JP2531493Y2 - Ink ribbon cassette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette,
More particularly, the present invention relates to an ink ribbon cassette of a reversible type, in which the front side and the back side of the cassette main body can be loaded into a printing section of a printing apparatus without error.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink ribbon cassette, a head is inserted into a cassette body in which a pair of ink ribbon take-up / supply hubs are rotatably housed, when the printing head of the printing unit faces a printing unit provided in a printing apparatus. And a ribbon end sensor insertion section facing the ribbon end sensor of the printing section.

[0003] The above-mentioned ink ribbon cassette is used with the front side of the cassette body facing upward. When the ink ribbon is completely wound up from the supply hub side to the take-up hub side, the cassette body is turned over and the back side of the cassette body is turned upward. ,
This time, there is known an upside down type in which the ink ribbon is wound from the winding hub side to the supply hub side and used. In the ink ribbon cassette of the upside down type, two of the head insertion portion and two of the ribbon end sensor insertion portions are provided in the cassette body.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned ink ribbon cassette of the inverted type, the head insertion portions are provided at two places at the center of the front end face of the cassette body, and the left and right sides of the front end face of the cassette body are provided. The ribbon end sensor insertion portion is provided at two places on both sides, and the appearance of the ink ribbon cassette is substantially the same regardless of whether the front side of the cassette body is facing upward or the back side is facing upward. When the paper is temporarily removed from the printing unit and reloaded for paper use, etc., it is not clear which of the front and back sides of the cassette body was loaded upward, and the front and back sides of the cassette body were mistakenly printed on the printing unit. There was a risk of loading. In this way, if the front and back sides of the cassette body of the ink ribbon cassette are erroneously loaded into the printing unit again, printing may be performed using the ink ribbon that has been used once, or the ink ribbon that has never been used may be used. There is a problem that the film is wound around the winding / supply hub.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a front-back reverse type ink ribbon cassette which can prevent the front side and the rear side of the cassette main body from being erroneously loaded into a printing unit of a printing apparatus.

According to the present invention, a two-sided ink ribbon cassette is provided in which a ribbon end sensor insertion portion is provided in a cassette body rotatably housing a pair of ink ribbon take-up and supply hubs formed by winding an ink ribbon. At
Among the above-mentioned two of the ribbon end sensor insertion portion of the ribbon end sensor insertion part of the person who is in the upward side at the time of first use
To wear, by providing the ink ribbon cassette characterized in that a closing closing piece it removably through a fragile portion, is obtained by achieving the above object.

[0007]

According to the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, at the time of the first use, the cassette main body is connected to the printing section of the printing apparatus so that the ribbon end sensor is inserted into the ribbon end sensor insertion section on the side not closed by the closing piece. To load. Therefore, at the time of first use, once the cassette body is removed from the printing unit of the printing device and then re-inserted into the printing unit, the front and back sides of the cassette body can be recognized by the presence or absence of the closing piece, and the front and back sides may be mistakenly mistaken. Even if an attempt is made to load the printing portion, the closing piece hinders the ribbon end sensor of the printing portion from entering the ribbon end sensor insertion portion, thereby preventing the loading of the cassette body into the printing portion. For this reason, it is possible to reliably avoid a situation in which the front side and the back side of the cassette main body are loaded in the printing unit with the wrong side and printing is performed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the ink ribbon cassette, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the insertion of the ribbon end sensor on the side not used when the ink ribbon cassette is used for the first time. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the ribbon end sensor insertion portion.

FIG. 1 shows an ink ribbon cassette of this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, a head insertion portion 4 is provided at two positions on the left and right sides of the front end face of a cassette body 1 in which a pair of ink ribbon take-up / supply hubs 3 formed by winding an ink ribbon 2 are rotatably stored.
a, 4b, and two ribbon end sensor insertion portions 5a at the left and right corners of the front end of the cassette body 1.
5b.

