Patent Publication Number: US-11660890-B2

Title: Printing apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-219187 filed on Dec. 28, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a printing apparatus, and particularly, to a printing apparatus configured to perform specific processing on a printing medium. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A related art discloses technology having a peeling function, in which a label peeler, which is capable of peeling off a label configuring a printing medium after printing processing from a mount, is removably installed to a support part that is located downstream of a discharge port of a printing apparatus. 
     SUMMARY 
     One illustrative aspect of the present disclosure provides a printing apparatus including: a housing having a discharge port through which a printing medium being allowed to be discharged; an installation part to which a unit being removably installable, the unit being configured to surround at least a part of the discharge port in a case the unit is installed, the unit being configured to perform specific processing on the printing medium; and a lid member removably installed to the installation part, the lid member being installable to the installation part in a case the unit is not installed to the installation part. 
     The printing apparatus of the present disclosure includes the housing having the discharge port, the installation part, and the lid member. The printing medium on which the specific processing has been performed by the unit installed to the installation part is discharged from the discharge port. In addition, in a case where the unit is not installed to the installation part, the lid member is installed to the installation part. 
     In the present disclosure, the specific processing can be performed on the printing medium by the unit installed to the installation part. In addition, in a case where the lid member is installed to the installation part, instead of the unit, the lid member covers the installation part to constitute a part of an appearance of the printing apparatus, so that the printing apparatus can maintain the good-looking appearance. 
     According thereto, it is possible to removably install the unit configured to perform specific processing on the printing medium to be discharged from the discharge port, and to maintain the appearance good-looking even when the unit is not installed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is an appearance perspective view of a printing apparatus, showing an example where a double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the printing apparatus in a state where an upper rear-side cover and a lid member are detached, showing the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of the printing apparatus in a state where an upper front-side cover and the upper rear-side cover are detached, showing the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  4    is a central sectional perspective view of the printing apparatus, showing the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  5 A and  5 B  show the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  5 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the printing apparatus and  FIG.  5 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  show the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  6 A  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  5 A  and  FIG.  6 B  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  5 B ; 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of the double tear bar unit that is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  8    is a sectional view illustrating operations of main parts, showing the example where the double tear bar unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  9    is an appearance perspective view of the printing apparatus, showing an example where a linerless unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  10    is a central sectional perspective view of the printing apparatus, showing the example where the linerless unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  11 A and  11 B  show the example where the linerless unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  11 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the printing apparatus and  FIG.  11 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  12 A and  12 B  show the example where the linerless unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  12 A  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  11 A  and  FIG.  12 B  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  11 B ; 
         FIG.  13    is a perspective view of the linerless unit that is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  14    is a sectional view illustrating operations of main parts, showing the example where the linerless unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  15    is an appearance perspective view of the printing apparatus, showing an example where a peeler unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  16    is a central sectional perspective view of the printing apparatus, showing the example where the peeler unit is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  17 A and  17 B  show the example where the peeler unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  17 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the printing apparatus and  FIG.  17 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  18 A and  18 B  show the example where the peeler unit is installed to the printing apparatus, in which  FIG.  18 A  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  18 A  and  FIG.  18 B  is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of main parts of  FIG.  18 B ; 
         FIG.  19    is a perspective view of the peeler unit that is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  20    is a central sectional perspective view of the peeler unit that is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIGS.  21 A and  21 B  show the peeler unit, in which  FIG.  21 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the peeler unit and  FIG.  21 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the peeler unit; 
         FIG.  22    is a perspective view of an upper unit that configures a part of the peeler unit; 
         FIG.  23    is a central sectional perspective view of the upper unit that configures a part of the peeler unit; 
         FIGS.  24 A and  21 B  show the upper unit that configures a part of the peeler unit, in which  FIG.  24 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the upper unit and  FIG.  24 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the upper unit; 
         FIG.  25    is an exploded perspective view on the front side before the upper unit, which configures a part of the peeler unit, is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  26    is an exploded perspective view on the rear side before the upper unit, which configures a part of the peeler unit, is installed to the printing apparatus; 
         FIG.  27    is a perspective view of a lower unit that configures a part of the peeler unit; 
         FIG.  28    is a central sectional perspective view of the lower unit that configures a part of the peeler unit; 
         FIGS.  29 A and  29 B  show the lower unit that configures a part of the peeler unit, in which  FIG.  29 A  is a longitudinal sectional view of a central part of the lower unit and  FIG.  29 B  is a longitudinal sectional view of a part near a side of the lower unit; and 
         FIG.  30    is a sectional view illustrating operations of main parts, showing the example where the peeler unit is installed to the printing apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The peeling function may not be necessary, depending on users or use aspects. In the above-described related art, in a case where the peeling function is not necessary, the support part is exposed from the discharge port at the time of separating the label peeler, so that an appearance of the printing apparatus becomes unsightly. 
