JP2009083423A - Cartridge for printer and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain its miniaturization, in a cartridge of a heat transfer printer for incorporating printing paper and an ink ribbon together. <P>SOLUTION: This cartridge 20 for the printer is integrated with a storage part of the printing paper 27 and a holding part of the ink ribbon 40. The printing paper storage part 25 is formed in a curved shape, and an outside dimension in the carrying direction of the printing paper 27 is miniaturized by holding the printing paper 27 itself in a curved state, and miniaturization of the cartridge 20 is attained by arranging the storage part of the ink ribbon 40 in layers with the printing paper 27 in an allowance space of an inside part of the curved shape. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer cartridge and a printer, and more particularly to a printer cartridge for storing and holding printing paper and an ink ribbon, and a printer for printing by transferring ink on the ink ribbon onto the printing paper by a printing head.

  2. Description of the Related Art A thermal transfer printer that performs printing by transferring ink on an ink ribbon onto printing paper by a printing head composed of a thermal head requires printing paper and an ink ribbon. Conventionally, each was stored in a separate storage unit. That is, the printing paper is stored in a paper feed tray, and the ink ribbon is a separate cartridge as an ink ribbon cassette.

  According to such a structure, since the specifications of the ink ribbon differ depending on the size of the printing paper, it is necessary to match the types of the printing paper and the ink ribbon. And since the user made a determination to match the type by checking the display, etc., it was a usage method in which an erroneous operation was likely to occur.

  In addition, when replacing the ink ribbon cassette, the printing paper had to be replaced at the same time. Therefore, there is a drawback that the exchange operation is doubled and complicated and difficult to understand.

  Therefore, as proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-101879, a cartridge in which an ink ribbon storage portion and a printing paper storage portion are integrated has been proposed. Here, when the print paper storage unit is made into a cartridge, the longitudinal dimension of the print paper storage unit is determined by the length of the paper. I had to enlarge it.

  Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-313529, a method for folding and storing printing paper has been proposed. However, in a thermal transfer printer that uses printing paper and an ink ribbon, the ink ribbon is stored on the extension line in the paper feed direction from the printing paper storage unit outlet due to the transport path from the paper tray to the thermal head during feeding. In the integrated cartridge as shown in the above proposal, if the structure conforms to the above arrangement, the length of the cartridge in the longitudinal direction is such that the print paper storage portion and the ink ribbon It becomes the dimension which added the storage part. Therefore, even if the printing paper is folded and stored, the cartridge itself becomes large. In addition, the equipment (printer) to be used also results in an increase in size.

  In a thermal transfer printer, it is necessary that an ink ribbon is stretched with respect to a thermal head during printing. Therefore, in a printer in which a cartridge is inserted from a direction perpendicular to the ink ribbon / printing paper conveyance direction, the thermal head holding member is made a movable structure, and the thermal head is moved when the cartridge is inserted. This avoids interference between the thermal head or ink ribbon and the cartridge, and it is necessary to have a structure in which the thermal ribbon is moved and the ink ribbon is stretched during printing.

  However, in the integrated cartridge in which the ink ribbon storage portion and the printing paper storage portion are arranged to overlap each other, the paper storage portion covers the space where the holding member of the thermal head should be movable, so that the thermal head is moved. There was a drawback that made it difficult.

  As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-38931, a method is known in which a thermal head holding member has a cantilever structure and is supported by a lid-shaped component on the opposite side and the head is not moved. Yes. In this case, a method of guiding the ink ribbon by adopting an inclined shape of the thermal head or adding an inclined shape part is adopted.

However, in this method, the holding structure of the head part and the guide shape of the ribbon are complicated, and the possibility of causing the ribbon to be caught cannot be thrown away, and in the worst case, the thermal head and the ink ribbon are damaged. there is a possibility.
JP-A-4-101879 JP 2000-313529 A JP 2001-38931 A

  The subject of this invention is providing the cartridge for printers which can be reduced in size.

  Another problem of the present invention is that stable holding is possible without complicating the structure of the head portion, and that the ink ribbon and print head do not interfere with the cartridge when the cartridge is stored. A printer cartridge is provided.

