JP2585480Y2 - Thermal transfer 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 a reversible thermal transfer ribbon cassette which is turned upside down.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a reversible type cassette which can reciprocate from a conventional one-time type has been developed as a cassette using a thermal transfer ribbon. This river
The sibble type has a structure in which when the cassette is reversed, the winding side and the supply side of the ribbon spool are switched, and the running direction of the ribbon is reversed. Therefore, in this structure, a tension spring for applying tension to the ribbon on the supply side is provided near both spools, and when the cassette is inverted to reverse the ribbon flow,
It was necessary to switch the operation and release of the two tension springs so that the tension was always applied only to the ribbon on the supply side.

[0003]

However, the switching between the operation and the release of the tension spring has a drawback that it becomes a complicated mechanism in a small-sized thermal transfer cassette for a word processor or the like and increases the cost. There is also a mechanism that switches the operation and release of the tension spring in relation to the mechanism on the printer side.However, these mechanisms cannot be installed if the printer model is different, and have the drawback that there is no compatibility such as an audio cassette. there were.

The present invention eliminates these drawbacks. That is, in a reversible type thermal transfer ribbon cassette, it is possible to reverse the cassette and to apply a tension to the ribbon and to switch the release of the ribbon from side to side with a simple structure. It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer ribbon cassette capable of switching between left and right without being restricted by a mechanism on the printer side.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor has provided a thermal transfer ribbon cassette with one spool and the other spool provided at both ends of the cassette body.
A guide pin and a pressing member are provided between both spools and the opening to hold the ink ribbon.
Has a sliding part that contacts the cassette body.
Two stoppers spaced apart in the crib flow direction
And movably inserted between, sliding by the travel of the ink ribbon
The moving portion moves along the ribbon flow direction to a position where tension is applied to the guide pin across the ink ribbon and to a position where no tension is applied without opposing the guide pin.

In the present invention, the pressing member is provided with a sliding member.
An elastic part is provided on the back of the moving part, and the elastic part is
Slidable contact with ink ribbon
Pressing or attaching to one end of sliding part
When the plate spring portion is provided, the above object can be more suitably achieved.

[0007]

When the ink ribbon supplied from the spool in the thermal transfer ribbon cassette of the present invention moves upward as shown in FIG. 2, the pressing member does not face the guide pin as shown in FIG. The ribbon is lifted with the running of the ribbon to the position where the ribbon is opposed, and stopped at that position by the stopper. In this state, the ink ribbon on the supply side is slid and pressed by the pressing member and the guide pin to apply tension. Next, when the cassette is turned over and the flow of the ribbon is turned downward as shown in FIG. The tension is released.

As described above, when the ribbon is moved from one spool (the right side in FIG. 1) to the other spool (the left side in FIG. 1), the tension is applied only to the vicinity of the one spool on the ribbon supply side. No tension is applied near the other spool on the ribbon rewinding side. If the direction of movement of the ribbon is reversed by reversing the cassette, tension is applied to the other spool side, and no tension is applied to one spool side. When the cassette is turned over in this manner, the tension applied to the ribbon can be automatically switched left and right.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cassette main body 1 has a bottom piece rotatably supporting one spool 2 and the other spool 3 and an opening 5 for inserting a thermal head 4 at an upper end. Are symmetrically provided. The ink ribbon 6 for thermal transfer wound with both ends fixed to the two spools 2 and 3 respectively, so that the unwound portion is stretched over the two openings 5 so that the thermal head 4 can print. It is.

Further, at both left and right ends of the cassette body 1, there are provided a guide pin 7 and a pressing member 8 erected from a bottom piece at a position between the spools 2 and 3 and the opening 5, and the pressing member 8 is made of felt. A sliding portion 9 made of a material such as a rubber, an elastic portion 10 fixed to the back surface of the sliding portion 9, and an operating portion 11 having one end attached to the sliding portion 9 and the elastic portion 10. Locking part 12
Is protruding. The locking portion 12 is provided on the cassette body 1
The pressing member 8 is inserted between the two stoppers 13 and 14 so that the pressing member 8 can be moved in the vertical direction by a stroke between the two stoppers 13 and 14. The pressing member 8 is configured such that the locking portion 12 has an upper stopper.
13, the central portion of the sliding portion 9 is located right beside the guide pin 7, and the elastic portion 10 resiliently presses the side piece of the cassette body 1 to press the sliding portion 9 against the guide pin 7. The sliding portion 9 is formed so as not to be in contact with the guide pin 7 below when the locking portion 12 comes into contact with the lower stopper 14.