     Therefore, illustrative aspects of the present disclosure provide a printing apparatus having a unit, which is configured to perform specific processing on a printing medium to be discharged from a discharge port, removably installable thereto and maintaining an appearance good-looking even when the unit is not installed. 
     Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, in descriptions below, as shown in  FIG.  1   , each direction of the front, rear, left, right, upper and lower is defined in a state where a printing apparatus is placed on a desk. 
     Double Tear Bar Unit 
       FIGS.  1  to  8    show a case where a double tear bar unit  40  as a unit configured to perform specific processing on a printing medium is installed to a printing apparatus  1 . In  FIG.  1   , the printing apparatus  1  includes a lower case  10  as the main body, an upper front-side cover  11 , and an upper rear-side cover  12  as the opening/closing cover, which configure a substantially rectangular three-dimensional housing  2 . 
     The lower case  10  is provided on a front surface with an operation panel unit  3  on which a variety of operation switches are disposed, and hook portions  4  to which both ends of a shoulder belt (not shown) are engaged are provided at left and right corner portions ranging from the front surface to side surfaces. The printing apparatus  1  is carried and used by a user by being put on a shoulder by the shoulder belt. In such use aspect, the front (forward) becomes the upper (upward). 
     Note that, although not shown, the lower case  10  is provided with various connection units such as a USB (abbreviation of Universal Serial Bus) port, an RS-232C (abbreviation of Recommended Standard 232) connector and the like, for example, as a communication means, and can connect to a supply of electric power, a print data input terminal (for example, a personal computer, a bar-code reader and the like), and the like. In addition to the communication means, the lower case  10  has a variety of functions of wired LAN (abbreviation of Local Area Network), wireless LAN and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and a label including variable data (text, bar-code) can be issued simply by transmitting text data to the printing apparatus  1  by using the various communication means. 
     In addition, the labels to be issued may include labels used in various fields such as an actual product label and a tag label for manufacturing/logistics, a food label and a price tag label for retail and a sample label and a medicine notebook label for medical use. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2  to  6 B , the printing apparatus  1  is provided therein with electronic components relating to drive and control such as a charging-type battery  5  and a circuit board  6 , a detector  7 , a chevron-like front-side tear bar  14 , a discharge port  15  and a print head  16 . The electronic components are located below the upper front-side cover  11 . The detector  7  includes an optical sensor configured to presence or absence of a label. The chevron-like front-side tear bar  14  continues in the right and left direction. The discharge port  15  is disposed between a rear end portion of the upper front-side cover  11  and a tip end portion of the upper rear-side cover  12 . The print head  16  is disposed in a position that faces a platen roller  17 , which will be described later. The front-side tear bar  14  is a cutting blade for manually cutting the printing medium after printing by a user. 
     The upper front-side cover  11  is provided with a front-side installation part  20  to which a lid member  30  is removably installed via a pair of left and right screws  19 . The screw  19  has a male thread portion that passes through the lid member  30  and is screwed into an attachment hole  20   a  (refer to  FIG.  6 B ) having a bottomed female thread hole shape that opens to an upper surface of the front-side installation part  20  and does not penetrate. 