  Still another problem of the present invention is that in a cartridge having a paper storage unit in which printing paper is arranged in a stacked state, the first first printing paper is reliably supplied, and at the same time the second printing paper is It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer cartridge in which printing paper is prevented from being supplied and separation performance is improved.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a printer that can be made smaller by using a small cartridge.

  The above-described problems and other problems of the present invention will be clarified by the technical idea of the present invention and the embodiments thereof described below.

The main invention related to a printer cartridge is a printer cartridge for storing and holding printing paper and an ink ribbon.
The storage space for the printing paper is formed in a curved shape, the printing paper is stored in a curved state along the curved shape, and the printing paper is stacked in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape. The present invention relates to a cartridge for a printer characterized by arranging a ribbon.

  Here, the ink ribbon is wound around the supply spool, and a take-up spool around which the ink ribbon fed out from the supply spool is taken up is provided, and the supply spool and the take-up spool are inside the curved shape. It may be arranged in the marginal space of the recess. Further, there may be a space in which the print head enters, and when the cartridge is mounted in the printer body, the print head may enter the cartridge. The printing head may be movable in the cartridge. Also, there is a space for the print head to enter inside, and when this cartridge is installed in the printer body, the print head enters between the supply spool and the take-up spool in the cartridge. Good.

  Further, the front end portion of the bent printing paper may be displaced stepwise by the inclined wall surface formed at the exit portion of the printing paper storage space. Further, slits narrower than the thickness of two printing papers and wider than the thickness of one printing paper are formed on both sides of the exit portion of the printing paper storage space, and the printing papers are separated one by one by the slits. You may do it. Further, when trying to pass through the slit in a state where two printing sheets overlap, the first printing sheet has a driving force of the paper feed roller larger than the frictional force between the slit and the second printing sheet. The second printing paper can pass through the slit, but the frictional force between the second printing paper and the first printing paper is smaller than the frictional force with the slit, and is hindered by the first printing paper. Thus, the slit may not be allowed to pass through. Further, guide means for guiding the printing paper toward the printing head for operating the printing ribbon may be provided on the front end side of the printing paper storage space and downstream of the outlet. Further, the printing paper may be sent to the back side so as to substantially follow the lower part of the cartridge by the guide means.

  Further, it may include a cutting unit that cuts a blank portion of the printed printing paper, and a storage unit that stores the blank portion cut by the cutting unit. Further, guide means for guiding the print paper toward the print head for operating the print ribbon is provided on the front end side of the print paper storage space and downstream of the outlet, and the inside of the guide means The storage part may be arranged in the door. Moreover, you may provide the fall prevention mechanism which prevents that the blank part cut | disconnected by the said cutting | disconnection means falls.

A main invention related to a printer is a printer that performs printing by transferring ink of an ink ribbon onto printing paper by a printing head.
The storage space for the printing paper is formed in a curved shape, the printing paper is stored in a curved state along the curved shape, and the printing paper is stacked in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape. The present invention relates to a printer in which a cartridge having a ribbon is detachably mounted.

  Here, an opening may be formed on a side surface of the printer casing, and the cartridge may be inserted and mounted from the side perpendicular to the moving direction of the printing paper through the opening. Further, there may be a space for the printing head to enter inside the cartridge, and when the cartridge is mounted in the printer body, the printing head may enter the cartridge. The printing head may be movable in the cartridge. Further, a back cover is provided on the back side of the housing so as to be openable and closable, and the inside of the back cover serves as a stocker, so that printed printing sheets may be stacked and stored.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the thermal transfer printer cartridge in which the printing paper and the ink ribbon are integrated, the recording sheet storage portion has a curved shape, the recording sheet itself is held in a curved state, and the inside of the curved shape is The ink ribbon storage unit is arranged in the margin part so as to overlap the recording sheet storage unit.

  Here, the thermal transfer printer cartridge has a structure in which the thermal head holding member enters and the thermal head can move inside. In the above-described cartridge for thermal transfer printer, a separation mechanism for separating the recording sheets one by one is provided. Further, in the above-described thermal transfer cartridge, a guide shape is provided for guiding the recording sheet sent from the recording sheet storage unit in the direction toward the space between the thermal head and the platen roller. Further, the above-described thermal transfer cartridge is provided with a cut piece storage portion that stores a cut piece when a blank portion of a printed sheet is cut and includes an external fall prevention mechanism for the cut piece.