When printing is performed with this ribbon cassette, the drive shaft (not shown) of the printer rotates the other spool 3, so that the ink ribbon 6 is fed from one spool 2 and the opening portion is opened. At 5, the print is printed on a recording paper (not shown) by the thermal head 4 and wound around the other spool 3. Here, the pressing member 8 on the one spool 2 side moves upward together with the ink ribbon 6, and the locking portion 12 comes into contact with the stopper 13 as shown in FIG. The sliding portion 9 is elastically pressed against the running ink ribbon 6 to apply tension.

However, the pressing member 8 on the other spool 3 side moves downward together with the ink ribbon 6, and the locking portion 12 hits the stopper 14 so that the position shown in FIG. And the tension is released. Therefore, tension is applied to the supply side of the ink ribbon 6, and
A good state is obtained in which tension is not applied to the retraction side.

When the flow of the ink ribbon 6 is reversed by reversing the cassette body 1, one of the spools 2 is on the retraction side, so that the ink ribbon 6 is in the state shown in FIG. 3 and the tension is released. Since the other spool 3 is on the supply side, the ink ribbon 6 is in the state shown in FIG.

4 and 5, the pressing member 8 has a U-shaped leaf spring 15 and a sliding portion 9 made of felt or the like.
The sliding portion 9 is fixed to one end of the leaf spring portion 15 to press the ink ribbon 6, and the locking portion 12 is provided at the other end and inserted between the stoppers 13 and 14.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is different from the previous embodiment in that the leaf spring portion 9 is formed in a flat plate shape instead of a U-shape, and a convex portion 16 is provided on a side piece. 16 to make it pop.

[0016]

[Effect of devised the present invention is a pressing member to apply tension to the ribbon, along the ribbon of the flow direction due to the running of the ribbon
Constant stroke movement by moving the locking part between the stoppers
For this reason , on the ribbon supply side, a tension is applied to the pressing member so as to face the guide pin, and on the ribbon rewinding side, the tension is released by shifting the pressing member from the guide pin. Since this is always in that state even when the flow of the ribbon in the opposite direction by reversing the cassette, the present invention is reversed action of the tension with the cassette <br/> Tsu preparative without using other parts than the pressing member Can be automatically switched between left and right. Therefore, the mechanism of the ribbon cassette is simplified and the amount of stored ribbon is increased.
However, there are various advantages such as downsizing, cost reduction , and compatibility without being restricted by the mechanism on the printer side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention with a cover removed.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing a tension mechanism of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the same embodiment when ribbon running is in the opposite direction.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing a tension mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of the same embodiment when the ribbon travel is in the opposite direction.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view showing a tension mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cassette main body 2 One spool 3 The other spool 4 Thermal head 5 Opening 6 Ink ribbon 7 Guide pin 8 Pressing member 9 Sliding part 10 Elastic part 11 Working part 12 Locking part 13 Stopper 14 Stopper −15 Leaf spring part 16 Convex part

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A spool (2) and a spool (3) are provided at both ends of a cassette body (1), and a guide pin (7) is provided between the spools (2), (3) and an opening (5). )
And a pressing member (8) for holding the ink ribbon (6). The pressing member (8) is provided with a locking portion (12) and an ink ribbon.
(6) a sliding portion (9) that comes into contact with the locking portion (12);
Is the flow direction of the ink ribbon (6) in the cassette body (1)
Stoppers (13) and (14) provided at a distance from each other
A position where the sliding portion (9) applies tension while opposing the guide pin (7) with the ink ribbon (6) interposed therebetween, and a guide pin ( 7) A thermal transfer ribbon cassette which is moved along the ribbon flow direction to a position where tension is released without facing the thermal transfer ribbon cassette. 2. The pressing member (8) is provided on the back of a sliding portion (9).
An elastic part (10) is provided on the surface, and the elastic part (10) is attached to the cassette.
The sliding part is made to resiliently slide while being in sliding contact with the inner surface of one side of the body (1).
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein (9) is pressed against the ink ribbon (6).
The thermal transfer ribbon cassette as described in the above. 3. The pressing member (8) includes a sliding part (9).
A leaf spring portion (15) to be attached to the end portion is provided.
The thermal transfer ribbon cassette according to claim 1, wherein