     Here, if the attachment hole  20   a  of the front-side installation part  20  is a through-hole, liquids such as water droplets and rainwater or dust may enter an inside of the front-side installation part  20  through the through-hole, depending on use environments of the printing apparatus  1 . In this case, the printing apparatus  1  may not normally operate. However, the attachment hole  20   a  is formed to have a bottomed female thread hole shape that does not penetrate, so that it is possible to prevent liquids or dust from entering. 
     Below the upper rear-side cover  12 , an accommodation part  22  configured to replaceably accommodate a roll  21  on which the printing medium is wound is provided. The upper rear-side cover  12  is configured to function as an opening/closing cover supported to a support part  10   a , which is provided near a rear end of the lower case  10  and is a rotation fulcrum, so as to be swingable between a closed position in which the upper rear-side cover covers the accommodation part  22  and an opened position in which the upper rear-side cover opens the accommodation part  22 . Thereby, the upper rear-side cover  12  can be opened and closed when replacing the roll  21  and when replacing a unit configured to perform specific processing, which will be described later. 
     In addition, the rear end portion of the upper front-side cover  11  and the tip end portion of the upper rear-side cover  12  are spaced, and the spaced portion is provided with the discharge port  15 . The printing medium pulled out from the roll  21  and printed is discharged from the discharge port  15 . 
     Note that, the upper rear-side cover  12  is provided with a rear-side installation part  25  to which the double tear bar unit  40  is removably installed via a pair of left and right screws  24  (only one is shown in  FIGS.  5 B and  6 B ). 
     The rear-side installation part  25  configures a part of the upper rear-side cover  12 . The rear-side installation part  25  has a cover guide  25   a  inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape so as to form a unit installation space  26  at the upper. The rear-side installation part  25  has an attachment hole  25   b  having an inverted bottomed female thread hole shape that opens to a lower surface of the rear-side installation part  25  and does not penetrate. 
     The lid member  30  has a function as a so-called dummy cover, in the present illustrative embodiment. The lid member  30  is attached to the front-side installation part  20  so that the front-side installation part  20  is not exposed so as not to spoil an appearance, in a case where a unit configured to perform specific processing, such as a peeler unit  60 , is not installed. 
     As shown in  FIG.  7   , the double tear bar unit  40  has a housing  41 , a platen roller  17 , a partition wall  42  and a chevron-like rear-side tear bar  43 . The platen roller  17  is pivotally supported between both ends of the housing  41 . The partition wall  42  is located on an upper surface-side of the housing  41  and is inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape. The chevron-like rear-side tear bar  43  is disposed ahead of the partition wall  42  and continues in the right and left direction. The partition wall  42  is fixed to the housing  41  via a screw  44 . The rear-side tear bar  43  is a cutting blade for manually cutting the printing medium after printing by the user. 
     The screw  24  has a male thread portion that penetrates the housing  41  and is screwed into the attachment hole  25   b  of the rear-side installation part  25 . 
     Here, the attachment hole  25   b  of the rear-side installation part  25  is formed to have an inverted bottomed female thread hole shape that does not penetrate, so that liquids or dust can be prevented from entering from an outside. 
     In this way, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  configure a installation part configured to enable replacement of various units configured to perform specific processing, which will be described later, in addition to the lid member  30  and the double tear bar unit  40 , according to use aspects thereof (aspects to issue labels). 
     In addition, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  respectively have the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b . The front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  configure an installation part configured to selectively attach the double tear bar unit  40  and the lid member  30  via the screws  19  and the screws  24  that are screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b , respectively. 
     Therefore, any one of the double tear bar unit  40  and the lid member  30  is selectively attached to the front-side installation part  20  or the rear-side installation part  25  as an installation part. The attaching is performed by the screws  19  and the screws  24  that are screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b , respectively. Thereby, the user can easily attach and detach the double tear bar unit  40  and the lid member  30  by a simple screwing operation. 
     At this time, as shown in  FIG.  8   , the lid member  30  and the double tear bar unit  40  are formed to surround a part of the discharge port  15  through which a label L as the printing medium pulled out from the roll  21  and printed is discharged. 