  In a thermal transfer printer cartridge in which printing paper and ink ribbon are integrated, the printing paper storage portion is curved and the printing paper itself is held in a curved state, thereby reducing the outer dimensions in the printing paper conveyance direction. In addition, it is possible to reduce the size of the cartridge itself by arranging the ink ribbon storage portion so as to overlap the paper storage portion in the marginal space inside the curved shape. In addition, it is possible to reduce the size of a printer that uses the cartridge.

  In the thermal transfer printer cartridge in which the printing paper and the ink ribbon are integrated, a space for the thermal head holding member to enter between the printing paper storage portion and the ink ribbon storage portion is provided, and the thermal head can move inside. As a result, stable holding can be achieved without complicating the structure of the head portion, and interference of the ink ribbon or thermal head with the cartridge can be easily avoided when the cartridge is inserted.

  In the thermal transfer printer cartridge in which the printing paper and the ink ribbon are integrated, the top of the stacked recording sheets is pressed by pressing the leading end of the recording sheet against the inclined wall surface and transporting it along the inclined shape when paper is fed. It is possible to prevent the second sheet from being sent earlier than the first sheet, and the separation performance can be improved.

  The main invention of the present application is a printer cartridge for storing and holding printing paper and an ink ribbon. The storage space for the printing paper has a curved shape, and the printing paper is stored in a curved state along the curved shape. An ink ribbon is arranged so as to overlap with the printing paper in a marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape.

  Therefore, according to such a printer cartridge, since the ink ribbon is arranged so as to overlap the printing paper in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape of the curved printing paper storage space, the printer cartridge itself Can be miniaturized. In particular, it is possible to significantly shorten the dimension in the paper transport direction.

  A main invention related to a printer is a printer that performs printing by transferring ink ribbon ink onto a printing paper by a printing head, and the storage space for the printing paper has a curved shape, and the printing paper is curved along the curved shape. The cartridge is housed in a state, and a cartridge on which an ink ribbon is arranged is detachably mounted so that printing paper is stacked in a marginal space of a concave portion inside the curved shape.

  Therefore, according to such a printer, it is possible to use a small cartridge in which the ink ribbon is arranged in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved printing paper storage space. Is also achieved.

1. Overview of Printer The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a thermal transfer printer using a line thermal head, which is a printer according to the present embodiment. The printing paper and the ink ribbon are housed in the same cartridge 20 and inserted into the printer housing through the insertion hole 19 in the side cover 18 of the printer main body and attached.

  The printing paper is stored in a printing paper storage unit in the cartridge 20, fed by a paper feeding mechanism provided on the printer side, printed in the printer body, and then discharged in the rear direction. The discharged printed printing paper is sequentially stored in the stocker unit 16 constituted by the back cover 15 of the printer. The back cover 15 is closed and locked when not in use. This lock is automatically released at the start of printing, and the paper can be stocked.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer main body 10 includes a casing 10 made of a synthetic resin molding, and a display unit 11 made of a liquid crystal display is mounted on an oblique panel on the front side. Three memory card insertion slots 12 are provided below the display unit 11 in the horizontal direction. A plurality of operation buttons 13 are arranged on the left side of the display unit 11. A lock lever 14 is disposed on the right side surface of the display unit 11.

