JP2525484Y2 - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette used for a wire dot printer, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink ribbon cassettes are widely used in wire dot printers and the like because of their low printing cost.
In the ink ribbon cassette, a long endless ink ribbon is stored in a folded state in a case, and the ink ribbon runs in a printing space outside the case.

FIG. 4 shows a main part of a conventional ink ribbon cassette. The traveling mechanism 3 of the ink ribbon of the ink ribbon cassette includes a driving roll 5 and a driven roll 6. The drive roll 5 and the driven roll 6 are provided with a plurality of rolls separated by a fixed distance for each rotation axis. The drive roll 5 is pivotally supported by a hole on the bottom surface of the case 20 and a support member 8 protruding from the side wall, and is connected to a rotary drive source (not shown). The driven roll 6 is rotatably supported by a support member 9 that can be displaced along a guide groove on the bottom surface of the case 20. The ink ribbon 2 is held therebetween. Separators 4a and 4b are provided on the ribbon storage portion 22 side of the driving roll 5 and the driven roll 6, respectively.
Is provided.

When the driving roll 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the driven roll 6 also rotates, and the ribbon 2 sandwiched between the driven roll 6 and
The loop passes through the ribbon receiving passage 24, the ribbon storage section 22, the ribbon sending passage substantially symmetrical to the ribbon receiving passage, and the printing space 25, and returns to the ribbon receiving passage 24. The ribbon 2 sent to the ribbon storage unit 22 bends according to the direction of the preceding ribbon 2, changes its direction when touching the separator 4 a or 4 b, and is folded while pushing the preceding ribbon 2. The folded ribbon 2 is pushed by the succeeding ribbon 2 and moves toward the ribbon delivery path.

Since the characters of an ink ribbon become thinner as it is used, it is necessary to replace the ink ribbon when a certain number of prints is reached. Replacing a long ribbon housed in a complicated shape in a case and sandwiched between rolls is quite troublesome.

To replace the ribbon 2, after opening the lid of the case 20, put a finger on the driven roll 6 or the support member 9 to separate the driven roll 6 from the drive roll 5, and the claw 18 provided on the back surface of the support member 9. To the hole in the side wall and fix it as shown by the chain line. After the replacement operation, the claw 18 is removed, the driven roll 6 is returned to the original position, and the ribbon 2 is held.

[0007]

The replacement operation of the ribbon 2 is performed as described above. However, since the driven roll 6 and the supporting member 9 are directly touched by the finger at the time of the replacement, there is a problem that the finger is stained with the ink. is there. Not only is the claw 18 small, but it is not easy to apply the claw 18 to the hole against the pressing force of the spring 11,
It is also difficult to remove the claws 18 after the work is completed. When the ink ribbon cassette is tilted when the used ink ribbon 2 is removed, the drive roll 5 and the driven roll 6 are
Care must be taken because it may fall out of place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide an ink ribbon cassette which allows easy replacement of an ink ribbon and which does not come off during replacement.

[0009]

An ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention which has been achieved to achieve the above object will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 corresponding to one embodiment.

As shown in these drawings, the ink ribbon cassette according to the present invention has a case 20 in which a ribbon storage section 22, a ribbon delivery path 23, and a ribbon reception path 24 are integrated, and is mostly folded in the ribbon storage section 22. The ink ribbon 2 is stored in a state, a part of which passes through the inside of the case through the ribbon delivery path 23, the printing space 25, and the ribbon receiving path 24, and the ink ribbon 2 is held by the ribbon storage section 22 to run. Travel mechanism 3
It is provided with. The traveling mechanism 3 includes a driving rotator 5 supported by a supporting member 8 fixed to a case 20 and connected to a driving source (not shown), and a driven rotator 6 supported by a displaceable movable supporting member 9. . On the back side of the movable support member 9, a spring 1 for pressing the driven rotary body 6 toward the drive rotary body 5
1 is provided. The movable support member 9 has a case 20
A knob 10 is provided, which penetrates a partly hollowed guide hole 12 and reaches the outside of the case.
A convex portion 12a is formed on one of the sliding surfaces with the convex portion 12 and a concave portion 10a is formed on the other of the sliding surfaces so that the movable supporting member 9 can be engaged with the convex portion 12a.

The driving rotary member 5 and the driven rotary member 6 may use a roll or a gear.

[0012]

When the knob protruding to the outside of the case is pressed against the spring and displaced, the driven rotary member supported by the movable support member separates from the drive rotary member. If the concave portion 10a of the knob 10 and the convex portion 12a of the guide hole 12 are fitted,
The driven rotator 6 is kept separated from the drive rotator 5.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an ink ribbon cassette to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an overall view thereof. In this ink ribbon cassette, a long ink ribbon 2 is stored in a case 20 in which a ribbon storage section 22, a ribbon delivery path 23, and a ribbon receiving path 24 are integrated. The ink ribbon 2 is a non-terminal one in which its ends are connected to each other. Most of them are stored in a folded state in the ribbon storage section 22, and a part of them goes around the inside of the case 20 through the ribbon delivery path 23 and the ribbon reception path 24. A printing space 25 exposed to the outside is formed between the ribbon sending passage 23 and the leading end of the ribbon receiving passage 24. A traveling mechanism 3 for traveling the ink ribbon 2 is arranged on the ribbon receiving passage 24 side of the ribbon storage section 22.

