JP2002361963A - Ribbon roll - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the general versatility of a ribbon roll. SOLUTION: A light shielding layer 6 larger in the thickness than an ink layer 3 is formed over a predetermined length from an end part of the ink ribbon 4 having the ink layer 3 formed by an ink with thermal melting properties to one face of a long film 2 having light transmission properties. An end part at the side of the light shielding layer 6 of the ink ribbon 4 is held to a ribbon shaft 5 by a force of a degree whereby the end part is separated by a predetermined tensile force, and wound into a roll shape around a shaft center of the ribbon shaft 5 from one end side in a longitudinal direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ribbon roll of an ink ribbon used in an ink ribbon printer for performing printing by transferring ink applied to a film onto paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink ribbon having an ink layer formed by applying an ink that melts by heat to one surface of a long film having a light-transmitting property is used to move a ribbon shaft from one end in a longitudinal direction. There is a ribbon roll in the form of a roll that is wound up in a roll around the axis.

[0003] In such a ribbon roll, an ink ribbon stretched through a winding path is heated by a thermal head to melt the ink applied to the film, and the ink in the melted ink layer is removed. It is used in a transfer-type thermal printer that prints by transferring all (or most) to paper.

[0004] A ribbon roll is usually manufactured for one-time use, since reusing an ink ribbon that has been used once causes print quality to deteriorate, such as fading of printed matter.

By the way, if the printing operation is continued when the ink ribbon is used up to the end during a series of printing operations, the printing operation is performed without the ink ribbon, so that a sheet on which no printing is performed is issued. It will be.

For this reason, the end portion of the ink ribbon (hereinafter, referred to as the end portion)
There is a thermal printer in which a detection mechanism for detecting a ribbon end is provided, and a ribbon roll used up to the end of the ink ribbon is replaced with a new ribbon roll.

For example, there is provided a ribbon end sensor 31 which is a transmission type optical sensor having a light emitting element 31a and a light receiving element 31b forming a pair via a ribbon winding path 23 on which an ink ribbon is wound. 31
There is a thermal printer 30 that detects the ribbon end based on a change in output from the printer (see FIG. 5).

In such a thermal printer 30, as shown in FIG. 6, a long end of an ink ribbon 101 having an ink layer 100 provided on one side thereof is provided over a predetermined length of a ribbon end 101a. Ribbon roll 10 having light opaque portion 102 formed of light opaque material
Use 3.

In the ribbon roll 103 shown in FIG. 6, as a light-opaque material forming the light-opaque portion 102, for example, a material mainly composed of a metal that develops a silver color is used. In the ribbon roll 103 shown in FIG. 6, the heating element of the thermal head 17 may be damaged by metal provided on the ribbon end 101a for forming the light opaque portion 102.
By fixing 1a to the ribbon shaft 104 with a strong force, the ribbon end 101a is prevented from passing the printing position. The thermal printer 30 detects the ribbon end 110a based on a change in the output from the ribbon end sensor 31.

In the ribbon roll 103 shown in FIG. 6, the light opaque portion 102 is provided at the end of the ink ribbon 101 on the side of the ribbon end 101a so that the ribbon end reaches the ribbon end sensor 31 even if the ribbon end is fixed to the ribbon shaft 104. It is formed over the entire length in the width direction from the portion to the ribbon end sensor 31.

Further, for example, a slit disk 24 formed with a plurality of slits 24a extending radially from the center.
Is arranged so as to be rotated in accordance with the rotation of the ribbon roll holding shaft 21, and a ribbon end sensor which is a transmission type optical sensor at a position where the optical axis interferes with the movement trajectory of the slit 24 a due to the rotation of the slit disk 24. There is a thermal printer 10 having a ribbon detection mechanism 26 provided with a reference numeral 25.
(See FIG. 2).

In such a thermal printer 10, as shown in FIG. 7, the ink layer 10 extends from one end to the other in the longitudinal direction.
Elongated ink ribbon 110 on which 0 is uniformly provided
Is used around the axis of the ribbon shaft 104 from one end in the length direction.

[0013] When the ink ribbon 110 is wound up to the ribbon end 110a, the ribbon roll 111 shown in FIG.
04, the ribbon end 110 of the ink ribbon 110
a is held by a weak holding force.