Further, as described above, the back cover 15 is attached to the back side of the housing 10 so as to be freely opened and closed. The inner portion of the back cover 15 is a printing paper stocker unit 16. A lower end side of the back cover 15 is a handle 17. A side cover 18 is attached to the side surface of the housing 10 so as to be freely opened and closed, and the side cover 18 covers the cartridge mounting opening 19. The cartridge mounting opening 19 is configured to mount a cartridge 20 containing printing paper and an ink ribbon inside the printer.
2. Structure of Cartridge Next, the structure of the cartridge 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the cartridge 20 is formed with a printing paper storage section 25 having a curved cross-sectional shape on the upper side thereof. The bottom of the printing paper storage unit 25 is partitioned from below by a partition wall 26 that bends with substantially the same curvature as the top surface of the cartridge 20. The printing paper storage unit 25 stores the printing paper 27 in a curved state. An upper window portion 28 is formed at the upper portion of the printing paper storage portion 25, and a lower window portion 29 is formed at the lower side of the printing paper storage portion 25.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the cartridge 20 has a side wall 30 integrally formed on one side surface thereof. The pair of cylindrical cases 31 and 32 are integrally connected by the side wall 30 as shown in FIG. 2B. That is, the cylindrical cases 31 and 32 are connected to the side wall 30 while being cantilevered by the side wall 30. A supply spool 33 is stored in the cylindrical case 31, and a take-up spool 34 is stored in the cylindrical case 32. The cylindrical cases 31 and 32 are integrally provided with release plates 35 and 36, respectively. Further, an intermediate portion between the release plates 35 and 36 is a head storage space 37. A laterally elongated hole 38 is formed in the side wall 30 on the extension of the head storage space 37. A spool lock 39 is attached to the head storage space 37. An ink ribbon 40 is stretched between the supply spool 33 and the take-up spool 34. 2A and 2B, an inclined portion 41 is formed on the upper edge of the side surface opposite to the side surface including the side wall 30 of the cartridge 20.

  Next, the structure for supplying the printing paper 27 of the cartridge 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a printing paper presser 45 is attached in the vicinity of the outlet 47. The printing paper presser 45 is pressed so as to lift the lower part of the front end side of the printing paper 27 stored in a curved manner upward. A wall surface on the front end side of the printing paper storage unit 25 is an inclined wall surface 46, and an outlet 47 is formed at the end of the wall surface 46. In the outlet 47, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, slits 48 are formed on both sides of the outlet 47, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, a guide portion 51 composed of an outer guide wall 49 and an inner guide wall 50 is formed on the downstream side of the outlet 47 having the slit 48. The printed printing paper 27 passes through. The inside of the guide part 51 is a cut piece storage part 52. A cut piece return prevention sheet 53 is attached to the lower part of the cut piece storage portion 52.

A pressure-bonding lever 58 is rotatably attached to the printer main body side on the upper window portion 28 of the printing paper storage unit 25 of the cartridge 20, and a pressure-bonding roller 59 is rotatable on the tip side of the pressure-bonding lever 58. Installed. A paper feed roller 60 is disposed below the lower window portion 29. A head support arm 61 is accommodated in the space below the partition wall 26 of the cartridge 20. The head support arm 61 supports the thermal head 62 at the tip and is rotatably supported by a fulcrum pin 63. A capstan 64 and a pinch roller 65 are disposed obliquely below the cylindrical case 32 that houses the take-up spool 34. The pinch roller 65 is pressed against the capstan 64 by a pinch lever 66 as shown in FIG. The pinch lever 66 is rotatably supported by a fulcrum pin 67 and is urged to rotate counterclockwise about the fulcrum pin 67 in FIG. 9 by a tension coil spring 68. Further, a paper detection sensor 69 is disposed on the left side of the capstan 64 in FIG.

  The platen 75 is supported by the platen arm 76 as shown in FIG. 7B so as to press the ink ribbon 40 against the thermal head 62. The platen arm 76 is supported so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum pin 77 and is rotated by a platen up lever 78. Similarly, the platen up lever 78 is rotatably supported by a fulcrum pin 77, and a pin 79 implanted in the platen up lever 78 is engaged with a groove of the mode cam 80. A limiter spring 81 is disposed between the platen arm 76 and the platen up lever 78, and the platen up lever 78 pushes up the platen arm 76 through the limiter spring 81, whereby the platen 75 is pressed against the thermal head 62. The As shown in FIG. 9, a head lock lever 82 is rotatably attached to the platen arm 76 by a pin 83, and the head support arm 61 is restrained by the head lock lever 82, whereby the thermal head 62 is moved in the operating position. I try to keep it.

  Next, a structure for cutting the margin of the printing paper 27 will be described with reference to FIG. A guide portion 87 extending in the vertical direction is continuously provided so as to hang downward from the partition wall 26, and the cutter 88 is supported by the guide portion 87 so as to be movable up and down. A push arm 89 is attached to the cutter 88. Further, a flapper 90 is provided at the exit portion of the guide portion 51 so as to be rotated by the push arm 89. The cut piece 91 cut by the cutter 88 is stored and held in the cut piece storage portion 52.