     The detector  7  is provided to the front-side installation part  20 . The detector  7  is configured to detect the printing medium, which is discharged from the discharge port  15  via the double tear bar unit  40  installed to the rear-side installation part  25 , specifically, in the present illustrative embodiment, the label L pulled out from the roll  21  and printed. 
     Here, in a case of a configuration where the detector  7  is not provided to the front-side installation part  20  but is provided to a unit removably installed to the front-side installation part  20 , the harness for connecting the detector  7  and the circuit board  6  each other is also necessarily attached and detached each time the unit is attached and detached with respect to the front-side installation part  20 , which is troublesome. In the present illustrative embodiment, since the detector  7  is provided to the front-side installation part  20 , it is not necessary to attach and detach the harness with respect to the detector  7  each time the unit is attached and detached with respect to the front-side installation part  20 . Therefore, it is possible to avoid troublesomeness. 
     Note that, as shown in  FIG.  2   , the detector  7  is covered by the upper front-side cover  11  as a cover member.  FIG.  3    shows a state where the upper front-side cover  11  is detached. An inside of the detector  7  is sealed by a drip-proof seal member  27  that is an elastic member provided at a portion of the front-side installation part  20  on a more inner side than the upper front-side cover  11 . When the upper front-side cover  11  is attached to the lower case  10 , the drip-proof seal member  27  is closely contacted to a backside of the upper front-side cover  11  to prevent liquids or dust from entering from an outside. 
     Here, after preparing the label L by using desired print data, the user can pick up a tip end of the label L discharged from the discharge port  15  and cut the same by using any one of the front-side tear bar  14  or the rear-side tear bar  43 . 
     Thereby, the user can cut the printed label L from the roll  21 , for example, when the label L is a receipt or when the label L is a seal-shaped label with a mount that is not continuous, like a label for a medicine notebook. 
     As described above, the printing apparatus  1  includes the housing  2  having the discharge port  15  through which the label L is discharged, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  to which a unit provided to surround at least a part of the discharge port  15  and configured to specific processing on the label L is removably installed, and the lid member  30  that is removably installed to the front-side installation part  20  when the unit is not installed to the front-side installation part  20 . 
     Thereby, the specific processing, i.e., cutting operation toward the rear side of the printing apparatus  1  can be performed on the label L by the double tear bar unit  40  installed to the rear-side installation part  25 . In addition, in a case where the lid member  30  is installed to the front-side installation part  20 , the lid member  30  covers the front-side installation part  20  to configure a part of the appearance of the printing apparatus  1 , so that the good-looking appearance of the printing apparatus  1  can be maintained. 
     Further, since the inside of the detector  7  is sealed by the drip-proof seal member  27 , it is possible to prevent liquids or dust from entering from an outside. 
     Linerless Unit 
       FIGS.  9  to  14    show a case where a linerless unit  50  as a unit configured to perform specific processing on a printing medium is installed. Note that, in descriptions below, the same configurations as the above illustrative embodiment are denoted with the same reference signs, and the detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  9  to  12 B , the printing apparatus  1  configures the housing  2  by the lower case  10 , the upper front-side cover  11  and the upper rear-side cover  12 , has the operation panel unit  3  and the hook portions  4  provided on the surface, and is provided therein with the battery  5 , the circuit board  6 , the detector  7 , the front-side tear bar  14 , the print head  16 , and the platen roller  17 . 
     The lid member  30  is removably installed to the front-side installation part  20  of the upper front-side cover  11  via the pair of left and right screws  19 . 
     Below the upper rear-side cover  12 , the accommodation part  22  configured to replaceably accommodate the roll  21  on which a tape-shaped label L having an adhesive layer on one side and without a mount (release paper) is wound as the printing medium is provided. 
     The rear end portion of the upper front-side cover  11  and the tip end portion of the upper rear-side cover  12  are spaced, and the spaced portion is provided with the discharge port  15  through which the label L after printing is discharged. 
     The upper rear-side cover  12  is provided with the rear-side installation part  25 . A linerless unit  50  is removably installed to the rear-side installation part  25  via the pair of left and right screws  24  (only one is shown in  FIGS.  11 B and  12 B ). 