In printing, when the slit disk 24 rotates with the rotation of the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 for holding the ribbon shaft 104 of the ribbon roll 111, the slit 24a
Intermittently crosses the optical axis, so that the output from the ribbon end sensor 26 has a pulse shape (see FIG. 4A).
When the ink ribbon 110 moves away from the ribbon shaft 104, the rotation of the slit disk 24 stops, so that the output from the ribbon end sensor 26 does not have a pulse waveform. The thermal printer 10 detects the ribbon end 110a based on the change of the output waveform.

[0015]

By the way, in each of the above-mentioned thermal printers, when only printing is considered, basically either of the ink ribbons 10 and 30 is used.
In spite of the fact that printing is possible even with the use of the ribbon rolls 1 and 110, different types of ribbon rolls 103 and 110 are not used according to the ribbon end detection mechanisms 26 and 31 of the target thermal printer 10 or 30. must not. Therefore, the versatility of the ribbon rolls 103 and 110 is inferior.

When replacing the ribbon rolls 103 and 110, the user of the thermal printers 10 and 30 can use the ribbon rolls 103 and 110 to be used.
Must be conscious of whether or not is suitable for the transfer type printer.

In addition, in the case of the ribbon roll 103 in which metal is provided at the ribbon end of the ink ribbon 101, the cost performance in manufacturing is reduced.

An object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon roll capable of improving versatility.

[0019]

A ribbon roll according to the present invention is a ribbon roll used in a printer for detecting an ink ribbon passing through a print head by a light transmission type sensor, and has a light transmitting property. An ink ribbon having an ink layer formed of a heat-meltable ink on one surface of a long film, and a light shield formed by the ink over a predetermined length from one end in the length direction of the ink ribbon; A light-shielding layer having a thickness greater than that of the ink layer so as to exhibit the property, a ribbon shaft for holding an end of the ink ribbon on the light-shielding layer side with a force smaller than a winding force of the ink ribbon by the printer, With
The ink ribbon is wound in a roll shape around the axis of the ribbon shaft from one end in the length direction.

Therefore, a single kind of ribbon roll is
Used for both a thermal printer that detects the ribbon end according to the difference in translucency between the ink layer and the light-shielding layer, and a thermal printer that detects the ribbon end based on the pulse waveform generated by the rotation of the slit disk Can be. Here, since the light-shielding layer is formed by the ink forming the ink layer, the ends of the ink ribbon on the light-shielding layer side are separated from the ribbon shaft by the winding force of the ink ribbon by the printer and are brought into contact with each other by the thermal printer. Even when the ribbon end slides and passes between the thermal head and the platen, the thermal head is not damaged.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ribbon roll according to the first aspect, the light shielding layer is formed on a part of the ink ribbon in a width direction.

Therefore, by forming the light-shielding layer only at the position corresponding to the position of the sensor of the printer which is expected to be used, it is possible to minimize the amount of ink used.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment shows an example of application to an ink ribbon used in a thermal printing type label printer.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a part of the ribbon roll of the present embodiment. The ribbon roll 1 forms an ink ribbon 4 in which an ink layer 3 is formed on one surface side of a translucent elongate film 2 around an axis of a ribbon shaft 5 in a roll shape from one end in the length direction. It has a rolled-up roll shape.

The ink layer 3 has such translucency that the presence or absence of the ink ribbon 4 can be determined based on an output value from a light transmission type sensor described later.

In the ink ribbon 4, the start of winding of the ink ribbon 4 (the end portion at the time of use, that is, the ribbon end) is applied so that the thickness of the ink layer 3 is almost twice the thickness of the ink layer 3 so as to exhibit light shielding properties. The light shielding layer 6 is formed by the ink. The light shielding layer 6 includes the ink ribbon 4
Is formed over a predetermined length from the end on the ribbon end side along the length direction. Further, the light-shielding layer 6 has a transmittance of light emitted from the light-emitting element of the light transmission type sensor set to zero or sufficiently lower than that of the ink layer 3.

The light-shielding layer 6 of the present embodiment has a “predetermined length” from the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 of the label printer 30 to the ribbon end sensor 31 to be described later.

The ink forming the ink layer 3 and the light-shielding layer 6 has a heat-melting property such that the ink is melted by being heated by a heating element of a thermal head described later.