  Next, a control system for such a printer will be described. As shown in FIG. 13, the printer includes three motors 93, 94, and 95, and these motors 93, 94, and 95 are driven by motor drivers 96, 97, and 98, respectively. The print control block 99 controls the three motor drivers 96 to 98. The print control block 99 controls the head driver 100. The print control block 99 is fed back with the sensor 102 comprising a switch and the detection output of the paper detection sensor 69 described above.

The print control block 99 is connected to the CPU 102. The CPU 102 includes a memory 103 and is connected to the interface 104. The interface 104 is connected with a USB connector 105, a memory card 106, an Ethernet 107, an IC tag 108, and an Ir-DA 109 attachment / connection unit.
3. Printing Operation Hereinafter, the printing operation will be described along each stage.

(1) Paper Feeding Operation When a printing operation is started with the cartridge 20 mounted, a mode cam 80 (see FIG. 7B) is driven by a mode motor (not shown), and a transition is made from the stopped state to the paper feeding mode. In the paper feed mode, the crimp lever 58 is moved as shown in FIG. 7A by a paper feed cam (not shown) linked to the mode cam 80. Inside the printing paper storage unit 25 of the cartridge 20, there is a lower window 29 provided so that a paper feed roller comes into contact with the printing paper 27, and the printing paper 27 is fed to the paper feeding roller 60 on the outer side. There is an upper window 28 through which a pressure-bonding lever 58 for pressing enters.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, when the paper is fed, the pressure-bonding lever 58 enters through the upper window portion 28, and the entire printing paper 27 stored in the printing paper storage portion 25 is moved by the pressure-bonding roller 59 attached to the tip portion thereof. It is pressed in the direction of the paper feed roller 60. The lowest printing paper 27 facing the paper feeding roller 60 is pressed against the paper feeding roller 60 and is pushed out from the outlet 47 of the printing paper storage unit 25 by the driving force of the paper feeding roller 60. As shown in FIG. 5, since each printing paper 27 is stored along the inclined wall surface 46 of the printing paper storage unit 25, the lowermost first sheet is always pushed out first. Thus, the second and subsequent printing papers 27 are pushed out first, thereby preventing the first printing paper from being sent out.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the outlet 47 of the printing paper storage unit 25 is provided with slits 48 at the left and right ends that are narrower than the thickness of two printing papers and set to a width equal to or larger than the thickness of one printing paper. The printing paper 27 is separated one by one when passing through the slit 48. If two printing papers 27 are overlapped and attempt to pass through the slit 48, the driving force of the paper feeding roller 60 (see FIG. 7A) is applied to the first printing paper 27 by the slit 48 and the second printing paper 27. However, the second printing paper 27 has a frictional force between the second sheet of printing paper 27 and the first sheet, which is the driving force of the printing paper 27, between the slit 48. It is set to be smaller than the frictional force, and the first printing paper 27 is prevented from proceeding, so that it cannot pass through the slit 48 and stays in the printing paper storage unit 25.

  The printing paper 27 separated from the outlet 47 of the printing paper storage unit 25 and sent out from the storage unit 25 is supplied as shown in FIG. The printing paper 27 is sent out by pressing down a flapper 90 provided in the middle of the conveyance path and biased in a direction to close the conveyance path, and enters between the capstan 64 and the pinch roller 65.

When it is detected by the paper detection sensor 69 that the printing paper has arrived at the specified position, after the end of the printing paper is conveyed until it is sandwiched between the capstan 64 and the pinch roller 65, the mode cam 80 is driven to drive the printing paper 27. Transition to the feed mode. With this operation, the pressure-bonding lever 58 is released, the paper feed roller 60 and the printing paper 27 are separated, and the head support arm 61 rotates about the pin 63 as shown in FIG. Moves from the standby position shown in FIG. 7A to the printing position shown in FIG. 7B. The spool lock 39 of the cartridge 20 is pushed down by the head support arm 61, the lock is released, and the ink ribbon 40 can be fed. After that, the printing paper 27 is further fed between the platen roller 75 and the thermal head 42 by the drive of the capstan 64 and conveyed to the printing start position.

