JP2012024946A - Ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ribbon cassette configured to inhibit the reverse rotation of gears or rollers without installation of a planet gear, also, with no need of a space for the planet gear, besides, with hardly causing a cost increase.SOLUTION: The ribbon cassette 1 includes: a storage part 2C formed in a housing 2 to store the ink ribbon R in a highly dense state; a pair of driving members (gears 4) provided in the return portion of the ink ribbon R in the storage part 2C through pivoting members 3 to sandwich the ink ribbon R therebetween; and an energizing member (coil spring 5) provided on the pivoting member 3 located on at least one side so as to energize the pivoting member 3 located on at least one side toward the counter direction of the pair of gears 4 to bring the gears 4 into tight contact with each other. A movement inhibition member 6 to inhibit the movement of the pivoting member 3 located on the installation side of the coil spring 5 against the energizing force is provided in the housing 2.

Description

  The present invention does not include a planetary gear for prohibiting reverse rotation of a pair of gears or rollers for feeding an ink ribbon soaked with ink in a fabric ribbon or a fabric seamless ribbon, and requires a space for providing the planetary gear. In addition, the present invention relates to a ribbon cassette that prohibits reverse rotation of the gears or rollers without substantially increasing the cost.

  Ribbon cassettes used in dot impact printers include an endless fabric ribbon that connects ends, or an ink ribbon that has been infused with a seamless fabric seamless ribbon, and a storage section that stores the ink ribbon in a dense state. And a pair of gears or rollers provided at the return portion (entrance portion) of the ink ribbon of the storage portion.

  The ink ribbon is sandwiched between a pair of gears or rollers, and the gear or roller is rotated in the forward direction by a drive source on the dot impact printer side, and then returned from the printing unit of the dot impact printer to the storage unit. At the same time, the returned portion is sent from the storage portion to the printing portion of the dot impact printer.

  As shown in FIG. 3, since the endless ink ribbon R is stored in a dense state in the storage unit 10 without being aligned or wound, the ink ribbon R returned to the storage unit 10 is naturally stored. It becomes dense again. Here, when the gear or roller 11 is rotated (reversely rotated) in the opposite direction to the appropriate usage direction (forward rotation), the ink ribbon R is naturally fed in the direction opposite to the feed direction, that is, from the inlet portion.

  However, as described above, the ink ribbon R that has returned to the storage unit 10 is stored in a cluttered and dense state. Therefore, when the ink ribbon R is rotated in the reverse direction, the gear or roller 11 remains in the dense state, for example, stacked in the thickness direction. It will pass through and will come out to the outer side of an entrance part.

  In general, a space (hereinafter referred to as an outer space) S opposite to the storage portion 10 at the entrance between the gears or rollers 11 in the ribbon cassette R is naturally narrower than the storage portion 10 and simply returns to the ribbon. The width is sufficient to guide the cassette R.

  Therefore, as described above, the ink ribbon R that has come out into the outer space S due to the reverse rotation of the gear or the roller 11 is more densely packed as compared with the case where the ink ribbon R is densely packed in the storage unit 10 and clogs the outer space S. There are cases where the ink ribbon R remains in a state of being caught between the gears or the rollers 11 and does not move in either the forward direction or the reverse direction.

  Further, when the ink ribbon R that has once come out of the outer space is sandwiched between the gears or the rollers 11 in a state of being densely packed in the outer space S as described above, it does not move between the gears or the rollers 11 in the forward or reverse direction. It becomes clogged and the gear or roller 11 itself does not rotate forward or reverse, and becomes unusable.

  Therefore, for example, the following Patent Documents 1 to 3 show configurations for preventing reverse rotation of the gear or roller.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-41834 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-63865 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-276757

  In each of Patent Documents 1 to 3, a planetary gear is provided in one of a pair of gears, and when this planetary gear is moved by the reverse rotation of the paired gear and moves, it engages with a locking rib. Further, the reverse rotation of the planetary gear is prohibited, thereby preventing the reverse rotation of the paired gears.