The end 4 on the ribbon end side of the ink ribbon 4
a is bonded to the ribbon shaft 5 by an adhesive or the like.
The adhesive force for bonding the end 4a of the ink ribbon 4 on the ribbon end side to the ribbon shaft 5 is, for example, smaller than the torque for winding the ink ribbon 4 by a thermal printer using the ink ribbon 4, such as a label printer described later. It is set small. In the present embodiment, the "torque for winding the ink ribbon 4 by the thermal printer using the ink ribbon 4" is defined as "the ink ribbon winding force by the printer".

Such an ink ribbon 4 is used in a thermal printer that performs thermal printing, such as a label printer described later.

Here, FIG. 2 shows the ribbon roll 1 described above.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an example of a label printer that uses a printer. The label printer 10 is connected to the other end of the main body housing 11 (see FIG. 2) from a paper insertion port 12 formed at one end (right side of the paper surface in FIG. A paper guide path 15 is provided to a paper discharge port 14 formed on the left side of the drawing). In the paper guide path 15, a label paper P in which a plurality of label papers are provided on one side of a long mount P 'is guided.

Below the paper guide path 15 in the main body housing 11, there is provided a mount winding path 15a for winding the mount P 'from which the label has been peeled off by a plurality of rollers R.

The main body housing 11 is provided with an insertion door 12a for opening the paper insertion opening 12 largely by rotating about a support shaft 11a provided on the main body housing 11 in a direction away from the main body housing 11. Is provided.

A paper guide path 15 is provided in the main body housing 11.
A roller 15b for transporting the label paper P, and various guide members 15c for correctly regulating the path of the label paper P are provided.

The printing unit 13 includes a platen 16 disposed so as to interfere with the paper guide path 15 from below, and a thermal head 17 facing the platen 16 from above via the paper guide path 15. Have. Platen 16
Is driven to rotate in one direction by a transport motor (not shown). The thermal head 17 is provided so as to be swingable in a direction away from the platen 16, and is urged in a direction in which the thermal head 17 comes into contact with the platen 16 by a head urging mechanism (not shown).

The thermal head 17 of the present embodiment can be freely moved toward and away from the platen 16, and the contact / separation can be switched by switching a lever (not shown).

The thermal head 17 and the head biasing mechanism
Thermal head 1 with block rotation shaft 18 as the center of rotation
The head block 20 is held by a head holding member 19 that is rotatably provided in a direction away from the platen 16.

In the main housing 11, a ribbon winding path 23 is provided from the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 for holding the ribbon shaft 5 of the ribbon roll 1 to the ribbon winding shaft 22 via the printing unit 13. . The ribbon roll holding shaft 21 and the ribbon take-up shaft 22 are
It is arranged above 0, and each is rotatable at the arranged position. Ribbon winding shaft 22
Is driven in one direction by a ribbon winding motor (not shown). The ribbon roll holding shaft 21 is pulled and rotated by the ink ribbon 4 wound by the rotation of the ribbon winding shaft 22. Ribbon roll holding shaft 21,
Since the ribbon take-up shaft 22 is disposed above the head block 20, the ink ribbon 4 can be pressed against the thermal head 17 on the surface opposite to the ink layer 3, so that the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 It is stretched between the ribbon winding shaft 22.

At the end of the ribbon roll holding shaft 21, a slit disk 24 having the same rotation center as the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 is attached. The slit disk 24 has a plurality of slits 24a extending radially from the center of rotation.

As shown in FIG. 3, a ribbon end sensor 25 in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown) are arranged opposite to each other via the slit disk 24, near the slit disk 24.
Is provided. The ribbon end sensor 25 of the present embodiment is a transmission type optical sensor, and its output changes based on a change in the amount of light received by the light receiving element with respect to light emitted from the light emitting element. A ribbon end detection mechanism 26 is constituted by the slit disk 24 and the ribbon end sensor 25.

In addition, although not particularly shown, the label printer 10 includes a control unit for driving and controlling each unit of the label printer 10 such as a transport motor, a ribbon winding motor, and a thermal head 17. The control unit is a CPU, R
It is mainly composed of a microcomputer formed by connecting an OM, a RAM, and the like via a bus. The control unit determines the presence or absence of the ink ribbon 4 based on a change in the output from the ribbon end sensor 25.