By controlling the rotation angle of the stepping motor 93 shown in FIG. 13 through the motor driver 96 by the print control block 99, the conveyance of the printing paper 27 is stopped at the accurate printing start position, and the paper feeding operation is completed.

  The motor 94 shown in FIG. 13 starts winding the ink ribbon 40 at the same time as the thermal head 62 moves to the printing position, and operates in parallel with the printing paper transport operation. Then, at the same time as detecting the tip position by the ribbon sensor 101, the ribbon sensor 101 stops at that time, and the cueing operation of the ink ribbon 40 is completed.

(2) Printing When the above-described paper feeding operation is completed, the mode cam 80 shown in FIG. 7B is driven to shift to the printing mode. As shown in FIG. 9, the platen up lever 78 is rotated by the mode cam 80, and the platen 75 holds the printing paper 27 and the ink ribbon 40 at the same time as holding the protrusion provided on the head support arm 61 as shown in FIG. 9. To the thermal head 62. Since the position of the thermal head 62 is fixed by the head lock lever 82, a pressing force corresponding to the force of the limiter spring 81 is generated between the thermal head 62 and the platen arm 76 as the platen up lever 78 rotates. The printing paper 27 and the ink ribbon 40 are pressed against the thermal head 62 by the force.

  In such a pressure-bonded state, the capstan 64 is driven while the ink on the ink ribbon 40 is thermally transferred to the printing paper 27 by the heat generated by the thermal head 62, and the printing paper is fed to form an image on the printing paper.

When the leading edge of the printing paper reaches the flapper 90, the flapper 90 closes the paper feed conveyance path 51 and the conveyance path to the paper discharge port is opened. As shown in FIG. 4, the paper travels along the transport path to the paper discharge port and does not return to the paper feed transport path 51 side.

After printing for one color, the mode cam 80 is changed to the paper return mode, the capstan 64 is driven in the direction opposite to the printing direction while the platen 75 is separated from the thermal head 62, and the printing start position is again set. The printing paper 27 is conveyed until it moves to the original position. Then, the ink ribbon 40 is cued simultaneously with the conveyance of the printing paper. After the operation is completed, the mode cam 80 is shifted to the printing mode, and the printing operation for the second color is started.

  Such an operation is repeated four times, and when the operation is completed, the printing is completed, and color printing in which three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan are superimposed is performed. Then, a protective layer is formed thereon with a laminate layer, and printing is performed on the printing paper 27.

(3) Cutting At the time of printing, the printing paper 27 is conveyed by a capstan 64 as shown in FIG. 10A. A blank portion that is not printed remains between the printing start position of each color on the printing paper 27 and the leading edge position of the sheet held by the capstan 64. Therefore, it is conceivable to add a perforation to the sheet in advance and cut off that portion later, but in the printer of the present embodiment, with the emphasis on the ease of operation while suppressing the cost of the sheet, A cutting method using a built-in cutter 88 is employed.

  After printing, the capstan 64 conveys until the cutting position matches the position of the cutter 88 shown in FIG. 10A, and stops at that position. The mode cam 80 is changed to the cutting mode by the mode motor 94, and the driving force of the motor 94 is switched from the ribbon feed drive gear train to the cutter drive gear train (not shown). Then, the motor 94 is rotated in the direction opposite to the ribbon feeding position, and the cutter 88 is driven to cut off the blank portion of the printing paper as shown in FIG. 10B, and the cutting piece 91 is moved by the push arm 89 interlocked with the cutter 88. The cartridge 20 is pushed into the cut piece storage portion 52. The cut pieces 91 that have been pushed in are prevented from jumping out by the return prevention sheet 53, and accumulate in the cut piece storage portion 52 of the cartridge 20.

(4) Paper discharge When the mode cam 80 is shifted to the paper discharge mode by a mode motor (not shown), the driving force of the ribbon motor 94 is switched from the gear train of the cutter 88 to a ribbon feed drive gear train (not shown). Further, the head support arm 61 rotates to move the thermal head 62 from the printing position shown in FIG. 7B to the standby position shown in FIG. 7A. The printed printing paper 27 from which the blank portion has been cut is sent to the discharge side by the driving force of the capstan 64, and as shown in FIG. 16 is discharged. The discharged printing paper is pressed by the paper discharge pressing roller and accumulated while being stacked in the stocker 16. After the paper discharge operation, the mode motor makes a transition to the stop mode, and the printing operation ends.
4). Cartridge replacement Cartridge replacement is performed in stop mode. At this time, the thermal head 62 is in the standby position shown in FIG. 7A, and when the cartridge 20 is inserted or removed, the thermal head 62 is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the ink ribbon 40 or the cartridge case portion, so that it can be easily operated. it can.

