JP2003276267A - Ribbon shaft holding device for thermal transfer printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer holds a ribbon shaft such as a supplying shaft 10 or a winding shaft 11 of an ink ribbon R by a simple structure with a positional precision and a strength and facilitates the replacement operation. <P>SOLUTION: A ribbon shaft holding guide 13 rotatably provided to a ribbon holding frame 12 can be operated in an axis direction and in an open/close direction of each of the supplying shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11. This ribbon shaft holding device comprises the ribbon holding frame 12 to which the fixing ends 10A, 11A of the supplying shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 are fixed, a ribbon shaft holding guide 13 that is rotatably attached to the ribbon holding frame 12 and openably holds the opening ends 10B, 11B of the supplying shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11, and a hinge bracket 14 that makes the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 to be operable in the axis direction of the supplying shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 and makes the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 to be operable in the open/close direction. <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 shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer, and in particular, a roll-shaped ink ribbon is fed out from a supply side in a band shape, and after thermal transfer printing, it is wound into a roll side on a winding side. The present invention relates to a ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional thermal transfer printer, a ribbon shaft (supply side and winding side) has a cantilever structure or a both-end structure. In the case of a cantilever structure, the ribbon shaft must be held on only one side, so it is necessary to adopt a sturdy frame structure to fix the ribbon shaft and to have position accuracy and strength, which increases both cost and weight. There is a problem of doing. If the holding strength of the ribbon shaft is insufficient, there is a problem that wrinkles will occur in the ink ribbon.

As a means for solving such a problem, a double-supported structure may be adopted. However, the double-supported structure is a step of operation for setting the ink ribbon on the ribbon shaft and for fixing the ribbon shaft. As a result, there is a problem that the operability is inferior to the cantilever structure.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and thermal transfer capable of holding ribbon shafts such as an ink ribbon supply shaft and a winding shaft with positional accuracy and strength. An object is to provide a ribbon shaft holding device for a printer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer, which has a double-sided structure in the operating state of the thermal transfer printer and has a cantilever structure when the ink ribbon is replaced so that the replacement operation is easy. And

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer which can secure strength and positional accuracy with a simple structure without increasing the number of operations for fixing the ribbon shaft.

[0007]

That is, according to the present invention, a ribbon shaft holding guide that is openable and closable with respect to a supply shaft and a winding shaft and holds the same is rotatably provided on a ribbon holding frame. Focusing on making the shaft holding guide operable in the axial direction and the opening / closing direction of the supply shaft and the take-up shaft, the supply shaft makes it possible to hold a roll-shaped ink ribbon and feed it out in a strip shape. A ribbon feeding section having a platen roller, and a thermal transfer printing section having a thermal head for performing thermal transfer printing on the printing paper by sandwiching the printing ribbon with the ink ribbon between the platen roller and the platen roller; A ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer, comprising: a ribbon winding unit having a winding shaft wound around the supply shaft; And ribbon holding frame for fixing the respective fixed end portions of the fine the winding shaft rotatably, is attached rotatably to the ribbon-holding frame,
A ribbon shaft holding guide that holds the open ends of the supply shaft and the winding shaft opposite to the fixed ends thereof, and the ribbon shaft holding guide of the supply shaft and the winding shaft. A ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer, comprising: a hinge bracket that allows an axial direction and the ribbon shaft holding guide to be operated in an opening and closing direction thereof.

The thermal head can be attached to the ribbon holding frame, and the thermal head can be opened and closed with respect to the platen roller.

The hinge bracket is provided with a closing spring such as a tension spring for urging the opening / closing rotary shaft of the ribbon shaft holding guide toward the supply shaft and the winding shaft. It is possible to form a long window that can move in the direction of the supply shaft and the winding shaft.

The ribbon shaft holding guide is provided with an opening / closing knob for performing a linear operation in the axial direction of the supply shaft and the winding shaft and a rotating operation around the opening / closing rotating shaft. be able to.

A positioning guide may be provided for guiding the engagement between the supply shaft and the winding shaft and the ribbon shaft holding guide.

A positioning pin can be provided on the ribbon shaft holding guide, and a positioning hole with which the positioning pin engages can be formed in the positioning guide.

In a ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer according to the present invention, a ribbon shaft holding guide for holding a supply shaft and a take-up shaft in an openable and closable manner is provided while being rotatably attached to a ribbon holding frame. A hinge bracket that allows the holding guide to be operated in the axial direction and the opening / closing direction of the supply shaft and the winding shaft is provided, and by using a spring such as a tension spring, the ribbon shaft holding guide is biased in the closing direction. Therefore, the operation for fixing the ribbon shaft can be reduced as much as possible and a double-supported structure can be realized. Therefore, the operability of loading the ink ribbon can be secured together with the positional accuracy and the mechanical strength.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a thermal transfer printer 1 equipped with a ribbon shaft holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
It will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of the thermal transfer printer 1, in which the thermal transfer printer 1 is
Printer body frame 2, paper supply unit 3 for printing paper L such as labels and tags, thermal transfer printing unit 4, ribbon supply unit 5 and ribbon take-up unit 6 for ink ribbon R for thermal transfer, and ribbon shaft holding device. 7 and. 2 is a front view of the thermal transfer printer 1 and the ribbon shaft holding device 7 as seen from the winding direction of the printing paper L and the ink ribbon R of the thermal transfer printer 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ribbon shaft holding device 7.