At the time of printing, the platen 16 is rotated by driving the transport motor to transport the paper. Platen 16
The ribbon take-up shaft 22 is rotated by driving a ribbon take-up motor in accordance with the paper transport speed by the rotation of the ink ribbon 4 to take up the ink ribbon 4. By winding the ink ribbon 4, the ribbon shaft 5 is rotated. The slit disk 24 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the ribbon shaft 5. As the slit disk 24 rotates, the slit 24 a provided on the slit disk 24 intermittently crosses the optical axis of the ribbon end sensor 25. As a result, the amount of light received by the light receiving element changes, and the output from the ribbon end sensor 25 shows a pulse waveform as shown in FIG. This pulse waveform is applied to the label printer 10 according to the paper transport speed.
It is uniquely determined for each.

When the ink ribbon 4 wound up to the end position is still pulled by the ribbon winding shaft 22, the ink ribbon 4 adheres to the ribbon shaft 5 with a weaker adhesive force than the rotation torque of the transport motor. As a result, the ink ribbon 4 moves away from the ribbon shaft 5. When the ink ribbon 4 moves away from the ribbon shaft 5, the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 does not rotate even when the winding shaft 22 rotates, so that the output from the ribbon end sensor 25 is as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the shape remains unchanged. The control unit detects the ribbon end based on a change in the output waveform during the operation of the ribbon winding motor.

By the way, the ink ribbon 4 of the present embodiment
Has a light-shielding layer 6 formed by applying twice the amount of normal ink. For this reason, it can be used in a thermal printer that detects the ribbon end by the method described below.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing another example of a label printer using the ribbon roll shown in FIG.
The label printer 30 shown in FIG. 5 does not have the ribbon end detecting mechanism 26 using the slit disk 24 and the ribbon end sensor 25 as compared with the label printer shown in FIG. Since the label printer 10 shown in FIG. 2 and the label printer 30 shown in FIG. 5 have the same configuration except for the ribbon end detection mechanism 26, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

In the label printer 30, the light emitting element 31a
A ribbon end sensor 31 is provided in which the light receiving element 31b and the light receiving element 31b are arranged to face each other via the ribbon winding path 23. The ribbon end sensor 31 is a light transmission type sensor whose output changes based on a change in the amount of light emitted from the light emitting element 31a received by the light receiving element 31b.

At the time of printing, the rotation of the ribbon winding shaft 22 causes the ink ribbon 4 to move between the light emitting element 31a and the light receiving element 31b. While the ink ribbon 4 is present, the output from the ribbon end sensor 31 is in a range where it can be determined that “ribbon is present” and does not change extremely.

When the ink ribbon 4 is wound up to the end position, since the light shielding layer 6 has a length from the ribbon roll holding shaft 21 to the ribbon end sensor 31, the light shielding layer 6
Reaches the ribbon end sensor 31. When the light-shielding layer 6 approaches the ribbon end sensor 31, the output from the ribbon end sensor 31 changes. The control unit determines the ribbon end based on the output change.

Since the ribbon end is adhered to the ribbon shaft 5 with a weak adhesive force, the ink ribbon 4
Is completed, the ink ribbon 4 is separated from the ribbon shaft 5 by the rotation torque of the ribbon winding shaft 22.

In a conventional ribbon roll in which the end portion of the ink ribbon is strongly fixed to the ribbon shaft, a portion that does not transmit light extends over the length from the ribbon roll holding shaft to the ribbon end sensor 31. It was necessary to provide the ink ribbon 4 in the ribbon roll 1 of the present embodiment.
Since the light-shielding layer 6 is separated from the ribbon shaft 5, the optical axis of the ribbon end sensor 31 can be reliably crossed without making the light-shielding layer 6 particularly long. Thus, the amount of ink used can be minimized.

Although not particularly shown, the light shielding portion may not be provided over the entire area in the width direction of the ink ribbon, but may be provided only at a portion corresponding to the optical axis portion of the ribbon end sensor, with a fixed width. This makes it possible to minimize the amount of ink used and to improve the cost performance of the ribbon roll.