     The lid member  30  has a function as a so-called dummy cover, in the present illustrative embodiment. The lid member  30  is attached to the front-side installation part  20  so that the front-side installation part  20  is not exposed so as not to spoil an appearance, in a case where a unit (which will be described later) configured to perform specific processing, such as a peeler unit  60 , is not installed. 
     As shown in  FIG.  13   , the linerless unit  50  has a housing  51 , and a platen roller  17  pivotally supported between both ends of the housing  51 . In addition, the housing  51  is integrally provided with an awning-shaped restraint edge part  52  extending so as to cover the upper of the platen roller  17 . For the platen roller  17  of the linerless unit  50 , a material that suppresses sticking of the adhesive layer of the printing medium is used. In addition, a surface of the restraint edge part  52  has been subjected to a surface treatment of suppressing sticking of the adhesive layer of the printing medium. 
     The screw  24  has a male thread portion that penetrates the housing  51  and is screwed into the attachment hole  25   b  having an inverted bottomed female thread hole shape that opens to a lower surface of the rear-side installation part  25  and does not penetrate. 
     In this way, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  configure a installation part configured to enable replacement of another unit configured to perform specific processing, which will be described further later, in addition to the lid member  30  and the double tear bar unit  40  or the linerless unit  50  described in the present illustrative embodiment, according to use aspects thereof (aspects to issue labels). 
     In addition, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  each have the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b  and configure a installation part configured to selectively attach the linerless unit  50  and the lid member  30  via the screws  19  and the screws  24  that are screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b.    
     Therefore, any one of the linerless unit  50  and the lid member  30  is selectively attached to the front-side installation part  20  or the rear-side installation part  25  as a installation part. The attaching is performed by the screws  19  and the screws  24  that are screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b , respectively. 
     Thereby, the user can easily attach and detach the linerless unit  50  and the lid member  30  by a simple screwing operation. In addition, any one of the linerless unit  50  and the double tear bar unit  40  is selectively attached to the rear-side installation part  25  as a installation part. 
     At this time, as shown in  FIG.  14   , the lid member  30  and the linerless unit  50  are formed to surround a part of the discharge port  15  through which the tape-shaped label L without a mount, as the printing medium pulled out from the roll  21  and printed, is discharged. 
     The detector  7  is configured to detect the label L that is discharged from the discharge port  15  while a discharge direction thereof is restrained by the awning-shaped restraint edge part  52 , in the present illustrative embodiment, the label L pulled out from the roll  21  and printed. 
     Here, after preparing the label L by using desired print data, the user can pick up the label L discharged from the discharge port  15  and cut the same by using the front-side tear bar  14 . 
     Also in this configuration, in a case where a unit configured to perform specific processing on the label L is not installed to the front-side installation part  20  to which the unit is removably installed, the lid member  30  is installed to the front-side installation part  20 . 
     Thereby, the lid member  30  covers the front-side installation part  20  to configure a part of the appearance of the printing apparatus  1 , so that the good-looking appearance of the printing apparatus  1  can be maintained. 
     Peeler Unit 
       FIGS.  15  to  30    show a case where a peeler unit  60  as a unit configured to perform specific processing on a printing medium is installed. Note that, in descriptions below, the same configurations as the above illustrative embodiment are denoted with the same reference signs, and the detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  15  to  18 B , the printing apparatus  1  configures the housing  2  by the lower case  10 , the upper front-side cover  11  and the upper rear-side cover  12 , has the operation panel unit  3  and the hook portions  4  provided on the surface, and is provided therein with the battery  5 , the circuit board  6 , the detector  7 , the front-side tear bar  14 , the print head  16 , and the platen roller  17 . 
     Instead of the lid member  30 , an upper unit  70  of a peeler unit  60  is removably installed to the front-side installation part  20  of the upper front-side cover  11  via the pair of left and right screws  19 . 
     The accommodation part  22  is provided below the upper rear-side cover  12 . The accommodation part  22  is configured to replaceably accommodate the roll  21 , on which a plurality of labels L discretely put on a mount P having a long shape is wound, as the printing medium. For example, the labels L are removably stuck on the mount P. 
