EP0154990B1 - Thermal transfer printer - Google Patents
Thermal transfer printer Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0154990B1 EP0154990B1 EP19850102878 EP85102878A EP0154990B1 EP 0154990 B1 EP0154990 B1 EP 0154990B1 EP 19850102878 EP19850102878 EP 19850102878 EP 85102878 A EP85102878 A EP 85102878A EP 0154990 B1 EP0154990 B1 EP 0154990B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- ribbon
- inked ribbon
- printing
- inked
- carriage
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J33/00—Apparatus or arrangements for feeding ink ribbons or like character-size impression-transfer material
- B41J33/14—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms
- B41J33/40—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms with arrangements for reversing the feed direction
- B41J33/42—Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms with arrangements for reversing the feed direction manually
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J32/00—Ink-ribbon cartridges
Definitions
- This invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly it is concerned with a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette for containing an inked ribbon according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1.
- This invention has as its object the provision of a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette in which the cassette case accounts for a smaller proportion of the inked ribbon cassette as a whole than in inked ribbon cassettes of the prior art.
- a thermal transfer printer comprising an inked ribbon, a thermal head, a carriage for moving the thermal head and a control unit for controlling thermal transfer printing operations, wherein the improvement comprises an inked ribbon cassette for containing the inked ribbon constructed such that printing can be performed in a plurality of stages.
- Fig. 1 there is shown, in a perspective view, one embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the invention, showing its external appearance.
- Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view, shown on an enlarged scale, of the ribbon cassette as a whole.
- Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette, showing its interior.
- the characterizing feature of the invention is that the ribbon cassette of the thermal transfer printer is formed on its left and right sides with cutouts for receiving a thermal head, so that the ribbon cassette can perform the function of printing characters, symbols, etc., in two stages or in upper and lower half-portions of the inked ribbon.
- a plurality of shafts 4 are joined at opposite ends to side plates 1 and 2 for supporting a carriage 5 thereon for sliding movement.
- the carriage 5 supports thereon a ribbon cassette 7 and a thermal head 15.
- An inked ribbon 16 is contained in the ribbon cassette 7.
- the carriage 5 is driven by a carriage motor 8 through a timing belt 10 for movement leftwardly and rightwardly in Fig. 1.
- a line feed motor 11 transmits a motive force to a gear 12 supported by a shaft of a platen 18 to feed a printing sheet 14.
- the printing sheet 14 can be manually fed by turning a platen knob 13.
- the numeral 19 designates a printing sheet guide.
- sheet keep rollers 17 slidably supported by a shaft 3 can be moved between a position in which they are maintained in pressing engagement with the surface of the printing sheet 14 wound on the platen 18 and a position in which they are out of engagement with the surface of the printing sheet 14.
- the numeral 6 designates a home position sensor, and the numeral 9 a flat cable for passing a electric current to the thermal head 15.
- the thermal transfer printer of the aforesaid construction is of a one-way printing system in which printing is performed only when the carriage 5 moves rightwardly. When the carriage 5 moves rightwardly, the inked ribbon 16 is taken up; when the carriage 5 moves leftwardly, the inked ribbon 16 is not taken up.
- the carriage motor 8, line feed motor 11, home position sensor 6, thermal head 15 and a ribbon sensor which, although not shown, is operative to sense, for example, an end of the inked ribbon 16 are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 22.
- CPU central processing unit
- the ribbon cassette 7 comprises two cassette case members 31 and 34 secured together by a plurality of fixing screws 30 to provide a hollowcase in which the inked ribbon 16 and a back tension mechanism 33 for imparting a back tension of a predetermined magnitude to the inked ribbon 16.
- the cassette case members 31 and 34 are each formed with cutouts 32A and 32B for receiving the thermal head 15 supported by the carriage 5.
- Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette 7 showing the internal structure of the ribbon cassette 7 by removing the cassette case member 31.