  When the cartridge 20 is inserted, the compression coil is inserted while pushing up the lock lever 85 shown in FIG. 12 by an inclined portion (see FIG. 2) provided in the case of the cartridge 20 and urged toward the extraction direction immediately before the end of the insertion. The cartridge 20 is locked by the lock lever 85 by further pushing in against the spring. When the cartridge 20 is pulled out, the lock lever 85 is manually pushed up at the portion of the button 14 (see FIG. 1) to release the lock as shown in FIG. 12B. Extruded.

  Since the number of print sheets 27 stored in the cartridge 20 matches the number of printable sheets of the ink ribbon 40, one of them does not run short or surplus first. In addition, the printing paper 27 and the ink ribbon 40 of the same size are stored in the same cartridge 20 and cannot be replaced, so that the printing paper and the ink ribbon of different sizes are mistakenly combined. It is prevented.

  Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the illustrated embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, instead of the configuration in which the thermal head 62 is arranged in the cartridge 20 in the above embodiment, a platen 75 is arranged, and a conveyance path for the printing paper 27 is provided between the printing paper storage unit 25 and the ink ribbon storage unit. Also good. Further, the platen 75 may be a fixed type rather than a movable type, and a method of obtaining a pressing force against the thermal head 62 by moving the head arm 61 may be employed. As a method of avoiding the thermal head 62 when the cartridge 20 is inserted, a mechanism for switching the ribbon path may be provided in the cartridge 20 instead of rotating the head support arm 61. It is also possible to separate the printing paper storage unit 25 and the ink ribbon storage unit of the cartridge 20 from each other.

  The present invention can be applied to a cartridge for a thermal printer. In particular, color printing is performed by sequentially superposing three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan with ink on an ink ribbon, and a protective layer is further formed thereon by a laminate layer. It can be used for a printer that performs printing in which the pattern is formed.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer. It is an external appearance perspective view of a cartridge. It is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a cartridge. It is an exit part of a cartridge, and is the sectional view on the AA line in Drawing 3, and an expanded sectional view. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the state of separation of the printing paper by an inclined wall surface. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing the arrangement of the thermal head when the cartridge is mounted on the printer body. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the supply operation | movement of printing paper. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows printing operation. It is a side view on the opposite side showing urging of a pinch roller, fixing and holding of a thermal head, and fixing of a platen during a printing operation. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the cutting | disconnection operation | movement of the margin part of printing paper. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the state of the stock of the printing paper which finished printing. It is a principal part side view which shows the lock | rock of the cartridge inserted in the printer main body. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a system.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing | casing, 11 ... Display part (liquid crystal display), 12 ... Memory card insertion slot, 13 ... Operation button, 14 ... Lock lever, 15 ... Back cover, 16 ... Printing paper stocker part, 17 ... Handle, 18 ... Side Lid, 19 ... Opening for cartridge mounting, 20 ... Cartridge, 25 ... Printing paper storage, 26 ... Partition wall, 27 ... Printing paper, 28 ... Upper window, 29 ... Lower window, 30 ... Side wall, 31, 32 ... Cylindrical case, 33 ... Supply spool, 34 ... Take-up spool, 35, 36 ... Peeling plate, 37 ... Head storage space, 38 ... Horizontal hole, 39 ... Spool lock, 40 ... Ink ribbon, 41 ... Inclined portion, 45 Printing paper holder, 46 ... Inclined wall surface, 47 ... Exit, 48 ... Slit, 49 ... Guide wall (outside), 50 ... Guide wall (inside), 51 ... Guide part, 52 ... Cut piece storage part, 53 ... Cut piece Anti-return sheet, 5 ... Crimp lever, 59 ... Crimp roller, 60 ... Feed roller, 61 ... Head support arm, 62 ... Thermal head, 63 ... Support pin, 64 ... Capstan, 65 ... Pinch roller, 66 ... Pinch lever, 67 ... Support pin 68 ... tension coil spring, 69 ... paper detection sensor, 75 ... platen, 76 ... platen arm, 77 ... fulcrum pin, 78 ... platen up lever, 79 ... pin, 80 ... mode cam, 81 ... limiter spring, 82 ... head lock Lever, 83 ... Pin, 85 ... Lock lever, 87 ... Guide, 88 ... Cutter, 89 ... Push arm, 90 ... Flapper, 91 ... Cut piece, 93-95 ... Motor, 96-98 ... Motor driver, 99 ... Print Control block 100 ... head driver 101 ... sensor (switch) 102 ... CPU 103 ... memory 04 ... interface, 105 ... USB connector, 106 ... memory card, 107 ... Ethernet (registered trademark), 108 ... IC tag, 109 ... Ir-DA

