JP2003251904A - Ribbon cartridge of recorder, and recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance durability of a recording signal transmitting cable connected with a recording head by suppressing abrasion thereof. <P>SOLUTION: In the ribbon cartridge 38 of a recorder being fixed to the recorder body while containing an ink ribbon where a recording head is connected with the control board section, and a flexible flat cable 36 transmitting a recording signal from the control board section to the recording head is pressure jointed on the recording head side, a reinforcing rib 40 is formed on the rear surface 38A touching the flexible flat cable 36 at a position deviated therefrom. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ribbon cartridge of a recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet by adhering ink of an ink ribbon to a sheet by projecting a recording wire of a recording head, and this ribbon cartridge. The present invention relates to a recording device provided with.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a recording apparatus, while a recording head is running in the axial direction of a platen, a plurality of recording wires of the recording head are struck via an ink ribbon onto a sheet located on the front peripheral surface of the platen. There is a dot impact printer that records an image on this sheet.

The ink ribbon is contained in a carriage on which a recording head is mounted or in a ribbon cartridge detachably mounted on a frame body. FIG. 7 shows a ribbon cartridge 10 mounted on the frame body.
Indicates 0.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned printer, a control board portion is arranged at the rear of the main body of the printing apparatus including the print head and the platen, and the control board portion and the print head are connected by a flexible flat cable (FFC).
A recording signal is transmitted from the control board portion to the recording head via the flexible flat cable.

The flexible flat cable is bent in a U-shape between the portion held by the frame and the recording head, and the ribbon cartridge 100 is arranged so that this bending portion does not vibrate as the recording head runs. Is pressed and guided to the back of the. As a result, the bent portion of the flexible flat cable does not bulge beyond a certain value, and its vibration is suppressed.

[0006]

By the way, a reinforcing rib 101 is integrally formed on the back surface of the ribbon cartridge 100 shown in FIG. 7 in order to increase its rigidity. However, the reinforcing rib 101 is not formed in consideration of the flexible flat cable. For this reason, when the reinforcing rib 101 is formed at a position corresponding to the flexible flat cable, the bending portion 10 of the flexible flat cable when the recording head runs.
2 is in sliding contact with the reinforcing rib 101, and the bent portion 10
2 may be worn and the durability of the flexible flat cable may be reduced.

The object of the present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and a ribbon of a recording apparatus for suppressing wear of a recording signal transmitting cable connected to a recording head and improving its durability. To provide a cartridge.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording signal transmitting cable for connecting a recording head to a control board portion and transmitting a recording signal from the control board portion to the recording head. In a ribbon cartridge of a recording device which is attached to the recording device main body by pressing the recording head side and accommodates an ink ribbon inside thereof, a reinforcing rib is provided at a position separated from the cable on a surface contacting the transmission cable. It is characterized by being formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the reinforcing ribs are formed on both sides in the width direction of the recording signal transmitting cable along the cable. To do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the reinforcing rib is formed in a region where the recording signal transmitting cable contacts. .

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the recording head comprises:
The ink of the ink ribbon is attached to the sheet based on the recording signal transmitted from the recording substrate section through a recording signal transmission cable connected to the control substrate section, and an image is recorded on the sheet. In the recording apparatus, the ink ribbon is housed in a ribbon cartridge mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus, and the ribbon cartridge presses the recording head side of the recording signal transmission cable to press the cable of the ribbon cartridge. A reinforcing rib is formed on the contacting surface at a position separated from the cable.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the reinforcing ribs of the ribbon cartridge are formed along both sides of the recording signal transmitting cable along the width direction of the cable. It is characterized by.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth or fifth aspect of the invention, the reinforcing rib of the ribbon cartridge is formed in a region where the recording signal transmitting cable comes into contact. It is a thing.

The invention described in claim 1, 3, 4 or 6 has the following effects.