- the cassette case member 34 supports thereon a take-up shaft 21 and ribbon cores 35 and 36.
- the thermal head 15 when the thermal head 15 is arranged in such a manner that its heat generating elements, not shown, are opposed to a lower-half portion of the inked ribbon 16 and the ribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that the cassette case member 34 comes into contact with a top surface of the carriage 5, the thermal head 15 inserted in the cutout 32A forces the inked ribbon 16 against the sheet 14 and the inked ribbon 16 moves toward the ribbon core 36 as the carriage 5 is moved by the carriage motor 8.
- the ribbon cassette 7 moves together with the carriage 5 as a unit so that the new inked ribbon 16 wound on the ribbon core 35 is fed through the back tension mechanism 33 to the thermal head 15.
- the inked ribbon 16 is wound on the ribbon core 36 after moving past the thermal head 15 for performing printing.
- the ribbon core 36 is connected to a take-up shaft 21 located in the carriage 5 and driven by the timing belt 10, to be driven thereby for rotation.
- print marks are formed only at its lower half-portion as indicated by hatching in Fig. 2.
- the inked ribbon 16 having the print marks formed only at its lower half-portion by the printing operation is fed from the ribbon core 35 and wound on the ribbon core 36, until only its terminal end portion remains on the ribbon core 35 and vice versa.
- the ribbon cassette 7 is removed from the carriage 5 and mounted on the carriage 5 again after being turned over.
- the ribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that the cassette case member 31 comes into contact with the top surface of the carriage 5, and the thermal head 15 is inserted in the cutout 32B.
- the heat generating elements, not shown, of the thermal head 15 are positioned against a portion of the inked ribbon 16 which has no print marks, and the ribbon core 35 on which only the terminating portion of the inked ribbon 16 is wound is connected to the take-up shaft 21.
- the inked ribbon 16 has been shown and described as being used in such a manner that its lower half-portion is used in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inked ribbon 16 is used in the second stage of operation.
- the invention is not limited to this use of the inked ribbon 16 and similar results can be achieved by using an upper half-portion of the inked ribbon 16 in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inked ribbon 16 in the second stage of operation.
- the cutouts 32A and 32B are formed on the left and right sides, respectively, of the front portion of the cassette case.
- this is not restrictive, and a single cutout may be formed substantially in the central portion of the front portion of the cassette case, not lopsidedly on the left side of the front portion as is the case with ribbon cassettes of the prior art, so that the ribbon cassette can be used by being turned over.
- the thermal transfer printer provided with the improved inked ribbon cassette of the aforesaid construction can achieve the following effects.
- a roll of inked ribbon can be used to perform printing in a plurality of stages. This is conducive to a great reduction in running costs.
Description
- This invention relates to a thermal transfer printer, and more particularly it is concerned with a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette for containing an inked ribbon according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1.
- In a thermal transfer printer, an inked ribbon used for printing characters and symbols on a printing sheet is replaced by a new one each time the old one is used up. It is economical to replace only the old inked ribbon by itself, but the inked ribbon replacing operation is time-consuming and troublesome to perform. It is simple and easy to replace the old inked ribbon together with a cassette, but the use of an inked ribbon cassette is uneconomical. This invention proposes to provide an improvement in inked ribbon cassettes of the prior art.
- This invention has as its object the provision of a thermal transfer printer equipped with an improved inked ribbon cassette in which the cassette case accounts for a smaller proportion of the inked ribbon cassette as a whole than in inked ribbon cassettes of the prior art.
- This object as achieved by a thermal transfer printer as defined in claim 1.
- According to the invention, there is provided a thermal transfer printer comprising an inked ribbon, a thermal head, a carriage for moving the thermal head and a control unit for controlling thermal transfer printing operations, wherein the improvement comprises an inked ribbon cassette for containing the inked ribbon constructed such that printing can be performed in a plurality of stages.