     In addition, the rear end portion of the upper front-side cover  11  and the tip end portion of the upper rear-side cover  12  are spaced, and the spaced portion is provided with the discharge port  15  through which the label L after printing is discharged. 
     Note that, the upper rear-side cover  12  is provided with the rear-side installation part  25  to which a lower unit  80  of the peeler unit  60  is removably installed via the pair of left and right screws  24  (only one is shown in  FIGS.  17 B and  18 B ). 
     As shown in  FIGS.  19  to  21 B , the peeler unit  60  configured to peel off the label L (refer to  FIG.  30   ) from the mount P (refer to  FIG.  30   ) includes: the upper unit  70  that is attached to the front-side installation part  20  via the pair of left and right screws  19 , instead of the lid member  30 ; and the lower unit  80  that is attached to the rear-side installation part  25  via the screws  24 , instead of the double tear bar unit  40  or the lid member  50 . 
     As shown in  FIGS.  22  to  24 B , the upper unit  70  includes a pair of left and right bracket parts  71 , a stand part  72  disposed between tip end portions of the bracket parts  71 , a discharge roller  73  bridged between rear end portions of the bracket parts  71 , and a division wall part  74  configured to rotatably support both ends of the discharge roller  73 . 
     The bracket parts  71  are swingably supported to the stand part  72  by shaft parts  71   a.    
     The stand part  72  has an appearance shape that is substantially the same as the lid member  30  between the tip end portions of the bracket parts  71 . The stand part  72  is formed with a pair of through-holes  71   b  (refer to  FIG.  21 B ) through which the male thread portions of the screws  19  penetrate. 
     Thereby, as shown in  FIGS.  25  and  26   , the upper unit  70  is installed to the front-side installation part  20  of the upper front-side cover  11  by the screws  19 . The screws  19  are screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  of the upper front-side cover  11 . 
     The discharge roller  73  is a driven roller and is configured to come into contact with the platen roller  17  near an upper rear portion of the platen roller  17 , thereby rotating in a driven manner to nip and convey the mount P. 
     The division wall part  74  has a support part  75  and a guide part  76 . The support part  75  is configured to rotatably support the discharge roller  73  so as to cover the upper of the discharge roller  73 . The guide part  76  is provided ahead of the support part  75  and is configured to divide the discharge port  15  into a front-side discharge part  15   a  and a rear-side discharge part  15   b.    
     The guide part  76  integrally has a guide surface  77  having a ridge line portion  77   a  where a midway portion near the lower in the upper and lower direction is located in the foremost position, and a plurality of ribs  78  protruding forward from the guide surface  77  and provided spaced by predetermined intervals at a plurality of portions in the right and left. 
     The guide surface  77  has the ridge line portion  77   a  as a boundary, and a lower part thereof is formed as a mount guide part  77   b  bent downward and an upper part is formed as a label guide part  77   c  bent and inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  27  to  29 B , the lower unit  80  has: a pair of left and right bracket parts  81  having through-holes  81   a  and installed to the upper rear-side cover  12  via the screws  24  (refer to  FIGS.  17 B and  18 B ); a peeler part  82  configured to bend the mount P and to separate the mount P from the label L; and the platen roller  17  disposed below the peeler part  82  and pivotally supported by the bracket parts  81 . 
     The peeler part  82  has an R-shaped section on a tip end-side, and is configured to bend the mount P. The bent mount P is nipped and conveyed by the platen roller  17  and the discharge roller  73 . Since the label L stuck on the mount P is not bent due to its rigidity even when the mount P is bent, the label is peeled off from the mount P. In this way, the lower unit  80  is configured to gradually peel off the label L after printing from the mount P by conveying the bent mount P. 