The ribbon end sensor insertion portions 5a, 5
1b, one of the ribbon end sensor insertion portions 5a located at the right end corner of FIG. 1 is loaded into the printing unit of the printing apparatus when the ink ribbon cassette is used for the first time, that is, with the front side of the cassette body 1 facing upward. The ribbon end sensor (not shown) of the printing section is inserted when the cassette body 1 is used, and is formed by notching and opening a part of the back and side surfaces of the cassette body 1. Further, the other ribbon end sensor insertion portion 5 located at the left end corner of FIG.
b indicates that the ribbon end sensor (not shown) of the printing unit is inserted when the ink ribbon cassette is used next time, that is, when the ink ribbon cassette is loaded on the printing unit of the printing apparatus with the back side of the cassette body 1 facing upward and used. The opening surface is closed by a removable piece 6 having a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the closing piece 6 has a horizontal portion 6a whose upper half 1a is inserted through a pair of fragile portions 6b.
It is connected to the side. The vertical portion 6 of the closing piece 6
c is formed so as to form a part of the side wall of the cassette body 1.

Next, the operation and effect of the ink ribbon cassette of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the ink ribbon cassette is loaded into the printing unit of the printing apparatus with the front side of the cassette body 1 facing upward, and the ink ribbon cassette is used for the first time, the closing piece 6 is left as it is. Thereby, the front side and the back side of the cassette main body 1 can be distinguished by the presence of the closing piece 6, and when the cassette main body 1 is once removed from the printing unit and reloaded, there is no possibility that the front side and the back side of the cassette main body 1 are mistaken. . Also, if the cassette body 1
If you accidentally load the front and back sides of the
The closing piece 6 hinders the ribbon end sensor of the printing section from entering the ribbon end sensor insertion section 5b, and prevents loading of the cassette body 1 into the printing section. For this reason, it is possible to reliably avoid a situation in which the front and back sides of the cassette main body 1 are loaded in the printing section with the wrong side and printing is performed, and printing is performed using the ink ribbon 2 that has been used once or has not been used once. The winding / supplying hub 3, with the ink ribbon 2 used,
There is no danger of winding up to 3.

In the next use of the ink ribbon cassette, which is loaded into the printing section of the printing apparatus with the back side of the cassette body 1 facing upward, the closing piece 6 is removed and the other ribbon end sensor insertion section 5b is opened. . in this case,
Since closing piece 6 is not, in the upward rear side of the cassette body 1 can recognize that you have used, there is no possibility of mistaking the front and back sides of the cassette body 1 as in the case of the previous.

The closing piece 6 can be formed at the same time when the cassette body 1 is formed. For example, when the cover piece is detachably attached to the ribbon end sensor insertion portion 5b, the closing piece 6 is formed as a separate part. It is not necessary to prepare a cover piece, the conventional assembly process of the cassette body can be used as it is, and the provision of the closing piece 6 does not increase the cost.

The ink ribbon cassette of the present invention is
The present invention is not limited to those shown in the above embodiments. For example, instead of forming the closing piece 6 'into a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, only the front opening surface of the cassette body 1 of the ribbon end sensor insertion portion 5b is closed. Alternatively, it may be formed in a flat plate shape. 4 and 5
The same parts as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0018]

As described above, the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention can prevent the front and back sides of the cassette main body from being erroneously loaded into the printing section of the printing apparatus. Also, it is possible to mold the closed strip in the cassette body integrally, the conventional cassette body assembly process as it is available, late Re no increase in cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an ink ribbon cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a ribbon end sensor insertion portion on a side not used when the ink ribbon cassette is used for the first time.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ribbon end sensor insertion portion shown in FIG. 2;

4 shows another embodiment of the ink ribbon cassette of the present invention, and is a partial perspective view of a main part similar to FIG. 2 showing a ribbon end sensor insertion portion on a side not used when the ink ribbon cassette is used for the first time. .

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ribbon end sensor insertion portion shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cassette main body 2 Ink ribbon 3 Ink ribbon winding / supply hub 5a, 5b Ribbon end sensor insertion part 6, 6 'Closing piece 6b Fragile part

Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model Sho 62-70961 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Hei 1-146967 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A cassette body in which a pair of ink ribbon take-up / supply hubs each formed by winding an ink ribbon are rotatably housed, and two ribbon end sensor insertion portions are provided.
In the front and back inverted ink ribbon cassette, of the two ribbon end sensor insertion portions, the upper ribbon end sensor insertion portion at the time of first use is used .
Educated, ink ribbon cassette characterized in that a closing closing piece it removably through a fragile portion.