-
- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the thermal transfer printer comprising one embodiment of the invention, showing its external appearance;
- Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view, shown on an enlarged scale, of the ribbon cassette as a whole of the thermal transfer printer shown in Fig. 1; and
- Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette shown in Fig. 2, showing its interior.
- A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by referring to the accompanying drawings.
- In Fig. 1, there is shown, in a perspective view, one embodiment of the thermal transfer printer according to the invention, showing its external appearance. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view, shown on an enlarged scale, of the ribbon cassette as a whole. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the ribbon cassette, showing its interior.
- The characterizing feature of the invention is that the ribbon cassette of the thermal transfer printer is formed on its left and right sides with cutouts for receiving a thermal head, so that the ribbon cassette can perform the function of printing characters, symbols, etc., in two stages or in upper and lower half-portions of the inked ribbon.
- Referring to Fig. 1, a plurality of shafts 4 are joined at opposite ends to
side plates 1 and 2 for supporting acarriage 5 thereon for sliding movement. Thecarriage 5 supports thereon aribbon cassette 7 and athermal head 15. An inkedribbon 16 is contained in theribbon cassette 7. - The
carriage 5 is driven by a carriage motor 8 through atiming belt 10 for movement leftwardly and rightwardly in Fig. 1. - A line feed motor 11 transmits a motive force to a
gear 12 supported by a shaft of aplaten 18 to feed aprinting sheet 14. Alternatively, theprinting sheet 14 can be manually fed by turning a platen knob 13. Thenumeral 19 designates a printing sheet guide. - By moving a release lever 20 forwardly and rearwardly, sheet keep
rollers 17 slidably supported by ashaft 3 can be moved between a position in which they are maintained in pressing engagement with the surface of theprinting sheet 14 wound on theplaten 18 and a position in which they are out of engagement with the surface of theprinting sheet 14. - The numeral 6 designates a home position sensor, and the numeral 9 a flat cable for passing a electric current to the
thermal head 15. - The thermal transfer printer of the aforesaid construction is of a one-way printing system in which printing is performed only when the
carriage 5 moves rightwardly. When thecarriage 5 moves rightwardly, the inkedribbon 16 is taken up; when thecarriage 5 moves leftwardly, the inkedribbon 16 is not taken up. - The carriage motor 8, line feed motor 11, home position sensor 6,
thermal head 15 and a ribbon sensor which, although not shown, is operative to sense, for example, an end of the inkedribbon 16 are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 22. - Referring to Fig. 2 which is an exploded perspective view of the
ribbon cassette 7, theribbon cassette 7 comprises twocassette case members fixing screws 30 to provide a hollowcase in which the inkedribbon 16 and aback tension mechanism 33 for imparting a back tension of a predetermined magnitude to the inkedribbon 16. Thecassette case members cutouts thermal head 15 supported by thecarriage 5. - Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the
ribbon cassette 7 showing the internal structure of theribbon cassette 7 by removing thecassette case member 31. Thecassette case member 34 supports thereon a take-up shaft 21 andribbon cores - Operation of taking up the inked
ribbon 16 will now be described by referring to the drawings, particularly Figs. 2 and 3. - In the aforesaid construction, when the
thermal head 15 is arranged in such a manner that its heat generating elements, not shown, are opposed to a lower-half portion of the inkedribbon 16 and theribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that thecassette case member 34 comes into contact with a top surface of thecarriage 5, thethermal head 15 inserted in thecutout 32A forces the inkedribbon 16 against thesheet 14 and the inkedribbon 16 moves toward theribbon core 36 as thecarriage 5 is moved by the carriage motor 8. - Stated differently, the
ribbon cassette 7 moves together with thecarriage 5 as a unit so that the new inkedribbon 16 wound on theribbon core 35 is fed through theback tension mechanism 33 to thethermal head 15. - The inked
ribbon 16 is wound on theribbon core 36 after moving past thethermal head 15 for performing printing. Theribbon core 36 is connected to a take-up shaft 21 located in thecarriage 5 and driven by thetiming belt 10, to be driven thereby for rotation. - In the printing operation described, print marks are formed only at its lower half-portion as indicated by hatching in Fig. 2.