     Here, for example, the double tear bar unit  40  as the first unit and the linerless unit  50  or the peeler unit  60  as the second unit different from the double tear bar unit  40  can be selectively installed to the upper rear-side cover  12  supported on the lower case  10  as the main body and functioning as the opening/closing cover configured to swing between a closed position in which the accommodation part  22  is covered and an opened position in which the accommodation part  22  is opened. In addition, the cover guide  25   a  configured to guide the label L that is conveyed by the platen roller  17  in a case where the linerless unit  50  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12  or the mount P that is conveyed by the platen roller  17  in a case where the peeler unit  60  is installed, and the discharge port  15  for discharging the label L or the mount P guided by the cover guide  25   a  toward one side (upward) in the first direction (upper and lower direction) are provided. In a case of being installed to the rear-side installation part  25  of the upper rear-side cover  12 , the double tear bar unit  40  is provided with the partition wall  42  provided superposed to cover the cover guide  25   a  and inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape so as to partition the platen roller  17  and the discharge port  15 . 
     Specifically, for example, the double tear bar unit  40  or the peeler unit  60  is selectively installed to the upper rear-side cover  12  that is configured to open and close the accommodation part  22  in which the roll  21  where the plurality of labels L is discretely stuck on the mount P having a long shape is accommodated. 
     The label L on the mount P pulled out from the accommodation part  22  is subjected to predetermined processing by the double tear bar unit  40  or the peeler unit  60  and is then discharged to an outside of the printing apparatus  1  from the discharge port  15 . 
     In a case where the double tear bar unit  40  is installed, the mount P is conveyed by the platen roller  17  provided to the double tear bar unit  40 . In a case where the peeler unit  60  is installed, the mount P is conveyed by the platen roller  17  and the discharge roller  73  provided to the peeler unit  60 . 
     In a case where processing different from each other is performed by the double tear bar unit  40  and the peeler unit  60 , the suitable conveyance path at the time of discharging the label from the discharge port  15  after the processing may be different due to difference in processing content, difference in printing medium that is a processing target, and the like. 
     Therefore, in order to provide the suitable conveyance path corresponding to each processing, the upper rear-side cover  12  is provided with the cover guide  25   a . The cover guide  25   a  is configured to guide the mount P that is guided by the platen roller  17  and the discharge roller  73 , in a case where the peeler unit  60  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 . The cover guide  25   a  can guide the mount P after the label L is peeled off, in an aspect suitable for processing by the peeler unit  60 , the type of the mount P to be subjected to the processing, and the like, for example. 
     In addition, the double tear bar unit  40  is provided with the partition wall  42 . The partition wall  42  is provided superposed to cover the cover guide  25   a  in a state where the double tear bar unit  40  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 . The partition wall  42  is configured to partition the platen roller  17  and the discharge port  15 . In a case where the double tear bar unit  40  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 , the mount P (or label L) that is conveyed by the platen roller  17  is conveyed along the conveyance path defined by the partition wall  42 , not the guide part  25   a.    
     The partition wall  42  can define the conveyance path for guiding the printing medium toward the discharge port  15  in an aspect suitable for processing by the double tear bar unit  40 , the type of the mount P (or the label L without a mount) to be subjected to the processing, and the like, for example. 
     In this way, the suitable conveyance path can be configured, according to each of the case where the double tear bar unit  40  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12  and the case where the peeler unit  60  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 . 
     The cover guide  25   a  is inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape so as to be further upward in the upper and lower direction toward the rear from a near position on the rear side in the front and rear direction, which is a position near the platen roller  17  and the discharge roller  73  provided to the peeler unit  60  installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 . 
     In this way, the cover guide  25   a  is inclined from the discharge port  15  in the front-low and rear-high shape, so that when the peeler unit  60  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 , the printing medium (for example, the mount P) can be guided in an aspect suitable for processing by the peeler unit  60 , the type of the printing medium to be subjected to the processing, and the like. 
     In addition, the partition wall  42  is inclined in a front-low and rear-high shape so as to be further upward in the upper and lower direction toward the rear from a near position on the front side in the front and rear direction, which is a position near the platen roller  17  provided to the double tear bar unit  40  installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 , and an inclination angle is smaller than an inclination angle of the cover guide  25   a.    
