to the cover in an arrangement relative to the body of the printer such that when the cover is in the closed position the cover-side contact part is pressed into the body of the printer to cause the cover to move into the open position in response to the unlocking of the cover by the control lever; and an urging member connected between the cover-side contact part and the cover for urging the cover-side contact part toward the cover closing direction.