JP2001039589A - Paper feeding box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimize matching between a recording sheet and a thermal transfer ribbon and to provide the best printing quality, by providing a sheet support means for supporting the roll-like recording sheet and a ribbon support means for supporting the thermal transfer ribbon, and pulling the recording sheet and the thermal transfer ribbon through a common opening. SOLUTION: In this paper feeding box 1 connected to a printing device through a connecting portion 17 provided in the upper part of a front face portion 2d, supply plates having a step in its upper part that are relatively arranged when they are folded are provided on the facing side surface portions 2e, 2f, the upper step 10 of them has ribbon support grooves 10a, and the lower step 11 has sheet support grooves 11a. A thermal transfer ribbon 13 and a recording sheet 15 are respectively rotatably supported between right and left ribbon support grooves 10a, 10a and between the sheet support grooves 11a, 11a, and these thermal transfer ribbon 13 and the recording sheet 15 are pulled out of a substantially rectangular opening 12 formed in the lower part of the front face portion 2d and supplied to a printing device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a supply box for supplying a recording sheet attached to a printing device or the like or separately provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a supply box for storing recording paper is provided with an opening when a cover is opened to supply the paper or an opening is formed. In addition to being inserted into the printer, the paper feed box is used at an appropriate place near the printing apparatus. On the other hand, thermal transfer ribbons that print on recording paper
The printing apparatus includes a ribbon supply shaft for loading the main body of the printing apparatus, and a winding shaft for winding the ribbon.

In recent years, plain paper, synthetic paper, PET paper,
As the number of types of paper increases, it is necessary to select an optimum print quality ribbon for each type of paper. However, since the optimal matching between the recording paper and the thermal transfer ribbon cannot be grasped by the user side, when the inappropriate thermal transfer ribbon is transferred to the recording paper, the print becomes thinner or the print becomes blurred. Print quality is degraded.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a supply box which always optimizes the matching between a recording sheet and a thermal transfer ribbon to print the best print quality. I do.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet supporting means for rotatably supporting a roll-shaped recording sheet, and a recording medium provided substantially parallel to the sheet supporting means. A paper feed box provided with a ribbon supporting means for rotatably supporting a thermal transfer ribbon pulled out so as to be positioned on the printing surface side, and an opening for pulling out the recording paper and the thermal transfer ribbon. .

[0006] In the above-mentioned supply box, there is provided a paper feed box having a connecting portion for connecting to a printing device.

Therefore, the optimum thermal transfer ribbon for the recording paper is included in advance, so that the operator can obtain the best print quality without making a mistake. In addition, the paper and the ribbon are rotatably arranged, and the ribbon is pulled out to the printing surface side of the paper only by pulling out the respective leading ends, so that the setting can be easily performed. Further, since the supply box is provided with the connecting portion, the supply box can be easily fixed to the printing apparatus, so that the supply can be stably performed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view of a supply box of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of an original plate of the supply box, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view illustrating a use state.

[0009] The supply box 1 is a roll of recording paper 1
5, a thermal transfer ribbon 13 and a continuous box 2 that covers and accommodates them. Roll-shaped recording paper 15
Indicates a label 15b on a long backing paper 15a indicated by a virtual line.
Is formed by winding a plurality of recording papers 15 temporarily attached at predetermined intervals around a core rod (support shaft) 16, and the core rod 16 is generally a paper tube. The label 15b in this example is plain paper, and the thermal transfer ribbon 13 suitable for printing is loaded on the plain paper. Thermal transfer ribbon 1
3 is a transparent film coated with ink,
It is melted by heat and transferred to the label 15b, and is wound around a core rod (support shaft) 14.
The shaft 16 of the recording paper 15 and the shaft 14 of the thermal transfer ribbon 13
Are supported substantially in parallel.

The box 2 is formed by folding and bonding an original plate 25 made of paper. The original plate 25
Is made of paper in this example, but is not limited to this. The original plate 25 is formed by cutting a flat piece of paper and integrally formed. The original plate 25 includes a back portion 2a, a bottom portion 2c, a front portion 2d, a top portion 2b, and side portions 2e and 2f of the box 2.
a has a bottom surface 2c, an upper surface 2b, and both side surfaces 2a.
e and 2f are connected. Also, the back part 2a of the side part 2f
The front portion 2d is connected to a portion opposite to the portion connected to the front portion 2d. Top part 2b, bottom part 2c, side parts 2e, 2f
Are formed with glue margins 3, 4, and 5, respectively, and are bent and adhered from the portion shown by the two-dot chain line to form the box 2.

The side plates 2e and 2f are provided with supply plates 8 and 9 which are relatively arranged when bent. The supply plates 8, 9 are made of paper and have an appropriate thickness. Furthermore, the upper plates 10 and 10 and the middle unit 1 which are formed in parallel with the supply plates 8 and 9 and have a step are provided.
1 and 11 are formed, and a ribbon supporting groove 10
a, 10a, and paper support grooves 11a, 11
a are formed. The thermal transfer ribbon 13 is rotatable in the ribbon support grooves 10a, 10a, and the roll-shaped recording paper 15 is rotatably supported in the paper support grooves 11a, 11a. The positions of the ribbon supporting grooves 10a, 10a and the paper supporting grooves 11a, 11a are formed so as not to come into contact when the thermal transfer ribbon 13 and the roll-shaped recording paper 15 are loaded.