     In this way, the inclination angle of the partition wall  42  inclined in the front-low and rear-high shape is smaller than (gentler) than the inclination angle of the cover guide  25   a . Therefore, in a case where the double bar tear unit  40  is installed to the upper rear-side cover  12 , the printing medium can be guided in an aspect suitable for the processing by the double tear bar unit  40 , the type of the printing medium to be subjected to the processing, and the like. 
     The double tear bar unit  40  has the rear-side tear bar  43  separately from the front-side tear bar  14 , as a cutting blade for manually cutting the printing medium, with the discharge port  15  being interposed therebetween. Therefore, in a case where the double tear bar unit  40  is installed, the user can manually cut the discharged printing medium by selectively using the front-side tear bar  14  or the rear-side tear bar  43 . 
     Note that, in a case where the peeler unit  60  is installed as the second unit, the printing medium where the plurality of labels L is discretely stuck on the mount P having a long shape is used, the label L can be peeled off from the mount P and the mount P and the label L can be discharged in a separated state through the discharge port  15 . 
     On the other hand, in a case where the linerless unit  50  is installed as the second unit, a material that suppresses sticking of the adhesive layer of the printing medium is used for the platen roller  17  and the surface of the restraint edge part  52  has been subjected to the surface treatment of suppressing sticking of the adhesive layer of the printing medium. Therefore, it is possible to convey the printing medium to the discharge port  15  while suppressing the adhesive layer of the printing medium being conveyed from being stuck to the platen roller  17  and the restraint edge part  52 . 
     In this way, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  configure a installation part configured to enable replacement of the lid member  30  or (the upper unit  70  of) the peeler unit  60  and the double tear bar unit  40 , the linerless unit  50  or (the lower unit  80  of) the peeler unit  60 , according to use aspects thereof (aspects to issue labels). 
     Specifically, the front-side installation part  20  and the rear-side installation part  25  respectively have the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b , and can selectively attach combinations of the lid member  30  or the double tear bar unit  40 , the lid member  30  and the linerless unit  50 , and the upper unit  70  and the lower unit  80  of the peeler unit  60  via the screws  19  and the screws  24  respectively screwed into the attachment holes  20   a  and the attachment holes  25   b.    
     Therefore, any one of (the upper unit  70  of) the peeler unit  60  and the lid member  30  is selectively attached to the front-side installation part  20  as an installation part. The attaching is performed by the screws  19  screwed into the attachment holes  20   a . Similarly, any one of the double tear bar unit  40 , the linerless unit  50  and (the lower unit  80  of) the peeler unit  60  is selectively attached to the rear-side installation part  25  as an installation part. The attaching is performed by the screws  24  screwed into the attachment holes  25   b . Thereby, the user can easily attach and detach the peeler unit  60  or the lid member  30 , and the double tear bar unit  40 , the linerless unit  50  and the peeler unit  60  by a simple screwing operation. 
     At this time, as shown in  FIG.  30   , the peeler unit  60  is formed to surround a part of the discharge port  15  through which the label L peeled off from the mount P, as the printing medium pulled out from the roll  21  where the plurality of labels L is discretely stuck on the mount P having a long shape and printed, is discharged. 
     The detector  7  is fixed to a bottom surface of the front-side installation part  20 , and is configured to detect presence or absence of the label L, which is discharged from the discharge port  15  while being peeled off from the mount P via the peeler unit  60  installed to the rear-side installation part  25 , in a contactless manner. In this way, the detector  7  is provided to the front-side installation part  20 , not the peeler unit  60 , so that it is possible to avoid troublesomeness to attach and detach the harness with respect to the detector  7  each time the peeler unit  60  is attached and detached. 
     Then, after preparing the label L by using desired print data, the user can stick the label L discharged from the discharge port  15  onto a desired object. 
     In the above, the illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above illustrative embodiment. It is obvious to one skilled in the art that a variety of changes, modifications, combinations and the like can be made within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the technology of the changes, modifications, combinations and the like is also included within the technical scope of the present invention. 
     Also, other than mentioned above, the above illustrative embodiment and methods of each of the modified illustrative embodiments may be combined for use as appropriate. 
     Although not specifically exemplified, the present invention is put into practice with various changes made within a range not departing from the scope of the present invention.