In the ribbon cartridge, since the reinforcing rib is provided on the contact surface of the recording signal transmitting cable at a position separated from the cable, the cable does not contact the reinforcing rib. The wear of the recording signal transmission cable can be suppressed, and the durability of this cable can be improved.

Further, the rigidity of the ribbon cartridge can be increased by forming the reinforcing ribs on the ribbon cartridge.

The invention described in claim 2 or 5 has the following effects.

Since the reinforcing ribs are formed on both sides of the recording signal transmitting cable in the width direction of the cable, the reinforcing ribs serve as restricting members and act in the width direction of the recording signal transmitting cable. Runout can be prevented.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of the recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer body of FIG.

The printer 10 as a recording device shown in these figures prints dots by striking a large number of recording wires (not shown) of the recording head 18 onto the sheet S via the ink ribbon 31 to record dots. The dot impact printer records an image including the image. Here, the sheet S is a passbook, a postcard, an envelope, or the like, in addition to plain paper such as cut paper or continuous paper. In particular, the cut sheet includes cut copy paper, and the continuous paper includes continuous copy paper.

The printer 10 is, as shown in FIG.
A printer main body 11 as a recording apparatus main body, a push tractor unit 12 and a discharge unit 13 detachably attached to the printer main body 11, and a sheet supply guide 34 also detachably attached to the printer main body 11.
(FIG. 2), and an upper case and a lower case (not shown) that cover the upper and lower sides of the printer body 11, respectively.

The printer body 11 includes a base frame 14 and a sheet guide frame 15 as body frames.
(FIG. 2), a left side frame 16 and a right side frame 17, a print mechanism unit 20 including a recording head 18 and a carriage 19, a sheet conveyance including a platen 21, a sheet guide 22, and a pinch roller 25 (FIG. 2). Mechanical part 23
And are configured.

The base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15 are arranged substantially parallel to each other as shown in FIG. 2, and the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 are provided at both ends of the base frame 14 and the seat guide frame 15, respectively.
Are fixed upright. As shown in FIG. 1, a carriage guide shaft 24 is laid between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 so as to be pivotally supported, and a platen 21 is laid so as to be rotatable. Has been done. The seat guide 22 is the left side frame 16
And the right side frame 17 are provided, and are fitted and fixed to the sheet guide frame 15. Also, the rear parts of the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17,
The push tractor unit 1 is provided on each of the upper portions.
2. A tractor unit mounting part and a discharging unit mounting part (not shown) to which the discharging unit 13 can be mounted respectively are provided.

The push tractor unit 12 shown in FIG.
Feeds the continuous paper as the sheet S to the sheet conveying mechanism section 23, and the sheet supply guide 34 one by one the cut sheets as the sheet S (one by one in the case of the continuous cut sheets).
The sheet is fed to the sheet transport mechanism section 23. Further, the discharge unit 13 pulls out the continuous paper or the cut sheet from the sheet conveying mechanism section 23 to the outside of the printer 10.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the tractor belt 26 of the push tractor unit 12 causes
Due to the action of the pin 27 of the tractor belt 26, the continuous paper is guided to the sheet guide 22 of the sheet conveying mechanism section 23, and passes through the sheet conveying path 28 formed between the sheet guide 22 and the platen 21 to cause the platen 21 to move. , And is fed in the direction of arrow α. When the push tractor unit 12 is not in operation, it is possible to feed the cut sheets one by one (or one by one) from the sheet feeding guide 34 to the front of the platen 21 via the sheet conveying path 28.
Further, by the rotation of the discharge roller 29 of the discharge unit 13, the continuous paper or the cut sheet on which characters and the like are recorded by the recording head 18 is pulled out from the platen 21 of the sheet conveying mechanism portion 23 in the arrow β direction, as described later. . As a result, the continuous paper or the cut sheet is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, which will be described later, of the carriage 19.