  However, in the configurations of Patent Documents 1 to 3, it is necessary to provide a planetary gear in addition to a pair of gears, and the number of parts for prohibiting reverse rotation is increased by one, leading to an increase in cost and a ribbon cassette. In this structure, an extra space for providing the planetary gear is required, and there is a problem that the storage capacity of the ink ribbon may be reduced correspondingly.

  The problem to be solved is to provide a ribbon cassette that prohibits reverse rotation of a gear or a roller without providing a planetary gear, without requiring a space for providing the planetary gear, and without substantially increasing the cost. There is.

  The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette that is used by being mounted on a dot impact printer, and includes a casing, an endless fabric ribbon formed in the casing, and an endless fabric ribbon or a seamless fabric seamless ribbon. A storage portion for storing the ink ribbon impregnated with ink in a dense state; a drive member that is provided at a return portion of the ink ribbon of the storage portion via a pivot member and that forms a pair with the ink ribbon sandwiched between the opposing portions; An urging member provided on the pivot member for urging at least one pivot member in a direction opposite to the drive member so that the paired drive members are in close contact with each other. The main feature is that the housing is provided with a movement prohibiting member that prohibits movement against the urging force of the pivot member on the other side.

  The present invention provides an urging member that urges an ink ribbon in an opposing direction via a pivotal member even when an ink ribbon attempts to pass between the driving members in a stacked state from a storage portion when the driving member is rotated in reverse. Since the movement of the driving member in the opposite direction is prohibited by the movement prohibiting member, the ink ribbon of the laminated body is sandwiched between the driving members and the reverse rotation of the driving member is not allowed.

  Therefore, when the drive member is rotated in the reverse direction, the stacked ink ribbon is sandwiched between the drive members and the reverse rotation is prohibited. Therefore, the ink ribbon is moved from the outer space of the storage portion (from the position where the drive member is formed in the housing). It is also possible to prevent the stacked ink ribbon from appearing in the space on the side opposite to the storage portion when viewed.

  Also, a separate movement prohibiting member for prohibiting movement against the urging force of the pivot member on the side where the urging member is provided is provided on the housing, so that a separate, for example, planetary gear for prohibiting reverse rotation of the drive member, etc. In this case, it is possible to prohibit the reverse rotation of the gear or roller without substantially increasing the cost and without reducing the amount of ink ribbon stored.

1A and 1B show a ribbon cassette of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a view showing the inside of a housing in which the bottom portion is not shown, FIG. 1B is an end view taken along the line A-A in FIG. FIG. Example 1 FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation state of the ribbon cassette of the present invention. (Example 2) FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a trouble occurrence state in the ribbon cassette.

  The present invention shows a form for carrying out in Example 1 to be described later, and here, definitions of applications, terms, etc. will be shown. The ribbon cassette of the present invention is used by being mounted on a dot impact printer. Ribbon cassettes used in dot impact printers have a storage unit in the housing that stores ink ribbons that are impregnated with ink in endless fabric ribbons that are end-to-end or seamless fabric ribbons that are seamless. Is formed.

  The dense state means a state in which, for example, it is not pushed in or arranged in an accordion-like manner but is stored in an orderly manner and is simply pushed in. The feeding side of the storage unit is the side where the ink ribbon is fed to the printing site of the dot impact printer, and the return side is the side where the ink ribbon returns from the printing site of the dot impact printer.

  That is, the paired drive members are provided at the return portion of the storage portion via the pivot member. The drive member may be a gear or a roller, for example. The term “between facing” means between a pair of drive members, and an ink ribbon is sandwiched between them.

  A pivot member that pivotally supports each pair of drive members is provided on the casing, and at least one side is provided with a biasing member so that the pair of drive members are in close contact with each other. For example, an elastic body such as a spring can be adopted as the biasing member.

  The movement prohibiting member is provided on the housing and moves against the urging force of the pivot member on the side where the urging member is provided, that is, a certain amount or more in the opposite direction of the driving member. Prohibit movement.