On the other hand, a substantially rectangular opening 12 is formed in the lower part of the front portion 2d for sending out the thermal transfer ribbon 13 and the roll-shaped recording paper 15 to a printing device 18 to be described later. In this example, the shape of the opening 12 will be described as a substantially rectangular shape. However, the shape of the opening 12 is arbitrary, and the thermal transfer ribbon 13 and the opening width that is wider than any width of the roll-shaped recording paper 15 Should be fine. Further, the upper part of the front part 2d has a connecting part 6, and a pair of holes 17
a, 17 a are formed to provide U-shaped connecting members 17, 17 connected to the printing device 18. The connecting tools 17, 17 are provided with pins 17b, 17b. The pins 17b, 17b are inserted into the holes 17a, 17a to fix the connecting tools 17, 17 by an arbitrary method.

The box 2 is bent from a portion shown by a dashed line and bonded by glue margins 3, 4, and 5, and supports the support shaft 16 of the roll-shaped recording paper 15 with the supply plates 8, 9.
, And the support shaft 14 of the thermal transfer ribbon 13 is fitted into the ribbon support grooves 10a, 10a of the supply plates 8, 9. The supply box 1 thus configured is placed at the rear of the printing device 18, with the thermal transfer ribbon 13 on the
2 to the printing device 18.

The printing device 18 includes a platen roller 19 and a thermal head 20 and a thermal transfer ribbon 1.
And a ribbon take-up section 22 for taking up the 3. Further, receiving members 23, 23 fitted to the connecting members 17, 17 of the supply box 1 are provided at a rear portion of the printing device 18. The front part 2 of the supply box 1 is provided with a stopper 24 so as to be kept parallel to the sheet feeding surface of the printing device 18 so as to prevent the thermal transfer ribbon 13 and the recording sheet 15 from meandering.

Then, the recording paper 15 and the thermal transfer ribbon 13 sent out from the supply box 1 are guided between guide rollers 21 and 21 arranged in the printing device 18 and fed out between the platen roller 19 and the thermal head 20. The thermal head 20 transfers the ink of the thermal transfer ribbon 13 to the label 15b by generating heat based on the print information,
The recording paper 15 is fed forward, and the thermal transfer ribbon 13 is transported upward to be taken up by the ribbon take-up section 22.

As described above, in the supply box 1, the thermal transfer ribbon 13 that can perform proper printing on the recording paper 15 is housed in the same supply box 1, so that loss due to printing failure or waste of the recording paper is caused. Never come out. Further, since the connecting portion 6 is provided, it can be easily connected to the printing device, and meandering of the printing paper or the thermal transfer ribbon can be prevented.

Also, since the thermal transfer ribbon is included in the supply box, the ribbon supply unit is not required on the printing device side, so that the mechanism of the printing device can be simplified and the device can be reduced in size and weight.

Next, a modification of the connecting portion will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a use state, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a main part of a connecting portion. The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The supply box 1 is connected to a rear portion of the printing device 18 via a connecting portion 26. The connecting portion 26 includes an extension plate 28 extending from the bottom of the printing device 18,
A protrusion connector 27 having a protrusion formed on the extension plate 28.
Are provided. On the other hand, the bottom part 2 of the supply box 1
A notch 29 corresponding to the convex connector 27 is formed in c, and the convex connector 27 is inserted into the notch 29 so that the supply box 1 does not easily move.

Even in such a configuration, meandering of the recording paper or the thermal transfer ribbon can be prevented. Also,
Since a ribbon supply unit is not required on the printing device side, the mechanism of the printing device is simplified, and the size and weight can be reduced. Further, the supply box can be easily provided while the connecting portion has a simple structure, and there is no case where the supply box easily moves or falls.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the recording paper is described as plain paper. However, in the case of synthetic paper, an appropriate thermal transfer ribbon is used for the synthetic paper. A thermal transfer ribbon for printing properly on PET paper is included in a supply box. As described above, the thermal transfer ribbon capable of performing appropriate printing on the recording paper is included in the same supply box.

[0022]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform printing with optimum matching by bundling an appropriate recording paper and a thermal transfer ribbon, thereby lowering work efficiency due to poor printing or recording. The best printing can be performed without wasting paper. Further, since the supply box is provided with the connecting portion, the supply box can be easily and easily moved to the printing apparatus, and the recording paper and the thermal transfer ribbon can be stably supplied without meandering.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view of a supply box of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an original plate of a supply box.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a use state.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a use state. (Modification)

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a connecting portion. (Modification)

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply box 6 Connecting part 10 Upper part 11 Middle part 10a Ribbon supporting groove (ribbon supporting means) 11a Paper supporting groove (paper supporting means) 12 Opening 13 Thermal transfer ribbon 15 Recording paper 17 Connecting tool 18 Printing device 22 Ribbon winding part 23 Receiving part 26 Connecting part (Modified example) 27 Convex part connecting part 29 Notch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sheet supporting means for rotatably supporting a rolled recording sheet, and a thermal transfer ribbon provided substantially parallel to the sheet supporting means and pulled out so as to be positioned on a printing surface side of the recording sheet. A paper feed box provided with a ribbon supporting means for supporting the recording paper and the thermal transfer ribbon. 2. The paper feed box according to claim 1, further comprising a connecting portion connected to the printing device.