The carriage 19 shown in FIG. 1 is slidably inserted into a carriage guide shaft 24 and carries a recording head 18. Since the carriage guide shaft 24 is arranged parallel to the platen 21, the carriage 19
Are the platen 21 and the carriage guide shaft 24.
It is provided so as to be movable (running) in the main scanning direction that coincides with the axial direction of.

The carriage 19 is guided by the carriage guide shaft 24 through the timing belt 30 (FIG. 2) by the forward or reverse rotation of a carriage drive motor (not shown), and travels leftward or rightward in FIG. 1 in the main scanning direction. It

The recording head 18 has a large number of recording wires, and the ink ribbon 31 is located in front of the recording wires in the protruding direction. While the recording head 18 travels in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 19, the recording wire is ejected and hits the ink ribbon 31, so that the ink ribbon 31
The ink is attached to a sheet S (continuous paper or cut sheet) conveyed between the platen 21 and the ink ribbon 31, and an image including characters is recorded on the sheet S.

In this recording operation by the recording head 18, one line of recording is performed by the recording wire of the recording head 18 while the carriage 19 travels leftward or rightward in the main scanning direction, and each time one line of recording is performed. If the sheet S is continuous paper, the sheet conveying mechanism unit 2 shown in FIG.
The platen 21, the push tractor unit 12, and the discharge unit 13 of FIG. 3, and when the sheet S is a single-cut sheet, the platen 21, the pinch roller 25, and the discharge unit 13 of the sheet transport mechanism unit 23 respectively locate the sheet S. It is carried out by transporting a fixed amount (usually the space between lines) and repeating these operations.

Reference numeral 32 shown in FIG. 2 is formed so as to open between the base frame 14 and the sheet guide frame 15, and the sheet conveying mechanism section 23 is provided from below the printer 10.
A bottom sheet supply port for supplying the sheet S into the inside.

Further, the drive control of the platen 21, the push tractor unit 12, and the ejection unit 13, the traveling control of the carriage 19, and the control of the recording operation by the recording wire of the recording head 18 are performed by the control board unit 3 as a control device.
3 (FIG. 2). The control board unit 33 is
For example, it is arranged below the sheet guide frame 15 behind the printer body 11.

The control board portion 33 and the recording head 18 are connected by a flexible flat cable 36 (FFC) shown in FIG. 1 as a recording signal transmitting cable. The flexible flat cable 36 extends from the control board portion 33 and is connected to the main body frame (seat guide frame 15, left side frame 16 or right side frame 1).
7. After being mounted around the base frame 14) and held by the base frame 14 using the cable holder 37, the portion from the position of the cable holder 37 to the recording head 18 is bent in a U shape and disposed. To be done. Via the flexible flat cable 36, the control board 3
A recording signal is transmitted from 3 to the recording head 18, and the recording head 18 records an image on the sheet S based on the recording signal.

The ink ribbon 31 shown in FIG. 2 is housed in the ribbon cartridge 38 shown in FIGS. The ribbon cartridge 38 is detachably mounted between the left side frame 16 and the right side frame 17 so as to face the base frame 14.

The back surface 38A of the ribbon cartridge 38 is, as shown in FIG. 3, a portion of the flexible flat cable 36 on the recording head 18 side, that is,
The flexible flat cable 36 is provided with a U-shaped bent portion 39 extending to the flexible flat cable 36.
It is pressed by the elasticity of. By this pressure contact, the bent portion 39 of the flexible flat cable 36 is suppressed from swelling beyond a certain value, and the flexible flat cable 3
The vibration of 6 is prevented, and the breakage of the fixed end portion with the recording head 18 is mainly prevented.

Back side 38A of this ribbon cartridge 38
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a reinforcing rib 40 for reinforcing the ribbon cartridge 38 is formed at a position deviated from the position where the flexible flat cable 36 contacts. That is, the reinforcing ribs 40 are integrally formed on the back surface 38A of the ribbon cartridge 38 on both sides in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36 along the extending direction of the flexible flat cable 36. Further, the reinforcing ribs 40 are provided on the back surface 38A of the ribbon cartridge 38,
Is formed in a region W with which the flexible flat cable 36 contacts when the vehicle travels along the carriage guide shaft 24.