- The inked
ribbon 16 having the print marks formed only at its lower half-portion by the printing operation is fed from theribbon core 35 and wound on theribbon core 36, until only its terminal end portion remains on theribbon core 35 and vice versa. When it is sensed that the inkedribbon 16 has been fed from theribbon core 35 with only its terminal end portion remained thereon, theribbon cassette 7 is removed from thecarriage 5 and mounted on thecarriage 5 again after being turned over. - Stated differently, the
ribbon cassette 7 is mounted in such a manner that thecassette case member 31 comes into contact with the top surface of thecarriage 5, and thethermal head 15 is inserted in thecutout 32B. Thus, the heat generating elements, not shown, of thethermal head 15 are positioned against a portion of the inkedribbon 16 which has no print marks, and theribbon core 35 on which only the terminating portion of the inkedribbon 16 is wound is connected to the take-up shaft 21. - If a command to start printing is given at this time, printing is performed by using only a half portion of the inked
ribbon 16 which remained unused in the previous printing operation, and the inkedribbon 16 is wound on theribbon core 35 after performing printing. - In the embodiment shown and described hereinabove, the inked
ribbon 16 has been shown and described as being used in such a manner that its lower half-portion is used in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inkedribbon 16 is used in the second stage of operation. However, the invention is not limited to this use of the inkedribbon 16 and similar results can be achieved by using an upper half-portion of the inkedribbon 16 in the first stage of operation and the rest of the inkedribbon 16 in the second stage of operation. - In the embodiment shown and described hereinabove, the
cutouts - The thermal transfer printer provided with the improved inked ribbon cassette of the aforesaid construction can achieve the following effects. As described hereinabove, a roll of inked ribbon can be used to perform printing in a plurality of stages. This is conducive to a great reduction in running costs.
Claims (2)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP4650584A JPS60190380A (en) | 1984-03-13 | 1984-03-13 | Heat transfer printer |
JP46505/84 | 1984-03-13 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0154990A2 EP0154990A2 (en) | 1985-09-18 |
EP0154990A3 EP0154990A3 (en) | 1986-01-29 |
EP0154990B1 true EP0154990B1 (en) | 1988-08-03 |
Family
ID=12749102
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19850102878 Expired EP0154990B1 (en) | 1984-03-13 | 1985-03-13 | Thermal transfer printer |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0154990B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPS60190380A (en) |
DE (1) | DE3564093D1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0194694B1 (en) * | 1985-03-15 | 1992-09-30 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Printer and ribbon cassette therefor |
JPH0745258B1 (en) * | 1987-04-06 | 1995-05-17 | Sigmax | |
DE8713034U1 (en) * | 1987-09-28 | 1987-11-19 | Computer Gesellschaft Konstanz Mbh, 7750 Konstanz, De | |
GB2272669B (en) * | 1992-11-20 | 1996-09-25 | Neopost Ltd | Printing apparatus |
GB9621475D0 (en) * | 1996-10-15 | 1996-12-04 | Itw Ltd | A method of operating a thermal printer |
Family Cites Families (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE2415265A1 (en) * | 1974-03-29 | 1975-10-16 | Buettner Ag Franz | Ink ribbon cassette for typewriter - has no ribbon direction reversing mechanism but can be inverted and replaced on typewriter |
-
1984
- 1984-03-13 JP JP4650584A patent/JPS60190380A/en active Pending
-
1985
- 1985-03-13 EP EP19850102878 patent/EP0154990B1/en not_active Expired
- 1985-03-13 DE DE8585102878T patent/DE3564093D1/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DE3564093D1 (en) | 1988-09-08 |
JPS60190380A (en) | 1985-09-27 |
EP0154990A3 (en) | 1986-01-29 |
EP0154990A2 (en) | 1985-09-18 |
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