  Furthermore, the ribbon cassette of the present invention may have a structure in which the casing can be opened and closed with respect to the movement prohibiting member, and may be provided on the lid side of the casing. In this way, when the work is performed with the lid open, the prohibition of the movement of the driving member in the opposite direction by the movement prohibiting member is released, so that there is a margin in the facing interval, for example, driving the used ink ribbon It is easy to perform operations such as exchanging, such as removing from between the members, and inserting a new ink ribbon between the facing members of the drive member.

  And the movement prohibition member in the ribbon cassette of the present invention is a drive member that has a thickness of 2 to 7 sheets via the pivotal support member based on the biased state of the drive member through which the fabric ribbon of one sheet thickness passes. What is necessary is just to provide in the position which accept | permits the movement to the opposite direction.

  For example, if the movement allowance is not allowed to exceed the thickness of one sheet, molding errors in the drive member and housing material are not permitted. However, the drive member may not be driven. On the other hand, if a thickness exceeding 7 sheets is allowed, for example, an intermittently laminated ink ribbon may come out in the outer space of the storage unit.

  Hereinafter, the ribbon cassette of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, illustration of a bottom portion (a surface opposite to the lid side) on the main body side of the housing is omitted. A ribbon cassette 1 of the present invention is mounted on a dot impact printer (not shown), and an ink ribbon R in which an endless fabric ribbon having ends connected to each other is impregnated is accommodated in a housing 2.

  The housing 2 includes a main body 2A and a lid 2B, and can be opened and closed in this embodiment. The casing 2 has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole, and a space P is formed at the center in the width direction at the upper portion shown in FIG. 1A, and the exposed ink ribbon R is positioned in the vicinity of the space P. It is used for printing by a printing unit of a dot impact printer. The ink ribbon R is sent to the printing unit of the dot impact printer and used, and returns to the inside of the housing 2.

  The housing 2 is formed with a feed path 1a for feeding the ink ribbon R to the printing unit on the left side shown in FIG. 1A in the width direction, and the ink ribbon R is printed on the right side shown in FIG. 1A in the width direction. A return path 1b that is returned through the section is formed.

  A storage portion 2 </ b> C is formed in the lower portion of the housing 2. As shown in FIG. 1A, the storage unit 2C has a right side as an inlet that returns to the storage unit 2C and a left side as an outlet that is sent from the storage unit 2C to the printing unit. In the storage portion 2C, the ink ribbon R returned from the entrance is stored in a dense state.

  As shown in FIG. 1C, weir portions 2Aa and 2Ba are formed on the opposing surfaces of the main body 2A and the lid 2B so as to slightly protrude in the opposing direction, as shown in FIG. 1C. . The end of the ink ribbon R in the width direction is caught by the dam portions 2Aa and 2Ba and stops in the storage portion 2C. On the other hand, the ink ribbon R sent out from the outlet side of the storage portion 2C is deformed in the width direction by the drawn-out force and is drawn out between the weir portions 2Aa and 2Ba.

  A pivot member 3 is provided on the entrance side of the housing portion 2C on the main body 2A side of the housing 2, and this pivot member 3 is pivoted in the vertical direction in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). 3A and 3B are paired. That is, as shown in FIG. 1A, the pivot members 3A and 3B have a substantially right triangle shape in plan view, and are provided so that the hypotenuse faces the storage portion 2C. By doing so, the ink ribbon R is sent quickly from the entrance to the exit of the storage portion 2C without stopping near the entrance.

  The pivot member 3 is provided with a drive member 4, and in this embodiment, a pair of gears 4 (gears 4A, 4B) as a drive member, for example, are formed in a portion that forms the entrance of the storage portion 2C of the pivot members 3A, 3B. ) Are pivotally supported so that they mesh.

  In this embodiment, one of the pivot members 3B on the lower side of the figure is pivotally supported by a pivot shaft 3b provided on the main body 2A, and the pivot member 3B tilts about this. To do. Further, for example, this embodiment as a biasing member is provided between an end (inlet side) opposite to the side where the pivot shaft 3b is provided at the lower end of the pivot member 3B and the lower inner surface in the vertical direction of the main body 2A. In the example, a winding spring 5 is interposed.