In a conventional ribbon roll (see FIG. 6) in which a silver-colored metal material is applied to the start of film winding in order to block the optical axis of the ribbon end sensor 31, the completed ink ribbon 4 is replaced with the ribbon shaft 5. If it moves away from the printing position, there is a concern that the heating element may be damaged or deteriorated when the metal material portion rubs against the hard metal material when passing through the printing position. It had to be fixed to the ribbon shaft with a stronger force than the torque.

In this embodiment, since the light-shielding layer 6 is formed by applying the same ink as the ink forming the ink layer 3 in an amount twice as large as the usual amount, the ink ribbon 4 distant from the ribbon shaft 5 is formed. Does not damage the heat generating element of the thermal head 17 even when passes through the printing position.

In addition, since it is not necessary to firmly fix the ink ribbon 4 and the ribbon shaft 5 as in the related art, it is not necessary to use a special adhesive, and thus the cost performance is reduced compared to the related art. Improvement can be achieved.

In the present embodiment, the ink ribbon 4 is bonded to the ribbon shaft 5 with an adhesive.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the ink ribbon 4 may be bonded to the ribbon shaft 5 with an adhesive, an adhesive tape, or the like. However, when an adhesive, an adhesive tape, or the like is used, when the end of the ink ribbon 4 distant from the ribbon shaft 5 moves along the paper guide path, the adhesive is such that the adhesive does not remain in the paper guide path. Set to sex.

[0056]

According to the ribbon roll of the present invention, there is provided a ribbon roll used in a printer for detecting an ink ribbon passing through a print head by a light transmission type sensor, and having a long length having a light transmitting property. An ink ribbon having an ink layer formed of a heat-meltable ink on one surface of the film, and a light-shielding film formed by the ink over a predetermined length from one end in the length direction of the ink ribbon. A light-shielding layer having a thickness greater than that of the ink layer, and a ribbon shaft for holding an end of the ink ribbon on the light-shielding layer side with a force smaller than a winding force of the ink ribbon by the printer. Since the ink ribbon is wound in a roll shape around the axis of the ribbon shaft from one end in the longitudinal direction, a single type of ribbon roll is It can be used for both a thermal printer that detects the ribbon end according to the difference in translucency between the light and the light shielding layer, and a thermal printer that detects the ribbon end based on the pulse waveform generated by the rotation of the slit disk. Thus, the versatility of the ribbon roll can be improved. Further, since the light-shielding layer is formed by the ink forming the ink layer, the end of the ink ribbon on the light-shielding layer side is separated from the ribbon shaft by the winding force of the ink ribbon by the printer, and is brought into contact with each other by the thermal printer. Even if the ribbon end slides and passes between the existing thermal head and the platen, the thermal head is not damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the ribbon roll according to the first aspect, since the light-shielding layer is formed in a part of the width direction of the ink ribbon, the use of the printer is predicted. By forming the light-shielding layer only at a position corresponding to the position of the sensor, it is possible to minimize the amount of ink used. Thereby, the cost performance of the ribbon roll can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a part of a ribbon roll according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing an example of a label printer using a ribbon roll.

FIG. 3A is a front view showing a ribbon end detection mechanism,
(b) is a perspective view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a pulse waveform chart showing an output waveform from a ribbon end sensor.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing an example of another label printer using a ribbon roll.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a part of a conventional ribbon roll.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a part of another conventional ribbon roll.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 ribbon roll 2 film 3 ink layer 4 ink ribbon 5 ribbon shaft 6 light shielding layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ribbon roll used in a printer for detecting an ink ribbon passing through a print head by a light-transmitting sensor, wherein a heat-melting ink is provided on one surface of a long film having a light-transmitting property. An ink ribbon having an ink layer formed thereon; and a light-shielding layer formed of the ink over a predetermined length from one end in the longitudinal direction of the ink ribbon and having a thickness greater than the ink layer so as to exhibit light-shielding properties. And a ribbon shaft for holding an end of the ink ribbon on the light-shielding layer side with a force smaller than a winding force of the ink ribbon by the printer, wherein the ink ribbon is arranged from one end in a longitudinal direction. A ribbon roll wound around the axis of the ribbon shaft. 2. The ribbon roll according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding layer is formed on a part of the ink ribbon in a width direction.