JP3088800B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus in which a ribbon cassette containing an ink ribbon is removably mounted around a print head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example will be described with reference to FIGS. First, an elongated platen 1 is provided in a direction orthogonal to the paper surface, and a pair of feed rollers 3 and 4 are mounted on the upstream side and the downstream side, respectively, for conveying the paper 2 via the platen 1. It is provided in connection with the device. Each of the feed rollers 3 and 4 includes a roller shaft 5 and a roller body 6 attached to the roller shaft 5 at a predetermined interval. Next, a guide shaft 7 parallel to the platen 1 is provided above the platen 1. The guide shaft 7 has a carrier 8
A print head 9 facing the platen 1 is fixed to the carrier 8. A ribbon cassette mounting frame 10 is fixed to the carrier 8, and a support pin 12 having a predetermined height is formed to protrude from the inner surface of the upper end of the opposing support wall 11 of the ribbon cassette mounting frame 10.

[0003] Next, a pivot pin 13 is engaged with a support pin 12 provided on the ribbon cassette mounting frame 10.
Recess-shaped engaging portion 1 which is open to the near side and upward to form
4 is provided with a ribbon cassette 15 formed on both sides. The ribbon cassette 15 is provided with the print head 9.
The ink ribbon 16 supplied to the leading end of the print head 9 via a ribbon guide is stored in the ribbon cassette 15.

When the ribbon cassette 15 is attached or detached, the ribbon cassette 15 is rotated about the pivot point 13 so as to be released from the leading end of the print head 9. For this reason, when the curvature of the ribbon cassette 15 is drawn around the rotation fulcrum 13 as the center, the printing position of the platen 1 is adjusted as shown in FIG. To L
_{(1) The} feed roller 3 is positioned and disposed at a position separated from the feed roller.

[0005]

In mounting and removing the ribbon cassette 15, the ribbon cassette 15 is rotated about the rotation fulcrum 13. In order to perform the rotation. As described above, the position of the feed roller 3 must be set at a position L ₁ away from the printing position of the platen 1 as described above. That is, it is impossible to the installation position of the feed roller 3 from the platen 1 to the dimension L ₁ is smaller than position.

On the other hand, the size of the sheet 2 conveyed by the feed rollers 3 and 4 is determined by the distance L between the feed rollers 3 and 4.
Must be at least ₂ . That is, the paper 2 must always be held between any of the feed rollers 3 and 4, and the distance L ₂ between the feed rollers 3 and 4 is required.
It is impossible to feed a sheet 2 of the following length. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to print business cards and the like. That is, there is a problem that it is extremely difficult to print on the small paper 2.

[0007]

A platen and a platen are provided.
The print head provided opposite to the platen and the platen
A feed rod located close to the ribbon cassette mounting side
Roller and an ink ribbon are stored in the print head.
The ink ribbon is supplied and provided separately from the print head.
When it is attached and detached by rotating around the pivot point
Both bends are provided at the middle of the body so that they can bend freely.
And a ribbon cassette .

[0008]

When the ribbon cassette is attached or detached, the bent portion of the ribbon cassette is bent, but since the length of the bent portion is smaller than the entire length of the ribbon cassette, the feed roller can be easily brought close to the platen. Can be attached to and detached from the print head, thereby reducing the distance between the platen and the feed roller, shortening the distance between the axes of the feed rollers arranged close to the platen, This is to enable printing.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Also in this embodiment, the relative positional relationship between the platen 1 and the print head 9 is the same as that described in the above-described conventional example, and the position of the feed roller 3 and the structure of the ribbon cassette 17 are different.

That is, the ribbon cassette 17 in this embodiment comprises a main body 18 for storing the print ribbon 16 and a bent portion 19 rotatably attached to the main body 18. At the tip of the main body 18, two legs 21 having a ribbon insertion passage 20 at the center are integrally formed, and a step 22 is formed outside the legs 21. Reference numeral 22 denotes a fulcrum pin 2 forming a rotation fulcrum 23 at a predetermined height.
4 are provided. Next, the bent portion 19 is a U-shaped guide member that communicates with the ribbon insertion passage 20, and at the base thereof, there are formed support pieces 25 that fit into the step portions 22. A fulcrum hole 26 into which the fulcrum pin 24 is fitted is formed.

A sheet conveying path 28 is formed by guide frames 27 at the positions where the feed rollers 3 and 4 are disposed, and the sheet 2 is conveyed along the sheet conveying path 28.

In such a configuration, when the ribbon cassette 17 is attached or detached, the bent portion 19 is bent about the rotation fulcrum 23 toward the upstream side of the sheet 2 so as to be orthogonal to the main body 18. At this time, since the length of the bent portion 19 is shorter than the entire length of the ribbon cassette 17, if the feed roller 3 is brought close to the platen 1 within a range that does not interfere with the feed roller 3, there is a distance L _3. It will be good. Of course, there is a relationship of L ₁ > L _{3 with} respect to the conventionally required distance L ₁ .

Accordingly, the distance between the feed roller 3 and the feed roller 4 becomes smaller than before, and the minimum length of the paper 2 that can be conveyed in the paper conveyance path 28 can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to convey the sheet 2 of a length that could not be conveyed conventionally.

When the ribbon cassette 17 to be detached and attached as described above is used for normal printing, the ribbon cassette 17 is returned to its original position by bending the bent portion 19 so as to be aligned with the direction of the main body 18 so as to be linear. I do. Thus, the circulation operation of the print ribbon 16 is performed smoothly without any change from the conventional one.

In the above embodiment, the platen 1
Has been described in which the pair of feed rollers 3 and 4 are arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side, respectively. However, in the embodiment, at least the feed roller 3 located on the ribbon cassette mounting side is provided. It may be of a certain structure. That is, the present invention can be applied to a printing device for printing a slip, a device for returning a slip to be printed to the insertion side after printing, and discharging the slip. In this case, the feed roller 3 is provided on the side where the slip is inserted. Since the distance between the feed roller 3 and the printing position of the platen 1 is reduced, a slip with a short length can be used.

[0016]

According to the present invention, as described above, the platen
A print head provided to face the platen of
The fan located on the ribbon cassette mounting side close to Latin
A print roller and an ink ribbon,
Supply the ink ribbon to the print head and separate it from the print head.
Detachable by rotating around the pivot point provided
And bendable at the middle of the body
When the ribbon cassette is attached and detached, the bent portion of the ribbon cassette is bent since the ribbon cassette has a bent portion. However, since the length of the bent portion is smaller than the entire length of the ribbon cassette, the feed Even if the roller is close to the platen, it can be easily attached to and detached from the print head, thereby reducing the distance between the platen and the feed roller to print on short-length paper. Having.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the ribbon cassette.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view showing the movement of the ribbon cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the related art.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state when the ribbon cassette is attached and detached.

FIG. 6 is a partial side view showing the movement of the ribbon cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Platen 3 Feed roller 9 Print head 17 Ribbon cassette 18 Main part 19 Bending part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 32/00-32/02 B41J 17/22-17/26 B41J 17/32 B41J 35/10-35 / 14 B41J 35/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A platen, a print head provided to face the platen, a feed roller disposed close to the platen on a ribbon cassette mounting side, and an ink ribbon stored in the print head. The rotation fulcrum provided by supplying the ribbon and separating from the print head is
Center printing and wherein more becomes possible ribbon cassette having a bent portion provided to be freely bent in the middle portion of the detachable Rutotomoni main body by rotating the.