  That is, the gears 4A and 4B are biased in the opposite direction (the direction of the gear 4A) by the winding spring 5 via the pivot member 3B with respect to the gear 4A. It is passed between 4B.

  The tilting stroke of the pivot member 3B is between the end (inlet side) opposite to the side where the pivot shaft 3b is provided at the lower end of the pivot member 3B and the lower inner surface in the vertical direction of the main body 2A. A movement prohibiting member 6 is provided which restricts within a certain range, that is, prohibits a certain amount of tilting of the pivot member 3B. The movement prohibiting member 6 is provided on the lid 2B of the casing 2, and is configured to release the restriction on the tilting stroke of the pivot member 3B by the movement prohibiting member 6 by opening the lid 2B.

  In the present embodiment, for example, the movement prohibiting member 6 is configured such that the pivot member 3B tilts by the thickness of two sheets of the ink ribbon R, for example, based on the thickness of one sheet of the ink ribbon R. It is provided at a position where it can be made. That is, when the ink ribbon R stacked in a state of being thicker than two is caught between the gears 4A and 4B, the tilted pivot member 3B comes into contact with the movement prohibiting member 6, and the pivot member 3B The tilting is not allowed.

  The ribbon cassette 1 configured as described above has the gears 4A and 4B. In this embodiment, when the gear 4A is rotationally driven in the forward direction by the dot impact printer, the ink ribbon R that is engaged with the gears 4A and 4B. Are sequentially returned to the storage portion 2C, and at the same time, the ink ribbon R is sent out from the outlet side of the storage portion 2C by this tension.

  For example, when the ribbon cassette 1 is removed from the dot impact printer and the user accidentally rotates the gear 4A in the reverse direction, the following operation is performed, and trouble is suppressed. That is, in the storage portion 2C, the ink ribbons R are stored in an orderly manner (without being stacked) from the entrance side, and are in a dense state in the storage portion 2C.

  When the gears 4A and 4B are rotated in the reverse direction, the ink ribbon R in a dense state tends to come out from the entrance side from the storage portion 2C. At this time, since the ink ribbons R are densely packed in the storage portion 2C as described above, the ink ribbons R are easily bitten between the gears 4A and 4B as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, when the laminated ink ribbon R exceeding the thickness of two ink ribbons R is bitten by the gears 4A and 4B, the pivot member 3B resists the urging force of the winding spring 5 by that amount. Then, it tilts and abuts against the movement prohibiting member 6, and no further tilting is allowed.

  When the stacked ink ribbon R is in a state of being engaged with the gears 4B and 4B at the initial stage of reverse rotation, that is, in the initial state of engagement of the gears 4A and 4B from the storage portion 2C toward the inlet, When 6 and the pivot member 3B come into contact with each other, further reverse rotation of the gears 4A and 4B is prohibited, and at this time, by rotating forwardly, the layers that have not yet reached completely between the facing of the gears 4A and 4B are stacked. The ink ribbon R returns to the storage portion 2C and can be used again normally.

  That is, the movement prohibiting member 6 in the present embodiment is set so as to operate by detecting such behavior before the stacked ink ribbon R reaches between the gears 4A and 4B. The thickness of the two ink ribbons R set in this embodiment as the allowable tilting amount of the pivot member 3B has the following meaning. In the laminated state, the endless ink ribbon R is not laminated with a thickness of 2 sheets, and if it is laminated, the minimum unit is the thickness of 3 sheets.

  Therefore, as in this embodiment, if the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided at a position that allows the pivoting member 3B to be tilted by the thickness of, for example, two sheets of the stacked ink ribbons R, it is in a close contact state (for example, 3), the ink ribbon R stacked as described above is prohibited from rotating in reverse before reaching between the gears 4A and 4B. If the ink ribbon R rotates forward, the ink ribbon R Returning to the storage section 2C, normal use is possible again.

