JP2938346B2 - Ink ribbon cassette for label making - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label making tape cassette, and more particularly to a label making tape cassette which is mounted on a thermal transfer printer and prints on a label tape stored in the cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, desired image information is printed on a label having an adhesive, pasted on a spine of a file, used as an index of an audio (video) cassette, or a label with a name written on one's belongings. There has been proposed a label printer capable of producing a label on which a label is attached and a ribbon cassette for the label printer.

[0003] However, such a label printer is a dedicated machine, and has no use other than label production, and has no versatility. Therefore, the present applicant has proposed a tape cassette for label production which can be mounted on a printer mainly used as a thermal transfer printer for word processing and which can produce a label, as Japanese Patent Application No. 4-269787.

The label producing tape cassette will be described below. As shown in FIG. 5, three cylindrical cores 2a, 2b, and 2c, which are rotatably supported, are disposed in a ribbon cassette case 1 that is substantially rectangular in plan view.
A label tape 3 is wound around one of these cores 2a, and the other two cores 2b and 2c are wound at both ends of an ink ribbon 4 having a surface coated with a heat-meltable ink layer. , One core 2b is a supply-side core and the other core 2
c is a winding-side core.

Although not shown, the label tape 3 has a sectional structure of three layers of release paper, an adhesive portion and a printing portion, and a plurality of guides rotatably supported in the path of the label tape 3 and the ink ribbon 4. Rollers 5a and 5b are provided.

A plurality of key grooves 6a and 6b are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the core 2a around which the label tape 3 is wound and the winding-side core 2c of the ink ribbon 4 in a spline shape at intervals in the circumferential direction. A take-up bobbin projecting from a carriage of a thermal transfer printer (not shown) is engaged with the inner peripheral surface of the take-up core 2c, and is engaged with the inner peripheral surface of the supply-side core 2a. Is configured such that a delivery bobbin projecting from a carriage of the thermal transfer printer is engaged.

Further, the tape cassette 1 is formed with a concave portion 7 into which the thermal head 11 is inserted when mounted on a thermal transfer printer. In the concave portion 7, an intermediate portion between the label tape 3 and the ink ribbon 4 is formed. Are led out of the main body of the tape cassette 1. Therefore, the label tape 3 is guided from the supply side core 2a to the front surface of the thermal head 11 via the guide roller 5a.

Next, printing (label creation) using the above-described label cassette 1 will be described. As shown, the label tape 3 to which the ink of the ink ribbon is transferred by the thermal head 11 is attached to the thermal head 11.
Is guided in a direction away from the platen 14 by a guide portion 8 provided in the vicinity of the concave portion 7 which is an insertion portion, and is guided to a guide path 9 formed in the cassette case 1. Therefore, the leading end of the label tape 3 is connected to the platen 14 of the thermal transfer printer.
Without being pinched between the cassette case 1 and the carriage. When printing is completed, the label tape is cut with scissors or the like to create a label.

[0009]

However, in the above-described label producing tape cassette, the diameter of the tape cassette 3 wound around the core becomes smaller as the amount of use increases, so that the tape cassette 3 is guided to the guide path after printing. Since the label tape 3 is curled in the left-hand direction in the figure due to the winding habit, the leading end of the label tape 3 has a large resistance against the wall of the guide path, and the label tape 3 is caught and a feeding failure occurs. Was found to occur.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. In the label making tape cassette, the guide tape is provided on the wall of the guide path where the leading end of the label tape comes into contact. At least one protruding portion extending in the transport direction is formed.

[0011]

The above-described means operates as follows.

In the label producing tape cassette, at least one protruding portion is formed on the wall of the guide path where the leading end of the label tape contacts, in parallel with the transport direction of the label tape, so that the leading end of the label tape is formed. However, the portion that contacts the wall of the guideway is reduced, and the resistance is reduced.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The difference from the conventional example described above is that
Since only the shape of the wall surface 9a of the guideway 9 is provided, this portion different from the conventional example will be described, and the description of the other portions will be omitted. As shown, the label tape 3 to which the ink of the ink ribbon has been transferred by the thermal head 11.
Is guided in a direction away from the platen 14 by a guide portion 8 provided in the vicinity of the concave portion 7 which is an insertion portion of the thermal head 11, and is guided to a guide path 9 formed in the cassette case 1. The leading end of the label tape 3 is
Is guided while being in contact with the wall surface 9a.
A protruding portion 9 extending in parallel with the transport direction of the label tape 3
b is formed continuously. For this reason, label tape 3
Is in contact only with the protruding portion 9b formed on the wall surface 9a, and does not contact with other portions. Therefore, for example, even when the remaining label tape 3 is reduced and the diameter of the label tape 3 wound around the core 2a is reduced, the resistance to the transport of the label tape is reduced, and the label tape 3 is not affected by the winding habit. It will not be caught in.

In the above-described embodiment, the protruding portion has one continuous shape. However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of protruding portions 9b may be provided at intervals or a short portion in which the ends overlap. A plurality of protrusions 9b may be formed. Further, the protrusion may be formed in a spiral shape.

The guide path 9 also has a role of guiding the printed label tape 3 guided into the cassette case 1 after printing to be led out of the cassette case 1 again.

Although the above-mentioned label cassette tape cassette accommodates a label tape and an ink ribbon, and uses the ink of the ink ribbon to record on the label tape, the present invention is applied to this type of tape cassette. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied not only to a label producing tape cassette but also to a label producing tape cassette of a type containing only a thermosensitive coloring type label tape without using an ink ribbon.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the label tape is conveyed by forming a protruding portion on the wall surface of the guide path through which the leading end of the printed label tape of the label making tape cassette comes into contact. The effect of the present invention is that an excellent effect can be obtained in that the resistance to the label can be reduced and the label can be stably formed because the label does not catch.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part showing one embodiment of a tape cassette for label production of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a shape of a wall surface of a guide path of one embodiment of the label producing tape cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a shape of a wall surface of a guide path in another embodiment of the label producing tape cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a shape of a wall surface of a guide path in still another embodiment of the tape cassette for label production of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part showing a conventional tape cassette for label production and its printing state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape cassette case 2a, 2b, 2c Core 3 Label tape 4 Ink ribbon 7 Depression 9 Guide path 9a Wall surface 9b Projection 11 Thermal head

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A label producing tape cassette having a label tape in a cassette case, mounted on a thermal transfer printer, and recorded on the label tape by a thermal head of the thermal transfer printer, wherein printing is performed by the thermal head. A guide path for a label tape is provided, which guides the label tape to a downstream side of the printing section where the label tape is conveyed in a direction in which the label tape is conveyed, and has at least one protruding portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the label tape contact surface on the wall surface. An ink ribbon cassette for producing labels.