Claims (18)

In a printer cartridge that stores and holds printing paper and an ink ribbon,
The storage space for the printing paper is formed in a curved shape, the printing paper is stored in a curved state along the curved shape, and the printing paper is stacked in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape. A printer cartridge characterized by a ribbon.   The ink ribbon is wound around a supply spool, and a take-up spool around which the ink ribbon fed from the supply spool is taken up is provided, and the supply spool and the take-up spool are formed on the inner concave portion of the curved shape. The printer cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the printer cartridge is arranged in a marginal space.   2. The printer cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the printer head has a space into which the print head enters, and when the cartridge is mounted in the printer body, the print head enters the cartridge.   2. The printer cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the print head is movable in the cartridge.   The print head has a space into which the print head enters, and when the cartridge is mounted in the printer body, the print head enters between the supply spool and the take-up spool in the cartridge. The printer cartridge according to claim 2.   2. The printer cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a front end portion of the bent printing paper is displaced stepwise by an inclined wall surface formed at an exit portion of the printing paper storage space.   A slit narrower than the thickness of two printing sheets and wider than the thickness of one printing sheet is formed on both sides of the exit portion of the printing paper storage space, and the printing sheets are separated one by one by the slit. The printer cartridge according to claim 1.   When trying to pass through the slit in a state where two printing papers overlap, the first printing paper has a larger driving force of the paper feed roller than the friction force between the slit and the second printing paper, Although the second printing paper can pass through the slit, the frictional force between the second printing paper and the first printing paper is smaller than the frictional force with the slit, and is blocked by the first printing paper. The printer cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the cartridge is not allowed to pass through the slit.   The guide means for guiding the printing paper toward the printing head for operating the printing ribbon is provided on the front end side of the printing paper storage space and downstream of the outlet. The cartridge for printers according to 1.   The printer cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the printing paper is fed to the back side substantially along the lower part of the cartridge by the guide means.   The printer cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: a cutting unit that cuts a blank portion of the printed printing paper; and a storage unit that stores the blank portion cut by the cutting unit.   Guiding means for guiding the printing paper toward the printing head for operating the printing ribbon is provided on the front end side of the storage space for the printing paper and downstream of the outlet, and inside the guiding means. The printer cartridge according to claim 11, wherein the storage portion is arranged.   The printer cartridge according to claim 11, further comprising a fall prevention mechanism that prevents a blank portion cut by the cutting unit from falling. In a printer that performs printing by transferring ink of an ink ribbon onto a printing paper by a printing head,
The storage space for the printing paper is formed in a curved shape, the printing paper is stored in a curved state along the curved shape, and the printing paper is stacked in the marginal space of the concave portion inside the curved shape. A printer characterized by detachably mounting a cartridge with a ribbon.   The printer according to claim 14, wherein an opening is formed on a side surface of the printer casing, and the cartridge is inserted and attached from a side perpendicular to the moving direction of the printing paper through the opening.   15. The printer according to claim 14, wherein the printer has a space into which the print head enters, and the print head enters the cartridge when the cartridge is installed in the printer body.   The printer according to claim 14, wherein the printing head is movable in the cartridge.   15. The printer according to claim 14, wherein a back cover is provided on the back side of the housing so as to be openable and closable, an inner side of the back cover is a stocker, and printed printing sheets are stacked and stored. .

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