The paper supply unit 3 holds the printing paper L in a roll shape and allows it to be fed out in a strip shape.
It is supplied to the thermal transfer printing unit 4.

The thermal transfer printing section 4 includes a platen roller 8
And a thermal head 9. The printing paper L and the ink ribbon R are sandwiched between the platen roller 8 and the thermal head 9 with a predetermined pressing force, and the platen roller 8 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown) to transfer the printing paper L and the ink ribbon R. At the same time, the thermal head 9 prints information of predetermined contents on the printing paper L.

The ribbon supply unit 5 has a supply shaft 10 (ribbon shaft) which holds the roll-shaped ink ribbon R and can feed it out in a strip shape. The ribbon winding unit 6 has a winding shaft 11 that winds the strip-shaped ink ribbon R into a roll. The winding shaft 11 can be driven by a driving motor that drives the platen roller 8 or by using a winding motor (not shown) provided separately from the driving motor as a driving motor.

The ribbon shaft holding device 7 according to the present invention has a ribbon holding frame 12, a ribbon shaft holding guide 13, a hinge bracket 14, and a positioning guide 15. The ribbon holding frame 12 is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the printer body frame 2 via an arbitrary head opening / closing mechanism 16, and a thermal head 9 is attached to the ribbon shaft holding device 7 and the thermal head 9 is attached to the platen roller 8. It can be opened. Further, the ribbon holding frame 12 includes a supply shaft 10 and a winding shaft 11.
The respective fixed ends 10A and 11A are rotatably fixed.

The ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is rotatably attached to the ribbon holding frame 12, and fixed ends 10A and 11A of the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 are also attached.
A pair of engagement holes 17 are formed in which the respective open ends 10B and 11B on the opposite side are engaged, and the open ends 10B and 11B are openably and closably held. The hinge bracket 14 to which the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is attached is fixed to the end portion of the ribbon holding frame 12, a closing spring 18 such as a tension spring is attached between the ribbon holding frame 12 and the ribbon holding frame 12, and the supply shaft 10 is also attached. Also, a long window 19 extending in the axial direction of the winding shaft 11 is formed so that the opening / closing rotation shaft 20 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 resists the biasing force of the opening / closing spring 18 and the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11. It is possible to move away from. That is, the opening / closing spring 18 is used for the ribbon shaft holding guide 13.
And the opening / closing rotary shaft 20 thereof is biased toward the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11. The ribbon shaft holding guide 13
An opening / closing knob 21 for performing linear operation in the axial direction of the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 and a rotating operation around the opening / closing rotating shaft 20 is provided on the.

The positioning guide 15 is provided on the ribbon holding frame 12 between the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 so that the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 are engaged with the ribbon shaft holding guide 13. It is for guiding. That is, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is provided with a pair of upper and lower positioning pins 22, and the positioning guide 15 is formed with a pair of upper and lower positioning holes 23 with which the positioning pins 22 engage.

In the thermal transfer printer 1 and the ribbon shaft holding device 7 having such a structure, the process of performing roll replacement work of the ink ribbon R on the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. First, from the state of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the head opening / closing mechanism 16 is opened and the ribbon holding frame 12,
The thermal head 9 and the ribbon shaft holding device 7 are opened from the printer body frame 2 or the platen roller 8.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the opening / closing knob 21 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is separated from the urging force of the opening / closing spring 18 in the direction along the axial direction of the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11. And move in parallel. Due to this parallel movement, the opening / closing rotary shaft 20 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 abuts on the outermost part thereof in the long window 19 of the hinge bracket 14, and the positioning pin 2 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13
2 is removed from the positioning hole 23 of the positioning guide 15, and the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is provided around the opening / closing rotary shaft 20.
Can be rotated (clockwise in this case).

That is, in the hinge bracket 14, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is operated in the axial direction and the opening / closing direction of the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11, and as shown in FIG. The ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is rotated in the direction.

In the state shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG.
Since the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is opened so as to be sufficiently separated from the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11, the old ink ribbon R is fed to the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 1 as shown in FIG.
It is sufficient to pull out from No. 1 and load a new ink ribbon R. In the state shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, since the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 exceeds the end of the hinge bracket 14, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 does not move even if the opening / closing knob 21 is released from the operating hand. The open / close spring 18 does not return to its original position by pulling it, and the open state is maintained.