  On the contrary, for example, if the position of the movement prohibiting member 6 is set to a position that allows the tilting of the pivot support member 3B by the thickness of one sheet of the ink ribbon R, for example, the allowable tilting amount is too small. The rotation may be prohibited due to the molding error of 4B and the like, and there is a possibility that neither forward rotation nor reverse rotation is possible.

  On the other hand, when the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided at a position corresponding to the thickness exceeding 7 sheets, the ink ribbon R stacked on 3 sheets, 5 sheets, and 7 sheets reaches the gap between the gears 4A and 4B. There is a possibility that the ink ribbon R stacked on the upper side of the ink ribbon R may go out from the entrance of the storage portion 2C beyond the opposing positions of the gears 4A and 4B without stopping as long as it rotates in reverse, that is, the effect of prohibiting reverse rotation may be almost eliminated. is there.

  When the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided at a position corresponding to the thickness of seven sheets as the upper limit value, for example, five stacked ink ribbons R can pass between the opposed gears 4A and 4B. If the reverse rotation is continued, since the density of the ink ribbon R is high on the storage portion 2C side, the ink ribbon R, which is more than seven sheets, immediately tries to enter between the opposing sides of the gears 4A and 4B, and the reverse rotation is started at that time. It is forbidden.

  That is, when the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided at a position where the tilt of the pivotal support member 3B is allowed by the thickness of, for example, seven sheets (upper limit value) of the ink ribbon R, the two sheet thicknesses as in this embodiment are provided. Although the effect of immediately prohibiting reverse rotation before reaching between the gears 4A and 4B as in the case where the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided at the position is slightly reduced, the stacked ink ribbons R are accommodated by, for example, several millimeters. Even if it comes out of the 2C inlet, reverse rotation is reliably prohibited as described above.

  The movement prohibiting member 6 is provided on the lid 2B side. This is because, for example, when the operation of replacing only the ink ribbon R is performed, if the movement prohibiting member 6 is provided in the main body 2A, the lid This is because even if 2B is opened, the tilt prohibiting state of the pivot member 3B by the movement prohibiting member 6 is not released.

  Therefore, by providing the movement prohibiting member 6 on the lid 2B side, the tilting prohibition state of the pivot member 3B is released by opening the lid 2B, and the gears 4A and 4B of the gears 4A and 4B are compressed until the winding spring 5 is compressed to the maximum. The space between the facing portions can be widened, and the replaced ink ribbon R can be easily inserted between the facing portions of the gears 4A and 4B.

  Further, since the ribbon cassette 1 of the present invention is not configured to newly include a relatively large member such as a planetary gear in order to prohibit the reverse rotation of the gears 4A and 4B, the storage unit 2C in the housing 2 is particularly provided. A large number of ink ribbons R can be stored without being pressed, and the additional cost of a separate member becomes unnecessary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ribbon cassette 2 Case 2A Main body 2B Cover 2C Storage part 3 Pivot member 3A Pivot member 3B Pivot member 4 Gear (drive member)
4A gear 4B gear 5 winding spring (biasing member)
6 Movement prohibition member R Ink ribbon

Claims (2)

  A ribbon cassette that is used in a dot impact printer, and is impregnated with ink in a housing and an endless fabric ribbon that is formed in the housing and has ends connected to each other. A storage portion for storing the ink ribbon in a dense state, a pair of drive members provided at a return portion of the ink ribbon of the storage portion via a pivotal support member that sandwich the ink ribbon between the opposing portions, and a pair A biasing member provided on the pivoting member for biasing the pivoting member on at least one side in a direction opposite to the driving member so that the driving members to be in close contact with each other, and the biasing member is provided A ribbon cassette, wherein a movement prohibiting member that prohibits movement against the urging force of the pivot member on the side is provided in the casing.   The movement-inhibiting member is on the lid side of the case that can be opened and closed, and the pivoting member is interposed by the thickness of 2 to 7 sheets with reference to the biasing state of the driving member through which the ink ribbon of one sheet passes. The ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the ribbon cassette is provided at a position that allows the drive member to move in the opposite direction.

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