The traveling mechanism 3 includes a driving roll 5 as a driving rotating body and a driven roll 6 as a driven rotating body. The drive roll 5 and the driven roll 6 are provided with two rolls separated by a fixed distance for each rotation axis. The drive roll 5 is supported by a support member 8 fitted into the case 20, and is connected to a rotary drive source (not shown). Driven roll 6
Is rotatably supported by the movable support member 9 loosely fitted in the bottom surface of the case 20 and the guide groove 21 of the lid 26, and is pressed toward the drive roll 5 by the spring 11 pressed against the back surface of the movable support member 9. The drive roll 5 and the driven roll 6 hold the ink ribbon 2 therebetween. Separators 4a and 4b for preventing the ribbon 2 from being wound are provided on the ribbon storage section 22 side of the driving roll 5 and the driven roll 6, respectively.

The movable support member 9 has a knob 10 integral with the movable support member 9. The knob 10 penetrates through a guide hole 12 cut out along the pressing direction of the spring 11 on the side wall of the case 20, and projects outside the case 20.
A concave portion 10a is formed on the lower surface of the knob 10, and a convex portion 12a that can be fitted to the concave portion 10a is formed on the inner wall of the guide hole 12.

This ink ribbon cassette operates as follows. When the drive roll 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the driven roll 6 also rotates, and the ribbon 2 sandwiched between them runs counterclockwise. The ribbon 2 pulled out from the ribbon storage section 22 is fed to the ribbon delivery path 23 and the printing space 2.
5. The paper is sent to the ribbon storage section 22 via the ribbon receiving passage 24 and makes a round in the case 20. The ribbon 2 sent to the ribbon storage unit 22 bends according to the direction of the preceding ribbon 2, changes its direction when touching the separator 4 a or 4 b, and is folded while pushing the preceding ribbon 2.
The folded ribbon 2 is pushed by the succeeding ribbon 2 and moves toward the ribbon delivery path. The ribbon 2 sent to the ribbon storage unit 22 is pushed by the subsequent ribbon 2 and moves toward the ribbon delivery passage 23.

When replacing the ink ribbon 2, the lid 26 of the ink ribbon cassette is opened, and the knob 1 is moved as shown in FIG.
0 is displaced along the guide hole 12 to the position shown by the chain line, and the driven roll 6 supported by the movable support member 9 is
Separate from. If the concave portion 10a of the knob 10 and the convex portion 12a of the guide hole 12 are fitted, the state in which the driven roll 6 and the driving roll 5 are separated from each other is maintained, and the ink ribbon 2 can be easily replaced. The support member 8 of the drive roll 5 is fixed to the case 20, and the movable support member 9 of the driven roll 6 is also fitted in the guide hole 12 in which the knob 10 is hollowed out of the case 20. Even when the ink ribbon cassette is tilted during removal, the drive roll 5 and the driven roll 6 do not come off and fall. After replacing the ink ribbon 2, it is only necessary to release the engagement between the concave portion 10a and the convex portion 12a. The driven roll 6 is pressed toward the drive roll 5 by the pressing force of the spring 11.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, rolls are used as the driving rotating body and the driven rotating body, but gears may be used instead of the rolls.

[0019]

As described in detail above, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention easily separates the driven roll and the drive roll by displacing the movable support member for supporting the driven roll from outside the case. Since the state can be maintained, the replacement work of the ink ribbon is easy. In addition, components do not come off during replacement work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an ink ribbon cassette to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of an ink ribbon cassette to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a main part of an embodiment of the ink ribbon cassette to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of a conventional ink ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 is an ink ribbon, 3 is a traveling mechanism, 5 is a drive roll, 6
Is a driven roll, 8 is a supporting member, 9 is a movable supporting member, 10
Is a knob, 10a is a recess, 11 is a spring, 12 is a guide hole,
Reference numeral 12a denotes a convex portion, 20 denotes a case, 21 denotes a guide groove, 22 denotes a ribbon accommodating portion, 23 denotes a ribbon feed-out passage, 24 denotes a ribbon receiving passage, 25 denotes a printing space, and 26 denotes a lid.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-193681 (JP, A) JP-A-54-121821 (JP, A) Real opening 60-38762 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A case in which a ribbon storage section, a ribbon delivery path, and a ribbon reception path are integrated, and a large part of the case is stored in the ribbon storage section in a folded state, and a part thereof is a ribbon delivery path, a printing space, and a ribbon reception section. In an ink ribbon cassette including an endless ink ribbon that loops around the inside of a case via a passage and a traveling mechanism that sandwiches and runs the ink ribbon in a ribbon storage section, the traveling mechanism is supported by a support member fixed to the case. A driving rotator connected to a driving source and a driven rotator supported by a displaceable movable support member, and a spring for pressing the driven rotator against the driving rotator side on the back side of the movable support member is provided. The movable support member is partially hollowed out of the case.
A knob that extends through the guide hole and reaches the outside of the case, and a convex portion is fitted on one of the sliding surfaces of the knob and the guide hole, and the movable support member is fitted with the convex portion on the other. An ink ribbon cassette, wherein a concave portion capable of locking the ink ribbon is formed. 2. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body is a roll. 3. The ink ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body is a gear.