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, the following effects (1) to (4) are obtained.

In the ribbon cartridge 38, a reinforcing rib 40 is provided on the back surface 38A of the flexible flat cable 36 that contacts the flexible flat cable 36.
Since the flexible flat cable 36 is provided at a position deviated from 6, the flexible flat cable 36 does not contact the reinforcing rib 40 but makes a surface contact with the back surface 38A, so that abrasion of the flexible flat cable 36 can be suppressed and the flexible flat cable 36 can be suppressed. The durability of can be improved.

A reinforcing rib 4 is provided on the ribbon cartridge 38.
By forming 0, the rigidity of the ribbon cartridge 38 can be increased.

Since the reinforcing ribs 40 are formed on both sides in the width direction of the flexible flat cable 36 along the extending direction of the flexible flat cable 36, the reinforcing ribs 40 serve as a regulating member and are flexible. It is possible to prevent the flat cable 36 from swinging in the width direction. As a result, a malfunction of the carriage drive motor (not shown) due to the movement of the flexible flat cable 36 in the width direction can be prevented.

A measure for improving the durability of the flexible flat cable 36 against the flexible flat cable 36 being pressed against the back surface 38A of the ribbon cartridge 38 is carried out by changing the shape and position of the reinforcing rib 40 of the ribbon cartridge 38. Therefore, it is not necessary to actively take measures for the flexible flat cable 36. As a result, the flexible flat cable 3
In order to improve the durability of No. 6, the cost for the flexible flat cable 36 can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0043]

According to the ribbon cartridge of the recording apparatus of the present invention, the abrasion of the recording signal transmission cable connected to the recording head can be suppressed and the durability thereof can be improved. You can

According to the recording apparatus of the fourth to sixth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to suppress wear of the recording signal transmitting cable connected to the recording head and improve its durability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer body of a dot impact printer to which an embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the printer body of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view on arrow III in FIG.

FIG. 4A is a front view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a view on arrow IV of FIG. 4A.

5A is a rear view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5B is a side sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 5A.

6 is a perspective view showing the ribbon cartridge of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional ribbon cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Printer (recording device) 11 Printer body (recording device body) 18 recording head 31 ink ribbon 33 Control board part 36 Flexible Flat Cable 38 Ribbon Cartridge 39 Bent section 40 Reinforcing rib S sheet W area

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording head and a control board part are connected to each other, and the recording head side of a recording signal transmission cable for transmitting a recording signal from the control board part to the recording head is pressure-contacted and mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus. In a ribbon cartridge of a recording device for accommodating an ink ribbon inside, a ribbon for the recording device is characterized in that a reinforcing rib is formed on a surface contacting the transmission cable at a position separated from the cable. . 2. The ribbon cartridge of a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing ribs are formed on both sides of the recording signal transmitting cable in the width direction of the cable. 3. The ribbon cartridge for a recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing rib is formed in a region where the recording signal transmitting cable comes into contact. 4. A recording head attaches the ink of an ink ribbon to a sheet based on a recording signal transmitted from the recording substrate section via a recording signal transmitting cable connected to a control substrate section. In the recording apparatus for recording an image on the sheet, the ink ribbon is housed in a ribbon cartridge mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus, and the ribbon cartridge presses the recording head side of the recording signal transmission cable. A recording device characterized in that a reinforcing rib is formed on a surface of the ribbon cartridge, which is in contact with the cable, at a position separated from the cable. 5. The reinforcing ribs of the ribbon cartridge are formed along both sides of the recording signal transmission cable along the width direction of the cable.
The recording device according to 1. 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the reinforcing rib of the ribbon cartridge is formed in a region where the recording signal transmitting cable comes into contact.