After replacing the ink ribbon R, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is moved to the supply shaft 10 from the state shown in FIGS.
And a spring 1 for opening and closing in a direction away from the winding shaft 11.
If the opening / closing rotation shaft 20 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is axially moved in the long window 19 by the urging force of the opening / closing spring 18, the opening / closing rotation shaft 20 is rotated counterclockwise while resisting the urging force of 8. Return to the positioning pin 22 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13.
Engage with the positioning hole 23 of the positioning guide 15, and the right and left engaging holes 1 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13
The supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 are engaged with 7 to complete the setting of the ink ribbon R.

Thus, the roll of the ink ribbon R on the supply shaft 10 and the take-up shaft 11 can be exchanged only by the linear and rotating operations of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13, and the operability is good. , Both ends of the supply shaft 10 and the winding shaft 11 (fixed end 10A, open end 1)
0B, the fixed end portion 11A, the open end portion 11B) can have a double-supported structure, and the required level of positional accuracy and strength can be secured.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ribbon holding frame is provided with the ribbon shaft holding guide and the hinge bracket, and the roll of the ink ribbon can be replaced only by operating the ribbon shaft holding guide. It is possible to secure operability in the cantilever structure and advantages such as positional accuracy and strength in the both-end structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a ribbon shaft holding device 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the thermal transfer printer 1 equipped with the.

FIG. 2 is the same as the thermal transfer printer 1 seen from the winding direction of the printing paper L and the ink ribbon R of the thermal transfer printer 1.
3 is a front view of a ribbon shaft holding device 7. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ribbon shaft holding device 7.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the same with the thermal head 9 opened.

[FIG. 5] Similarly, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is attached to the ribbon shaft 10,
It is a front view of the state operated in the axial direction so as to be separated from 11.

[FIG. 6] Similarly, the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 is attached to the ribbon shaft 10,
It is a front view of the state operated so that it may rotate in the separating direction from 11.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an exchange operation of the ink ribbon R of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Thermal Transfer Printer (FIG. 1) 2 Printer Main Frame 3 Paper Supply Section 4 Thermal Transfer Printing Section 5 Ribbon Supply Section 6 Ribbon Winding Section 7 Ribbon Shaft Holding Device of the Thermal Transfer Printer 1 (Embodiment, FIGS. 1 and 2) 8 Platen Roller 9 Thermal head 10 Supply shaft (ribbon shaft) 10A Fixed end 10B of supply shaft 10 Open end 11 of supply shaft 10 Winding shaft 11A Fixed end 11B of winding shaft 11 Open end 12 of winding shaft 11 Ribbon holding frame 13 Ribbon shaft holding guide 14 Hinge bracket 15 Positioning guide 16 Head opening / closing mechanism 17 Engagement hole 18 of the ribbon shaft holding guide 13 Opening / closing spring (tensile spring) 19 Long window of the hinge bracket 14 20 Ribbon shaft holding guide 13 Open / close rotation shaft 21 Open / close knob 22 of ribbon shaft holding guide 13 Ribbon shaft holding Positioning holes L printing paper of the positioning pin 23 positioning guide 15 of the id 13 (labels, tags, etc.) ink ribbon for R thermal transfer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink ribbon and a printing paper are sandwiched between a platen roller, and a platen roller, and a ribbon supply unit having a supply shaft that holds a roll-shaped ink ribbon and allows it to be drawn out in a band shape. A ribbon shaft holding device of a thermal transfer printer having a thermal transfer printing unit having a thermal head for performing thermal transfer printing on the printing paper, and a ribbon winding unit having a winding shaft for winding the ink ribbon in a roll shape. A ribbon holding frame for rotatably fixing the respective fixed ends of the supply shaft and the winding shaft; and a rotatably attached to the ribbon holding frame and fixing of the supply shaft and the winding shaft. A ribbon shaft holding guide that holds each open end on the opposite side of the end so as to be openable and closable, and this ribbon shaft holding guide. Ribbon shaft holding device of the thermal transfer printer, characterized in that it comprises a hinge bracket de that allows operating the axial and the ribbon shaft holding the guide of the supply shaft and the take-up shaft in the opening and closing direction. 2. The ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein the thermal head is attached to the ribbon holding frame, and the thermal head can be opened and closed with respect to the platen roller. 3. The hinge bracket is provided with a closing spring for urging the opening / closing rotary shaft of the ribbon shaft holding guide toward the supply shaft and the winding shaft, and the opening / closing rotary shaft is 2. The ribbon shaft holding device for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein a long window is formed so as to be movable in the directions of the supply shaft and the winding shaft. 4. The ribbon shaft holding guide is provided with an opening / closing knob for performing a linear operation in the axial direction of the supply shaft and the winding shaft and a rotating operation around the opening / closing rotating shaft. The ribbon shaft holding device of the thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, wherein 5. A ribbon for a thermal transfer printer according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning guide for guiding the engagement between the supply shaft and the winding shaft and the ribbon shaft holding guide. Shaft holding device. 6. The ribbon shaft of a thermal transfer printer according to claim 5, wherein the ribbon shaft holding guide is provided with a positioning pin, and the positioning guide is formed with a positioning hole with which the positioning pin engages. Holding device.